Cavs make too few stops on road trip
UVa shoots 59.2 percent from the field but fails to slow the Tigers, who win on two late free throws.
By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

CLEMSON, S.C. - On the week that the Virginia men's basketball team found some offense, what the Cavaliers didn't find were wins.
Maybe they're looking in the wrong place - the road.

Virginia lost for the 10th time in its last 11 road games after Clemson sophomore Olu Babalola made two free throws with 5.7 seconds remaining to lift the Tigers to a 78-77 victory at Littlejohn Coliseum.

It was the eighth straight ACC road loss for Virginia, which shot 50.8 percent from the field Wednesday in a 104-93 loss to top-ranked Duke in Durham, N.C.

This time, the Cavaliers shot a season-high 59.2 percent but couldn't get the job done at the defensive end.

"I thought we played pretty well," said UVa junior Todd Billet, who had seven 3-point field goals and finished with a game-high 25 points, "but, when you're on the road, there's not much margin for error."

Billet's 3-pointer with 33 seconds left put the Cavaliers on top 77-76, and it appeared they had made the defensive stop when Edward Scott's shot from the lane glanced off the basket with less than 10 seconds remaining.

UVa senior Travis Watson appeared to be in position for the rebound until he was stripped by Babalola, a 6-foot-6, 255-pounder who actually had been inserted to shadow Billet.

"The coaches are always getting on my back about not getting enough offensive rebounds," Babalola said. "I always try to go to the basket. I don't know [who had it]. I knew I wanted the ball. I had to get it."

In Watson's eyes, Babalola may have wanted it too much.

"I had the ball in my hands," said Watson, the ACC's rebounding leader. "Somebody pushed me and I lost it. I don't have any problem with that, but if you don't call the first foul, you shouldn't call the second one."

Babalola, a 59.1-percent career free-throw shooter who was 1-of-3 until that point Saturday, said he kept repeating "just like practice" as he gave the Tigers the lead.

Clemson coach Larry Shyatt said he had instructed his captain, Scott, and had alerted the officials that Clemson would be calling a timeout to discuss strategy if Babalola missed the first free throw.

UVa coach Pete Gillen, who did not have any timeouts remaining, said his hope after Babalola's second made free throw was that the Cavaliers would work the ball up the floor quickly and look for Billet.

Billet said he was on the right wing, but UVa point guard Keith Jenifer missed a 3-pointer from just to the right of the key. Jenifer finished 0-for-4 from the field.

"I didn't see nobody," Jenifer said. "I just took the shot. It was open and I took it."

"Keith took a good shot," Billet said. "That wasn't where the game was decided. We just didn't get the stops we needed to get."

The Tigers, who trailed by as many as nine points in the first half, cut the deficit to 43-42 on a long 3-pointer by Scott with five seconds left before halftime. It wasn't until the game had ended that Shyatt learned that Scott, who had 12 of his 13 points in the first half, was ill.

The Tigers (11-2, 1-2) repeatedly penetrated inside UVa's zone in the second half. Twelve of Clemson's 13 second-half field goals were on layups or pull-up jumpers from inside 10 feet, with 6-foot-4 sophomore Chey Christie and 6-2 freshman Shawan Robinson doing most of the damage.

If Duke won Wednesday night's game at the free-throw line, where the Blue Devils were 37-of-40, UVa (10-5, 1-3) may have lost Saturday's game at the stripe. Travis Watson missed the front end of a one-and-one with 3:02 left that could have given the Cavaliers a five-point lead, and it did not become a two-possession game again.

Watson later had a turnover when he was triple-teamed in the post and dribbled the ball off his leg with the score 74-74 and 1:07 remaining.

"I thought we did some great things, made some big baskets, showed a lot of courage," Gillen said. "I thought we were desperate. They were more desperate. That last rebound was the game in a microcosm."

 

Tigers sink Cavs
Late foul shots boost Clemson
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 19, 2003
CLEMSON 78 VIRGINIA 77

CLEMSON, S.C. - Don't blame Virginia's offense for the team's two-game losing streak. The Cavaliers shot 50.8 percent from the floor against Duke, the nation's top-ranked team, Wednesday night. They raised their accuracy to a sizzling 59.2 percent yesterday against Clemson, only to somehow lose again.

"We just didn't get stops when we needed to," U.Va. coach Pete Gillen said after Clemson rallied to win 78-77 on two free throws by 6-6, 260-pound sophomore Olu Babalola with 5.7 seconds left.

Shoddy defense is nothing new for the Cavaliers (1-3, 10-5). Their inability to stop opponents contributed mightily to their stunning collapse last season, and little seems to have changed. Virginia wasted a brilliant performance by junior guard Todd Billet, who hit 7 of 11 shots from beyond the arc and finished with a game-high 25 points.


Sophomore center Elton Brown came off the bench to score 16 points, senior forward Travis Watson had 12, and junior center Nick Vander Laan added 10. Reserve guard Jermaine Harper sank two 3-pointers, the second of which gave Virginia a 69-68 lead with 4:19 left at Littlejohn Coliseum

"Our offense was excellent," Gillen said. "Our defense was not as good as it needed to be."

The Tigers, who shot 55.4 percent from the floor, scored on their final five possessions, two of which were extended by offensive rebounds. After Billet's seventh 3-pointer, a catch-and-shoot beauty, put U.Va. up 77-76 with 33 seconds left, Clemson decided not to call a timeout, and the ball ended up in the hands of senior point guard Edward Scott.

Scott, hounded by Harper, put up a wild shot in the lane that didn't come close to dropping. The ACC's best rebounder, U.Va. senior Travis Watson, went up for the ball and appeared to have secured it when Babalola knocked it loose from behind.

"It looked to me like Travis had the ball and the guy went over his back," Harper said.

The officials didn't agree. Babalola grabbed the loose ball and went up to shoot against the outstretched hands of Virginia sophomore Elton Brown. The whistle blew with 5.7 seconds left. The Cavaliers wanted a jump ball, which would have given them possession. Instead, a foul was called on Brown.

"I had all ball," he said.

Babalola had missed 2 of 3 from the line, but he calmly made these two to give Clemson a 78-77 lead. Virginia, out of timeouts, inbounded to sophomore point guard Keith Jenifer, who had yet to make a field goal. Jenifer raced up court, stopped outside the 3-point arc on the right wing and launched an open shot that barely missed. The buzzer sounded to end U.Va.'s eighth straight ACC road loss.

"We were trying to get it to Todd if we could, but Keith was open," Gillen said. "He took a good shot."

Jenifer, who scored a season-low one point, said he "didn't see nobody; I just took the shot. It was open and I took it."

Billet said: "It was a good shot. It was right on line, and it almost went down. That wasn't where the game was decided."

Sophomore Chey Christie led Clemson (1-2, 11-2) with 16 points. He scored twice in the final 1:33 on drives, and Christie wasn't the only Tiger to bite Virginia that way. Of Clemson's 13 second-half field goals, 12 came from 7 feet or closer against Virginia's soft interior defense.

"Attack the paint. Attack the paint," Tigers coach Larry Shyatt said. "That was our thinking."

Watson entered the game needing two rebounds to pass Bryant Stith and move into second place on U.Va.'s all-time list. The 6-8, 255-pound Watson grabbed eight and now, with 936 rebounds, trails only Ralph Sampson (1,511 from 1980 to '83).

With U.Va. leading 74-71, Scott went to the line for two shots with 1:57 left. After making the first, Scott missed the second, but teammate Tomas Nagys pulled down the offensive rebound. Moments later, Christie scored to make it 74-74.

The Tigers' ninth - and final - offensive rebound went to Babalola, who then gave them their first one-point victory since Feb. 18, 1992.

"We just couldn't get that offensive rebound, that loose ball," Gillen said. "That was a microcosm of the game."

 

Cavaliers can't catch Clemson
Published January 19, 2003

His teammates tried to boost his confidence and the Littlejohn Coliseum crowd roared, but Clemson's Olu Babalola heard nothing.

"Just like practice," the sophomore said to himself as he blanked everything else out and calmly swished two free throws with 5.7 seconds left to give the Tigers (11-2, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) a 78-77 win over Virginia (10-5, 1-3) on Saturday.

The 68 percent free throw shooter got to the line by battling for a rebound with the Cavaliers' Elton Brown after Edward Scott missed a layup. Brown thought he had forced a jump ball with the possession arrow pointing to Virginia, but the referee whistled a foul instead.

"We just couldn't get to that offensive rebound, that loose ball," said Cavs' coach Pete Gillen said. "I think it was a microcosm of the game."

Virginia had a chance to win the game, but the Cavs were out of time-outs and had to push the ball up the floor. Keith Jenifer got a good look at a 3-pointer, but it bounced off the rim as the final second ticked away.

Virginia's Todd Billet led all scorers with 25 points, going 7-for-11 on 3-pointers, including a 3 that gave the Cavs a 77-76 lead with 33 seconds to go as Babalola guarded him.

But Jenifer said he could not find Billet on the final possession.

Scott, Clemson's leading scorer in all but two games this season, was sick and scored 13 points including just one in the second half. But Chey Christie and the rest of the Tigers' backcourt picked up the slack.

Christie led Clemson with 16 points, while Sharrod Ford had 10 and Shawan Robinson had nine points relieving Scott at the point. But it was Christie's clutch play down the stretch gave the Tigers the chance to win.

He hit a driving layup to tie the game at 74 with 1:34 left, then took the ball at the top of the key and drove into the lane, dropping in a hanging jumper from about 5 feet out to put Clemson up 76-74 with 49 seconds to go.

"Without Chey, my free throws don't matter," Babalola said.

The Tigers led for most of the second half, but could never push the advantage to more than five as both teams were hot. Clemson was 31-of-56 (55.4 percent) and Virginia hit 29 of 49 shots (59.2 percent). Gillen said he was amazed his team shot so well and lost.

"We made a lot of big plays," Gillen said. "We just couldn't dig down and get that defensive stop we needed at the end."

Brown had 16 points. Travis Watson scored 12 points and had eight rebounds and Nick Vander Laan added 10 points for the Cavs, who have yet to win an ACC game on the road.

"I thought we were desperate, but I thought they were more desperate," Gillen said. "They wanted it just a little more than us."

Virginia outrebounded the Tigers 28 to 27. It was only the second time Clemson has been beaten on the boards this season.
 

Breakdown on the Road Again
Cavs Drop 11th of 12 Away From Home: Clemson 78, Virginia 77
By Kevin Brafford
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, January 19, 2003; Page D16

CLEMSON, S.C., Jan. 18 -- Clemson forward Olu Babalola made two free throws with 5.7 seconds to play today, and when Virginia guard Keith Jenifer's three-point attempt rimmed out as the horn sounded, the Cavaliers lost for the 11th time in their last 12 games away from University Hall, 78-77.

The Cavaliers (10-5, 1-3 ACC) lost despite shooting a season-best 59.2 percent from the field and on a day when guard Todd Billet made 7 of 11 three-point tries and scored 25 points. But Clemson (11-2, 1-2) shot 55.4 percent, and Virginia made only 9 of 16 free throws and turned over the ball five more times than the Tigers.

Ultimately, Coach Pete Gillen said, the result turned on a porous defense that Clemson consistently penetrated for layups or short jump shots.

"We didn't get stops when we needed to," Gillen said. "You've got to be able to guard people, and we didn't do that. We tried zone, we tried man-to-man. We just kept breaking down."

The defensive woes aside, the Cavaliers still nursed a 74-71 lead when Elton Brown scored on a short bank shot with 2 minutes 16 seconds to play. Clemson guard Edward Scott made the first of two free throws on the other end, but the Cavaliers allowed Tigers forward Tomas Nagys to rebound the miss on the second.

The Tigers reset their offense, and 23 seconds later, guard Chey Christie tied the score on a 12-foot jumper in the lane. On Virginia's subsequent possession, Travis Watson turned over the ball against a Clemson triple-team, and Christie followed with another short jumper in the lane to give the Tigers a 76-74 lead with 49 seconds remaining.

Gillen used his final timeout -- he had burned three of his allotted five in the first half attempting to correct defensive miscues -- and set up a play for Billet, who ran off a screen by Brown and made his final three-pointer with 33 seconds left.

Clemson Coach Larry Shyatt shunned a timeout -- "We didn't want them to be able to set their defense," he said -- and left Scott, a senior and three-year starter, on his own. With Jenifer in his face, Scott missed badly on a off-balance jumper. Watson had the rebound momentarily, then lost it to the 6-foot-6, 255-pound Babalola, who was fouled by Brown in traffic as he went up for a shot.

Watson, known throughout the league for his strong hands, said Babalola initiated enough contact to merit a foul.

"I had the ball in my hands, I got pushed and I lost it," Watson said. "It's hard to see a game end like that."

Once Babalola, a 67.7 percent free throw shooter, made both for a one-point Clemson lead, the Cavaliers had one last opportunity. But void of timeouts, the best they could muster was a lengthy jump shot from a player, Jenifer, whose strength is passing and who hadn't made a field goal all day.

"I didn't see anybody," Jenifer said. "I was open, and I took it."

Billet, to Jenifer's right and guarded by Babalola, didn't question Jenifer's judgment.

"It hit the front rim and then the back rim, and when a shot does that, you've just missed it," he said. "It was a good shot and it was right on line.

"The thing is, it shouldn't come down to that. We just didn't get the stops that we needed. When you're playing on the road in this conference, the margin for error is pretty small."

Today's game marked the first of three for Virginia in six days. The Cavaliers will take a break from the ACC to play at in-state rival Virginia Tech on Tuesday, then host Wake Forest on Thursday.
 

CLEMSON — With the opportunity of a lifetime in his hands Saturday afternoon, Olu Babalola stepped to the foul line for Clemson with confidence and determination.

Clemson trailed by a point with 5.7 seconds remaining, but Babalola was unaffected by the gravity of the situation. He calmly sank two free throws to give the Tigers a 78-77 victory over Virginia at Littlejohn Coliseum.

It was Clemson’s first one-point victory since Feb. 18, 1992, against Florida State.

“I just thought to myself, make the foul shots and hopefully this will be the end of the game,” Babalola said.

The end came moments later, when Virginia guard Keith Jenifer missed a 3-point attempt and Chey Christie secured the rebound to cap an excellent late-game effort by Clemson.

The Tigers trailed 74-71 entering the final two minutes. The Tigers (11-2, 1-2) outscored Virginia 7-3 over the final 1:57. Clemson scored nine points on its last four possessions.

“You’ve got to be able to guard people,” Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. “You’ve got to be able to stop people. I thought we were desperate, but I thought they were more desperate.”

Forward Tomas Nagys showed that desperation by rebounding a missed Edward Scott free throw with 1:55 remaining and passing out to the perimeter. Christie, who led Clemson with 16 points, drove for a 9-foot jumper in the lane to tie the score at 74 with 1:34 remaining.

Nagys struck again on defense, forcing Virginia’s Travis Watson to bounce the ball off his own knee and out of bounds on a double team. Christie penetrated for a nearly identical jumper with 49.4 seconds left to put Clemson ahead 76-74.

“When crunch time came, every possession meant the world to us, because going 0-3 in the league is not something you want to do,” Clemson guard Shawan Robinson said.

Virginia’s Todd Billet, who led all scorers with 25 points, made his seventh 3-pointer with 33.1 seconds remaining to give the Cavaliers a one-point lead.

That gave Clemson the ball and a chance to win the game on a drive by Scott, who missed badly in traffic. But before the game, assistant coach Bobby Hussey had told Babalola that rebounding is all about determination, and Babalola took those words to heart.

“I knew I had to get the rebound,” Babalola said. “If Ed missed the shot, I knew I had to get it. So I just went out and got it.”

A foul on Elton Brown gave Babalola a chance to win the game. Nagys picked Babalola off the floor and said something to him, but Babalola didn’t hear it.

He already was thinking about making the free throws. He thought about how senior forward Ray Henderson always says free throws in a game are just like practice.

Henderson was on the bench with a broken nose, but receives an assist on the biggest play of Clemson’s season.

“You’ve got to make it,” Babalola said. “If you make it out too big, that’s when you can get nervous and miss. So I was just trying to maintain composure, make it just like practice.”

Babalola calmly lifted Clemson to its biggest victory of the season. Virginia (10-5, 1-3) led by as many as nine points in the first half, but the Tigers made nine straight field-goal attempts and trailed just 43-42 at halftime.

Scott, who was battling the flu, scored 12 of his 13 points in the first half and also handed out eight assists. But he let his teammates make the big plays down the stretch.

Christie saw Scott coughing and spitting in the locker room at halftime and vowed to make more of a contribution.

“He won’t come out and say it, because he’s a competitor,” Christie said. “But we saw it in his eyes, and we knew what we had to do.”

Scott played 40 minutes, but his teammates shot a combined 64.6 percent from the field.

Robinson came off the bench to score nine points and hand out four assists, and the Tigers committed just nine turnovers.

And when it came time to make the biggest shots of the season, Babalola was ready.

“It was the perfect ending,” Christie said. “We did what we needed to do tonight with Ed under the weather.”