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Mapp gives Cavs a little direction
Role player sparks much-needed win


By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published January 24, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- It's way too early to declare Majestic Mapp the savior of what was shaping up to be a disappointing season for Virginia. But this much is clear: He can make a huge difference.

With Mapp playing nearly half the game, the Cavaliers woke up for an 85-75 victory over 17th-ranked Wake Forest that they absolutely, positively had to have. After losing three in a row, including a shocker at Virginia Tech two nights earlier, Virginia played a solid game on both ends of the floor to keep the obits on hold.

Mapp's statistical line was fairly pedestrian: Three points, four assists, one steal and one turnover. But his contributions went beyond that. In his 17 minutes, the Cavaliers outscored Wake 42-24 and shot 13-of-21 from the field. With Mapp on the bench, where he mostly stood to keep his knee loose, Virginia was outscored 51-43 and went 17-of-38 from the field.

"You guys got a chance to see what he brings to this team when he's on the floor," Cavalier center Nick Vander Laan said. "For this team to win or lose, it comes down to intangibles. And Majestic Mapp is all about intangibles."

"He gives us fire and emotion," Virginia coach Pete Gillen added. "We need him."

Mapp already has come a long way since missing two full seasons with a torn ACL that required four surgeries. He entered, again to a standing ovation, with 6:43 left in the first half and Virginia (11-6, 2-3 ACC) trailing 29-23. Twenty seconds later, he drained a 3-pointer from right wing. Seventy-seven seconds after that, he fed Travis Watson for a transition layup. The University Hall crowd - at 7,642, far short of a sellout - finally became energized.

At 1:17, Virginia took its first lead on two Vander Laan free throws. Taron Downey put Wake back ahead by going 2-of-2 from the line, but Mapp found Todd Billet off a screen for a 3-pointer with three seconds left to give the Cavaliers a 43-41 lead at the break.

Mapp started the second half, and by the time he came to the bench Virginia had pulled ahead 51-43. Wake (12-2, 2-2) cut it to 65-59 at 8:45, but with Mapp's return that margin doubled in less than two minutes.

"I'm just trying to let my game come back to me," Mapp said, "slowly but surely."

It seems pretty quick. On Jan. 11, Mapp played for the first time since March 2000, seeing two minutes against North Carolina. He sat the next two games before playing six minutes Tuesday night in Blacksburg. Still, Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser wasn't surprised to see Mapp on the floor as long as he was.

"We saw the tapes of the Virginia Tech game," he said. "I thought maybe he'd even start tonight."

Mapp wasn't Virginia's only contributor. Billet shook a 2-of-10 game at Tech by scoring 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Vander Laan had seven points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Jason Clark did a nice job of making Wake's Josh Howard (20 points on 19 shots) work. And Travis Watson had 11 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.

"We knew they would be a wounded animal, if you will, for lack of a better analogy," Prosser said. "They played with passion."

 

 

Billet, Mapp bolster Cavs
Win over Deacons stops slide
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 24, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Nothing cures Virginia's ills like a game at University Hall.

In its first home game since its U.VA. 85 WAKE 75Jan. 11 victory over North Carolina, U.Va. snapped a three-game losing streak with an 85-75 victory over 17th-ranked Wake Forest last night.

Before a late-arriving crowd of 7,642 that became progressively louder as the game went on, the Cavaliers raised their record to 8-0 at U-Hall. Two nights after a humbling defeat at Virginia Tech, U.Va. quieted its critics, at least momentarily, with an impressive ACC win.

"We were desperate for a victory," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said.

Wake coach Skip Prosser, a former assistant to Gillen at Xavier, expected as much.

"We knew they'd be a wounded animal, if you will, for want of a better analogy," Prosser said. "I thought they played with a lot of passion."

The Cavaliers (2-3, 11-6) trailed by eight with 6:30 left in the first half, but point guard Majestic Mapp helped them avert disaster. In his longest appearance - 17 minutes - since returning from a knee injury that forced him to miss the past two seasons, Mapp flashed the form that made him a McDonald's All-American as a high school senior in 1998-99.

"He's a true leader," said 6-8 sophomore Jason Clark, who had two dunks in the final 1:36 to keep Wake at bay. "He's a vocal leader, and at times we're lacking that out on the court."

Moments after entering with 6:43 left in the first half, Mapp made a 3-pointer. The crowd came alive, and so did the Cavaliers. They took the lead for good on junior guard Todd Billet's trey - off a pass from Mapp - with four seconds left in the half.

That made it 43-41, and Virginia built its lead to 49-41 before the Demon Deacons (2-2, 12-2) finally scored in the second half. Wake cut its deficit to four with 11:02 left, but sophomore Devin Smith answered with a trey, and U.Va. never led by less than six thereafter.

Wake shot 57.7 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes but only 34.5 percent in the second half. Of the Deacons' 75 points, 59 came from three players: senior forward Josh Howard (20), sophomore forward Vytas Danelius (20) and sophomore point guard Taron Downey (19).

Howard, an All-America candidate, missed 12 of 19 field-goal attempts. Danelius' 20 points matched his career high, but he had only three in the second half. Downey's 19 were a career best, but he turned the ball over eight times.

In the second half, Prosser said, "I think their pressure pushed us away from the basket a little bit, and we didn't really counter that."

In the wake of Virginia's 73-55 loss at Tech, Gillen shook up his starting lineup. He benched point guard Keith Jenifer, moved Billet from shooting guard to the point and shifted Smith from small forward to shooting guard. Clark started at small forward, senior Travis Watson at power forward and junior Nick Vander Laan at center.

Virginia battled the nation's top rebounding team to a virtual draw on the boards. Wake pulled down 34 rebounds. Led by Watson, who had a game-high 13 boards, U.Va. grabbed 32. Vander Laan, whose hustle and combativeness inspired his teammates, had seven rebounds in 21 minutes. The 6-10, 255-pound transfer from Cal also contributed seven points and two blocked shots.

"He did the dirty work," Gillen said. "He was in there whaling away."

Four Cavaliers scored in double figures, led by Billet (23 points). Smith added 17, Watson 11 and Clark 10. Sophomore center Elton Brown scored nine points in 12 minutes, and Mapp finished with three points, four assists, one steal and only one turnover.

"It's been a long week for us," Vander Laan said, "so it's great to win like this."

No one took the losses harder than the Cavaliers' fifth-year coach, the target of intense criticism this week.

"I had people telling me what bridge to jump off," Gillen said. "They were going to drive me to the bridge."
 

 

Mapp makes presence felt with impact outing
BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Jan 24, 2003
Bob Lipper at (804) 649-6555 or e-mail blipper@timesdispatch.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE Simply Majestic.

I've been waiting three years to start a column like that. Majestic Mapp's been waiting three years to have a game like this. Four knee surgeries and two cameo appearance later, he crossed the threshold.

Just in time to save Virginia's bacon.

This is what Majestic Mapp did for the Cavaliers last night: He rescued them. OK, so maybe that's overstating the case a tad. Maybe the Cavs beat Wake Forest 85-75 without Mapp's contributions. Maybe they suddenly look like they know what they're doing on offense and become a model of efficiency without Mapp handling the ball and zinging Rich Gannon passes to barely-open receivers.

Maybe they shake off a rickety liftoff and snatch stability out of thin air and sprint from there to the finish line without Mapp's orchestration.

But I wouldn't want to bet on it.

The Cavs needed this one. Desperately. They'd dropped three consecutive and four of five. They'd looked like dirt 48 hours earlier at Virginia Tech. They were staring down the throat of a 1-4 ACC worksheet if they lose to Wake. They're facing tests at Georgia Tech and Maryland after Wednesday's homecourt gimme against Florida State. They were, in other words, up against it.

Enter Majestic Mapp. Specifically, Mapp entered the lineup for the first time with 6:43 left before intermission and Vytas Danelius about to sink two free throws for a 31-23 Wake lead. When Mapp next returned to the bench 5½ minutes into the second half, Virginia was on top 51-44. Do the math. That's a 28-13 swing on any calculator. That's impact by any standard.

And that, ladies and gentlemen was the ballgame. The Deacons never drew closer than four points thereafter. They did make it 65-59 with 8:45 remaining, but U.Va. responded with six consecutive points - the last of them on Jason Clark's dunk off a laser Mapp delivered from the top of the key. It was his fourth assist of the night. He's got five for the year. My guess is there are more to come.

"I'm not out there trying to do too much," Mapp said. "For the most part, I was just trying to run the team."

Sounds basic enough, but not every point guard on the planet is equipped to do it. This U.Va. outfit has several major issues - inability to win away from University Hall, shabby defense and sloppy ballhandling, to name three - but lack of direction from the point is as dicey as any of them. That's one reason Keith Jenifer didn't start last night. Mapp isn't as quick as Jenifer. Or as explosive. Or as likely to toss in a highlight-reel runner in the lane.

But nor is he as apt to overhandle the ball or fling passes into traffic or allow an offense to cry for rhythm or coherence.

"He shares the ball," U.Va. coach Pete Gillen said. "Our guys like playing with him because he finds them."

His first act last night was to find his own shot - a 3-pointer he drained when Wake defender Trent Strickland backed away and all but invited Mapp to shoot. Later, he found Travis Watson for a layup. And Todd Billet for a curl-off-a-screen trey that gave U.Va. the lead for good at 43-41 just before the break. And Nick Vander Laan for a transition layup early in the second half.

All told, U.Va. scored on 13 of 18 possessions in Mapp's first shift. He played 17 minutes in all - more than twice his total workload in previous cameos against North Carolina and Tech. Gillen said he hadn't planned to use Mapp this much. But it's not as if he had much choice.

"I mean, Majestic is just tremendous," Vander Laan said. "It's great seeing him get more time out there. You guys got a chance to see for yourselves what he brings to us out on the floor."

That included energy - some of which he used to pump the crowd with arm-waving gusto, some of which he burned by bouncing in place while teammates sat on the bench, all of which U.Va. needed to survive.

"He gave us a lift," Gillen said.

Like a booster rocket.
 

 

U.Va. recruit on display tomorrow
Cavs fans get look at recruit tomorrow
Jan 24, 2003
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Gary Forbes won't join the University of Virginia basketball team until next season, but fans can check him out tomorrow at University Hall.

A 6-5 shooting guard, Forbes is a senior at Benjamin Banneker Academy in New York City.

Blue Ridge School, from outside Charlottesville, meets Banneker tomorrow at 3 p.m. at U-Hall.

U.Va. signed two players in November: Forbes and 6-2 guard J.R. Reynolds, a Roanoke resident who plays for national power Oak Hill Academy. Blue Ridge (12-2) already has faced Reynolds. The Barons upset Oak Hill, then ranked No.2 by USA Today, last week in Wytheville.

Blue Ridge is a boarding school, and two of its top players are from Richmond: 6-6, 220-pound senior Jelani Lawrence and 6-4, 205-pound senior Jermone Day. Both have scholarship offers from Division I schools.

Forbes, a McDonald's All-American candidate, has been virtually unstoppable this season.

"We'll put Jermone Day on him," Blue Ridge coach Bill Ramsey said. "He's a great athlete and a great defender, so we'll see what happens."

 

 

Cavaliers feel right at home vs. Wake Forest
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© January 24, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Throughout the Pete Gillen era at Virginia, there’s seldom been anything ailing the Cavaliers that a return home to University Hall couldn’t cure, or at least improve upon.
For reasons that not even Gillen can explain, Virginia is a different team at home.

That was the case again Thursday night, when the Cavaliers, losers of three straight and four of their last five, upended No. 17 Wake Forest 85-75 at University Hall.

The victory runs Virginia’s home record to 8-0, and its overall mark to 11-6, 2-3 in the ACC.

“I have no explanation,” Gillen said, referring to his team’s split personality, home and away. “If I did, I’d be able to write a book and retire.”

As they did in a home win over Georgetown and in a neutral-court victory over Kentucky, the Cavaliers looked like a top-25 team Thursday. In recent games, most notably a 73-55 loss at Virginia Tech Tuesday, they’d looked like something else entirely.

Then again, in recent games the Cavaliers didn’t have one effective point guard. On Thursday night, they had three.

Todd Billet started the game, moving over from shooting guard. Keith Jenifer, who had been starting, played 16 minutes off the bench. Majestic Mapp, in his longest action by far since returning from a nearly three-year layoff due to a knee injury, played a season-high 17.

Each contributed. Billet scored a game-high 23 points and had three assists. Mapp had three points and four assists. Jenifer didn’t score but had three assists.

Mapp in particular gave the Cavaliers a lift, snapping off crisp passes, including one to Jason Clark, for a dunk that gave Virginia a 71-59 lead, its biggest of the night.

Wake cut the lead to 73-67 with 2:23 left, but Billet hit a pair of free throws and Clark got loose under the basket for two more resounding dunks that put Wake (12-2, 2-2) away.

Clark, from Virginia Beach, made his third start of the season, as Gillen shuffled his lineup, using his ninth starting combination of the season. Clark finished with 10 points, 1 of 4 Cavaliers in double figures.

“We had to make a change,” Gillen said. “We lost three in a row.”

The new lineup played the same old Virginia defense early, allowing Wake to hit its first five shots, four of them 3-pointers, to take a 14-9 lead.

Wake built its first-half lead to 10 behind Vytas Danelius, a 6-foot-9 Lithuanian who had 17 first-half points.

Virginia pulled even late in the half, and grabbed a 43-41 lead on a Billet 3-pointer with eight seconds left.

The Cavaliers outscored Wake 10-3 to open the second half. Danelius was held to three second-half points. He and Josh Howard led Wake with 20.

“We knew they’d play well,” Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said. “We knew they’d be a wounded animal, if you will, for lack of a better analogy.”

Virginia badly needed the win. A loss would have dropped the Cavaliers into a tie with Florida State for last place in the ACC.

“It’s been a rough week for us,” forward Nick Vander Laan said. “So it’s great to get a win like this.”
 

 

 

UVa wakes up in Majestic fashion
 By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
Jan 24, 2003
 
Defense has been an Achilles' heel at times for Virginia. On Thursday night, it was its saving grace.

Virginia limited No. 17 Wake Forest, which had shot 57.7 percent in the first half, to just 34.5 percent shooting in the second half, as the Cavaliers ended their three-game slide with an 85-75 victory at University Hall.

Todd Billet led Virginia (11-6, 2-3 ACC), which is now 8-0 at home, with 23 points and Devin Smith added 17. Travis Watson had a 11 points, 13 rebounds and a team-high five assists while Majestic Mapp supplied the Cavaliers with a lift both emotionally and productively with three points and four assists in 17 minutes.

Josh Howard and Vytas Danelius each had 30 for the Demon Deacons (12-2, 2-2 ACC) while Taron Downey added 19.

"We were desperate for a victory after losing three in a row. I'm proud of our kids. I thought our defense was good. We really dug down … We beat a very good team," Gillen said.

An improvement in Virginia's defensive effectiveness was just one of several changes from Virginia's 73-55 loss at Virginia Tech on Tuesday. Gillen opted for a starting lineup that included Billet, Smith, Watson, Nick Vander Laan and Jason Clark. It was the ninth different starting lineup implemented by Gillen this season.

"We thought we had to make a change. We played pretty well against Duke, but after that we started slipping," Gillen said.

The alterations, at least in part, seemed to yield the desired results.

Clark had 10 points and was primarily responsible for guarding Howard, the reigning ACC player of the week after scoring 30 against Georgia Tech on Sunday. Howard finished with 20 points but was 7 of 19 from the field and had Clark in his face on nearly all of those attempts.

"Jason Clark did a good job making Josh Howard work. … He's a spectacular player," Gillen said. "Jason certainly didn't stop him by any stretch but he made him work for his points."

Added Clark: "Josh Howard is one of the top 5 players in this league. Coach Gillen kept telling me that I had Josh Howard and that's the assignment that you want."

Vander Laan had seven points and seven rebounds and provided UVa with a physical presence as well as hustle on seemingly every loose ball in his vicinity.

"Nick Vander Laan was great. He was doing the dirty work on the boards. We did a respectable job against the top rebounding team in the nation," said Gillen, whose team was edged 34-32 on the boards by the Deacons.

Vander Laan, who noted that the team went through an early morning practice Wednesday, said that the Cavaliers were indeed desperate to end their recent losing ways.

"We wanted this one. We knew that we would have to defend this floor. … These guys came here thinking they were going to get a win and we had to say, 'No, you aren't going to get this because we're going to play hard and we're going to bring it,'" Vander Laan said.

Virginia led 43-41 at halftime as Billet made the last of his three first-half 3-pointers with five seconds left before intermission.

Mapp entered the game with 6:24 left in the half and Virginia trailing 31-23. Led by Mapp, however, the Cavaliers surged back into the game. Mapp delivered a trey and had two assists and no turnovers in seven minutes. His second assist set up Billet for the 3-pointer right before halftime.

Virginia switched out of its zone to a man-to-man defense in the second half and it seemed to cool down the Deacons. They were held without a field goal for the first five-and-a-half minutes of the second half and connected on just 10 of their 29 attempts in the final 20 minutes.

"We prepared for both defenses but we didn't play well against both," said Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser. "In the second half, their pressure pushed us away from the basket and we didn't really counter that."

Virginia steadily built an advantage and led by as many as 12 after a jumper by Billet with 4:11 left made it 73-61. Wake would cut that lead to six but couldn't manage to get any closer.

The win was particularly gratifying for Gillen, who put his own spin on the past 48 hours after the loss to the Hokies.

"We're thrilled with the victory and this was a game we really needed. … I had people telling me which bridge to jump off. They were going to drive me to the bridge. I was going to take the Brooklyn Bridge since I'm a New York City guy," Gillen quipped. "It was a must-win. It was a desperate win for us."

 

 

Mapp guides Cavs to upset victory
Majestic Mapp ignites a 28-13 run with a 3-pointer in the first half and finishes with four assists.

By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The one thing Virginia men's basketball fans wanted almost as much as a victory was an expanded role for injury-plagued point guard Majestic Mapp.
They got them both Thursday.

In fact, it was the insertion of Mapp that energized the Cavaliers as they knocked off 17th-ranked Wake Forest 85-75 at University Hall to end a three-game losing streak.

"I had people telling me which bridge to jump off of," UVa coach Pete Gillen said. "They were going to drive me to the bridge. I was going to take the Brooklyn Bridge because I'm a New York City guy.

"In this league, when you win a game, everybody gets excited. When you lose, the world's going to end. I think reality's somewhere in between. If you lose, life is over. Forget Iraq. We lost."

Unranked Virginia (11-6, 2-3 ACC) trailed by eight points before Mapp led the Cavaliers on a 28-13 run after entering the game with 6:43 remaining in the first half.

Clearly a fan favorite, Mapp hit a 3-pointer as soon as he entered the game and contributed four assists, compared with one turnover, in 17 minutes.

It was his first turnover of the season - make that three seasons - after missing the 2000-01 and 2001-02 campaigns while recovering from reconstructive knee surgery.

"In practices, he started doing more and more," Gillen said. "He had good days and bad days, but we said, 'Hey, let's take a shot.' He's a confident player and we needed that. He shares the ball. Our guys like Majestic because he finds them. He makes some good passes.

"We didn't know how long he could play. He got tired but he gave us a lift and got the crowd going. He's a very emotional player. He wants to win. He gives you some energy and some emotion and some fire. At the beginning of the year, we never thought he would get on the court again."

Wake Forest (12-2, 2-2) quickly took the crowd out of the game by making its first five shots, four of them 3-pointers, but UVa's much-maligned defense stiffened and held the Deacons to 45.5 percent shooting from the field.

After the Deacons had shredded Virginia's zone in the first half, Gillen went to the man-to-man defense with which UVa has been more closely associated during his tenure. Wake shot 34.5 percent in the second half, getting three points from 6-8 sophomore Vytas Danelius after he had scored 17 in the first half.

"Nick Vander Laan said, 'Coach, I want to guard Danelius,'" Gillen said. "We said, 'All right, start on him in the second half.' If somebody asks me to guard a guy who had 16 or 17 in the first half, that shows me some courage."

The Cavaliers shot 55.6 percent in the second half and outrebounded the Deacons 20-16. Wake, which had a 34-32 edge on the boards for the game, was ranked No.1 in Division I in rebounding before the game.

Virginia improved to 8-0 at University Hall this season, 2-0 in the ACC. The home teams have won 16 of the first 20 ACC games.

"You guys are the theorists," Wake coach Skip Prosser said. "I just think it's a pretty balanced league and every advantage is magnified. I still think it's too early to say there's a trend."

Prosser, a former Gillen assistant at Xavier, said he suspected that UVa would come out like "a wounded animal" after losing Tuesday at Virginia Tech, 73-55.

"I couldn't do much about Tuesday night," he said. "Couldn't do much about Thursday night, either."
 

 

 

Musgrave loss felt more in playcalling than recruiting

Rutledge prospering at high-school level

By DOUG DOUGHTY
 Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Fridays
If not for the demise of the Virginia men's basketball team, the departure of assistant football coach Bill Musgrave would be uppermost on the minds of most UVa fans these days.

The two central issues: How much will Virginia miss Musgrave and who will take his place?

The answer to the second question should go a long way toward answering the first one.

In more than 25 years of covering UVa football, I can't remember a more clever play-caller than Musgrave in his two years as the Cavaliers’ offensive coordinator. However, I don't think Virginia will miss Musgrave as much as it would miss, say, defensive coordinator Al Golden.

My efforts to contact Virginia head coach Al Groh this week have been in vain, but I suspect Groh feels the same way.

Groh is very big on player procurement and Golden is one of the ACC's foremost recruiters. While the ACC Sports Journal named UVa recruiting coordinator Mike London as its recruiter of the year for 2002, it just as easily could have named Golden.

(This year, you could make a case for UVa assistant head coach Danny Rocco, the lead recruiter on SuperPrep All-Americans Kevin McCabe, Jon Stupar and Ian-Yates Cunningham, as well as preseason All-American Allen Billyk).

I think Musgrave had an active role with the quarterbacks Virginia has recruited, but his recruiting area was closest to Charlottesville and, when I saw him at Hargrave Military Academy combine in early December, he was filling in for Ron Prince.

Virginia was Musgrave's first college job, so he previously had not done much -- if any -- recruiting. His decision to join the Jacksonville Jaguars staff as offensive coordinator reflected a love for the pro game, although it would be jumping to conclusions to say he doesn't or didn't like to recruit.

MUCH OF THE SPECULATION concerning Musgrave's successor has gravitated toward Jeff Rutledge, one of the candidates for the offensive coordinator's job when Groh took over at Virginia.

Rutledge, a former NFL quarterback, was the quarterbacks coach at Vanderbilt at the time and had a reputation as a good recruiter. He subsequently was promoted to offensive coordinator at Vanderbilt but lasted one more season before the Commodores parted company with head coach Woody Widenhofer.

Rutledge subsequently surfaced as the head coach at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nasvhille, which he directed to the state championship over perennial power Brentwood Academy. Rutledge told Tennesseean prep writer Bryan Mullen that he had not been approached about the Virginia opening but might be "tempted."

FROM READING THE weekly Farrell Files on rivals.com, it appears likely that Virginia will receive a football commitment in the next week from Jermaine Dias, rated the No. 9 outside linebacker in the country by rivals.com and the No. 8 linebacker, overall, by SuperPrep.

Hackensack High School coach Ralph Dass told Farrell that Dias will visit Boston College this week out of respect for Eagles' recruiter Bill McGovern but that he will commit to Virginia unless "blown away" by BC.

Dias was rated the No. 19 prospect in the East this week by rivals.com. UVa already has commitments from No. 8 Phillip Brown, No. 15 Kevin McCabe, No. 17 Jonathan Stupar, No. 41 Shannon Lane, No. 55 Fontel Mines, No. 57 Allen Billyk, No. 61 Robbie Catteron, No. 65 Marshall Ausberry, No. 86 Gordie Sammis , No. 90 Eddie Pinigis, No. 96 Emmanuel Byears and No. 98 James Terry.

That doesn't include 2002 Parade All-American Ahmad Brooks, already taking classes at UVa after spending the first semester at Hargrave Military Academy. Brooks reportedly hosted Dias on his visit to Charlottesville.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT, the Virginia men's basketball team is a one-point favorite tonight over Wake Forest, even though 17th-ranked Wake Forest is 11-1 and the Cavaliers (10-6) have lost three games in a row. I think the Cavaliers will win, but the pressure mounts with every game.

For the first time in Pete Gillen's five-year tenure, concentration has been focussed on the 10-year contract he signed after the 2001 season and what kind of buyout conditions it contains.

I made the statement to ACC Sports Journal editor Dave Glenn that I doubted a buyout of Gillen's last eight seasons would cost $8 million and that it might be closer to $5 million, to which Glenn replied, "That would be the biggest buyout I've ever heard of."

Buyouts more commonly are based on base salaries, most of which are in the $200,000-per-year range or less. While it would be naive to think that the thought hasn't entered the minds of some UVa officials, I suspect that most are hoping that Gillen will right the ship.

 

Cavs stave off Deacons
Wake Forest starts quickly, but struggles badly in second half

By Dan Collins
JOURNAL REPORTER
 

CHARLOTTESVILLE

There was nothing cavalier about the attitude of Virginia's band of desperados in last night's 85-75 victory over Wake Forest. For as badly as the visiting Deacons wanted a victory, Virginia needed one more.

"We were desperate for a victory," Coach Pete Gillen of Virginia said. "It was a must win."

Finding their balance after three straight stumbles - including Tuesday night's meltdown at cross-state rival Virginia Tech - the Cavaliers overtook the 17th-ranked Deacons late in the first half and dominated the second in front of 7,642 fans at University Hall. The result was the 16th victory by a home team this season in 20 ACC games.

Wake Forest fell to 12-2 and 2-2 in the ACC going into Sunday's home game against Florida State. Virginia, now 8-0 at home and 3-6 away from University Hall, improved to 11-6 and 2-3 in the ACC.

"We knew they would be a wounded animal, for lack of a better analogy," Coach Skip Prosser of Wake Forest said. "I thought they played with a lot of passion."

Senior Josh Howard of Wake Forest, whose 20 points and six rebounds weren't enough to carry the day, said the Deacons, in hindsight, were fighting uphill from the time Virginia Tech scored the final 13 points in Tuesday night's 73-55 victory over Virginia.

"I knew they were going to need this win," Howard said. "We just didn't fight hard enough, or long enough with them.

"That's what it came down to, them wanting it more than we did. They took it away from us."

The Deacons, after a fast start, carried little steam into halftime and came out with even less. Prosser, trying to re-boot his team, called time with 18:02 remaining and another 53 seconds later.

But try as he might, Prosser couldn't rekindle the fire that the Deacons showed in the opening moments, when they nailed their first four shots, three of them from beyond the 3-point arc. After shooting 57.7 percent in the first half, the Deacons shot just 34.5 percent in the second as the Cavaliers eventually stretched their lead to 12 with four minutes remaining.

"It's fragile," Prosser said. "We've got some youngsters out there and we just didn't want it to slip away right there."

Todd Billet, a 6-0 transfer from Rutgers, led the Cavaliers with 23 points, Devin Smith scored 17 and Travis Watson contributed 11 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Virginia got a spark as well from the oft-injured Majestic Mapp, who in just his third game this season settled the Cavaliers' offense while dishing out four assists in 17 minutes. He also nailed a 3-point shot almost immediately after entering the game in the first half, which sliced a 31-23 lead to five.

"We need him," Gillen said. "Our guys enjoy playing with him because he finds them with passes.

"He gives us some fire and emotion."

Vytas Danelius of the Deacons, besides pulling down a team-high eight rebounds, matched Howard's 20 points, though 17 came in the first half. Taron Downey, in a spectacularly uneven performance, scored a career-high 19 points by hitting 10 of 10 free throws, but also committed eight turnovers while managing just three assists.

In Wake Forest's four ACC games, Downey has 11 assists and 21 turnovers.

"Sometimes I was just careless with the ball and just made bad decisions," Downey said. "It was a mixture of a lot of things. That's something I've got to get better at.

"And I have to do it quick."

Trailing 43-41 at halftime, the Deacons didn't score their first field goal of the second half until Danelius hit a 10-footer with 14:25 remaining. Virginia extended its halftime cushion to 53-44 by scoring on five of its first seven possessions of the second half.

Prosser suggested that the loss of freshman Justin Gray to a broken jaw suffered on Jan. 12 at Duke finally caught up to the Deacons.

"We're a bit of a shooter shy now with Justin not in there," Prosser said. "In that situation we need other guys to make shots."

Prosser, who was an assistant coach under Gillen for eight seasons at Xavier, said he agreed with Howard that Virginia Tech did the Deacons no favors by beating Virginia on Tuesday night.

"I just know Coach, and I just know that they're going to play with tremendous passion all the time - but especially coming off Tuesday night," Prosser said. "But having said that, there wasn't a whole lot I could do about Tuesday night.

"It didn't look like there was a whole lot I could do about (last) night."

 

 

UVa ends skid with upset win over Wake Forest
 By Robert Daski / The News & Advance
Jan 23, 2003
 
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Entering Thursday's game with a 1-3 ACC mark and a dismal loss to Virginia Tech, a victory over No. 17 Wake Forest was the perfect prescription for Virginia's recent woes.

The Cavaliers handed the Demon Deacons an 85-75 defeat at University Hall to snap a three-game losing skid.

So distraught were the Cavaliers from the setbacks that a sense of urgency set in.

"We were desperate for a victory," Cavaliers coach Pete Gillen said. "We had only one day to get ready for Wake Forest and that would be another emotional challenge after three games on the road (against Duke, Clemson and Virginia Tech). We're thrilled with the victory. It was a game we really needed."

Stuck near the basement of the ACC standings, Virginia renewed its confidence with the win to go to 2-3 in conference play. Only Florida State stood between the Cavaliers and last place in the ACC.

"We felt we needed to win this game," UVa guard Devin Smith said. "We knew we had to defend people and get some shots. It was a total team effort."

Four Cavaliers finished with at least 10 points, led by guard Todd Billet's 23 points and Smith's 17. Forwards Travis Watson and Jason Clark added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Watson also grabbed 13 rebounds.

"That's so key in conference play," Billet said. "When you have three or four guys scoring like that, it makes a world of difference."

Virginia maintained its second-half cushion despite Wake Forest hanging around until the final two minutes. Wake Forest forward Josh Howard's layup trimmed his team's deficit to 73-67, but two Devin Smith jams squelched any Wake rally.

Wake Forest dictated the pace in the first half. Forward Vytas Danelius and Howard, the ACC's fourth-leading scorer at 17.5 points per game, sunk everything from jumpers to tip-ins to free throws in carrying the Demon Deacons to a 31-23 lead more than halfway through the first 20 minutes.

"Wake Forest got (ahead), but it's a long game," Smith said. "You don't put your head down. You just play."

The Cavaliers (11-6 overall) found an answer to the Wake frontline by embarking on a 16-8 run to tie the game at 39. Aiding the Cavalier cause were Billet's 11 first half points on 4-5 shooting and 3-4 from three-point land.

"I've got to be super aggressive when it comes to hitting the three-pointer," Billet said. "I was pushing the ball and finding the basket and that helps the team a lot. It also takes pressure off Travis."

Virginia's momentum carried through to the second half. The Cavaliers broke open a close game with a 10-3 spurt. They led 53-44 after Clark's layup. Virginia also elevated its defense with zone and man-to-man looks, throwing Wake Forest into a 35 percent shooting second half. This after the Demon Deacons shot 58 percent in the first.

Danelius finished with 20 points after scoring 17 in the first half.

"We prepared well for both, but we didn't play well against both," Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said. "We didn't handle the ball well. We're not a great shooting basketball team. They guarded us better. Give credit to Virginia's defense."

Virginia's added intensity reached a fever pitch as its hustle resulted in the recovery of loose balls to convert into points (i.e. Elton Brown grabbing an offensive rebound and being rewarded with a layup that gave the Cavaliers a 60-52 lead).

"Give a lot of credit to Virginia," Prosser said. "They played really well. We knew they'd be a wounded animal. They played with a lot of passion."

Howard also led Wake with 20 points while Taron Downey scored 19.

Notes: Seven of the game's first eight field goals were three-pointers. … This is the ninth different starting lineup Gillen has employed this season. … Virginia remains perfect at home at 8-0. … This is just the seventh time in the last 30 meetings that Virginia has shot better than 46 percent against Wake Forest. … Watson set a career-high with five assists.

 

 

Cavs defense stops Wake

1-24-03
By BILL HASS, Staff Writer
News & Record

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Hold that shovel full of dirt.

Virginia, a team that looked ready to have its season buried after three straight losses, responded with exactly the kind of effort it needed Thursday night and ended up beating Wake Forest 85-75.

The Cavaliers had lost three straight games, all on the road. Returning to the friendly confines of University Hall and 7,642 cheering fans certainly helped as Virginia ran its record to 8-0 at home.

More importantly, Virginia improved to 2-3 in the ACC, 11-6 overall.

Wake coach Skip Prosser, whose 17th ranked team dropped to 2-2, 12-2, compared the Cavaliers to a wounded animal. Virginia coach Pete Gillen agreed.

"We were desperate for a victory,"Gillen said.

That desperation caused the Cavs to switch from mostly zone defense in the first half to mostly man-to-man in the second half. They limited the Deacons to 34.5 percent shooting after Wake had hit 57.7 percent in the opening half.

"They kept switching defenses and getting their hands in our passing lanes," said Wake point guard Taron Downey, who scored 19 points but had eight turnovers.

Virginia also held its own on the boards against the Deacons, who were leading the nation in rebounding margin at 13.8. Wake had a small edge there, 34-32, the first time it hasn't outrebounded a team by at least nine.

Two factors came into play on the boards. Virginia's Travis Watson grabbed 13 rebounds, or 40 percent of his team's total.

And Wake's freshman center, Eric Williams, was limited to just nine minutes because of foul trouble and had just one rebound.

"I know from last year Travis Watson hurt us a lot," Wake's Vytas Danelius said, "and it seemed like he had a pretty good game this time. It was tough for us to compete against their big guys. I couldn't be more aggressive when I got four fouls."

This game looked like a prime chance for Wake to snatch a coveted ACC road win. The Cavaliers were coming off a disheartening 18-point loss at Virginia Tech Tuesday night, which made Prosser wary.

"I couldn't do anything about Tuesday night," Prosser said, "and apparently I couldn't do anything about Thursday night, either."

For most of the first half, Wake gained the upper hand, building a 31-23 lead. The Deacons hit their first five shots, including four 3-pointers. Danelius scored 17 points against Virginia's zone.

But in the final 6-1/2 minutes of the first half, the Cavs regrouped. They outscored Wake 20-10 the rest of the way, taking a 43-41 lead into the locker room when Todd Billet hit a 3-pointer with 6 seconds to go. Then they opened the second half with a 10-3 run, pushing the lead to 53-44.

Trailing by as many as a dozen, Wake cut the lead to 73-67 with 2:23 left but came no closer.

"We didn't handle the ball well and their man-to-man hurt us," Prosser said. "They guarded us better than we executed our offense."

Virginia's defense caused the Deacons to look hesitant, often going deep into the shot clock without getting a good look.

Danelius was held to just three points in the second half, taking only three shots. Josh Howard and Downey picked up some of the slack, and the trio scored 59 of Wake's 75 points.

"We just couldn't keep up with them, I guess," Howard said. "In the second half I thought we relaxed and gave them a chance to do what they do, and they did it. I thought it was there for the taking but we just didn't finish it out."

 

 

Cavs Defend Their Turf
They Hand Wake Second Loss: Virginia 85, Wake Forest 75
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, January 24, 2003; Page D06

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Jan. 23 -- History suggested Virginia might find a panacea for its collective ills tonight at University Hall. History was proven correct, as the Cavaliers used a strong defensive effort to push past No. 17 Wake Forest in the second half for an 85-75 win.

Virginia (11-6, 2-3 ACC) had lost four of its past five games, but each of those losses was on the road. At home, the Cavaliers are 46-8 since 1999, including 8-0 this season.

"We knew they'd be a wounded animal, for lack of a better analogy," Wake Forest Coach Skip Prosser said. "I thought they played with a lot of passion."

In rhythm offensively for most of the night, Virginia shot 51 percent from the field -- thanks in part to Majestic Mapp's 17-minute stint at point guard -- and put four scorers in double figures. Yet the Cavaliers trailed until the closing minutes of the first half because they could not get the defensive stops they needed to do more than just trade baskets with Wake Forest (12-2, 2-2).

That changed for Virginia on the final few possessions before halftime and throughout the second half. After shooting 58 percent in the first half, Wake Forest managed less than 35 percent in the second as the Cavaliers built on their 43-41 halftime lead.

Senior wing Josh Howard and sophomore forward Vytas Danelius scored 20 points each for Wake Forest, but Howard was 7 of 19 from the field and Danelius, who tied a career high, was limited to three points on 1-of-3 shooting after halftime. Point guard Taron Downey had 19 points on 4-of-10 shooting with eight turnovers.

Todd Billet, Virginia's streaky shooter, hit 7 of 14 shots to lead all scorers with 23 points. Small forward Devin Smith added 17, and power forward Travis Watson had 11 points and 13 rebounds.

The Cavaliers took a two-point lead into the break when Billet capped a late Virginia burst by curling around a screen to hit a three-pointer in the closing seconds. They surged in the opening minutes of the second half, establishing a 53-44 lead 4 minutes 52 seconds in when Keith Jenifer found Jason Clark for a hoop underneath the basket.

Wake Forest, meantime, was in the midst of a field goal drought that lasted 7:39 spanning the two halves. Clark did a solid job guarding Howard, and Virginia center Nick Vander Laan was strong defensively after volunteering at halftime to cover Danelius.

"They were in the passing lanes [and] we didn't handle the basketball as well as we needed to," said Prosser, who spent eight years as an assistant under Virginia Coach Pete Gillen at Xavier. "They guarded us better than we executed our offense."

Virginia led by at least four points for the remainder of the game, often in front by eight or 10. That was enough to rid any memories of Tuesday's 73-55 loss at Virginia Tech, which followed losses at Duke and Clemson.

"I had people telling me which bridge to jump off of," Gillen joked. "They were going to drive me to the bridge."

Howard said the Demon Deacons recognized Virginia's desperation.

"I'm not taking anything away from Virginia Tech, but they [Virginia] needed this win," Howard said. "They wanted it more than us."

The Cavaliers trailed 31-23 when Mapp entered the game with 6:43 left in the first half. He hit a three-pointer -- his only basket of the night -- on the next possession, then helped lead Virginia's 20-10 run to close the half.

"In practices he had started doing more and we said, 'Hey, let's take a shot,' " Gillen said. "We needed him to play. Our guys like Majestic because he finds them. He makes good passes. We didn't know how long he could play, but he gave us a lift."

Trailing 39-35 after Danelius hit a short jumper from the baseline, Virginia pulled within one on the next possession when Vander Laan found Watson cutting underneath the hoop for a lay-in that became a three-point play thanks to Danelius's second foul. Two free throws by Vander Laan gave the Cavaliers a 40-39 lead, their first since the opening minutes, with 1:17 left.

Downey regained the lead for Wake with free throws earned on a fast-break drive, but Billet answered with a three that gave the Cavs a 43-41 halftime lead.

 

 

Mapp guides UVa

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- It's still just the start, but now even Majestic Mapp is beginning to feel that there's reason to celebrate.
Virginia's junior point guard played 17 minutes Thursday night, running the team like he'd never been away and sparking runs each time he entered the lineup as the Cavaliers beat No. 17 Wake Forest 85-75.

Two weeks ago, when he received thunderous applause before his first appearance since the 1999-2000 season, Mapp said he was appreciative of the crowd support, but more interested in starting to play well again.

"I'm not out there trying to do too much," Mapp said after his third appearance of the season following a 1,032-day absence and four knee surgeries. "I'm just trying to let the game come back to me slowly."

Mapp scored three points and had four assists, a steal and a turnover, but drew huge ovations every time he came into the game, and huge plaudits from teammates for helping to steady the reeling Cavaliers on the court.

"Majestic is just an intangible point guard," said Nick Vander Laan, who contributed seven points, seven rebounds and several diving hustle plays that also fired up the crowd. "He sees the floor, he knows when to shoot, he knows when to pass and he knows when to set up the plays."

Mapp had only one turnover, and when he wasn't in the game in the second half, he spent most of his time standing in front of his seat.

"I was just trying to keep my legs moving," he said.

The victory snapped Virginia's three-game losing streak, erased the memory of an embarrassing 18-point loss at Virginia Tech on Tuesday night and made the Cavaliers (11-6, 2-3 ACC) 8-0 at home.

It also eased a developing feeling of doom for the Cavaliers.

"We were desperate for a victory," coach Pete Gillen said. "I had people telling me which bridge to jump off. They were going to drive me."

Todd Billet led Virginia with 23 points, Clark scored 10 and Travis Watson had 11 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two steals.

"How many times do you see a power forward do that," Gillen asked.

Wake Forest (12-2, 2-2) got 20 points from Josh Howard and career highs of 20 points from Vytas Danelius and 19 from Taron Downey, but had no answer once Mapp got going and brought the crowd and team with him.

"We knew they'd be a wounded animal," Demon Deacons coach Skip Prosser said. "We're still learning how to play in [hostile] situations."

Mapp had played just eight minutes in two previous appearances this season, but played the last 6:43 of the first half and the first 4:32 of the second half, helping Virginia use a 28-13 run to lead 51-44.

When Mapp went to the bench, Smith and Vander Laan took over. Smith scored eight points in a span of three minutes and Vander Laan dove for loose balls, grabbed tough rebounds and scored two second-half layups.

"Nick was great," Gillen said. "He did the dirty work."

After Mapp went out with 15:28 to play, the Demon Deacons got within 55-50 before Smith hit two 3-pointers and Elton Brown added two baskets to make it 65-56. Wake Forest never got closer than six points again.


 

Hoops hysteria? Here's the place
Jack Wilkinson - Staff
Friday, January 24, 2003
 

In Chapel Hill, Matt Doherty issues "a public statement" to emphasize that his relationship with North Carolina freshmen Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants is very good --- despite what the players' parents say, or don't say.

In Raleigh, Herb Sendek morphs from beleaguered to beatified within days. From a caller to the N.C. State coach's radio show inquiring, "What would it take to buy out your contract?" to thousands of State students storming the court after a rare triumph over Duke.

In Durham, Mike Krzyzewski goes from unbeaten and No. 1 to twice-beaten in the ACC within five days. On the verge of Duke's first three-game losing streak since 1996, Dookies fret: Will Chris Duhon ever hit another jumper?

And westbound on I-40 in Winston-Salem, Skip Prosser prospers with the ACC's most tenacious rebounders yet prays those severe shin splints don't return to hobble the ACC's premier player, Josh Howard of Wake Forest.

Yes, it's only mid-January and temperatures along Tobacco Road have plunged to single digits. Yet the ACC season is already ablaze, college hoops' most passionate passion play in full frenzy. Yes, Maryland is the defending NCAA champion and, at last look, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Clemson and Florida State still belong to the ACC. But nowhere in the ACC is the mania as customarily manic as on Tobacco Road, where life on the road is nearly as hazardous to your health as smoking.

"Precious," Doherty calls ACC road victories, the Carolina coach sounding like Gollum in "The Two Towers." Maryland's two towers, Ryan Randle and Tahj Holden, were instrumental in the Terps' 81-66 victory Wednesday in Chapel Hill. That was just the fourth time in 19 conference games the visiting team has prevailed.

It also didn't dispel rumors of discord between Doherty, the third-year coachr, and his two most talented freshmen. Saturday, the Raleigh News & Observer ran a story in which point guard Felton's father said he'd attended some practices and saw his son argue with Doherty. Meanwhile, McCants' father declined to comment on whether his son was happy at Chapel Hill. Despite leading the ACC in scoring, McCants rarely smiles and talks much less now than at the start of the season.

"I encourage you to ask our players about me and my relationship with them," Doherty said. "A lot's been said. Ask them. Ask them."

Ask Clifford Crawford, who had 21 points in State's 81-66 win over Duke, about Sendek, and Crawford --- who calls his sad-eyed coach "the little guy with the big heart" --- replies, "It's been a tough week for him, a very tough week. He's been under a lot of scrutiny and a lot of fire. But he never lost his composure. He put us in a great position to win. He gets all the credit.