Bench mark for Cavs
Mikalauskas: 10 points, five boards and one good job of playing defense
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 20, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- With 1:58 left, the request came over the P.A. system at University Hall: "Please refrain from coming onto the court at the conclusion of the game."

No chance. This isn't one of Roy Williams' vintage teams, but North Carolina is still North Carolina. And when the final horn sounded and Virginia's 72-68 victory over the defending NCAA champion Tar Heels was official last night, students stormed the court.

Standing tall amid the mob scene was a jubilant Laurynas Mikalauskas. Who could blame him? The 6-8, 240-pound freshman had earned the right to celebrate after coming off bench to contribute 10 points, five rebounds, one blocked shot and one steal.

Moreover, Mikalauskas pointed out, "I know a lot of those guys. . . . Probably 300 people told me, 'Good luck,' today."

Mikalauskas led a defensive effort that kept UNC's freshman phenom, 6-9 Tyler Hansbrough, from dominating. Hansbrough finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, but "I thought it was a hard 18 and 10," said Dave Leitao, Virginia's first-year coach.

Wins over Virginia Tech and UNC have Virginia (3-2, 9-6) above .500 in ACC play for the first time since the 2002-03 season. The 24th-ranked Heels dropped to 2-2, 10-4, largely because they shot only 36.2 percent from the floor. Led by 6-10 junior Jason Cain, who had a career-high five blocks, the Cavaliers rejected 12 shots.

"I really thought their defense really dominated our offense," Williams said.

U.Va. has won six of its past seven games against UNC at U-Hall.

Virginia led 24-14 about 11 minutes into the game, but from that point every first-half possession became a struggle for Leitao's club, as UNC overplayed guards Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds with great success. Carolina scored 10 straight points to pull even at 24 and went into the break ahead 29-27.

The Cavaliers' offensive funk continued early in the second half, and Hansbrough's jump hook pushed UNC's lead to 36-29 with 17:44 remaining.

"We needed to change the momentum," Singletary said.

He succeeded. Singletary, a sophomore from Philadelphia, converted a three-point play to make it 36-32 and then scored on a fast break to cut UNC's lead to two. Hansbrough answered with a jumper, but Singletary passed to sophomore swingman Adrian Joseph for a 3-pointer that made it 38-37. Walk-on guard Billy Campbell's driving layup put the Cavaliers ahead 39-38 with 14:18 remaining, and UNC never led again.

In the second half, Leitao switched to a motion offense to combat the Heels' aggressive perimeter defense, and the move paid huge dividends. The Cavaliers' big men -- all but invisible offensively in the first half -- suddenly began hurting the Heels inside. Cain and Mikalauskas combined for 13 points after intermission.

"We've got to score down low sometimes," Cain said. "We can't just depend on J.R. and Sean for all the points."

UNC, down nine points with 5 minutes remaining, closed to 64-61 on Reyshawn Terry's two free throws at the 2:51 mark. In the final 2:44, however, U.Va. went 8 for 10 from the line to keep the Heels at bay. During that span, reserve point guard T.J. Bannister and Reynolds each made three free throws.

Singletary finished with 18 points and Reynolds added 16 to help Leitao secure his first win over a ranked opponent as Virginia's coach.

"Obviously, I'm very, very proud of our guys and their effort and ability to hang in there," Leitao said.

"Probably after Coach [Jim] Calhoun, there's nobody in this sport that I respect more than Roy Williams, for the way he conducts his business and the way he is as a man."

 

Battle of rookies ends in Cavs' favor
BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Jan 20, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE Tyler Hansbrough will earn serious money in the NBA one day and Laurynas Mikalauskas probably won't, but that didn't matter last night. All that mattered last night was several square feet of varnished floorboards in the low post at University Hall.

Hansbrough wanted to own them.

Mikalauskas refused to sign the deed.

Wade through the numbers and videotape of Virginia's 72-68 conquest of North Carolina, and you'd be hard-pressed to name a bigger factor.

This side of Duke, the ACC is balanced as delicately as your grocery budget. Duke is fragging league opponents by an average of 13.4 points, Miami -- thanks to its 62-38 beat-down of Clemson -- by 9.2. Everyone else descends from plus-2.9 into the minus pool.

UNC came to town at plus-1.7 points for its first three ACC tests, Virginia at minus-0.8 in its first four. A fairly negligible difference, in other words. Throw these teams onto the court, and anything is liable to tilt the balance.

Laurynas Mikalauskas -- he answers to Lauris was a big-time anything last night.

Oh, sure, the Cavs got the necessary production from Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds (a combined 34 points) and a robust 12 blocked shots (five by Jason Cain -- take a bow) and a second-half pick-me-up from T.J. Bannister (a runner and two nifty assists during the spurt when U.Va. seized control).

That said, Mikalauskas was a difference-maker. He scored 10 points -- twice his average -- and gave the Cavs at least the hint of a presence in the low post. But that was almost gravy. The meat and potatoes -- gristle and all -- was his job at the other end against Hansbrough.

They're both freshmen. Hansbrough was an all-galaxy recruit who's tracking toward ACC rookie-of-the-year recognition. Mikalauskas is from Lithuania by way of up-the-road Blue Ridge School. His signing with U.Va. did not stop presses.

Last night, he stopped a talent when it mattered most. Hansbrough scored on a layup for 42-all with 12:29 to go. He managed only one more point the rest of the way. True, the Cavs threw multiple double-teams at him. But the first line of defense -- sometimes the only line of defense -- was Mikalauskas and his 241 pounds of looming, leaning, muscling resistance.

Hansbrough, at 6-9 and 235, is no sapling.

Mikalauskas cut him down to size enough to make a difference.

"A lot of times, he battled him by himself," said U.Va. coach Dave Leitao. "You don't stop players like that. He still got 18 [points] and 10 [rebounds]. But I thought it was a hard 18 and 10."

Echoed UNC counterpart Roy Williams, "I thought he did a nice job. He did get some help. But he probably didn't let Tyler get as low as Tyler would like to get."

Mikalauskas ("He's one one of the strongest freshmen I've ever seen," said Bannister) doesn't mind throwing his weight around. Refs don't mind telling him when he goes overboard. Mikalauskas had fouled out of U.Va.'s past two games, in fact. This time, after some off-day counseling from Leitao, he managed to avoid whistles.

"I feel really good," Mikalauskas said of his performance. "I know Tyler's game from playing against him in AAU. When you play him strong, he backs down a little bit. Every possession was like a war, like a battle. I think he got tired."

Mikalauskas, for his part, felt frisky enough to join the post-buzzer mosh pit when the students rushed the floor. He had much to celebrate.

"Early in the year, I was kind of a rookie," he said. "Now I feel much more comfortable. I'm just trying to do whatever my team needs from me."

Last night, he played like it. And delivered.

 

Champs succumb to Cavs
UVa improves to 3-2 in the ACC and atones for a bad loss last year with a home victory over No. 24 North Carolina.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Never mind that the North Carolina men's basketball team of 2006 is not the North Carolina team of 2005. Virginia can always say it beat the defending national champions.

First-year UVa head coach Dave Leitao celebrated his first victory over a Top 25 team and his first postgame mob scene, with freshman forward Lauris Mikalauskas leading the charge to midcourt after a 72-68 triumph Thursday night.

"I went back to the locker room and I cried," said Mikalauskas, who came off the bench to score 10 points and stood his ground defensively against the ACC's top freshman, Tyler Hansbrough. "I was like, 'Man, that's exciting.'

"I never felt anything like that. They were the national champs and we just beat them. It doesn't get any better than that."

No. 24 UNC (10-4, 2-2) lost its second straight game.

These were not the Tar Heels of Raymond Felton, Sean May and Rashad McCants. In fact, Carolina did not return a single starter from last year's championship squad, but the Tar Heels had won 10 of their first 12 games and have been ranked for the past seven weeks.

Moreover, Carolina had Roy Williams on its bench. It was the 600th game as a Division I head coach for Williams, whose 80.1 winning percentage is the highest among active coaches with at least 10 years' service.

"After Coach [Jim] Calhoun, there's nobody in the sport I respect more than Roy Williams," said Leitao, who coached under Calhoun at Connecticut. "He represents all that's good about our sport. To be able to compete means a lot for our guys and means a lot for our program."

Carolina had won back-to-back games at University Hall only twice in the past 20 years, although the disparity between the two programs was never so dramatic as it was last year, when the Tar Heels led by as many as 50 points before beating the Cavaliers 110-76.

"The guys who were here last year, we talked about it," said T.J. Bannister, a reserve guard who provided a spark during a 9-2 second-half run. "Coach Leitao watched the game on tape, so he knew about it, too.

"We remembered what happened that day and we weren't about to let it happen again."

The Cavaliers (9-6, 3-2) shot only 37.9 percent from the field Thursday, but they blocked a season-high 12 shots, committed just 10 turnovers and made 18 of 21 free throws in the second half.

"We wanted defensively to do some great things," said Williams, who then added sarcastically. "They were averaging 17 turnovers and we held them to 10.

"The most amazing stat to me is that [the Cavaliers] only had 10 offensive rebounds. You could have told me 45 and I would have believed it."

Williams kept coming back to a sequence during the second half when the Tar Heels had four consecutive defensive stops, only to have Mikalauskas tip in two of the misses, the second giving UVa a 61-52 lead with exactly six minutes remaining.

Carolina twice cut the lead to four, the second time on a Reyshawn Terry 3-pointer with 53.4 left, but Virginia held onto the ball -- the Cavaliers had one turnover in the last 12 minutes -- and made their free throws.

Carolina was 10-of-14 from the free-throw line, but Hansbrough missed four straight foul shots at one point after hitting 35 of 37 in his previous three games. One of the misses was the front end of a one-and-one sandwiched around Mikalauskas' putbacks.

"The thing that worried me most was foul trouble because Hansbrough draws so many fouls," said Leitao, who eight days earlier had lost three post players to fouls in an 87-82 overtime loss to Florida State.

"We went back to doubling the post and obviously gave [Mikalauskas] some help, but a lot of times he just battled him by himself. Hansbrough still had 18 [points] and 10 [rebounds], but I thought it was a hard 18 and 10.

Said Williams: "I felt their defense dominated our offense. This is my 18th year of coaching and I always liked it when somebody double-teamed me in the post. I always thought that was good for us, but it wasn't tonight."

The Cavaliers had some momentum after winning at Virginia Tech, 54-49. Virginia was picked last in the ACC before the season and has been the underdog in all five of its conference games.

"We need wins like this, for me personally, to legitimize all the yelling and screaming I do in practice every day," Leitao said. "I'm proud of the way we toughed it out."

Cavs trample Tar Heels
UVa upsets No. 24 UNC
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
January 20, 2006

University of Virginia guard J.R. Reynolds was locked in a sea of orange and couldn't get out.
Reynolds didn't mind, though. In fact, he was loving it.

Virginia scored its biggest win of the Dave Leitao era - a 72-68 win over No. 24-ranked North Carolina - and fans were storming the court in a game being watched by a national television audience on ESPN.

Does it get any better for a college basketball player?

"Guys were just jumping around and I couldn't get out," said Reynolds, who scored

16 points against the reigning National Champions. "I thought I was going to get stuck in the middle, but eventually I fought my way out of it."

Reynolds said the fan support was awesome.

"I can't even put into words," he said. "Going to other gyms and it being packed and seeing how their fans are. This was [great]."

Added guard Sean Singletary, who led the Cavs with 18 points: "It feels good to have people come out and support us like this. I just wish it could be like this for every game because we need the fans to get more big wins like this."

The Cavs, behind solid defense, timely baskets and good free-throw shooting, notched their first win over a ranked opponent since knocking off Arizona at University Hall early last season. The Cavs (9-6, 3-2) are over .500 in the ACC for the first time since the 2002-03 season.

Leitao, in a rare moment of celebration, said the win meant a lot to him.

"After coach Calhoun, there's nobody in this sport that I respect more than Roy Williams," Leitao said. "He's not just a basketball coach. He represents all that is good about our sport. So, to compete and win it means a lot for our program and for me personally to legitimize what I yell and scream about in practice every day."

It didn't come easy.

UVa trailed by two at the half, but was able to take control of the game midway through the second and build a nine-point lead.

Freshman Laurynas Mikalauskas played his best game of the season, scoring 10 points and grabbing five rebounds.

The Blue Ridge High product was in the face of Tyler Hansbrough all night. Mikalauskas did a great job of muscling up to Hansbrough - the Tar Heels leading scorer - and making him take difficult shots.

"A lot of times he battled by himself, Tunji [Soroye] too," Leitao said. "[Hansbrough] still had

18 [points] and 10 [rebounds], but I thought it was a hard 18 and 10."

Mikalauskas said his strategy was simple.

"I just tried to not let him touch the ball," Mikalauskas said. "I read about him a lot. Everybody talking about Hansbrough, Hansbrough, Hansbrough. He's on ESPN every day."

Mikalauskas also had a couple key offensive rebounds and tip-ins down the stretch. In addition, he got the crowd into the game with his hustle - and cheerleading. When Mikalauskas came out of the game with six minutes left, he waved his arms to the crowd and tried to get it even more into the game.

"I saw some people sitting down," Mikalauskas said. "I just wanted to tell people to trust our team. Good things happen when teams play hard."

The Cavs did a great job of holding the Tar Heels' other top guns - David Noel and Reyshawn Terry - in check. Noel was just 7 of 16 from the field (14 points). Terry was 3 of 9 (11 points.)

"I think their defense really dominated our offense," said UNC coach Roy Williams. "They made us miss shots and did a good job on Tyler."

Almost every Cavalier contributed to the win.

Jason Cain had a career-high five blocks, including a huge swat on Noel with

1:10 remaining. As a team, the Cavs registered a season-high 12 rejections.

T.J. Bannister played his best game since returning from a sports hernia injury, connecting on a few timely baskets and hitting some clutch free throws - the Cavs hit 23 of 29 free throws, UNC was 10 of 14 from the line.

Singletary played his usual all-round game, leading the Cavs with four assists.

"It's finally coming together for us," he said. 'We have two big wins in a row. Practices are so much better. Everybody's executing and just the fundamentals of basketball - everybody's starting to understand. It's showing when it comes game time.

"With coach Leitao at the helm, I can see a lot more big wins in the future like this because he really knews what he's talking about. If everybody keeps buying into it, our future's real bright."

DUNKS. The Cavs host Miami Tuesday?During the pregame introductions, UNC coach Roy Williams stood at midcourt and - in a huge display of sportsmanship - clapped as Virginia players were introduced?At the end of the half, there was a bit of confusion. The Cavs' Mamadi Diane had the ball and thought he heard the buzzer for the end of the half, so he took a few steps with the ball. However, it was the shot-clock buzzer. UNC should have received the ball as a result of the travel, and time should have been put back on the clock. UVa's entire team had already returned to the locker room as referees discussed how much time should be put back on the clock. UVa came back out, but then officials called an end to the half.

 

Coaching key to win over Heels
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
January 20, 2006

Here in the land that college basketball forgot, Wahoo fans have sat with their palms up saying, 'What about us?'
Well, Thursday night they got their answer.

Virginia 72, North Carolina 68.

From the opening Bonusphere 3-pointer by Adrian Joseph to the stampede down the court by UVa's reinvigorated sixth man, Coach Dave Leitao drained every ounce of basketball possible from his upstart squad. For a team that was picked dead last in the ACC, his Cavaliers find themselves 3-2, the first time they've peeked above .500 in this hoops crazy league since early in the '02-'03 season.

Things are looking up

In winning three of the last four, Virginia (9-6 overall) has done it the hard way, staking ownership of crunch time.

Yeah, knocking off the 24th-ranked Tar Heels ain't what it used to be. The defending national champions were so wiped out by NBA defections they might have been packing Pampers in their suitcases for their trip across the state border.

But for Wahoo fans, beating Carolina any time under any conditions is a reason to celebrate. Gaining a measure of revenge from last year's

110-76 monumental landslide, perhaps the beginning of the end for former coach Pete Gillen's rein over the program, perhaps signaled a rebirth of Virginia basketball.

While the Tar Heels were young - four freshmen and a sophomore among their top seven players - they were still regarded as favorites to wipe the floor with the Cavaliers. But Leitao had a plan as did Carolina's Roy Williams. Leitao's was better.

Williams expected Virginia to play a lot of zone. Instead, Leitao offered up a suffocating man-to-man most of the night.

Backcourt steps up

The Tar Heels coach, destined for the Hall of Fame, believed his defensive pressure would force the sometimes careless Wahoo guards into a number of turnovers and result in easy baskets. Surprise! UVa's backcourt trio of Sean Singletary, J.R. Reynolds and T.J. Bannister, committed only 10 turnovers and dominated the game's tempo.

"Their guards did a great job of handling the ball," Williams said. "We ran two traps at 'em and they threw it inside for dunks both times, which means their coaching staff did a better job of coaching them that I did my team."

If that wasn't enough, then how about Virginia's oft-maligned big men, who played some hair-chested stretches against the league's best rookie postman Tyler Hansbrough. The Tar Heel freshman has ruled the paint in putting impressive numbers: sixth in the ACC in scoring; second in field goal percentage; 12th in rebounding; 10th in free throw shooting.

While he finished with 18 points and 10 boards, Hansbrough had to fight for every inch of the floor.

Meanwhile, Jason Cain and UVa freshman Lars Mikalauskas refused to back off. Cain played like a man possessed with seven points, five rebounds and five of the Cavs' season-high 12 blocked shots. Mikalauskas, who up until last night was pretty much a human personal foul (he had fouled out of the previous two ACC games), stunned the Heels and a crowd of 8,392 with his performance.

The big Lithuanian scored 10 points with aggressive moves to the basket, hitting five of nine shots, collected five rebounds, a block and was whistled only twice in the upset.

Their play gave Leitao's team a dimension that had been missing for a long time on a night it needed it most, against one of the league's top rebounding units.

Williams confessed he was mystified by a boxscore that revealed Virginia had but 10 offensive rebounds.

"I thought they had 10 offensive rebounds in a four-minute stretch," Williams said. "It seemed like every offensive rebound had turned into a basket."

While this game may have been measured as a small tremor around the basketball world, it spoke volumes about what Leitao is trying to accomplish here in his first year. Having taken over a program that was considered the bottom feeder of the ACC, Leitao hasn't coached like a man with a free pass, but rather like a desperate man trying to repay a debt.

Game-by-game he watches his team, fairly young in itself, grow up a bit.

"We're young enough and inexperienced enough that when they came back on us in the first half, we got counterpunched," Leitao explained. "We're not really at the point where we can fall back on what we know because we're still learning.

"So when we get hit by adversity, we're still figuring out what to do. That's what good teams, experienced players do. At that point in the game, I thought we really learned about how to come back, especially on the defensive end," Leitao said.

He was referring to a nine-point Cavalier lead that quickly diminished to four with four minutes to play. But the Cavs did hang on and closed the deal.

For Leitao, the win verified to his players what he has relentlessly pounded into their psyche since taking over the program last April. Defense and rebounding wins games.

Now all his ranting and raving in practice suddenly makes sense. His players have bought in to his philosophies.

Trust in big Dave.

Even the fans have sipped the Kool-Aid and like the taste.

Aging University Hall, in its final year of hosting ACC basketball, may still have a few magic moments remaining. Few will be better than this.



 

Does Borbely hiring signal shift in philosophy?
Relations can be improved in Hampton-Newport News
By Doug Doughty
THE ROANOKE TIMES

To me, it’s always about players.

That’s why, if I had a choice to hire Curt Newsome, I’d do it.

Of course, as I’ve said on more than one occasion, I don’t know an ‘”X” from an “O.” Having followed recruiting for more than 25 years, I tend to view a lot of sports through a recruiting perspective.

I know enough about Virginia head coach Al Groh to say it’s about players for him, too, but I wonder if his selection of Dave Borbely as offensive-line coach doesn’t represent a slight shift in philosophy.

For one thing, Borbely, at 46, is older than most of the coaches Groh named to his first staff in 2001.

Borbely has moved a lot during his coaching career, but his latest move, from Colorado after the ouster of Gary Barnett, might not have been by design. He could be prepared to stay at Virginia for a while.

“Damned good,” an assistant from another conference said of Borbely.

What struck me about Groh’s comments on Borbely was that they focused mostly on recruiting.

“Dave brings a lot of experience not only as a coach, but as a recruiter from high-profile programs with very strong academic reputations,” said Groh in a news release distributed by UVa.

“He knows the type of student-athlete we have on our team, who can also excel in a demanding academic setting.”

So, why would anybody hire Newsome and not Borbely?

I really have little feel for what kind of line coach Newsome has been at JMU. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s pretty good, but what Newsome brings to the table are his connections to coaches in the Hampton-Newport News area.

If you haven’t noticed, Virginia hasn’t done particularly well in the Hampton-Newport News area for several years, and this year received scant consideration from many of the best players all over Virginia.

Borbely and an earlier hire, Bobby Diaco from Central Michigan, do not have an obvious connection to the state of Virginia. Does their selection mean that UVa has decided to place an even greater emphasis on national recruiting?

“That’s the first thing I thought,” said the assistant from another conference.

The out-of-state route was the one taken by first-year Virginia men’s basketball coach Dave Leitao and his staff this year. Many of the state’s top prospects had eliminated the Cavaliers before Leitao was hired, but the new staff still wound up with a Top 25 recruiting class, with five out-of-state recruits.

The other assistant hired by Groh, defensive coordinator Mike London, does have a vast recruiting background in Virginia. Could it be that Newsome wasn’t quite as attractive when Groh knew that he would have London available to recruit in Hampton and Newport News?

(There is a similar issue at Virginia Tech, which is likely to hire Newsome for the spot created when Kevin Rogers went to the Minnesota Vikings. What recruiting area does Newsome get? There would be no reason to take Cavanaugh out of Hampton-Newport News and Bryan Stinespring out of Tidewater.).

London is from Hampton and high-school coaches know him and respect them, but Virginia wasn’t getting many players from that area even before London handed it over to Danny Rocco. There have been some academic issues, this year in particular, but some of the problems can be traced to Groh.

Normally, you’re a Mike Smith guy or a Bill Dee guy, referring to the rival coaches at Hampton and Phoebus, but Groh isn’t either. Whereas Phoebus players traditionally have gone to Tech and Hampton players have gone to Virginia, the Cavaliers won’t have a player from Hampton next year for the first time in memory.

“It’s probably been a pretty good while,” said Smith, who entertained Groh and London on Thursday.

I’d like to be a fly on the wall at UVa’s next organizational recruiting meeting.

 

Singletary teaches Hokies a lesson
Aaron
McFarling
The Roanoke Times

BLACKSBURG -- The Virginia Tech men's basketball team could probably use a pep talk this morning.

Perhaps Sean Singletary would be willing to provide it.

After all, Singletary is the main reason Tech is 0-4 in the ACC today instead of 1-3. And everything the Hokies are likely feeling after Sunday's 54-49 loss to Virginia at Cassell Coliseum, Singletary has felt as an individual in the past few days.

Pain. Frustration. Maybe even doubt.

"In those kinds of situations, you've just got to persevere," the UVa sophomore point guard said in the winning locker room Sunday. "Just dig deep down inside and really show your character."

Never was that more necessary than with 5:55 remaining in the second half. The Hokies had gone on a 11-0 run to take a 42-39 lead. The crowd, spurred by an impromptu speech by coach Seth Greenberg, was going nuts.

Tech was about to deliver the final blow.

Nobody would have blamed Singletary if he would have crumbled in this spot. He hadn't practiced in days. Severe cramps during UVa's midweek game, combined with full-body soreness, had left the co-captain feeble.

In fact, UVa coach Dave Leitao wasn't even sure if Singleton would be able to play against Tech. And with 5:55 left, it was looking like maybe he shouldn't have played. He had more turnovers (seven) than he had points (six).

But Singleton said he was OK, so Leitao stayed with him.

"He's got something inside of him," Leitao said. "He's got a grit. I've said this to him, and I've said this to a lot of people about him, he's got some intestinal fortitude which I really don't know if I've ever seen before."

Sound familiar? That's something Greenberg has been asking for ever since Tech entered ACC play: A little extra toughness. A little extra strength that could turn these close losses into wins.

On this day, we saw it from Singletary. From the 5:55 point on, every shot Tech hit, Singletary matched.

He drove in and spun one of the glass. He pulled up from 15-feet. He drained a 3-pointer from the left corner. He drew a foul and hit both free throws.

For those five minutes, the score was Singletary 10, Tech 7.

Tie game.

"Mental toughness," Singletary said. "Fortunately, with the people I've been around in my life, I learned to develop some mental toughness. It shows in clutch situations.

"I really had to have confidence in myself, knowing that I struggled and turned the ball over a [heck] of a lot, just to come out and just knock down some shots."

Singletary probably won't be remembered as the hero in this one. That honor goes to Adrian Joseph, who hit the 3-pointer that put UVa ahead to stay.

But considering what Singletary had been through this week -- and considering he had the ball in his hands when the atmosphere was its most volatile -- his performance was even more impressive.

"I feed off that," he said. "I like to play when all eyes are against me. I'm just that type of person. I like to play up to the level of the competition."

Now, the question is, will the Hokies? They're at Maryland on Saturday. The naysayers who are beginning to wonder if last season was a one-shot deal are already beginning to murmur.

The Comcast Center crowd will be doing more than that.

So, any advice for Tech?

One last time, let's defer to Singletary.

"I definitely love when everybody's against me," he said. "I feel like I can persevere through anything."

 

As U-Hall’s days dwindle, Cavs give it a night to remember
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 20, 2006
Last updated: 11:50 PM

CHARLOTTESVILLE — With signs hanging inside Virginia’s old gym reading “Last Ball in U-Hall,” the victory over North Carolina on Thursday night will go down as the final best moment by the Cavaliers in a building that hasn’t seen many in recent years.

No. 1-ranked Duke doesn’t visit U-Hall this season. Thanks to the expanded conference, neither does North Carolina State. With the Cavaliers set to move into a new arena after this season, the appearance of the 24th-ranked Tar Heels became even more of an occasion.

Dave Leitao and his team rose to it.

“I needed a win like this,” U.Va.’s first-year coach said, “to legitimize what I yell and scream about in practice every day.”

What he preaches we can’t be sure, but after the 72-68 victory, Leitao described his team’s effort as “gritty,” and praised his troops for their “stick-to-it-ness.”

The Cavaliers were better at that than sticking shots, hitting only 38 percent, but they coaxed the Tar Heels into even worse accuracy.

“Shooters,” coach Roy Williams said, wishing he had some for this game, “make up for a multitude of sins.”

If that’s the case, then U.Va. had to find a way to overcome a combined 9-for-26 shooting from Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds, starting guards who look reluctant to pass . Williams thought U.Va.’s guards “dominated the game,” not just possession of the ball. But the result ultimately turned on the inside play of Laurynas Mikalauskas and Jason Cain, a couple of unsung Cavalier bangers.

The two combined for only 17 points and 10 rebounds, but in the second half they double-teamed North Carolina freshman big man Tyler Hansbrough into a frustrating performance.

“He plays hard,” said Mikalauskas, known as Lars, “but when somebody comes back hard at him, he can’t handle it. I think he got tired.”

When he wasn’t throwing his burly frame at Hansbrough, the 6-foot-8 freshman from Palanga, Lithuania, was tossing in 10 points, doubling his season average. Meanwhile, his low-post partner was raisin’ Cain by blocking five shots, four in the second half, as the Cavaliers totaled 12.

“We were just trying to crowd him,” Cain said of Hansbrough. “He’s really strong. He tries to bull people over. You’ve got to limit his touches or he’ll hurt you. In the second half, we tried to make our double teams a lot faster.”

The Cavalier block party was impressive. “It speaks, hopefully, to our growth, that what helped us were stats of aggression,” Leitao said.

It also speaks to the relative lack of athleticism of these Tar Heels, probably the least talented team Williams has coached since he oversaw Carolina’s jayvee years ago.

“In this league,” he sighed, “you’re always vulnerable to have bad things happen.”

Forget the fact that these Tar Heels are officially NCAA defending champions, for U.Va., this victory was the first over a ranked team since last November.

“I told the coaches this afternoon, we’re going to beat the Tar Heels,” Mikalauskas said. “I figure we’re starting to play much better as a team. It’s a new system, and when we learn the system, we’re going to be unstoppable.”

Excuse his excitable comments; it was that sort of night for U.Va. The timing of this one was special, but Cavalier victories over North Carolina at U-Hall aren’t unusual; Thursday’s marked the sixth time in the last seven home games U.Va. has defeated the Tar Heels.

It was, however, the first time for Leitao, who is attempting to establish order out of what Pete Gillen left behind.

“This kind of game,” Leitao said, “becomes the ultimate in proving that what I say and coach is right.”

That’s a lot to ask of a single game in January, even against a team of players with “North Carolina” printed across their chests.

Reach Bob Molinaro at 446-2373 or bob.molinaro@pilotonline.com

 

Virginia fights North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough in the paint for its ninth win of the season.
David Teel
January 20 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The difference would be down low. Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina's acclaimed freshman, would overwhelm Virginia's foul-prone post-by-committee.

Sure enough, Thursday's game was settled in the paint. Settled by the fearless, if occasionally awkward, contributions of the Cavaliers' Jason Cain and Lars Mikalauskas.

How fitting, then, for Cain to dribble out the closing seconds of Virginia's 72-68 victory over the nation's 24th-ranked team. And how fitting for the students to storm the floor and swarm around Mikalauskas.

"I had a feeling in my heart we would beat the Tar Heels," Mikalauskas said.

Mikalauskas's vibe came from the Cavaliers' win Sunday at Virginia Tech, but certainly not from his contribution: zero points and five fouls. In fact, this rugged, 6-foot-8, 241-pound freshman scored just 10 points combined in Virginia's first four ACC games.

He matched that total Thursday, adding five rebounds, a blocked shot and outstanding defense on Hansbrough. On pace to become the first freshman to lead North Carolina in scoring and rebounding, Hansbrough finished with 18 points and 10 boards, but only one of those points came in the final 12 minutes.

"Basically, Tyler's just worn out," Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said. "I think he's completely spent."

Spent generally from carrying a national-championship program that lost its top seven scorers from last year. Spent specifically from the double- and triple-teams of the Cavaliers' man-to-man defense.

Mikalauskas was the primary defender, but whenever the 6-9, 235-pound Hansbrough caught the ball in the low post, Cain and often others rotated to help. They harassed Hansbrough into 50-percent shooting, well off his norm of 63.1, and four turnovers.

"I thought it was a hard 18 and 10," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said of Hansbrough's totals. Mikalauskas and Cain "really defended him and battled him every inch of the floor."

Especially during two critical sequences.

The first came as Virginia (9-6, 3-2 ACC) built a nine-point, second-half lead. Cain made two free throws, assisted on a J.R. Reynolds 3-pointer and dunked off a pretty feed from T.J. Bannister; Mikalauskas posted Hansbrough on the left block and scored over him.

"When somebody comes back hard at him, he can't handle it very well," Mikalauskas said. "He got tired a little bit."

That fatigue was evident as Virginia sustained its lead in the closing minutes. Hansbrough couldn't hold position as Mikalauskas deflected an entry pass off his leg and out of bounds. Three possessions later, Cain rejected Hansbrough's attempted stickback, Cain's fifth blocked shot of the evening.

Cain, a 6-10, 212-pound toothpick, is among the ACC's most improved players. During his first two seasons, he averaged less than three points and rebounds per game in conference play; this season he's averaging about 10 points and seven rebounds against ACC opposition, and he finished with seven points and five boards Wednesday.

"Just picking and choosing my spots," Cain said.

The Cavaliers are doing the same in Leitao's first season. Losing to the likes of Fordham and Western Kentucky may discourage some, but victories over Virginia Tech and North Carolina (the Tar Heels whipped the Cavaliers twice last season by a combined 58 points, by 34 here at University Hall) soothe many a wound.

Winning a week from Saturday at No. 1 Duke would give Leitao the triple crown as a rookie, but let's not get carried away. Virginia is bound to progress slowly, and merely a winning record and National Invitation Tournament bid would be commendable.

Those aims will come much easier if the Cavaliers' post players can ease the burden on go-to guards Sean Singletary and Reynolds - 34 points combined Wednesday.

"I know my teammates need me," Mikalauskas said. "I'm just starting to learn coach Leitao's system. I'm more comfortable now."

David Teel can be reached at 247-4636 or by e-mail at dteel@dailypress.com

Virginia rallies by UNC
The Cavaliers turn back Tyler Hansbrough and the Tar Heels to earn their second consecutive ACC victory.
BY MELINDA WALDROP
247-4634
January 20, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- These are the games that can make a coach seem wise in a hurry.

Virginia's 72-68 victory over No. 24 North Carolina on Thursday night at University Hall gave Dave Leitao, in his inaugural season with the Cavaliers, his first back-to-back ACC victories and his first win over a ranked team. It also served to underscore the points he's been trying to make to an inexperienced team out to prove its many doubters wrong.

"To be able to compete and win means a lot for our guys. It means a lot, obviously, for our program," Leitao said. "We're at the beginning stages of needing these wins like this to be able to, for me personally, to legitimize what I yell and scream about in practice every day. ... Games like this help to get a better understanding of what our team is about and what it needs to do."

With three minutes to play in the game, it seemed as though the Cavs (9-6, 3-2 ACC) hadn't quite learned those lessons yet. After twice erasing 10-point leads in the first half, North Carolina (10-4, 2-2) trailed by nine with 5:14 to play but closed within 64-61 on Reyshawn Terry's free throws with 2:51 remaining.

But the Cavs, who dug out of a 36-29 hole 2:15 into the second half, refused to surrender the lead for a third time. Sophomore guard Sean Singletary was fouled trying to break UNC's press and made both foul shots to push U.Va.'s lead back to five.

The Heels got within four at 68-64 on Terry's 3-pointer with 53 seconds to play, and Bobby Frasor almost came up with a steal on the Cavs' next possession.

But he stepped out of bounds before intercepting a sloppy pass, and T.J. Bannister then made one of two free throws to push U.Va.'s lead back to five. UNC would get no closer than four points the rest of the white-knuckled way.

"Man, (the final minutes) seemed liked it took a lifetime," said Bannister, who made a pair of clutch free throws with 15.3 seconds left in just his fifth game after being sidelined by a sports hernia. "You could hear a couple of the managers back there -they were like, 'All right guys, we've got seven minutes guys, seven minutes left,' and then it seemed like 10 minutes would go by, and then they'd say, 'All right, we got five minutes.' But it was just a great victory. I'm just excited about the rest of the season."

That season seems suddenly brighter than most expected for the Cavs, who were picked to finish last in the 12-team ACC in a preseason media poll but have now won two straight conference games after defeating Virginia Tech 54-49 on Sunday in Blacksburg.

"Everybody in the locker room, the coaches, players and managers, and everybody in the gym when we practice - that's the only people that believed in us," said junior forward Jason Cain, who had five blocks as part of the Cavs' season-high 12 on Thursday. "We just pretty much stick with what we got."

That was enough Thursday, as Cain and true freshman center Lars Mikalauskas combined to ground high-flying Heel freshman Tyler Hansbrough.

Hansbrough, a five-time ACC rookie of the week, bettered his season averages with 18 points and 10 rebounds, but had to fight through double-teams for every shot and never seemed to get comfortable on the low block. He also missed four straight free throws after entering the game having hit 35 of his last 37.

"I read about him a lot, and everybody's talking about Hansbrough, Hansbrough, Hansbrough," Mikalauskas said. "On ESPN, every day on you turn on the TV, (someone) is talking about the ACC's Hansbrough. ... I just tried to push him out of the paint and use my strength."

After taking a two-point halftime lead, UNC opened up a seven-point lead early in the second period. Virginia took the lead back at 39-38 and the lead increased to nine several times before UNC made its last run.

"You can hope and pray and hold your mouth different ways, but the bottom line is, you have to put the ball in the basket," UNC coach Roy Williams said.

The Cavs twice led by 10 points in the first half, but the Heels reeled off a 10-0 run in just more than two minutes to tie the game at 24 on Reyshawn Terry's 3-pointer with 6:36 to play in the opening period.

Wes Miller then gave UNC a two-point lead with another 3-pointer as U.Va. endured a field goal drought that stretched nearly eight minutes.
 

Wahoo! Virginia topples UNC

Hansbrough gets little help in Heels' defeat

KEN TYSIACktysiac@charlotteobserver.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Surrounded by jubilant Virginia fans storming the floor Thursday night, North Carolina center Tyler Hansbrough knew what to do.
No sense looking for his teammates. They hadn't helped him all night when he was double- and triple-teamed as Virginia won 72-68 at University Hall.
So Hansbrough exited alone toward the locker room, to be joined soon by the rest of a team that trails Virginia in the ACC standings. Hansbrough still scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but missed free throws because he was exhausted.
"They brought a lot of people at me, and it's hard to find space," Hansbrough said.
There was space on the perimeter, but North Carolina's guards and forwards clanged open shots. The 24th-ranked Tar Heels missed their first seven 3-point attempts of the second half as Virginia turned a seven-point deficit into a nine-point lead.
Point guard Bobby Frasor had six assists and just one turnover but shot 1-for-6 from the field. Forward David Noel scored 14 but made six turnovers.
"We were soft with (the ball)," said North Carolina coach Roy Williams. "You can't go in and toss it up softly on a hope and a prayer. You've got to go up strong."
Virginia (9-6, 3-2 ACC) won its third straight under first-year coach Dave Leitao. Guards Sean Singletary (18 points) and J.R. Reynolds (16 points) skillfully handled North Carolina's defensive pressure, which has rattled some opponents.
Twice the Tar Heels tried a scrambling double-team of a Virginia guard as he crossed half-court. Singletary and backup T.J. Bannister both responded with quick passes to Jason Cain for uncontested dunks.
"Their coaching staff did a better job coaching them than I did our team," Williams said.
Williams has a lot of coaching to do before the Tar Heels (10-4, 2-2) play Sunday at Florida State. North Carolina has lost two in a row for just the third time in three seasons under Williams, the first time since its ACC tournament exit against Georgia Tech in 2004.
Hansbrough, whose energy uplifts the team, is fatigued. Frasor, a superb shooter in high school, has missed 12 of his last 17 field goal attempts. Noel, the senior leader, has two assists and 11 turnovers in the consecutive losses to Miami and Virginia.
And Virginia, which tied for last in the ACC last season, leads the defending national champions in the conference standings. North Carolina freshman Marcus Ginyard of Alexandria, Va., was asked if Virginia is supposed to be ahead of the Tar Heels.
"I don't think so," he said. "But at the same time, they played a better basketball game than we did."
 

Another stunner for the Heels
By NOLAN HAYES : The Herald-Sun
nhayes@heraldsun.com
Jan 20, 2006 : 12:23 am ET

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- David Noel never experienced two consecutive losses last season.

The same can't be said of his senior year.

Virginia rallied from a seven-point deficit early in the second half Thursday night, beating

No. 24 North Carolina 72-68 before a capacity crowd of 8,392 at University Hall and leaving UNC's leader downtrodden in the locker room.

"I'm lost for words," said Noel, whose team led Miami by seven points two minutes into the second half Saturday before losing 81-70. "I have no idea what's really going on with this team right now. It's kind of tough. I really don't know what to say to these guys. I don't know. It just hurts."

The Tar Heels (10-4, 2-2 ACC) led 34-27 two minutes into the second half before succumbing to a three-guard attack for the second consecutive game. Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds, who scored 18 and 16 points, respectively, combined for 20 points in the second half. Reserve guard T.J. Bannister scored all seven of his points in the second half for the Cavaliers, who defeated UNC at home for the sixth time in the last seven tries.

Virginia (9-6, 3-2) also got a big lift from reserve center Laurynas Mikalauskas, who scored eight of his 10 points and grabbed all five of his rebounds after halftime. Mikalauskas scored twice on offensive rebounds, including a tip-in with 6:03 to play that was Virginia's last field goal.

UNC outrebounded the Cavaliers 45-37, including a 19-10 edge on the offensive glass, but Virginia's putbacks came at crucial times.

"You could have told me they had 45 offensive rebounds, and it wouldn't have surprised me," UNC coach Roy Williams said.

Noel claimed much of the blame. He bounced back from a poor first half -- two points on 1-of-7 shooting and five turnovers -- to finish with 14 points and 10 rebounds, but he wasn't happy with himself. The Tar Heels went on a 10-0 run during a two-minute span in the first half to tie the score at 24 with 6:37 left, and the spurt happened with Noel on the bench.

"Me personally, I just felt like I couldn't do anything right on the court," he said. "I had a couple of easy buckets that just rolled out. It was almost like somebody was up on the rim playing with the balls that I was throwing up there. Everything was going in and out.

"I felt like I couldn't do anything right. Coach took me out, and they were able to get the lead back. They did a great job without me in the game, so I felt like I should have stayed on the bench. But me being a senior leader, I came back in and tried to be the best player I can be. It worked for a while, but we still didn't get the win."

Freshman post player Tyler Hansbrough led the Tar Heels with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and junior forward Reyshawn Terry added 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting. Hansbrough had made 40 of his last 42 free throws until he missed four in a row in the second half.

"I think he was just completely spent," Williams said.

If Hansbrough was tired, it was because he did most of UNC's heavy lifting. Virginia double-teamed him constantly in the second half, holding him to one point in the final 12½ minutes, and the Tar Heels couldn't knock down the resulting open shots. Noel carried the load for a while -- he scored eight consecutive UNC points midway through the second half -- but UNC went eight minutes without a basket by someone other than Noel.

The Tar Heels made 3 of 15 from 3-point range in the second half and shot just 36.2 percent from the floor for the game.

"You can hope and pray and hold your mouth in different ways," Williams said. "But the bottom line is that you've got to put the ball in the basket."

The Cavaliers didn't shoot much better, finishing at 37.9 percent. But they took care of the ball, committing just 10 turnovers, and blocked a season-high 12 shots. The Cavaliers made 23 of 29 free throws, including 11 of 14 in the final 5:14 to hold on for the win.

Virginia broke a 44-44 tie with a 15-6 run, scoring on eight of nine possessions to pull away. Terry hit two free throws to draw the Tar Heels within 64-61 with 2:51 to go, but they never got closer. Back-to-back empty possessions on offense -- Terry lost the ball while rising for a dunk attempt and a pass went of Hansbrough's hands out of bounds -- killed UNC's chances.

Now, the Tar Heels have to keep it from killing their confidence.

"We're lacking [confidence] right now. We're lacking," guard Marcus Ginyard said. "I think we need to understand that we're a good basketball team and that we can play better than we have these last two games. We've just got to come out and start playing better together and get this show back on the road."

NOTES -- Williams was coaching the 600th game of his career. The loss dropped him to 480-120, a clean winning percentage of .800. * Virginia scored just three points in the final 8:43 of the first half, shooting 1-for-8 and turning over the ball five times during that span.


 

Heels have no answers
North Carolina banged around, shots won't go down in loss at Virginia
Robbi Pickeral, Staff Writer

It felt, said North Carolina senior David Noel, as if someone was on the rim Thursday night, playing with every ball he threw toward it.
It looked the same, too, almost every time one of his teammates took a shot during their 72-68 loss at Virginia on Thursday night.

With center Tyler Hansbrough getting bruised inside the lane and the Tar Heels' outside shots going everywhere but through the net, No. 24 UNC (10-4, 2-2 ACC) couldn't generate enough offense to recover from a nine-point, second-half deficit against Virginia (9-6, 3-2).

Virginia's second straight victory had the fans at University Hall rushing the court.

UNC's second straight loss had Noel in tears.

"I'm frustrated as all get-out,'' said the forward, whose 6-for-9 shooting in the second half wasn't enough to make up for his 1-for-7 start. "I just don't know. I'm at a loss for words."

The Cavaliers frustrated Noel and the Tar Heels' offense, first, by frustrating Hansbrough, the team's leading scorer and rebounder.

Virginia forward Jason Cain (five blocks) and reserve Laurynas Mikalauskas (10 points), in particular, did a solid job double-teaming the aggressive freshman. The action was so hard-hitting in the lane that Hansbrough, on a rebound, had the contact pop out of his right eye.

The Cavs also blocked 12 shots.

"It was physical," said Hansbrough, who coach Roy Williams said was "basically just worn out in there."

So physical that when Hansbrough scored out of a double-team to tie the score 42-42 with 12:29 left -- bumping guard J.R. Reynolds to the ground in the process -- it marked Hansbrough's final field goal.

"To imagine that Jason Cain had five blocks and a charge, it speaks to our growth,'' said Virginia coach Dave Leitao. "Those kinds of stats are stats for aggression, stats for awareness."

Aware of what was at stake, Noel tried to keep his team in it. But after he scored to make it 44-44 with 11:10 left, he was the only Tar Heel to make a bucket -- three more, in fact -- over the next five minutes. Meanwhile, Bobby Frasor (1-for-6), Danny Green (3-for-7), and Reyshawn Terry (3-for-9) put up open shots to no avail.

By the time Terry made two free throws with 6:19 left, Virginia had a 59-52 lead.

UNC, which came back from a 10-point deficit in the first half, couldn't recover this time.

"Our failure to convert on the offensive end of the floor was more important that what happened defensively," said Williams, whose team shot only 36.2 percent. "... You can hope and pray and turn your mouth a certain way, but the bottom line is that you have to put the ball in the basket."

In the end, Hansbrough and Virginia's Sean Singletary led their teams in that, with 18 points apiece. Hansbrough, however, saw his four-game streak with 20 points or more end. He also missed four of his eight free throws after going 35-for-39 his previous three games.

"We definitely have to go back to practice and work on what to do when we're double-teamed,'' said Noel (14 points, 10 rebounds, six turnovers), who never experienced these sort of team shooting woes with last season's national championship squad.

Later, he said: "I really don't know what's going on with this team right now. I don't know what to say to these guys. I don't know, it just hurts."

 

Cavs win in Leitao style
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
January 20, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE - It was almost a year ago at University Hall that North Carolina dealt a death blow to the floundering Pete Gillen era at Virginia, handing the Cavaliers an embarrassing 34-point loss in what turned out to be the low point of UVa's season.
Thursday night at the same site, the defending national champion Tar Heels played a different role in a seminal moment for a Virginia head coach.

The Cavaliers came back from a seven-point second-half deficit to pull off a 72-68 upset of 24th-ranked North Carolina in the highlight of Dave Leitao's brief tenure as UVa's head coach.

After the final buzzer sounded, a mob of students rushed the court to celebrate Virginia's first win over a ranked ACC opponent since March of 2004, when UVa upset No. 11 Wake Forest. The Cavaliers (9-6, 3-2 ACC) moved over .500 in the conference for the first time since 2003.

"We're just growing as a team, starting to jell," UVa point guard Sean Singletary said. "Everybody's believing what Coach Leitao's saying."

Singletary scored 18 points and J.R. Reynolds added 16 to pace the Cavaliers, but it was their defense that proved to be the difference. Virginia blocked a season-high 12 shots, forced 14 turnovers and held North Carolina (10-4, 2-2 ACC) to 36.2 percent shooting. The Tar Heels' 68 points were 10 below their season average.

"I thought their defense really dominated our offense," North Carolina head coach Roy Williams said.

Perhaps most impressive was the defensive play of UVa freshman forward Laurynas Mikalauskas, who had the unenviable task of guarding UNC freshman sensation Tyler Hansbrough. The 6-foot-8, 241-pound Mikalauskas held his own, getting physical with Hansbrough on the block and making him earn everything.

Hounded by frequent double teams, Hansbrough committed four turnovers. He finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, both team highs, but he had to work for it.

"(The plan) was more just to crowd him, not let him pick and choose what he wants to do," said UVa forward Jason Cain, a frequent double-teamer who finished with seven points, five rebounds and a career-high five blocks.

"He's only a freshman," Mikalauskas said. "He can't really handle the double team as well as older guys."

Virginia led by as many as 10 in the first half but fell behind after an eight-minute field goal drought just before halftime. North Carolina held a 29-27 lead at the break and quickly extended it to 36-29 in the first two minutes of the second half.

UVa got back in it with some outside shooting. After going 2-for-14 from 3-point range in the first half, the Cavaliers got 3-pointers from Adrian Joseph, Singletary and Reynolds in the seven-minute stretch after they fell behind by seven. Reynolds' 3 with 10:41 remaining broke a 44-all tie and sparked an 11-2 run that broke the game open.

Virginia got more active on the boards, too. UVa's players were shut out on the offensive glass in the first half. All three of their offensive rebounds were of the deadball variety.

"I asked the team to raise their hand at halftime if they had an offensive rebound. And no one could," Leitao said. "The second half we battled and got some of those extra possessions."

Though they were outrebounded 45-37 for the game, the Cavaliers responded with seven offensive rebounds in the second half, three of which were by Mikalauskas, who finished with 10 points, his first double-digit scoring effort in six games.

"I'm still just mystified," Williams said. "You could have told me they had 45 offensive rebounds and that wouldn't have surprised me."

North Carolina cut into UVa's nine-point lead, pulling within three at 64-61 with 2:51 left after a pair of free throws by Reyshawn Terry.

But the Tar Heels couldn't crack the Cavaliers' defense. Singletary made two free throws to push the lead back to five before North Carolina's next three possessions ended with two blocked shots by Cain and a turnover by Hansbrough in the post.

UNC never got closer than four after that, going 3-for-15 from 3-point range in the second half as Virginia pulled away with free throws, making 18 of 21 from the line after the break.

"It's a great win for this team," Reynolds said. "For the things that we've been through - every day in practice how hard we've been working - it's a great win for all our guys."