Cavs can't hang with Heels
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7247
January 11, 2007

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Earlier in the week, during Virginia coach Dave Leitao’s weekly radio call-in show at Wild Wing Cafe, a female fan in attendance was trying to describe the difference between a scarf and a pashmina.

A pashmina, the fan explained to a group of men - none of whom would ever be referred to as metrosexual - is of much finer quality.

If the fan truly wanted to get her point across, she could have said that a scarf is to a pashmina what the Virginia men’s basketball team is to North Carolina’s.

Yes, heading into Wednesday night’s Virginia-North Carolina game, it was clear who the figurative pashmina was.

North Carolina, the No. 1-ranked team in the country, had won 11 straight games. Virginia was coming off a home loss to an unranked Stanford squad and still looking for its first road victory outside of the Commonwealth in the Leitao era.

UVa hung surprisingly tough for most of the contest, but in the end, UNC - playing on its home floor - was too much for a Cavaliers squad that is still trying to find itself.

The Tar Heels (15-1, 2-0), behind 18 points from Tyler Hansbrough and 16 points from Brandan Wright, defeated Virginia, 79-69, in front of 21,569 fans at the Dean Dome.

“Sometimes you just have to grind it out,” said North Carolina coach Roy Williams. “I think that’s what it was tonight. Virginia is a very good basketball team - they defeated Arizona and Gonzaga - so they’re very good.”

Virginia was led by J.R. Reynolds’ 15 points. Sean Singletary and Mamadi Diane had 14 apiece.

It was UNC’s dominance on the glass - coupled with UVa’s carelessness with the basketball - that was the difference.

UNC outrebounded Virginia, 48-21, including a 21-8 edge on the offensive boards.

“Forty of their 79 points were off of offensive rebounds or turnovers,” Leitao said. “Any chance you have to win is taken away when either of those two stats is so large.

“In the second half we wore down mentally. They never wore down mentally.”

Virginia (9-5, 1-1) started out strong.

Reynolds set the tone early when he came flying in for a put-back basket off a Singletary miss. On the ensuing UNC possession, Jason Cain drew an offensive foul, and the Cavaliers were off and running.

Midway through the first half, Singletary single-handedly beat the Tar Heels full-court press and drained a 3-pointer to put Virginia up, 20-12.

Later, Virginia’s All-ACC guard penetrated the UNC defense and hit on a running drive to give UVa its largest lead of the half at 27-18.

However, UNC - behind Wright, Hansbrough and Ty Lawson - quickly chipped away at the deficit.

A Lawson 3-pointer gave the Tar Heels a 31-30 lead - their first of the game - at the 6:43 mark.

Virginia, thanks to a steal and ferocious dunk by Reynolds on the break, tied the game at 37 before Wright scored easily inside to give UNC a two-point lead at the break.

UVa pulled to within 53-52 with just over 12 minutes remaining when Singletary hit a 3. UNC increased its lead to 11 before UVa clawed to 63-58 on back-to-back Diane 3’s, but then went on a 9-0 run that essentially put the game away.

 

Missed chance or moral win?
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
January 11, 2007

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Venturing across the state line and into the intimidating confines of the Dean Dome has usually been a somewhat harrowing experience for Virginia’s basketball team over the years.

Certainly Wednesday’s assignment at No. 1 North Carolina loomed as a daunting experience for the Cavaliers, who have exhibited a penchant for playing less than spectacular on the road, particularly in Chapel Hill. Take last year, for example, when the Wahoos trailed by 28 at halftime and lost by nearly 50.

With that data in mind, had anyone told Virginia that it could take a 10-point defeat at the home of the nation’s newest No. 1-ranked hoops team, the Cavaliers might just have bitten.

Surprisingly, with seven and a half minutes remaining in the game, Virginia had absorbed the patented Tar Heel run (20-5) and was still breathing, trailing only 63-58.

Perhaps it was just a matter of time before UNC’s superior size and depth took its toll.

Time to unravel

UVa coach Dave Leitao watched his team and a chance to win unravel over the next four minutes as the Cavaliers failed to score on nine straight possessions. Carolina took control with a 9-0 run and slowly pulled away for a 79-69 triumph, its 62nd in 67 games played between the two border rivals in Chapel Hill.

All of a sudden, a 10-point loss to the Tar Heels didn’t seem quite as satisfying to Virginia fans just hoping to avoid a blowout decision.

This was a game that Virginia could have dug out or at least taken to the waning seconds had it not been for 18 turnovers that were converted into 19 points by the host Heels, and for a decisive shortcoming on the boards (47-34).

“You can’t give up as many points off the offensive backboards (UNC had 21 offensive boards for the game),” complained Virginia coach Dave Leitao. “We gave them 40 of their 79 points off turnovers and offensive rebounds. You hurt your chances when those numbers are that large. They convert turnovers into points quicker than any team I’ve seen.”

More letdowns

Leitao was clearly frustrated over his team’s ineptness in those two categories for the game. He realized that even though the Cavaliers had shot the ball decently (44.1 percent for the game) and played better defense than in its recent home loss to Stanford, that his team let down in the other basics of the game.

Carolina shot 37.9 percent for the game and hit only three 3-pointers on the night but managed to grind out the win, its 12th straight. But it was the first time since the Tar Heels’ loss to Gonzaga nine games ago that Carolina hadn’t beaten its foe by 20 or more points.

“I think Virginia’s a really good basketball team,” said UNC Coach Roy illiams. “They have had some huge wins this year, Arizona and Gonzaga, who beat us, so we knew it was going to be a very difficult game.”

Difficult, perhaps. A moral victory? Possibly. But for Virginia, the Cavaliers will look back at this one as a missed opportunity to perhaps spring an upset that would have rocked the ACC and made their season.

 

Cavs welcome new additions
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7247
January 11, 2007

Brian Boland received confirmation on Wednesday that his men’s tennis program was ranked among the top 10 in the nation.

Typically, that would bring a smile to Virginia’s coach. Instead, it only added to the cheery disposition.

Not only did the 8th-ranked Cavaliers conduct their first practice at Boar’s Head Sports Club on Wednesday, but they also did so with two new faces in attendance.

Houston Barrick and Teddy Angelinos, who both arrived in Charlottesville on Tuesday, “officially” joined the program by taking part in their first Virginia practice.

And if that wasn’t enough, Boland also gained the services of Dom Inglot, who per NCAA regulations had been ineligible for the past 12 months.

If Boland’s scouting report on the three is accurate, expect to hear their names for quite some time.

“There are a number of new guys that we look forward to making an impact,” Boland said.

Barrick, the youngest addition of the class, picked Virginia over Georgia, Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt. During his junior career, Barrick was ranked as high as No. 1 in the country and claimed a gold ball last March by winning the 2006 USTA Spring National Championship in Mobile. Ala.

“Houston Barrick, out of Nashville, Tenn., is one of the best recruits in the country,” Boland said. “He is mature beyond his years, he is very professional on the court and he has an all-court game that is only going to develop with his work ethic and the intensity that he has.”

While Barrick had signed a National Letter of Intent in November to play at Virginia, many had not heard of Angelinos.

And for good reason.

After enjoying two great seasons at Tulane, Angelinos disappeared off the college tennis radar. It was not his decision; after the damage of Hurricane Katrina, Tulane axed its men’s tennis program.

Angelinos, a junior, spent the past year in Greece, his native country. During that time, he played for his country in the European Championships.

“Teddy brings a lot of experience to our program,” Boland said. “We are looking for him to have an immediate impact, to bring the kind of experience that we’ll need on the court from the first match.”

Angelinos won 26 singles matches at Tulane, including one against LSU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2005.

While Angelinos and Barrick are two of the tallest players to play at UVa during Boland’s six years, neither compares in size to Inglot.

“[Inglot] has a big game - he is 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5 - and has a huge serve and a very powerful game,” Boland said. “Dom, who is from England, had to sit out a year but he is eligible to play this January.

“I look for Dom to have an immediate impact, as well.”

The three newcomers, combined with freshman Lee Singer - and the return of NCAA runner-up Somdev Devarrman, Treat Huey and Marko Miklo - give Boland one of his deepest teams.

That’s saying something considering Virginia has won 51 matches and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals in the past two seasons.

“We want to keep the momentum going that we have, and there is no doubt that we have the opportunity to play the best in the country again, and we will just try to keep it going,” Boland said. “We are certainly pleased with where we are at.”

Virginia opens a schedule that includes nine of the top 15 programs on Jan. 24 at William and Mary.

Stars advance on Devvarman and Huey remain alive in the USTA Futures Even in Tampa, Fla.

Devvarman, a junior at UVa, reached the round of 16 in the main singles draw by knocking off seventh-seed Horia Tecau of Romania, 6-4, 6-3. The Cavalier star will face Pavel Chekhov today for the chance to advance to the quarterfinal round.

Devvarman and Huey teamed up in doubles on Wednesday to win a quarterfinal match against the third-seeded tandem of Mashiska Washington and Daniel Yoo in two sets (6-4, 6-3).

Play continues through the weekend.

 

Giveaways take away Cavs' upset chances
Twelve second-half turnovers turn a 4-point Virginia lead into another loss to a top-ranked team.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- It goes without saying that Virginia's 1-25 record against No. 1-ranked men's basketball teams did not include a victory on the road.

If the Cavaliers had been able to hang onto the ball, they might have made history Wednesday night.

Top-ranked North Carolina rallied for a 79-69 victory as visiting Virginia committed 12 turnovers in the second half, including eight in a span of 13 possessions after the Cavaliers had taken a four-point lead.

"They turn turnovers into points quicker than anybody you're ever going to see," UVa coach Dave Leitao said.

The Cavaliers (9-5) held Carolina to 37.1-percent shooting from the field, but the Tar Heels (15-1) had 18 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Virginia 47-34. UVa had been outrebounded only twice in its first 12 games.

"They scored 40 of their 79 points off of turnovers or offensive rebounds," Leitao said. "That takes away any chance you have of winning the game."

North Carolina missed 15 free throws but still managed to pull away at the free-throw line, where the Tar Heels were 26-of-41.

Preseason ACC player of the year Tyler Hansbrough led all scorers with 18 points and freshman Brandan Wright added 16, despite going 6-of-13 from the line. Hansbrough was 6-of-11.

Senior guard J.R. Reynolds had a team-high 15 points for Virginia, followed by Mamadi Diane and Sean Singletary with 14 apiece. Singletary had eight of the Cavaliers' 18 turnovers.

"We put a lot of emphasis on him and J.R.," Carolina coach Roy Williams said, "but it could be that he just had a bad night."

Carolina took an 11-point lead after the flurry of Virginia's turnovers, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Diane made it a 63-58 game with 7:36 left.

UVa then failed to score on its next eight possessions, including five missed shots from the field, two turnovers and the missed front end of a one-and-one.

Until Wright scored on an inside basket with 1.9 seconds left in the half to put the Tar Heels ahead 39-37, Carolina had led only briefly.

Virginia made 11 of its first 18 shots from the field and enjoyed its biggest lead at 27-18 before Singletary picked up his first foul with 9:51 remaining in the first half.

Singletary picked up his second foul with 9:15 left, backcourt mate Reynolds got his second with 9:04 left and suddenly the Cavaliers were in big trouble.

Normally, Leitao doesn't like to keep his stars on the floor after a second first-half foul, but he rolled the dice Wednesday night.

Carolina outscored the Cavaliers 13-3 and took a 31-30 lead before Leitao called timeout with 6:43 left and reinserted Singletary. Singletary promptly scored on back-to-back possessions, the second on a 3-pointer that made it 35-31.

Although the Tar Heels came back to take the halftime lead, it could have been worse.

Following Singletary's 3-pointer, Virginia missed 10 straight shots, but Carolina couldn't capitalize and a steal and slam by Reynolds made it 37-37 with 1:15 left in the half.

Virginia couldn't sustain its fast start and shot only 44.1 percent for the half, but unusually stout UVa defense held Carolina to 37.1-percent shooting from the field.

The Tar Heels owed their halftime lead to a 27-18 rebounding advantage. That included 13 offensive rebounds, including at least two apiece by four different players.

Leitao's gamble paid off when Singletary, Reynolds and top post player Jason Cain were able to end the half without picking up a third personal foul.

Virginia, which lost by 45 points in a March 2006 visit to the Smith Center, entered play Wednesday night as a 17 12-point underdog.

 

Cavaliers need to rebound
David Teel
January 11 2007, 12:39 AM EST

Chapel Hill, N.C. -- Virginia's basketball players might want to think about wearing football pads to their next practice.

Coach Dave Leitao values rebounding more than any other contribution, and after Wednesday's soft effort at North Carolina, he's bound to put the Cavaliers through the wringer.

As well as he should.

Sure, the Tar Heels are No. 1 in the polls and lead the ACC in rebounding margin. But that doesn't excuse the Cavaliers' weakness in a 79-69 defeat at the Dean Dome.

It started on North Carolina's first possession, when Tyler Hansbrough followed Brandan Wright's miss, and continued until Hansbrough rebounded his own missed free throw in the final minute. The Tar Heels scored 21 second-chance points to Virginia's 12 and collared 21 offensive rebounds to the Cavaliers' eight.

That's twice as many offensive boards as Virginia's first 13 opponents averaged.

"Rebounding is something you gotta do," said Leitao, a 6-foot-7 forward in his playing days. "They're the number one rebounding team in the league. The stats tell me that, the (game) tape tells me that. But you gotta battle them, and I didn't think we battled them."

Indeed, on a night when the Tar Heels shot their third-lowest percentage of the season (37.9) and missed 15 free throws, they were clearly vulnerable. And who knows how their five touted freshmen, three of whom started, would have reacted to a tense ACC game in the final minutes?

But Virginia couldn't gather Carolina's myriad misses. Laurynas Mikalauskas, Jason Cain and Tunji Soroye are nobody's All-Americans, but rebounding on your defensive end is about want-to as much as vertical leap.

North Carolina (15-1, 2-0) didn't lead until late in the first half at 31-30 on Ty Lawson's three from the right wing. Leitao instantly called timeout and inserted Sean Singletary back in the game, two fouls notwithstanding.

Singletary responded with a 15-foot leaner and deep three on consecutive possessions, an encouraging sign for Virginia fans afraid their team might cave at the first sign of adversity.

But the Cavaliers (9-5, 1-1) finally buckled to the Tar Heels' depth and strength inside. Singletary, the ACC's top scorer, didn't help matters with four turnovers in the first eight minutes of the second half, a stretch that prompted a what-the-heck-are-you-thinking look from Leitao. North Carolina's reserves contributed 24 points and 19 rebounds, Virginia's eight and 10.

"The backboards should be in our favor," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "We're bigger and probably have more bodies." Leitao's maiden voyage to the Dean Dome last season was the coaching equivalent of a tax audit. The Tar Heels exposed the Cavaliers in every conceivable fashion en route to a 45-point victory, their largest ever in the series.

A year removed, the Heels are better. Exponentially so.

They rank among the nation's top 10 in scoring, shooting percentage, assists and rebounding margin. They've outrebounded 14 of 16 opponents and have shot better than 50 percent 10 times.

North Carolina's progress is rooted in a freshman class that showcases at least three future NBA draft picks: forward Wright, wing guard Wayne Ellington and point guard Lawson.

Wright's athleticism makes him more promising than Hansbrough, the ACC's top rookie last season; Ellington is a prime-time shooter, and Lawson pushes the ball at warp speed.

Little institutional memory is required to compare this trio to Sean May, Rashad McCants and Raymond Felton. They arrived in Chapel Hill as freshmen in 2002, two perimeter players (McCants and Felton) and a post man (May), and as juniors led the Tar Heels to the 2005 national championship, Williams' first and likely not his last.

One issue remains: Can they win on the road?

North Carolina has played just once on an opponent's court, a 21-point victory at St. Louis. The Tar Heels lost to Gonzaga and defeated Tennessee at Madison Square Garden, and they beat Ohio State and Kentucky at home. But nine true road tests remain -- 10th-ranked Arizona and eight conference opponents, including Virginia Tech on Saturday and Clemson the following Wednesday.

The Cavaliers also are road-bound, headed for Boston College on Saturday, prompting a literal and figurative question: Can they rebound?
 

Heels get it going, put away Cavs
By NOLAN HAYES : The Herald-Sun
nhayes@heraldsun.com; 419-6670
Jan 11, 2007 : 12:35 am ET

CHAPEL HILL -- After securing the nation's No. 1 ranking on Monday afternoon, North Carolina's men's basketball players got a chance to try it on against Virginia.

Like a new pair of shoes, it needed some breaking in. But by the end of the night, it fit just fine.

A quartet of reserves sparked a second-half spurt as top-ranked UNC defeated Virginia 79-69 at the Smith Center on Wednesday night. The Tar Heels (15-1, 2-0 ACC) won their 12th game in a row thanks in large part to a 20-5 run midway through the second half in which they forced Virginia into eight turnovers during a 13-possession span.

"Sometimes you've just got to grind it out, and that's what tonight was," UNC coach Roy Williams said.

Reserves Quentin Thomas, Marcus Ginyard, Danny Green and Deon Thompson led the charge, stifling Virginia's offense and combining for 16 of UNC's 20 points as the Tar Heels turned a 47-43 deficit into a 63-52 lead with 9:22 remaining.

In addition to its turnover troubles, Virginia (9-5, 1-1) shot just 2-of-7 from the field during the UNC's game-deciding charge and went scoreless for more than four minutes in the closing stages of the run.

"Everybody who was out there on the court at that time really was taking a lot of pride in stopping Virginia and doing whatever each individual could do to help the team," said Ginyard, who had four points and six rebounds in 17 minutes. "Everybody was on the same page out there, and we just started clicking."

Ginyard attached himself to Virginia point guard Sean Singletary, who gave UNC fits in the first half, and Thomas contained J.R. Reynolds. The duo combined for just nine points 2-of-8 shooting from the floor in the second half after totaling 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting in the first half.

The Tar Heels won by double digits for the 10th consecutive game despite shooting 37.9 percent from the field and missing 15 of 41 free throws.

"To do that is impressive," said sophomore point guard Bobby Frasor, who had two assists in nine scoreless minutes. "You've got to be able to win different styles."

Freshman Brandan Wright, who entered the game leading the ACC in field-goal shooting (67.6 percent), was UNC's primary culprit for poor shooting. He scored 16 points but finished 5-for-16 from the floor and 6-for-13 from the free-throw line.

Wright missed layups and dunks while making just 2 of 10 shots in the second half, and sophomore Tyler Hansbrough (18 points) made 2 of 5 shots after halftime.

"They didn't get the ball to go in the basket," Williams said.

But Green and Thompson did, combining for 13 of their 15 points after halftime. But players made mistakes -- Green had a careless turnover during the first half, and Thompson went the wrong way on an out-of-bounds play early in the second -- but they bounced back after getting some encouragement from Williams.

"I tell them all the time, 'I'm going to give you opportunities,' " Williams said. "If you don't get it right, get it right next time. Then if you don't get it right, I probably won't give you another opportunity."

The Tar Heels trailed much of the first half, but they took a 39-37 halftime lead behind the strength of Wright inside. Wright scored 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting in the first half, including a turnaround in the lane just before the half expired.

Virginia did much of its damage from the outside, with Singletary wreaking havoc on the pick-and-roll. Singletary, who scored 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting in the opening period, drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to give the Cavaliers a 20-12 with 13 minutes left in the half. Singletary added to that cushion a minute later, giving Virginia its biggest lead at 27-18 after converting a 3-point play on a floater in the lane.

The Cavaliers didn't stay in front long after that -- mostly because Singletary couldn't stay on the court. Singletary reached in to pick up his first foul at the 9:57 mark, and he picked up his second foul 42 seconds later. He went to the bench with his team up 27-21, and the Tar Heels went to work.

After falling behind 30-23, the Tar Heels ripped off an 8-0 run in 50 seconds to take their first lead of the night at 31-30. Hansbrough made a layup in between a pair of 3-pointers -- the first by Wayne Ellington and the second by Ty Lawson -- and Virginia called for timeout.

The Tar Heels, who used 12 players for at least four minutes, survived their subpar night on offense by forcing 18 turnovers and outrebounding Virginia 47-36.

"The backboards were the whole key," Williams said. "The backboards should be in our favor. We're bigger and probably have more bodies than they do."

 

Carolina repels Cavaliers 79-69
U.Va. hangs tough, but No. 1 Carolina doesn't allow the upset bid
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 11, 2007

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- For 25 minutes, they stayed step for step with the nation's top-ranked team at the Dean E. Smith Center. Given the Virginia Cavaliers' miserable record on the road over the past two seasons, such a performance was as unexpected as it was stunning.

Eventually, though, the inevitable oc- curred, and U.Va. succumbed to North Carolina's superior talent and depth. The Tar Heels took the lead for good with 14:53 left and pulled away -- but not easily -- for a 79-69 victory last night before a relieved crowd of 21,569.

U.Va. (1-1, 9-5) lost this one, first and foremost, on the backboards. The Tar Heels (2-0, 15-1) came in as the ACC's top rebounding team, but U.Va., No. 3 in the league, was strong in that area, too, at least statistically.

So much for statistics. The Heels grabbed a staggering 21 offensive boards -- which they parlayed into 21 points and ended with a 47-34 edge in rebounds.

"You got to battle them, and I don't think we battled them on the backboards," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said.

Turnovers also plagued Virginia, which finished with 18, leading to 19 points for the Heels. Seven players had at least seven rebounds apiece for Carolina, led by 6-9 freshman Brandan Wright with nine. Wright scored 16 points, and 6-9 sophomore Tyler Hansbrough punished U.Va. with 18 points and seven boards.

After U.Va. pulled to 53-52 on a Sean Singletary trey with 12:52 to play, the Heels ran off 10 straight points to, it seemed, put the game away. But Mamadi Diane, in perhaps his best road game as a Cavalier, brought his team back. Two straight 3-pointers by the sophomore swingman cut Virginia's deficit to 63-58.

The Cavaliers didn't score again, however, until the 1:58 mark, by which time UNC was assured of its 12th consecutive victory.

In two seasons under Leitao, U.Va. has a 2-13 record in road games.

U.Va. lost by 45 points at UNC last season. This Carolina team is vastly more talented than its immediate predecessor, and another blowout was expected last night.

Virginia refused to cooperate. The Cavaliers led 15-8 at the 14:00 mark and 27-18 midway through the first half.

With 9:15 remaining, Singletary, the ACC's leading scorer, picked up his second foul -- 36 seconds after being called for his first. Leitao pulled Singletary, but the junior point guard from Philadelphia didn't stay seated long.

After an 8-0 run gave UNC its first lead, Singletary re-entered the game. His jumper put Virginia back on top, 32-31. Then he pulled up in transition and buried a trey to push the Cavaliers' lead to 35-31.

At the break, UNC led 39-37. But U.Va. opened the second half with a 9-2 run 6-8 sophomore Laurynas Mikalauskas contributed a three-point play and a layup -- to shock the Heels again.

Senior guard J.R. Reynolds led Virginia with 15 points and seven assists. Singletary had 14 points and seven assists but also turned the ball over eight times against constant pressure from the Heels, who used a variety of defenders on him.

"We put a lot of emphasis on him and J.R., there's no question," Williams said.

With 42 seconds left, Singletary fell hard and stayed down for several moments after having a layup attempt blocked. He watched the rest of the game from the bench but didn't appear to be serously hurt.

U.Va. fell to 1-26 against teams ranked No. 1 nationally. The Cavaliers' lone win over a top-ranked foe came Jan. 30, 1986, when they upset UNC 86-73 at University Hall.

 

U.Va.'s top two just can't break through
BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Jan 11, 2007

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. Inside job.

Paint job.

That's where North Carolina beat Virginia last night, and we should not be surprised. We should maybe be surprised the Tar Heels never made this outing a track meet. We should not be stunned in the slightest that they trumped U.Va. at the rim and around the lane.

UNC has trees named Hansbrough, Wright and Thompson, future pros. U.Va. has guys who bust it (and did so once again). The Cavs have Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds in the backcourt as well, but there's only so much that pair can do. They kept the Cavs in contention for 20-some minutes. They ran out of gas and marksmanship after that. They also can't chop down trees.

The upshot was a 79-69 decision that'll keep UNC atop the polls and the Cavs seeking a signature road win en route to Boston College on Saturday. Tough week. Tough place to start it.

This town's never been an inviting port of call for the Cavs. Yeah, they handled the Tar Heels 18-15 in Chapel Hill in the 1911 series inaugural -- but that was no omen. Counting the latest setback, they've gone 5-62 on UNC's home courts. That's a winning percentage of .075. That's a lot of glum bus rides back to C'ville.

The Cavs, in fact, went 62 years and 31 consecutive defeats before claiming victory No.2 here -- an 84-78 conquest of a Bobby Jones/Mitch Kupchak crew in 1973 that was fueled by Barry Parkhill's passes and Wally Walker's and Jim Hobgood's jump shots.

"I don't think we realized at the time they hadn't won here in 60 years," Hobgood, now the analyst for U.Va.'s radio broadcasts, said before tipoff last night. "But we certainly were aware that for Virginia to win at Carolina was a momentous occasion."

It's happened three times since -- in 1981, 2000 and 2002 -- but you knew it wasn't going to happen again last night just more than 11½ minutes into the second half. That's when UNC second-teamer Danny Green swished a 3-pointer to climax a 10-0 run for a 63-52 advantage his bunch milked to the end.

By then, the stat sheet would reveal 21 offensive rebounds for the Tar Heels -- a number that offset uncharacteristically clunky (37.9 percent) shooting. Credit U.Va.'s spunk to some extent. Want-to wasn't an issue for the Cavs. Matching body for body was.

For sure, Virginia started off on the right feet -- specifically, the four belonging to Singletary and Reynolds.

Singletary's efforts -- 11 points and three assists before intermission -- were no revelation. He's an ace, he leads the ACC in scoring and wows, he's sizzled of late. So when he split two defenders and dished to Jason Cain for a layup on the game's opening possession, it was sizzle as usual.

Ditto when he sank a runner and ensuing free throw for a crowd-controlling 27-18 bulge. And when -- after UNC rattled off eight consecutive points for its first lead at 31-30 -- he nailed a jumper and then a trey that allowed the Cavs to exhale.

Reynolds, meanwhile, was coming off a substandard performance -- 3 for 7, one assist -- in Sunday's homecourt loss to Stanford. His response: As vital an opening line as he's delivered this season.

He scored on a follow early, drained a trey, fed Jamil Tucker for a 3-pointer and Laurynas Mikalauskas for a layup, drove for a dunk after making a steal, completed the first half with nine points and four assists, was just about terrific.

He was just mortal after the break. So was Singletary, who committed six turnovers in the second half. They wound up with a combined 29 points and 14 assists, nice numbers on a night when only major would do. No disgrace. But not enough for a breakthrough either.