Virginia has no answers for Xavier
Musketeers are in control from start in routing Cavaliers
Friday, Jan 04, 2008 - 12:06 AM Updated: 01:15 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CINCINNATI -- At halftime, Xavier University basketball players gathered in a hallway before returning to the court at Cintas Center. A 50-point win was within their reach, one Musketeer shouted to his teammates. Another was equally dismissive of the Virginia Cavaliers.

"They're ACC champs? Get'em out of here, man!" he yelled.

U.Va., which shared the ACC's regular-season title with North Carolina last season, looked light years removed from that championship last night. If Dave Leitao coaches another 20 years, he may never oversee another performance as dreadful as the one his team turned in last night.

Atlantic 10 power Xavier hit 16 3-pointers and humbled U.Va. from start to finish, romping 108-70 before an elated crowd of 10,073. Next up for Virginia (10-3) is a Jan. 13 date with ACC rival Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"It's definitely a trying time for this program," said senior point guard Sean Singletary, who led U.Va. with 14 points and seven assists.

"To lose to a team you know you can beat, by that much, on national TV, it's pretty embarrassing. But you can't fold under these type of situations. This is adversity, and we need to come out on the positive end of it."

The Cavaliers had nothing but pride left to play for in the second half. Down 61-30 at the break, they had long since forfeited any realistic shot of winning in an arena where Xavier's all-time record is 98-16. The Muskies (11-3) have won 22 of their past 24 home games.

Until last night, U.Va. had never surrendered more than 99 points in two-plus seasons under Leitao. Xavier hit triple digits with 5:57 to play. Thirteen seconds later, Musketeers coach Sean Miller, in an act of mercy, inserted walk-on Joe Hughes. Somewhere, Skip Prosser was smiling.

"Obviously, when you have a recipe for disaster, then a train wreck happens, and that's what tonight was about," Leitao said. "A team that was very good and very ready against a team that was not very ready and right now is not very good."

Whether playing man-to-man or zone defense, Virginia looked three steps slow. Seven Xavier players scored in double figures, the first time an opponent has had that many against U.Va. since at least 1961-62.

On the game's opening possession, Xavier forward Derrick Slam took a pass from 5-7 point guard Drew Lavender and soared for an emphatic dunk.

"I've always said that you can't control, night in and night out, if the ball goes in the basket or not," Leitao said. "But you can control whether the other team's shots go in or not. We violated that from the first play. . . . The first play we gave up a dunk, and all five guys were in violation of where they needed to be, and it continued on from there."

Xavier topped the 100-point mark for the second consecutive game. The Musketeers crushed Kansas State 103-77 on Monday night.

"Saying that we're going to come out and beat teams by 40 points every single night, that's probably not realistic," said senior guard Stanley Burrell, who paced XU with 15 points. "But we did a great job tonight. We were locked in on the moment, locked in on the game plan."

Xavier, 11 for 15 from behind the 3-point arc in the first half, finished 16 for 26. The Cavs had given up 15 treys to Clemson in January 1983 and 15 to Georgia Tech in February 2002, but never more than that.

Overall, the Musketeers shot 63.8 percent from the floor. Not since March 3, 2002, when the Cavaliers lost 112-92 at Maryland, had they allowed so many points in regulation.

On a bleak night for U.Va. fans, Solomon Tat gave them something to cheer. In his second game since returning from a sports hernia, the sophomore swingman scored a career-high 12 points in 16 minutes off the bench.

"I feel pretty much good to go," Tat said.

 

Cavs rolled by 3s, Musketeers
Xavier becomes the first foe to hang 100 points on UVa since Dave Leitao took over the program.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CINCINNATI -- A men's basketball game at Xavier did little to relieve Virginia's athletic misery Thursday.

Two days after an agonizing loss for the football team in the Gator Bowl, the Cavaliers found themselves trailing Xavier by 31 points at the half.

The Musketeers became the first team to hit triple figures in Dave Leitao's three seasons as Virginia's coach, romping to a 108-70 victory at the Cintas Center.

"Obviously, when you have a recipe for disaster, a train wreck happens and that's what tonight was all about," Leitao said. "A team that was very good and very ready came out against a team that was not very ready and -- right now -- not very good.

"We worked on certain things we had to do and, the first play of the game, we gave up a dunk. All five [UVa] guys were in violation of where they needed to be."

Xavier (11-3) led by as many as 43 points on a night when it made 16 of 26 shots from beyond the 3-point mark.

It was the most 3-point field goals ever yielded by the Cavaliers, victimized for 15 3-point field goals by Clemson in 1983 and Georgia Tech in 2002.

"It was a combination of things," Leitao said. "Their shooting was a byproduct of their aggression, but we made them feel real good."

The Musketeers, coached by ex-N.C. State assistant Sean Miller, hit the 100-point mark with 5:58 remaining. They had outscored Kansas State 103-77 three nights earlier at the U.S. Bank Arena in downtown Cincinnati.

Xavier, a nine-point favorite, entered the game with six players averaging in double figures. The Musketeers had seven players with at least 10 points Thursday night, led by senior guard Stanley Burrell with 15.

Reserve B.J. Raymond had four 3-point field goals, and Burrell and 6-foot-9, 238-pound Chris Duncan had three apiece. Adrion Graves, who was 3-for-22 on 3-pointers in Xavier's first 13 games, was 2-for-2. Dante Jackson, who previously had gone 3-for-15, was 2-for-4.

Sean Singletary had a game-high 14 points for the Cavaliers but sat out the final 5:08, at times holding his hands in front of his eyes as the debacle continued in front of him.

"We let them catch fire, and then it was over," Singletary said. "It's definitely a humbling experience. They've been ranked before and I'm sure they'll be ranked again. We were on the road. It was a tough environment, but you can't be making excuses.

"It's definitely a trying time for this program. To lose to a team you should be able to beat and by that much on [cable] TV, it's pretty embarrassing."

The Cavaliers' only other double-figure scorers were sophomore guard Solomon Tat with 12 and freshman center Mike Scott with 10. It was only the second game of the season for Tat, who underwent sports hernia surgery before the season and had not played before a five-minute stint Sunday against Hartford.

Co-captain Adrian Joseph did not start the second half after going scoreless in the first half. When he came off the bench, he replaced Mamadi Diane with 15:40 left. Diane, who joins Singletary and Joseph as the team's three double-figure scorers, did not return.

"I'm a big believer that one of the major talents you can have is experience," Leitao said. "Those two guys [Joseph and Diane] have more experience than most and they're not giving us what experienced guys should give us, not just in productivity but in other areas."

Joseph, held to six points and three rebounds in 18 minutes, didn't argue with that assessment.

"As a senior and a captain, today I feel like I let the team down," Joseph said. "We're the leaders and the younger guys are looking to us. I definitely take this personally. It was my fault."

It was the last nonconference game for the Cavaliers (10-3). Virginia will take 10 days off before beginning ACC play Jan. 13, at Duke.

 

Quarterback remains an issue for Cavaliers in 2008
By Doug Doughty

In the aftermath of Branden Albert’s decision to turn pro, an obvious conclusion is to say the offensive line will be the biggest question mark about Virginia’s 2008 football team.

Not in my mind.

Clearly, the Cavaliers have some holes to fill with the departure of O-line starters Albert, Ian-Yates Cunningham and Jordy Lipsey, but I keep coming back to the quarterbacks.

Let’s say that Kevin Ogletree returns from a redshirt year as the big-play receiver that Virginia could only dream about in 2007. Even if he is the kind of receiver who can create separation from defensive backs, will the Cavaliers be able to get the ball to him?

In watching sophomore Jameel Sewell in the Gator Bowl, it occurred to me that there simply are a lot of throws that Sewell can’t make.

Remember the seam route, the pass to a tight end streaking down the middle of the field that was a Cavalier staple during the Matt Schaub-Heath Miller era? Virginia had three quality tight ends this year – Tom Santi, Jonathan Stupar and John Phillips – but the seam route virtually disappeared from the Cavalier gameplans.

Why? I’m guessing it’s because Sewell either wasn’t comfortable throwing it or the completion rate simply wasn’t high enough.

Sewell completed nearly 59 percent of his passes this season and threw for 200 yards or more in four consecutive games in the middle of the season, but most of his accuracy stems from his choice of targets – mostly running backs and tight ends.

UVa’s top three receivers for the season were tailback Mikell Simpson with 43 catches and tight ends Stupar and Santi with 40 and 36, respectively.

Maurice Covington, the top pass-catcher among UVa’s wide receivers, finished the season with 21 receptions in nine games. He had one reception for 11 yards in a 31-28 Gator Bowl loss to Texas Tech. UVa’s longest completion of the game went to Simpson for 12 yards.

Sewell has a strong left (throwing) arm and his supporters would say that he needs some help from his wide receivers, but the 15- to 18-yard square-in or out is just not a high-percentage play for the Cavaliers.

I’m not suggesting that Peter Lalich needs to move ahead of Sewell on the depth chart. Lalich replaced Sewell in the fourth quarter in four of the last six UVa games and did not distinguish himself.

I attribute a lot of the fact that Lalich was a true freshman. None of the great UVa quarterbacks started as freshmen. Not Shawn Moore. Not Aaron Brooks. Not Matt Schaub. Heck, Moore and Schaub did not start as redshirt freshmen and Brooks was a fourth-year junior when he took over.

Ideally, Lalich would have been redshirted. That would have been possible if the Grohs – head coach Al and offensive coordinator Mike – had exercised a little diplomacy and convinced Kevin McCabe to return for a fifth season in 2007.

McCabe could have been an insurance policy this fall and allowed the Cavaliers to redshirt Lalich, thus creating two years’ separation between Sewell and Lalich, but the Groh critics already know this and the Groh supporters don’t want to hear it.

There is talk of Lalich redshirting in 2008, but how can that happen? Sewell’s surgically repaired left wrist held up surprisingly well this season, but that could flare up at any time, Groh conceded early in the season. Throw in an assortment of physical issues that sent him to the sidelines this season and UVa hardly could expect to go an entire season without needing Lalich.

This year’s No. 3 quarterback, Scott Deke, has taken only four snaps in his first four years. Who knows if Deke would want to come back for a fifth year, even if invited? Marc Verica got some good reviews for his work with the scout team, but even Al Groh admits that Verica was signed as a project.

Did anybody mention Vic Hall?

A healthy Sewell and a redshirted Lalich would appear to be the best-case scenario for Virginia in 2008, but until the Cavaliers can start completing 15- and 18-yard routes, not to mention an occasional long ball, problems will persist.
 

Xavier routs Virginia
The Associated Press
10:41 PM EST, January 3, 2008
 

CINCINNATI - Point guard Drew Lavender led a relentlessly balanced offense that scored 61 points in the first half Thursday night and swept Xavier to its second straight dominating victory, 108-70 over Virginia.

The Musketeers (11-3) opened with their biggest first half in 15 years and finished with a victory that will be a measuring stick. They tied a school record by making 16 3-pointers, and had seven players in double figures for the second straight game.

Combined with a 103-77 victory over Kansas State on Monday night, the Musketeers topped 100 points in consecutive games for the first time since February 1996 and the sixth time in school history.

Virginia (10-3) switched from man-to-man to zone defense, but couldn't slow an offense that hardly missed. Xavier had at least four players in double figures for the 10th time this season and shot 64 percent from the field.

The Cavaliers hadn't allowed 100 points in a game since a 110-76 loss to North Carolina on Jan. 29, 2005, their last season under coach Pete Gillen.

Stanley Burrell led Xavier with 15 points. Lavender had 13 points and eight assists, getting the better of a matchup of two of the nation's most polished point guards.

Virginia's Sean Singletary, the ACC's top returning scorer, was more of a one-man team. He took Virginia's first five shots and went 5-of-12 overall, finishing with a harmless 14 points.

For the second game in a row, Xavier left its opponent wondering what happened after the opening tip. The Musketeers rolled out to a 30-7 lead against Kansas State on Monday.

Three days later, Virginia's players wore that same stunned look.

Xavier pulled out to a 38-12 lead that left Virginia coach Dave Leitao out of answers. Eight players combined on Xavier's first 10 baskets. The signature play came on a fastbreak: C.J. Anderson passed to Burrell, who gave it right back for three-point play.

The Musketeers led 61-30 at the half, more points than Virginia had allowed in four of its games. It was Xavier's biggest first half since a 113-73 win over Huntington in 1992-93, when it also had 61 at halftime.

The lead reached 43 before Xavier started working its reserves into the game midway through the second half. Charles Bronson's basket made it 100-58 with 5:59 to play.