Collapse Leaves Cavaliers Stunned
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 01/28/2010
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Sammy Zeglinski demonstrated his flair for the dramatic yet again Thursday night, forcing overtime against Virginia Tech with a 25-footer that set off an explosion of cheers inside John Paul Jones Arena and lifted the sagging spirits of his basketball team.

"I definitely thought we were going to win after that," UVa forward Mike Scott said.

Granted a reprieve by Zeglinski's bomb, Virginia failed to capitalize. The Hokies dominated the extra period much the way they'd owned the final three minutes of regulation, pulling away for a 76-71 win before 13,449 fans, a season high at JPJ.

The Cavaliers' epic collapse left them stunned.

"It was tough not to get this one," Zeglinski said, "because we had the lead so many times and couldn't close it."

Virginia (3-2, 12-6) led by 12 with 5:05 left in the first half, only to go into the break trailing 28-27 after a series of defensive breakdowns. But the Wahoos, buoyed by their fans' support, pulled away again after intermission. And after a turnover by Tech (3-2, 16-3) with 3:18 left, the 'Hoos were on the brink of a victory that would have moved them into a tie for first in the ACC.

Instead, they unraveled. A string of mental lapses and blown assignments by UVa fueled the Hokies' comeback, starting with a decision by junior guard Jeff Jones.

Jones, whose stepback jump shot had put Virginia up 62-52 with 3:43 left, got the ball in transition with the score unchanged. Instead of running off precious seconds, however, he launched a 3-point attempt barely three seconds into the shot clock.

It missed, and when the Hokies scored to pull to 62-54 with 2:57 left, the comeback was under way.

"It's a dagger if he makes it, but I thought the wise decision would have been to pull that out, and he knew that once he shot it," said Tony Bennett, UVa's first-year coach.

"That's when you certainly want to work the clock. It wasn't as sound down the stretch with some of our decisions."

Jones said: "It was just an emotional shot. I got tied up in the game."

If that had been the Wahoos' only mistake in the final minutes, this one never would have gone to overtime. But UVa fell apart in almost every area, turning the ball over, attempting ill-advised shots and, with its lead down to four, leaving junior guard Dorenzo Hudson unguarded on the right wing.

"I thought we played hard, but not smart," Scott said.

Hudson's trey made it 62-61. Virginia got a good look at the other end -- Jones missed an open 3-pointer from the left corner -- and then J.T. Thompson scored inside to put the Hokies ahead 63-62 with 39.2 seconds showing, their first lead in more than 15 minutes.

Blanketed by Tech guard Malcolm Delaney (27 points), Virginia's Sylven Landesberg forced an off-balance shot that failed to reach the rim. The Cavaliers had to foul, and Delaney's two free throws with 10.1 seconds left extended Tech's run to 13-0. More important, they put the Hokies up 65-62.

Zeglinski hadn't made a field goal since Jan. 18, but he wasn't deterred. He'd hit head-shaking 3-pointers at key moments against Cleveland State and Penn State earlier in the season, and with 1.3 seconds left Thursday night he drilled a long, long jumper over the outstretched arms of Delaney.

"It was a heck of a shot," Bennett said. "I was hoping being at home the momentum would come [in overtime]."

It didn't. The Hokies scored the first five points of OT. Zeglinski's second trey made it 70-68 at the 2:21 mark, but Thompson forced a turnover and scored five points in the final 1:55 to keep Virginia at bay.

With 8 seconds left in overtime and silence settling over stunned UVa supporters, a Tech fan yelled, "J.T.'s the man!"

Nobody could dispute that.

The Hokies lost their best post player, Jeff Allen, with 13:41 left in the second half after the 6-7 junior was ejected for an elbow to Jones' head. Thompson made sure Allen wasn't missed.

The chiseled 6-6 junior from Monroe, N.C., scored 15 of his 17 points after intermission, often overpowering the 'Hoos inside.

"He's a tough matchup," Bennett said. "He did the job as the game wore on. He's so active. He plays so hard. You can see that. Just kind of a workhorse for them, and certainly was a significant key to their victory."

For Virginia, Scott had 21 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals and attempted -- and made -- his first trey of the season. But the 6-8, 239-pound junior took only four shots after halftime, in part because of increased defensive attention by Tech, in part because his teammates stopped looking for him.

"I think there were some times we maybe had opportunities to go to him, and we just didn't. Sometimes we just didn't make the next pass," Bennett said.

The Hokies "did a pretty good job sagging on him and made him work. But it was good to see him play that active and that hard ... He was certainly aggressive early."

For the second straight game, Landesberg (18 points) picked up two first-half fouls, and Bennett again sat his leading scorer for the rest of the period.

Wake Forest capitalized on Landesberg's extended absence with a run that left UVa down 19 at halftime. Against Virginia Tech, Landesberg was called for two fouls in a span of 25 seconds. The second came at the 4:29 mark, with UVa leading 22-13.

Landesberg went to the bench, and the Hokies went off, closing the half with a 15-5 run.

He avoided further foul trouble after halftime, but Landesberg struggled in other ways. He finished with 6 turnovers.

"Sometimes I just felt like I had to make a play happen," he said. "I just tried to force it, I guess."

Overall, Virginia had 16 turnovers, an uncharacteristic display of carelessness from a team that came in averaging 10.3. Moreover, the 'Hoos hurt themselves from the line.

In a Jan. 9 victory at N.C. State, UVa made 19 of 20 free throws. Against Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers hit only 15 of 22.

Landesberg, who came in shooting 83 percent from the line, was 0 for 2 and missed the front end of a one-and-one in overtime. Jones, a 75-percent shooter, was 5 for 8.

"When they're going in, it makes it a little easier to win down the stretch, there's no question," Bennett said.

With another winter storm in the forecast, the Cavaliers will leave Friday night, instead of Saturday, for Tobacco Road. UVa meets defending NCAA champion North Carolina (2-3, 13-7) in Chapel Hill on Sunday night.

The sting of losing to the Hokies in such gut-wrenching fashion may take awhile to wear off.

"There were certainly some good things to draw from this game, I'll say that, but it hurts to be in that spot and not come away with a victory," Bennett said. "It really does."

 

Postgame Quotes
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 01/28/2010
Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett

On Virginia’s lack of scoring in the final minutes of regulation:
“I thought we played so hard, and we always talk about hard and smart together. We were pretty solid with our decision making up until that point and then there were some breakdowns. We could have run some clock. Jeff got a wide open look. He had hit one and it would have been a time to run some clock. We left a guy unguarded in transition, two turnovers and the out of bound plays, fouling Delaney—there were just some things where I thought our execution and just making some sound decisions hurt us.”

“Offensively we definitely did get stagnant. Sylven was drawing quite a crowd and there were some chances where if we could have made that next pass… It’s something we have to learn from and they did a good job of really stacking up wherever Syl was.”

On Virginia Tech’s play in the end of regulation:
“With the time left they made a run on us. It was transition baskets too. That’s something that in this league will test you. If you’re not sound in that area that can hurt you, because when our defense was set for the majority of the game, it was hard for them to score. When our defense wasn’t set, they made it look easy.”

On Virginia Tech’s JT Thompson
“He’s a tough match up. He did the job as the game wore on. He’s so active and plays so hard. You can see that, and he’s just kind of a workhorse for them. He certainly was a significant key to their victory.”

On using perimeter players at the end of regulation:
“We thought we needed a little ball handling. If we could just get it in and run a little clock, that’s been good to us down the stretch. Late in the game they were hurting us a little bit whether we had our two bigs, three guards or four guards in, but it was more to handle the pressure and hopefully get fouled, get to the line and then hopefully make a defensive substitution if needed.”

On the team’s free throw shooting:
“We’re not doing anything different from the line as far as practice. We’re shooting a lot of them, trying to make it competitive. As I’ve said before, sometimes shooting free throws is a little bit like putting—you just keep your routine, step up and shoot them. When they’re going in, it makes it a little easier to win down the stretch, there’s no question.”

On Mike Scott:
“He was working hard. I think he really caught them off guard early and we got a few sets to get a few looks at him. I think there’s some times when we had opportunities to go to him and didn’t. We just didn’t make the next pass.”
________________________________________
Virginia Junior Forward Mike Scott

On losing lead late:
“We just did not make a lot of smart decisions. We played hard but not smart. We took bad shots, and had a lot of turnovers.”

On Sammy’s Zeglinski’s last second shot in regulation:
“I definitely thought we were going to win after that.”

On failing to get back on defense:
“Jerome [Meyinsse] and I were crashing the boards and they were able to leak out and hit the open man.”

On rebounding for the game against UNC:
“It is very important. It hurts right now but we just have to pick our heads up and move on.”

Virginia Sophomore Guard Sammy Zeglinski

On his game-tying shot at the end of regulation:
“I double-clutched by accident, so I felt it was lucky to have it go in. I thought we would have the momentum going into overtime, but we just could not get enough stops.”

On the loss:
“It is a tough loss because we had the lead so many times, and we just could not hold it.”

On rebounding for the game against UNC:
“We have to have a quick turnaround and get ready to play our next game. We have to have a short memory. We are going to stick to who we are. We just made too many mistakes. We are going to keep fighting.”

Virginia Sophomore Guard Sylven Landesberg

On sensing the win was close:
“There were a lot of points scored in the game and we were ready for the knockout punch, but they kept fighting back. You can’t sleep on a team like that.”
________________________________________

Virginia Tech Head Coach Seth Greenberg

On the overview of the game:
"That was just a really good basketball game. That is the only way to describe it. Both teams competed at a high level. I was very proud of our resilience – I was really proud of how tough we were defensively. I was very proud of the pace we ran our offense and our toughness. We are a good team when we get stops. We had so many guys step up. Erick Green did a nice job for us on offense when Malcolm (Delaney) was off the ball. JT Thompson was so tough and – I guess determined. It was so good to see him play that way – it’s a piece we have been missing."

On Malcolm Delaney asking to be switched to guard Sylven Landesberg:
"I think we knew we had one bad matchup on him. Dorenzo (Hudson) is better at guarding shooters. He is such a great player – we tried to slow him down – gave him a lot of help. But that is Malcolm (Delaney) – he is such a competitive player and wants to give us any edge to win. That wasn’t one guy stopping Sylven Landesberg – you’re not stopping him with one player. He is so elusive. Malcolm did a good job of trying to get him off some spots – and as a team we did a good job of being alert – helping and getting back to shooters."

On coming back from UVa’s early 10-point lead:
"I think the environment and the atmosphere here – I think we were trying too hard at the start of the game. Malcolm (Delaney) was too anxious – he hasn’t practiced for the past three days and he was almost anxious. I think it took him a few minutes to get the flow of the game and to play off the other guys. Once we got some stops and out in transition – put the ball in a couple times, you get some confidence. Once you get confidence, then you try and get the ball inside a little bit. Then a great trust amongst all of them developed during the course of the game and they started defending harder."
________________________________________
Virginia Tech Forward JT Thompson

On Jeff Allen getting ejected:
“I’m a guy that tries to bring the energy, that’s what I did out there. I was trying to fire everyone up, diving on the floor and everything. When I saw Jeff wasn’t coming back, I just knew I had to step it up.”

On what this game means to him:
“It means a lot, especially against Virginia, it’s our rival, so, it means a lot in a rivalry game.”

On the mood on the court at the end of the game:
“Somebody said, “we’re still in it.” Every time we went to the coach somebody said, “we’re still in it.” So, in the back of my head, we can still win. So we went out there, and we just kept playing, and we won.”

Virginia Tech Guard Dorenzo Hudson

On the difference between this game and the Florida State game, when they couldn’t force the OT:
“Like I told you, the defense won the game for us, and I feel like we’re playing very good defense as a team…I think we know when we need to get stops and we get stops.”

On Jeff Allen getting ejected:
“I wasn’t hurt by it at all, I mean, we need Jeff to play in this league, but I knew some guys were going to step up…I knew because it’s a rivalry game, first of all. Coming into the game we don’t know who’s going to be the leader, or who’s going to have a big game. When Jeff went out, I let the team know that we needed some kind of play.”

On the win:
“It’s a big win, this being a rivalry game, plus it’s the ACC and Virginia was tied for first place in the ACC, so that’s a big road win for us.”

Virginia Tech Guard Malcolm Delaney

On whether they ever thought they were out of the game:
“I didn’t think so at all, I knew they went up on a little run in the first bit of the game, and I knew the game’s about runs, but we did a hard job fighting back. “

On the attitude he was trying to convey to the team:
“I was telling people, “keep confident.” This is the ACC, people go on runs. We knew the game didn’t get out of hand, just like they made their run in the first half, we came back and we made ours. We just stuck with it. Coach had confidence in us, and we just kept emphasizing hard work and staying true to our defense. That’s what eventually won the game for us.”

 

Postgame Notes
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 01/28/2010
VIRGINIA BASKETBALL
Postgame Notes
Virginia Tech 76, Virginia 71 (OT)

Team Notes
• Virginia had its seven-game home win streak snapped
• The Cavaliers tied a season high with 16 turnovers
• Virginia had its first overtime game of the season
• The crowd of 13,449 was the largest at John Paul Jones Arena this season

Individual Notes
• Mike Scott scored an ACC career-high 21 points
• Scott scored in double figures for the 12th time this season and the 32nd time in his career
• Scott had his second 20-point game of the season and the third of his career
• Scott’s 3-pointer at 12:59 of the second half came on his first 3-point attempt of the season
• Sylven Landesberg (18 pts) scored in double figures for the 18th time this season (every game) and 41st time in his career
• Landesberg remains the only player in the conference to score at least 18 points in every ACC game this season
• Jeff Jones (12 pts) scored in double figures for the seventh time this season and the 18th time in his career
• Jerome Meyinsse scored an ACC career-high nine points

Player Career Highs
• Mustapha Farrakhan tied a career high with two blocks
• Sammy Zeglinski tied a career high with two blocks
 

For U.Va., hit and miss with Landesberg
By Michael Phillips
Published: January 29, 2010
» 0 Comments | Post a Comment
vote
nowBuzz up!

CHARLOTTESVILLE - This is the Sylven Landesberg Dilemma: When he doesn't play, Virginia looks lost. When he does play, Virginia looks bored.

Both sides were on display last night in the Cavs' 76-71 overtime loss to the Hokies.

Landesberg said he felt the need to do too much, to take over late in the game. As a result, the team got away from what was working - open shots for Mike Scott inside, and a passing game that set up those looks.

Why would Landesberg feel the need to do that? Well, he must have seen the first half.

After dominating the first 15 minutes, the sophomore picked up two quick fouls with five minutes remaining, sending him to the bench with the Cavs up nine. In his absence, the Hokies rattled off a 15-5 run to take the lead into the locker room.

In a postgame interview, Landesberg didn't shy away from his late-game role.

"I just felt like I had to make a play happen," he said. "I just didn't want the game to get out of hand."

Scott, a forward who shot the ball 12 times in the first half, then only four times the rest of the game, admitted to being frustrated that he didn't get more looks, but chalked it up to the "heat of the moment."

Coach Tony Bennett called it a lack of movement.

"Offensively, we did definitely get stagnant," he said. "You know, Sylven was drawing quite a crowd, and there were some chances where we could have made that next pass. They did a good job of stacking up wherever Syl was."

But Bennett also saw the results of his star spending time on the bench for the second consecutive game. Against Wake Forest, Landesberg recorded his second foul with 12 minutes remaining in the first half, and was not placed back in the lineup. Wake Forest finished the half up by double-digits and won easily.

Two days after that game, Bennett said that if he had it to do over again, he would have played Landesberg.

Last night, Landesberg once again allowed his frustration to get him in trouble, recording a foul on the offensive end and then picking up another seconds later on Tech's offensive possession.

During his absence, Jontel Evans tried to take over offensively, but turned the ball over once and then missed a tough shot on the next possession. With the lead down to three, Bennett called a timeout, but was unable to stop the momentum.

"At the time, it didn't cross my mind that I've got to put him back in," Bennett said of Landesberg. "They made a run on us, but it was transition baskets, too. That's something that, in this league, will test you and test you."

He added that at halftime he "pleaded" with the team to set up the defense on every possession, and that the Cavs did a good job of that until the final minutes. At that point, things started to unravel.

"We just didn't make a lot of smart decisions," Scott said. "We played hard, but not smart."

Specifically, Bennett referred to a Jeff Jones 3-pointer with three minutes left in regulation. The Cavs were up 10, and it was early in the shot clock. The coach wanted Jones to run some more time off the clock instead of taking the quick shot - though acknowledged that had the guard made it, it would have been a game-ending dagger.

From there things got tight, and with U.Va. down one, the ball went to Landesberg for the go-ahead shot, but he missed from the same distance he scored from to beat UNC Wilmington.

The miss illustrated another aspect of the Landesberg Dilemma - when he makes the game-winner, he's a take-charge hero. When he doesn't, the team is left to lament what might have been with better decision-making late.

"There were a lot of points in the game I felt we were ready for the knockout punch," he said. "But you can't go to sleep on a team like that."

Virginia Tech overtakes Virginia in overtime, 76-71
By Darryl Slater
Published: January 29, 2010
Updated: January 29, 2010
» 0 Comments | Post a Comment
vote
nowBuzz up!

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Virginia Tech's locker room door at John Paul Jones Arena swung open, and as point guard Malcolm Delaney stepped inside, the first person he saw was teammate Jeff Allen, standing there shirtless.

"Did we win?" Allen asked Delaney.

Then the rest of the Hokies streamed through the door, celebrating last night's 76-71 overtime win against Virginia. Allen hadn't watched his team roar back from 10 points down in the final three minutes of regulation because he was ejected and banished to the locker room after he threw an elbow with 13:41 left in the second half.

But when Allen saw his jubilant teammates, his mood changed, Delaney said, and he joined the party. Moments later, Tech coach Seth Greenberg barreled into the room and shouted, "How 'bout them Hokies!"

It was the gutsiest win of the year for Tech, which improved to 3-2 in the ACC, 16-3 overall, by meeting several challenges.

After Allen's ejection, the Hokies got critical contributions from their backup power forward, junior J.T. Thompson, who tied his season high with 17 points -- the first time he has scored in double figures in nine games.

In the second half, Greenberg granted Delaney's request to defend Virginia's best player, guard Sylven Landesberg, who ended up equaling his season average by scoring 18 points but didn't make a bucket after 5:44 remained in regulation.

"I was really proud of our resiliency," said Greenberg.

Obstacle No. 1 was Allen's elbow. As he secured a loose ball near Tech's bench, he lifted his arms and popped Jeff Jones in the face. Officials called a flagrant foul and ejected Allen -- a ruling confirmed after they reviewed a video replay, referee Karl Hess said afterward. At this point, Allen is eligible to play in Tech's next game, Sunday at Miami. The ACC automatically suspends players only for fighting, Hess said.

"I didn't see the play," Greenberg said. "I spoke to Jeff [Allen], and he said that he secured the ball, he chinned the ball and he turned. He didn't even see Jeff Jones."

Virginia (3-2, 12-6) hadn't pulled away when Allen departed. The Cavaliers were up 37-34, before stretching that to 46-36 with 12:13 left. "We knew that one run couldn't kill us," Delaney said.

Still, they were down 62-52 with 10 minutes left. "Every time we huddled up, somebody said, 'We're still in it,'" Thompson said. "The thought in the back of my head was: We can still win."

They finally went up, 63-62, with 39 seconds left, when Thompson muscled through a double team and banked in a leaner. Thompson didn't pass out of the double team because Greenberg had just told his players to be aggressive, go to the basket and try to get a foul.

After Delaney hit two free throws with 10.1 seconds left, Virginia responded when Sammy Zeglinski hit a 3-pointer from 23 feet with 1.3 seconds left, tying the game at 65 heading into overtime. That was Virginia's first basket since 3:44 remained, a drought partly due to Delaney's defense on Landesberg, though Delaney also got help.

"People don't think I play defense," Delaney said. "But when I put my mind to it, I can stop anybody I want."

Once Tech recovered from the shock of Zeglinski's 3, Greenberg said, "We have really tried to brainwash our guys that we enjoy overtime,"

Nobody enjoyed it more than Thompson, who scored six points in overtime and, with 40 seconds left, snuck up behind Zeglinski and poked the ball away when the Cavaliers trailed 72-68. Thompson hit two free throws after the turnover to help secure the win.

"I'm a guy that tries to bring the energy," Thompson said, still breathing heavily. "That's what I did out there."

Twenty minutes later, the happily exhausted Hokies walked out of the arena. A female trainer shuffled alongside shooting guard Dorenzo Hudson, Thompson's cousin, who shot 7 of 14 and scored 18 points in 42 minutes. She carried an IV bag connected to Hudson's arm, and as he cracked a smile, his cousin's succinct assessment of the long night seemed fitting.

"That," Thompson had said, "is what you call a rivalry game."

After elbow episode, Va. Tech met adversity head on
By Paul Woody
Published: January 29, 2010
Updated: January 29, 2010
» 1 Comment | Post a Comment
vote
nowBuzz up!CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Call it poetic justice.

Call it gritty determination and an outstanding defensive effort.

Recognize it as one team's star player responding while the other team's star player overreached.

Most of all, call it a Virginia Tech victory over Virginia. You can even call it an improbable victory.

"That was a really good basketball game," said Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg.

Well, what would you expect him to say?

His team won 76-71 when it trailed by 10 points with 3:44 remaining in the game. The Hokies won despite losing their leading rebounder and No. 3 scorer, Jeff Allen, with 13:41 left in the game.

Last night, the Hokies proved to be the mentally and physically tougher team. The Hokies were tenacious on defense and smart on offense.

In the final three minutes of the game, they recognized the weakness of the Cavaliers' interior defense, and pounded the ball inside to J.T. Thompson. The 6-6 junior forward finished with 17 points, nine of them in the final 2:14 of regulation and five-minute overtime period.

"He was so tough and so determined," Greenberg said. "It's good to see him play that way because that's a piece we had been missing."

Allen might have been the man on the low post dropping in those points, but he long had been in the locker room.

He was ejected when the officials found him guilty of a flagrant foul for hitting Virginia guard Jeff Jones in the face with an elbow.

Virginia Tech lost here last season when Allen was suspended for the game after making an obscene gesture when he fouled out against Maryland.

This year, the Hokies are a different team, or at least they were last night.

Had the Hokies lost without Allen, a cloud would have been over this game.

Instead, they enjoyed a bit of poetic justice in winning without him.

Allen's elbow did hit Jones. And the way players use their elbow is a point of emphasis for officials this season.

"He throws an elbow, so we ruled it a flagrant personal, which means it's severe or extreme contact with an opponent during a live-ball," referee Karl Hess said in a statement after the game. "The penalty is the ejection of the offender."

Nobody wants to see a game devolve into an elbow-throwing, hot-headed, hard-fouling mixed-martial arts match. But if what Allen did is an example of "extreme contact" and a flagrant foul, that interpretation needs to be re-examined during the offseason.

Allen had grabbed the ball in the corner, near the Hokies' bench after a wild scramble for a loose ball. Virginia defenders surrounded him. Allen committed a foul. But it hardly seemed a foul worthy of ejection.

Allen left the court calmly. He declined to comment after the game.

Jones said he was reaching for the ball, "and he just swung an elbow. It is what it is. It was the ref's decision, and I don't comment on the ref's decision. It was definitely an elbow, and it definitely connected."

Greenberg, who has been known to display emotion on the sidelines, also reacted calmly when he was told Allen was done for the evening.

"I didn't see the play," Greenberg said. "I spoke to Jeff, and he said that he secured the ball, he chinned the ball and turned. He didn't even see Jeff Jones and that's all I know."

The reaction of Allen and Greenberg served Virginia Tech well. Instead of getting angry, feeling sorry for themselves and blaming the officials, they simply outplayed the Cavaliers.

Virginia Tech star's guard, Malcolm Delaney, took control of the game down the stretch. He scored 10 of his game-high 27 points in the final six minutes.

Meanwhile, Virginia's star guard, Sylven Landesberg, tried to do too much. With 13 seconds left and Virginia trailing by one point, Landesberg, under heavy defensive pressure, took a twisting, off-balance shot from just outside the lane. The ball had almost no chance of going in the basket.

"There were some situations where he could have made the next pass," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said.

There were some situations that could have caused the Hokies to crumble last night. They didn't.

Instead, they left not just with a victory, but something to build on as well.
 

Cavs come up short in OT
By Whitey Reid
Published: January 28, 2010
» 0 Comments | Post a Comment
vote
nowBuzz up!

A flagrant foul that led to an ejection. An improbable game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation. The largest home crowd of the season.
Yeah, you could say that Tony Bennett’s first experience with the rivalry that is Virginia-Virginia Tech had it all.
Everything but a check in the win column at game’s end.
Virginia dominated its in-state rival for good stretches, but when it mattered most, the Cavaliers went into a funk.
Virginia Tech, behind 27 points from Malcolm Delaney and 18 points from Dorenzo Hudson, came back from 10 points down with under four minutes to play to shock UVa in overtime, 76-71, in front of a crowd of 13,449 at John Paul Jones Arena.
“That’s a hard loss,” said Bennett, whose team dropped its second straight. “I thought some of our decisions down the stretch cost us.”
Virginia (12-6, 3-2), which plays at North Carolina on Sunday night, was led by Mike Scott’s 21 points and eight rebounds. Sylven Landesberg added 18 points and five assists, but also committed six turnovers,
including a costly pair down the stretch.
“I don’t think we executed well on either end,” said Landesberg, discussing the Cavs’ meltdown. “We were missing easy shots and couldn’t contain them on defense.”
A Jeff Jones 3-pointer gave Virginia a 62-52 lead with 3:40 left before Tech began its run. However, an adrenaline 3-pointer by Jones on the team’s next possession swayed momentum.
“It’s a dagger if he makes it,” Bennett said, “but the wise
decision was to pull it out…
“I wish we had pulled that out and run the clock.”
The Hokies (16-3, 3-2) went on a 13-0 run, taking their first lead since early in the second half when J.T. Thompson powered an inside shot over Mike Scott with 39 seconds left in the game. After a Jeff Jones miss, two free throws by Thompson (17 points, seven rebounds) gave Tech a 68-65 lead with 10.1 seconds left.
That’s when guard Sammy Zeglinski, who has hit a number of clutch shots for Virginia this season, did so again, knocking down a deep 3-pointer from the wing with Delaney in his face to force overtime.
“It was a heck of a shot,” Bennett said. “I was hoping, being at home, that the momentum would come.”
It didn’t.
Tech controlled the overtime, building a quick five-point lead and cruised to victory. As the final buzzer sounded, a jubilant Hokies squad, which included former Virginia
assistant coach Bill Courtney, raced off the court.
The most frustrating thing about the loss for Virginia was that it had sizable leads for good portions of the contest.
The Cavaliers, behind the strong play of Scott — the junior had an assortment of pretty moves around the basket — stormed out to a 22-10 lead.
However, the Hokies went on a 9-0 run. The spurt was highlighted by Delaney. Tech took its first lead on a Hudson 3-pointer with under a minute to play and led 28-27 at the break.
About midway through the second half, Virginia opened up another big lead after going on a 10-0 run. During the spurt, Hokies big man Jeff Allen was ejected for a flagrant foul on Jones.
“I just saw the elbow swing and it hit me over the left eye,” said Jones, who had a welt on his face afterward. “It was nothing. It was just an elbow that connected.”
Jones sounded as if the loss to an archrival hurt a lot more than his face.
“This one definitely hurts,” Jones said. “We worked hard for this one. It was just not doing little things down the stretch and we got beat.”
Jones said that if he had it to do over, he probably wouldn’t have launched that ill-fated trey.
“It was an emotional shot,” he said. “It was an emotional game. I had confidence in it, but it just
didn’t fall.”
Dunks
Virginia senior co-captain Calvin Baker, who missed Saturday’s loss at Wake Forest for disciplinary reasons, suited up for the game but didn’t see any action. ...Virginia Tech players wore patches on their uniforms in honor of Morgan Harrington, the missing student whose remains were identified this week. ...Referee Karl Hess on the Allen ejection: “He throws an elbow, so we ruled it a flagrant personal foul, which means it’s severe or extreme contact with an opponent during a live-ball. The penalty is the ejection of the offender.” Hess went on to say that since there was no fight, Allen would not be have to sit out the Hokies’ next game.
 

Virginia Tech shows grit in win
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: January 28, 2010
Updated: January 28, 2010
» 0 Comments | Post a Comment
vote
nowBuzz up!

Seth Greenberg said after Thursday night’s 76-71 thriller-diller overtime win over archrival Virginia that his team may not be aesthetically pleasing to the basketball aficionado.
Doesn’t matter.
Greenberg’s Virginia Tech team clawed back from all sorts of adversity to steal a precious road win in Charlottesville, and sent most of the season’s largest crowd (13,449) scrambling for the exits with a heartbreaking defeat. Oh, yes, the Hokies improved to 16-3 (3-2 in the ACC) along the way while ending Virginia’s seven-game home winning streak.
“We’re a tough group of guys, we grind it out and play like a bunch of dirtbags to have a chance to win,” Greenberg quipped. “We’re not aesthetically attractive, but I convinced my wife to marry me, and look at me.”
Fighting back
This was one that the Hokies had no business winning. Virginia controlled the pace most of the way and seemingly had the win in its hip pocket on two occasions in the second half.
The first came when Tech post man Jeff Allen was called for a flagrant foul and ejected after an elbow to UVa’s Jeff Jones at the 13:41 mark. That came in the midst of a 12-0 Cavaliers run capped by Mike Scott’s first 3-point attempt of the season and expanded Virginia’s lead to 44-34 with 13 minutes to play.
Tech fought back to within five (50-45) before the Cavaliers slowly built their cushion back to 10 at 62-52 with 3:44 to play in regulation.
That’s when the bottom fell out for the Wahoos, who didn’t look so aesthetically pleasing either for the remainder of regulation or the five-minute overtime period.
A tough home loss
Greenberg’s squad reeled off 13 straight points to lead 65-62 with 10 seconds showing and appeared to have the upset sewn up until Sammy Zeglinski, who hadn’t made a 3-point basket all night, hit one from seemingly the Rotunda to send the game into overtime.
Virginia coach Tony Bennett had hoped Zeglinski’s bomb would be the Reaper Cheater he needed to bounce back and defend home court in OT.
He knew his Cavaliers were leaking oil, though, having floundered around on defense the final eight or nine minutes of the game, not making the stops required to halt a determined bunch of Hokies.
Nothing changed in overtime. Tech owned the extra period and Virginia’s defense, which appeared almost dominating early in the game, ceased to exist.
Fans left dejected. Finally, they believed they had an opportunity to restore some bragging rights after taking yet another pounding during football season.
The Hokies just took this one away, too, again leaving Virginia fans with their tiresome comeback reference to the Director’s Cup standings.
Bennett questioned the Cavaliers’ decision-making late in regulation and into overtime, such as Jones launching a 3-point attempt with 3:10 (regulation) after taking the 10-point lead.
“Yeah, if it goes, it’s a dagger,” Bennett said, then pointing out the wiser
decision would have been to pull out of that temptation and run the clock.
He wasn’t happy that his team didn’t do that on more trips down the floor, that it didn’t take care of the ball, and didn’t play the solid defense he preaches relentlessly.
Eleven of UVa’s season-high 16 turnovers (the Cavaliers entered the game third in the nation in fewest turnovers per game 10.3), came after the halftime break.
Greenberg was proud of a lot of things about his basketball team, but none more than its toughness in coming back twice when the situation looked grim.
He said he didn’t see Allen’s elbow, which was called on the court and confirmed on TV monitors by game officials, that sent the big man to the dressing room. Later, Greenberg told reporters that Allen told him that he didn’t even see Jones, a former AAU teammate, prior to contact.
The Tech coach said Zeglinski’s shot, which Greenberg termed “great,” was also gut-wrenching.
“Once we got over the shock, we tried to brainwash our guys that we enjoy playing in overtime,” Greenberg said.
Must have done a pretty good job because the Hokies owned the extra period, outscoring Virginia, 11-3 until Jones hit a meaningless trey with eight seconds showing.
The question for Virginia now is how it will react to adversity?
A win could have given Bennett’s squad booming confidence and momentum for a quick turnaround to Chapel Hill on Sunday night. Now, one has to wonder if the Cavs’ can keep the two-game losing streak from becoming a landslide.
 

When Allen sat, Thompson rose up
January 29, 2010 12:36 am

CHARLOTTESVILLE--It seemed like a recipe for disaster for Virginia Tech

The Hokies were playing in arguably their most hostile environment, Virginia's John Paul Jones Arena, and trailing the rival Cavaliers 37-34. Then, with 13:41 to play, their best big man, Jeff Allen, was ejected for swinging his elbow and connecting to the face of Virginia's Jeff Jones after picking up a loose ball.

The Cavaliers got four points on the possession and three more seconds later to take a 10-point lead. Time for the Hokies to fold, right?

Not quite. And they can thank an unlikely hero for their stunning 76-71 overtime victory in a pivotal game that the Cavaliers offered and they gladly stole.

"When another player goes down, somebody else steps up," J.T. Thompson said. "That's what a team is. That's just what I had to do."

Thompson did more for the Hokies last night than even he had a right to expect. The 6-foot-6 junior scored 15 of his season-high 17 points after Allen's ejection, including seven in the extra period.

"He's a tough matchup, and he did the job as the game went on." Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. "He's so active and plays so hard. He's a workhorse for their team. He was a significant key to their victory.

Normally, Tech counts on Thompson primarily for defense, rebounds and hustle. Any offensive production is a bonus; his career scoring average is a modest 6.0 points per game.

But Allen has been slumping lately; he had just four points before his ejection last night, marking his fourth straight game in single digits. He's averaging a career-low 10.8 points per game, and just 6.8 in five Atlantic Coast Conference contests.

Before last night, Thompson had shown no signs of being the man to step in. Since netting 17 in the season's third game against Campbell, he had hit double figures just once. He was 3-for-15 from the field in Tech's previous three games.

"He was slumping; we all knew it." Tech guard Malcolm Delaney said. "But coach [Seth Greenberg] told him to stick with it. He's still confident. He had a good week of practice, and it carried over to the game."

In Allen's absence, Thompson exploited Virginia's thin frontcourt. His bank shot in the lane with 40 seconds left in regulation gave the Hokies their first lead of the second half (63-62).

Then, after Sammy Zeglinski's 3-point prayer sent the game into overtime, Thompson was a dominant figure in the extra period. He personally outscored the Cavaliers 7-6, and for good measure, he tapped the ball away from Zeglinski from behind and converted two free throws.

Thompson finished 6-for-9 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the foul line, with seven rebounds.

"When I saw Jeff wasn't coming back, I just knew I had to step it up out there," Thompson said. "It means a lot, especially coming against Virginia."

It also means a lot to the Hokies (16-3), whose NCAA tournament resume was a bit thin. A weak non-conference schedule (ranked 323rd in the nation) won't help them in March, so ACC road wins are like gold.

And with Allen struggling through a dismal season, Tech needs someone to complement the backcourt production of Delaney (the ACC's leading scorer, who had 27 last night) and Dorenzo Hudson (18).

"J.T. is just so tough and so determined," Greenberg said. "It's good to see him play that way. We've been missing that. That's the piece we've been missing."

Last night's game may well send the Cavaliers and Hokies in divergent directions. After a promising 3-0 ACC start, Virginia (12-6, 3-2) now plays five of its next eight on the road, starting with Sunday's trip to North Carolina, where the Cavaliers have lost 31 of their last 32 visits.

Tech, meanwhile, has won three straight, and plays four of its next six at home.

"We're developing trust," Greenberg said. "Guys are finding their niche, and executing better.

"We are who we are--a bunch of dirtbags who find a way to win."

Steve DeShazo: 540/374-5443
 

True classic reveals how Hokies can gut out win
David Teel
January 29, 2010

CHARLOTTESVILLE

The game was bruising, defensive and taut. One loose ball and elbow later, matters became contentious and sad. A stirring comeback and acrobatic jumper later, we simply had a classic.

Virginia Tech 76, Virginia 71. In overtime.

It was, without question, the most memorable encounter between the state rivals since January 1989 at Richmond Coliseum, when the Cavaliers prevailed 113-106 in overtime despite 43 points by Hokies guard Bimbo Coles.

Thursday night's game had no such signature performance. But Tech's Malcolm Delaney, J.T. Thompson and Dorenzo Hudson were gallant. Ditto Virginia's Mike Scott and Sylven Landesberg.

So drained was Hudson that a trainer led him to the bus holding aloft an IV bag to rehydrate him.

Indeed, what this contest revealed was the Hokies' grit. Down 10 with less than three minutes remaining in regulation, their best interior player in the locker room after an ejection, Tech scored 13 consecutive points to lead 65-62 with 10 seconds remaining.

"We thought the game was … over," Thompson said.

Choosing not to foul, Hokies coach Seth Greenberg saw Sammy Zeglinski, the ACC's most accurate 3-point shooter, hit an off-balance trey from in front of the Cavs' bench with 1.3 seconds left to force OT.

Undaunted, Tech (16-3, 3-2 ACC) scored the first five points of overtime to seize command for good.

"I think we're developing a trust," Greenberg said. "I think guys are finding roles and niches. I think guys are gaining confidence."

Delaney, Hudson and Thompson combined for 62 points and 15 rebounds. Scott scored 21, his most in an ACC game. Landesberg added 18.

Alas, a focal point must be Tech forward Jeff Allen.

Official Karl Hess ejected Allen with 13:41 remaining in regulation for an elbow that sent Virginia's Jeff Jones to the floor. The encounter in the right corner near the Hokies' bench could not be farther from media seating, so we're in no position to judge. But the call drew no protest from Greenberg at the time or after the game.

Some folks watching at home, none Tech fans, texted that Allen's elbow did not appear flagrant on replay. Hess obviously disagrees since he consulted the tape before ejecting Allen, who finished with four points.

Allen, a junior, was suspended in each of his first two seasons at Tech, for bumping an official at Georgia Tech and for flipping off fans at Maryland. Thursday's incident does not carry an automatic suspension, but given Allen's history, the ACC may ponder discipline.

After Allen's elbow, Jones made both free throws, and on the ensuing possession Landesberg hit a jumper. Tech's Terrell Bell then missed in transition, and seconds later Scott attempted, and made, his first 3-pointer of the season to give the Cavs (12-6, 3-2) a 44-34 cushion.

Game, set and match. Right?

Nope. The undersized Hudson and Thompson continued to attack inside, while Delaney (game-high 27 points) showed why he leads the ACC in scoring. Delaney missed all six of his 3-point attempts but countered with 9-of-10 free-throw shooting.

Virginia contributed to its own demise with a season-high 16 turnovers, some sloppy, others a credit to Tech's defense.

Games such as this identify NCAA tournament teams, and games such as this kept Tech out of the field in 2008 and '09. This season is starting to feel different.

The Hokies defeated Seton Hall, also in overtime, in Cancun, Mexico, with Delaney sidelined with a sprained ankle. They bested Delaware in overtime and Boston College by one.

The Cavs and Hokies now hit the road for curious and contrasting Sunday tests.

Virginia heads to North Carolina, where Roy Williams' reigning national champs defeated N.C. State on Tuesday to snap a three-game losing streak and pull fans in from the proverbial ledge. The Cavaliers have lost six consecutive meetings with the Tar Heels and six straight at the Dean Dome, all of the latter by at least 10 points.

Tech travels to Miami, where the last-place Hurricanes have dropped four consecutive ACC games. If the Hokies are to swipe another road game or two in conference, no more inviting venue than Coral Gables, where they won last season.

In overtime.

Karma, anyone?

"We're not aesthetically attractive," Greenberg said. "But I convinced my wife to marry me, and look at me."

Hokies get last gasp
Shorthanded Tech comes back from 10 down late, then holds off UVa in OT.
Mark Berman

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Down by 10 points late in regulation and without one of its best players, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team pulled off a stunning comeback Thursday.

The Hokies beat rival Virginia 76-71 in overtime, recording their second OT win at John Paul Jones Arena in three years.

"How 'bout them Hokies!" coach Seth Greenberg yelled as he entered Tech's locker room after the win.

Malcolm Delaney, who had 27 points for Tech, high-fived his coach at game's end.

"We've got people that can step up and play. It's not just a three-man team," Delaney said. "We just showed our toughness today, and that's a good way to win on the road in a hostile environment.

"Last year, we lost this game [at UVa], and it's starting to turn around for us this year, and that's just because of our hard work and defense.

"It's good to get a win like that at home, but on the road, that's tough. Not many people are winning on the road in the ACC."

The Hokies played without forward Jeff Allen after he was ejected for a flagrant foul with 13:41 to go in regulation. They trailed 62-52 with 3:44 to go but went on a 13-0 run to grab a 65-62 lead with 10.1 seconds left in regulation.

"Every time we huddled up, somebody said, 'We still in it,'" said Allen's backup, J.T. Thompson, who had 17 points off the bench.

UVa's Sammy Zeglinski buried a deep 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left to tie the score at 65 and force overtime.

But the Hokies (16-3, 3-2 ACC) scored the first five points of overtime and led the rest of the way.

Tech improved to 5-1 this season in games decided by five points or less or in OT. It was Tech's third OT win of the season.

"I was really proud of our resiliency," Greenberg said. "I was really proud of how tough we were defensively. I was really proud of how hard we ran our offense.

"We have a stick-to-itiveness and a belief in each other."

All but two of Thompson's points came after Allen was ejected. Thompson had four points during Tech's late run and four more in OT. It was only the third time this season that he scored in double figures.

"When I [saw] ... Jeff wasn't coming back, I just knew I had to step it up, and that's what I did," Thompson said.

Allen had the ball and was trying to fight off a double team when he elbowed Jeff Jones in the face so hard that Jones fell to the floor.

The officials ruled that it was a flagrant personal foul, which requires an ejection. They watched the TV monitor to confirm their ruling.

Allen "said that he secured the ball, he chinned the ball and he turned -- he didn't even see Jeff Jones, who was a teammate of his in AAU," Greenberg said.

The ejection does not require a mandatory suspension for Tech's next game, a visit to Miami on Sunday. Greenberg refused to comment when asked if he expected the ACC or athletic director Jim Weaver to suspend Allen anyway.

This is the third straight year Allen has been involved in an on-court incident. Two years ago, he was suspended two games by the ACC for deliberately bumping an official. Last year, he was suspended one game by Weaver for making an obscene gesture to fans at a game at Maryland.

UVa (12-6, 3-2) led 37-34 when Allen was ejected. The intentional foul helped UVa eventually extend the lead to 44-34 with 13:00 to go.

With Tech down 62-52, Tech began pressing the Cavaliers.

Delaney scored four points, Thompson made a basket and Dorenzo Hudson (18 points) sank a 3-pointer. Thompson drove to the basket and scored to give Tech a 63-62 lead with 39 seconds left in regulation.

"We got some stops and we got out in transition," Delaney said of Tech's late run. "And we [were] scrappy -- we got every 50-50 ball."

"They made some tough shots, ... but I thought we had some breakdowns," UVa coach Tony Bennett said of the run. "If we had managed the clock a little better. ... "

No Allen? No biggie
By Aaron McFarling

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- They won without Jeff Allen. That's the story. The comeback itself was riveting. The overtime shots were stirring. The fact that it happened here, on the rival's home floor, was thrilling.

But for the Virginia Tech Hokies, there's more to Thursday night's 76-71 OT victory over Virginia than all that.

Something enduring.

Tech winning in Allen's absence -- with the 6-foot-7 post player banished to the locker room following a second-half ejection -- showed amazing resiliency, an ability to fight on without its top rebounder and third-leading scorer.

And let's be honest: The Hokies are going to face this situation again.

Allen's crime Thursday was one of aggression, a high elbow to the face of UVa's Jeff Jones after the Tech forward had chased down an offensive rebound in the corner. His offense next time might be foul trouble. Or it might be that odd aloofness we sometimes see from him.

But it will happen, and now the Hokies have the formula to overcome it.

That's been mostly lacking in the past. Allen missed last year's meeting at John Paul Jones Arena after athletic director Jim Weaver suspended him for flipping off the fans at Maryland. The Hokies lost to a struggling UVa team by 14 -- one of those games that separates an NCAA tournament contender from an NIT club.

Two years ago, Allen was suspended two games by the ACC for bumping an official at Georgia Tech. The Allen-less Hokies were drilled at home by Duke in their next game. They did rebound against Boston College in their next outing, but coach Seth Greenberg's mantra is to protect the home court. Without Allen, against Duke, that's a chore.

Two of Tech's three losses this year have come when Allen disappeared. Foul trouble limited him to 17 minutes against Florida State. The Hokies' comeback fell short. Allen went AWOL in the second half against North Carolina -- zero points, no rebounds, zippo viable explanation -- and a potential upset fizzled.

So the Hokies know what it's like to try to succeed without Allen. It's the succeeding part that's been missing. Seeing him escorted off the floor with 13:41 remaining Thursday, a towel draped around his neck, couldn't have been encouraging to any of them.

Could you blame them if they'd gotten down? Allen has flaws, but the only reason he can be so frustrating to watch struggle is because we've seen how good he can be. He's a supremely skilled athlete who can shoot, pass, rebound, block shots and pick pockets when motivated. And Thursday, before he got ejected, he'd seemed plenty motivated.

Suddenly, though, it was UVa -- and this crowd of 13,449 -- with the monopoly on motivation. The Cavs hit the free throws for the flagrant foul, then reeled off two more quick buckets to push their lead to 10. The Hokies, it seemed, had blown their chance.

But then they hadn't. J.T. Thompson responded by playing his best 15 minutes of basketball since he's been in maroon and orange -- selling out on the glass, attacking the rim, running in the open floor.

Point guard Malcolm Delaney did what a team leader does, not only by scoring and distributing, but also by ratcheting up his defense on UVa's top scorer, Sylven Landesberg.

The Hokies went on a late 13-0 run, then refused to get rattled when Sammy Zeglinski forced OT with a contested 3-pointer just before the buzzer. Tech opened the extra period with a 5-0 surge and held on.

When it was over, the jubilant Hokies headed for the locker room. Allen was waiting for them there. According to Delaney, Allen had no idea who'd won the game until he saw their faces.

Then he knew the story. A most unlikely one. A most encouraging one.

Virginia forces overtime with an miraculous three-pointer, but Virginia Tech holds on
By Zach Berman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 29, 2010; D01

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- If there was any doubt that the Virginia-Virginia Tech rivalry extends from the football field onto the basketball court, Thursday night's game provided the answer. The intra-state feud included energized fans, late-minute drama, overtime -- and even an ejection.

The Cavaliers first collapsed in the game's final minutes before executing final-second theatrics to force an extra five minutes. The Hokies outplayed the Cavaliers in overtime, which will be remembered as the difference in a 76-71 victory that could prove to be a devastating loss for Virginia.

"It was just a really good basketball game," Virginia Tech Coach Seth Greenberg said. "That's the only way to describe it."

The Hokies (16-3, 3-2 ACC) recovered from a 10-point deficit in the final three minutes and appeared in good position while holding a three-point lead and forced the Cavaliers (12-6, 3-2) to scramble in the game's waning seconds. Virginia's Sammy Zeglinski hurled a long three-pointer that fell through the basket with 1.3 seconds to send the game into overtime.

"It was a heck of a shot," Virginia Coach Tony Bennett said. "I was hoping, being at home, that the momentum would come."

It never came.

Virginia Tech star Malcolm Delaney (27 points) out-dueled Virginia's leader Sylven Landesberg (18 points) early in overtime to quiet the crowd. Delaney scored three quick points, while Landesberg missed the front end of pivotal one-and-one. That put the Cavaliers in a hole from which they could not recover.

"Once we got over the shock, we have really tried to brainwash our guys that we enjoy overtime," Greenberg said. "You get five more minutes to play in this environment, this atmosphere. We found so many ways to come back into the game twice that, just stay with it."

The Hokies' win appears even more impressive considering a good chunk of the second half and the entire overtime came without forward Jeff Allen. With 13 minutes 48 seconds remaining and the Cavaliers nursing a one-point lead, Allen's elbow found the eye of Virginia guard Jeff Jones.

After the officials joined together to review the play, they called the two coaches together. Greenberg emerged from the huddle and pointed to the Hokies' trainer, who escorted Allen off the court with nearly the entirety of the 13,499 in attendance mockingly waving good-bye toward Allen.

"He throws an elbow, so we ruled it a flagrant personal, which means it's severe or extreme contact with an opponent during a live-ball," official Karl Hess told a media representative. The officials added that Allen will be eligible to play the next game because it was not ruled a fight.

"I didn't see the play," Greenberg said. "I spoke to Jeff, and he said that he secured the ball, he chinned the ball and turned and he didn't see Jeff Jones. And that's all I know. I'll look at it."

Allen, a Washington native, has a résumé of on-court disciplinary issues that includes flashing his middle finger at Maryland fans in last season's game at Comcast Center and bumping into an official during a game as a freshman. Both resulted in suspensions.

Allen again found an inopportune time to lose his composure. Virginia extended the lead to 10 points, creating what appeared to be enough breathing room to hold off the Hokies until Virginia Tech's 13-0 run startled the Cavaliers.

"That definitely hurts," Jones said, "and that's definitely not us."

Bennett said the problem during Virginia Tech's two big runs -- one at the end of the first half while Landesberg sat with two fouls for the second consecutive game, and the other late in the second half -- was the team failing to get back on defense. Virginia Tech exploited the Cavaliers in transition but did not have as much success in the half court.

"The majority of the game, it was hard for them to score," Bennett said. "But when our defense wasn't set, they made it look easy. That was something we pleaded at halftime, and it was good up until the end."

Although both teams possess identical conference records, Thursday's game could send them in opposite directions. Virginia Tech travels to Miami on Sunday, while the Cavaliers visit North Carolina. Though the next games are crucial to maintain standing in the ACC, the one date that stands out following Thursday is Feb. 13.

That is when the two rivals meet again.

"Back and forth," Bennett said. "That's what the rivalries are about."

Nothing else to say
Andrew Seidman, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor
Sports
January 29, 2010 0

The first 37 minutes were nearly perfect. JPJ was as loud and raucous as I’d ever witnessed. I immersed myself in thought; let my emotions pour out into verse. Here’s what I had written:

“During Virginia’s media day a week before the season began, I had the distinct honor of asking Mike Scott about the improvements he made to his game during the summer. I assumed he’d say something along the lines of, ‘I now have a post-up game. Look out, world.’

I would have been pleased with any number of answers. ‘Free throws… interior passing, high-low… I ate Chipotle six days a week.’ Anything but what he actually said.

‘I’ve been working on my outside shot.’

Locked in a catatonic state, all I could see was the impending apocalypse. It involved a steady fall of Mike Scott air-balls from the sky, not unlike the frog-rain in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia. Sorry if I just ruined the best movie of all time for you.

After fully regaining consciousness, I remembered what Scott said. ‘Well, that’s just excellent,’ I thought. For a Virginia team that finished last in the ACC a year ago in three-point field goal percentage, another outside “threat” is exactly what it needed.

Then, with 12:59 left in the second half against Virginia Tech, Scott received a pass at the top of the key, looked off a defender, and let it rain — the good kind of rain.

By all accounts, Scott was having a career-night — everything went through him. He scored six of the team’s first eight points to open the game and had 14 at the end of the first half. He even made a crucial baseline jump-hook to stop the bleeding of a 9-0 Hokie run that had shaved a 12-point Virginia lead to three with only slightly more than three minutes left in the half.

Then, the ticking time bomb that is Jeff Allen went off. I don’t think anything makes the ‘Hoo Crew happier than an Allen ejection. I don’t think anything makes God happier than a Jeff Allen ejection. I had that feeling in the pit of my stomach, the one that comes when a victory against Virginia Tech is right at your fingertips.

Then all hell broke loose. Here we are. A ten-point lead with less than four minutes remaining completely erased.

There is nothing more to say, at least on my part. Here’s some professional perspective:

76-71.

Prayer sends game to overtime, but only prolongs loss
Defensive lapses, poor play down stretch allows Hokies to close out furious comebacks
Jack Bird, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor
Featured / Men's Basketball / Sports
January 29, 2010 0

Sammy Zeglinski’s shot at the end of regulation delighted the Wahoo faithful but couldn’t keep Virginia Tech from winning easily in overtime. Photo by Mallory Noe-Payne.

Sammy Zeglinski’s shot at the end of regulation delighted the Wahoo faithful but couldn’t keep Virginia Tech from winning easily in overtime. Photo by Mallory Noe-Payne.

Down three points with eight seconds left in regulation, Virginia desperately needed a score. Triple-covered several feet behind the arc, sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski buried a game-tying shot to send the game to overtime. The momentum that Virginia Tech had built up coming back from a 10 point deficit with three minutes left in regulation, however, carried over into overtime and eventually helped the Hokies to a 76-71 victory against the once hot Cavaliers.

“They made some tough shots, they got [junior guard Malcolm] Delaney to the line, but I thought we had some breakdowns,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “It was certainly both. They had to make the plays and hit the shots.”

Virginia started off the first half with solid defense that allowed the Cavaliers to stretch an early lead. Thanks to 14 first-half points by junior forward Mike Scott, the Cavaliers led the Hokies 22-10 with 5:28 left in the first period. Virginia Tech, however, then went on an 11-2 run to come within 3 points of Virginia.

Continuing to build momentum, the Hokie’s pushed for a one point 28-27 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Cavaliers again tried to distance themselves from Virginia Tech. With the score 37-34 with 14:27 left in regulation, Virginia picked up its own scoring pace. After an intentional foul that was later ruled flagrant after review by the officials, Virginia Tech junior forward Jeff Allen was ejected from the game. Sophomore guard Jeff Jones then sank both free throws. Possession was awarded to Virginia following the foul shouts, which sophomore guard Sylven Landesburg converted into a two point jumper. Tech pushed down the court but came up empty on the next possession after a missed layup by junior guard Terrell Bell, which senior forward Jerome Meyinsse rebounded after a textbook box-out. Scott then hit a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, causing an already frenetic John Paul Jones Arena to nearly explode with excitement.

Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg was forced to call a timeout. In an attempt to turn momentum back in their favor, the Hokies started to run a full-court press.

The two teams went back and forth, but the Cavaliers still clung to a 10 point lead with three minutes left.

“I think in the last 10 minutes of the game we turned the ball over and took quick shots and score in transition and get some open looks and allowed them to come back in the game,” Meyinsse said.

Yet again, Virginia coughed up a sizeable lead late in the final period. The orange and blue failed to score for 3:44 seconds at the same time breaking down defensively and allowing the Hokies to score 13 unanswered points.

“We just didn’t make a lot of smart decisions,” Scott said. “I think we played hard, but not smart.”

Though Zeglinski’s miraculous three-pointer delayed the inevitable, the same mistakes that plagued Virginia late in regulation followed the squad into overtime.

“It was transitions baskets actually,” Bennett said. “That’s something that, in this league, will test you and test you. If you are not sound in that area, that can hurt you. Because when our defense was set for the majority of the game it was hard for them to score. But when our defense wasn’t set they made it look easy.”

The challenges did not end last night for a reeling Virginia team, though, as it will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. to face the always competitive Tar Heels on Sunday.

Hokies show no quit, get first ACC road win
Posted to: Bob Molinaro Sports
Bob Molinaro
Virginian-Pilot sports columnist
Read Articles
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 29, 2010

CHARLOTTESVILLE

Virginia Tech looked to be done.

One second, power forward Jeff Allen is ejected for a flagrant foul.

A few seconds later, Virginia is up by 10 in the second half when Mike Scott - the Cavaliers' junior forward from Chesapeake - hits a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

It was Scott's first attempt at a 3 this season. That could have been the dagger. At the very least, it looked like a sign that this was U.Va.'s night, that Tony Bennett's team would find a way to hold off the Hokies.

But it didn't happen that way, did it?

"We started defending harder, started running our offense a little better and one thing fed off another," said Seth Greenberg, trying to explain how his team went on a 13-0 run that gave Tech the lead until Slingin' Sammy Zeglinski's last-ditch 23-footer for U.Va. sent the game into overtime.

Now Tech was forced to go another five minutes on U.Va.'s home court. In

conference play this season, ACC home teams are winning at a .710 clip. U.Va. had won seven games in a row at home.

The percentages favored the Cavaliers, but the final numbers on the scoreboard - 76-71 - found Greenberg wearing the smile.

"We had so many guys step up," he said after Tech's first conference road victory lifted its record to 3-2.

Overtime? Being forced into the extra period came as a shock, he admitted. But then, Greenberg said, he asked his players to approach the challenge as "five more minutes to play in a great atmosphere."

A crowd of 13,449 rocked John Paul Jones Arena as U.Va. went for its fourth ACC victory and a share of first place with Maryland.

In the crunch, though, Bennett's team reverted to the team picked to finish near the basement. The Cavaliers entered the game ranked third nationally for fewest turnovers per game - less than 11. Then they committed 11 turnovers in the second half alone.

"They played so hard," Bennett said of his players, "but I thought the decision-making wasn't as sound down the stretch."

Scott finished with a team-high 21 points, but couldn't score down the stretch. Neither did Sylven Landesberg, U.Va.'s chief threat. His forced shot - an air ball - with 14 seconds left in regulation looked like U.Va.'s last gasp until Zeglinski's answered prayer.

In the end, though, Tech proved too resilient for U.Va., both on defense and in the low post, where JT Thompson did his best work. He scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half, more than making up for Allen's absence.

Malcolm Delaney was the man of the night, though, finishing with 27 points and making 9 of 10 free throws. He also was doing some heavy lifting by guarding Landesberg.

"They made some tough shots and they got Delaney to the line," Bennett said. "When our defense was set, they couldn't score. But in transition, they made it look easy."

U.Va.'s difficulty keeping possession helped Tech with those transition opportunities.

"If we could have just taken care of the ball and worked the clock," Bennett said, "we'd have been all right."

Greenberg had nothing to say about Allen's ejection for throwing an elbow.

"I haven't seen the play and we'll move on from there," he said.

Allen had been playing poorly when he was escorted to the locker room with 13:41 remaining, before Thompson came on to make the winning difference.

Now Tech moves on to Miami for a Sunday game, while U.Va. tries to shake off the one that got away before playing that same night at North Carolina.

"That's the thing about this league," Bennett said. "You're going to be in trouble if you're lingering over a loss."

UVa tops ACC coaches’ preseason poll
By Jay Jenkins
Published: January 28, 2010
» 0 Comments | Post a Comment
vote
nowBuzz up!

Eleven of the 12 coaches in the ACC agreed on one thing: Virginia is the favorite to win the ACC’s Coastal Division title in baseball this season.
It marks the first time in program history that the Cavaliers were picked to win the six-team division.
The admiration for Virginia’s program continued — the Cavaliers were also voted as the favorite to win the league
championship, garnering eight of the 12 votes. Florida State, picked to win the Atlantic Division, landed three first-place votes and North Carolina received one.
The Cavaliers won the ACC title last year and made its first-ever trip to the College World Series.
“It is a great honor for our program and for our players to considered in that regard,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “But we know that we will need to perform at the highest level to win in the toughest, deepest league in the country.”
Virginia, which officially opens practice today, was also ranked No. 2 in the country by Baseball America. The Cavaliers return their entire batting order, which includes All-American outfielder Jarrett Parker and two-way star Danny Hultzen, the ACC’s top rookie in 2009. Junior reliever Kevin Arico was also named to the initial watch list for the sixth annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year award.
“We are ready to get things rolling,” catcher Franco Valdes said. “We have all been working out individually with the coaches, but we are excited to start practicing and playing.”
The Cavaliers open the season Feb. 18 with a three-game series at East Carolina.
 

London names Lazor offensive coordinator
By Jay Jenkins
Published: January 28, 2010
» 1 Comment | Post a Comment
vote
nowBuzz up!

The wait is finally over.
After a lengthy search and being turned down multiple times, Mike London landed an offensive coordinator.
On Thursday, Virginia’s new football coach tabbed Bill Lazor as the leader of his offense and as the team’s quarterback coach.
Lazor, 37, worked the past seven years in the NFL, including a two-year stint with the Seattle Seahawks as the team’s
quarterbacks coach.
“Bill brings a wealth of football knowledge and influence working for three NFL Hall of Fame head coaches,” said London. “Like all the other coaches on staff, he is of high character and integrity.
“Bill was an accomplished college quarterback as a player and has been a college coordinator and recruiter for an academic
institution of high standing, which makes him a good fit with the staff who will represent the University of Virginia in a positive manner.”
Lazor, pronounced “laser,” set 26 records as a signal caller at Cornell and worked in numerous positions at the school following his playing career in 1994.
“I am excited to be at the University of Virginia,” said Lazor. “First of all, I feel it’s a great atmosphere. I have lived in the state previously for four years and I have some very good friends in the area who have coached at Virginia.
“In my mind I have an unbelievable view of what Virginia football is, what it’s going to be and should be. I think Virginia is a place that is going to win, a place full of great people not only the student-athletes we have a chance to coach, but also the people involved coaching the team, supporting the team and those part of the University.”
A native of Scranton, Pa., Lazor also served as the offensive coordinator at the University of Buffalo in 2001 and 2002 as the program made the transition back to the Division I-A level.
The Bulls struggled under Lazor, however, as the team ranked 100th in total offense in 2001 and 116th the following season.
In 2003, Lazor left Buffalo to work as an offensive quality control coach with the Atlanta Falcons for coach Dan Reeves.
Lazor then worked four years for the Washington Redskins as an assistant under legendary coach Joe Gibbs. He was the quarterbacks coach in 2006 and 2007.
Lazor was looking to land a job after former Southern Cal coach Pete Carroll was hired by the Seahawks and elected to bring in his own quarterbacks coach.
London is now in search of just one assistant coach to complete his staff. He had previously hired Vincent Brown, Jeff Hanson, Mike Faragalli, Shawn Moore, Jim Reid and Chip West, and elected to retain Anthony Poindexter from former coach Al Groh’s staff.
Sources confirmed that recruiting coordinator Bob Price will assume a different, non-coaching role within the McCue Center after national signing day.
London has also settled on his graduate assistant coaches, adding four former Cavaliers — Ron Mattes, Gordie Sammis, Brennan Schmidt and Josh Zidenberg. For Zidenberg, it will mark the second straight season as a grad assistant.
 

Virginia hires Bill Lazor as offensive coordinator
Daily Press
2:11 p.m. EST, January 28, 2010

After a search that lasted seven weeks and included at least two unsuccessful attempts at securing at an offensive coordinator, Virginia coach Mike London finally has his man on offense.

Bill Lazor, who most recently was the quarterbacks coach for the Seattle Seahawks, is U.Va.'s new offensive coordinator. Lazor, 37, brings 16 seasons of college and National Football League coaching experience, including four with the Washington Redskins, to Charlottesville. Yet, he has been an offensive coordinator for just two seasons.

"In my mind I have an unbelievable view of what Virginia football is, what it's going to be and should be," Lazor said in a release from U.Va.'s athletic department. "I think Virginia is aplace that is going to win, a place full of great people text ignored not only the student-athletes we have a chance to coach, but also the people involved coaching the team, supporting the team and those part of the University."

Lazor opened his coaching career from 1994-2000 at Cornell, his alma mater and the place where he set 26 passing and total offense records as a three-year starter at quarterback. During his tenure at Cornell, he coached running backs, wide receivers, quarterbacks and tight ends, and worked as the recruiting coordinator.

He became the University of Buffalo's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in the '01 and '02 seasons, before moving to the NFL in '03 as an offensive quality control coach for the Atlanta Falcons, who were coached at the time by Dan Reeves.

"He's an impressive young man," Reeves told the Daily Press on Thursday. "I don't think I've ever been around someone who picked up a system and terminology as fast as he did.

"Terminology is sort of like learning a language. You can take a Spanish course and go to Mexico and not really speak the language. Bill spoke (our) language."

Before hiring Lazor, London pursued Atlanta Falcons quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave, who was U.Va.'s offensive coordinator in '01 and '02, and Carolina Panthers quarterbacks coach Rip Scherer, the former coach at James Madison.

Both Musgrave and Scherer withdrew from the search.

In the NFL, Lazor gained further experience as an offensive assistant coach from '04-07 with the Washington Redskins, where he coached quarterbacks in his final two seasons and worked for former coach Joe Gibbs. Lazor took over as the quarterbacks coach in Seattle in '08 after Jim Zorn left the position to become the Redskins' coach.

In Seattle, Lazor worked under coaches Mike Holmgren in '08 and Jim Mora this season. Lazor tutored starting quarterbacks Jason Campbell in Washington and Matt Hasselbeck in Seattle.

"Bill brings a wealth of football knowledge and influence working for threeNFL Hall of Fame head coaches," London said in the U.Va. release. "Like all the other coaches on staff, he is of high character and integrity. Bill was an accomplished college quarterback as a player, and has been a college coordinator and recruiter for an academic institution of high standing, which makes him a good fit with the staff who will represent the University of Virginia in a positive manner."

At Buffalo, Lazor was the offensive coordinator under coach Jim Hofher, a former North Carolina assistant coach. In '01, the Bulls went 3-8 and were 100th in the nation in total offense and 101st in scoring offense. In '02, Buffalo went 1-11 and were 112th in scoring offense and 116th in total offense.

During his short stint in Atlanta, which ended after the '03 season when Reeves was fired, Lazor gained a reputation as a tireless worker. He was in charge of charting statistics, goals and tendencies, and editing game film.

"He was always anxious to do more," Reeves said. "I can't say enough good things about him?Bill just took it to the extreme. He did things you hadn't even thought about."

Lazor, who was not retained by Seattle earlier this month when the Seahawks hired coach Pete Carroll, came to Holmgren in Seattle after being highly recommended by Reeves and Gibbs.

"Both Dan and Joe phoned me on the same day, within two hours of one another, and said 'You have got to hire this guy,'" Holmgren told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

"I really respect both (Reeves and Gibbs) a lot. They're the best football coaches ever, so their recommendations came with a lot of weight."

Ex-NFL coach to guide Cavs' offense
Posted to: College Football Sports
The Roanoke Times
© January 29, 2010
By Doug Doughty

Recommendations from Joe Gibbs and Mike Holmgren proved to be the clincher for Bill Lazor, who became Virginia's offensive coordinator Thursday.

New U.Va. head coach Mike London said Lazor also had the endorsement of Bill Musgrave, a former Cavaliers offensive coordinator who was a target early in this search. Musgrave is the Atlanta Falcons' quarterbacks coach.

Lazor had been out of a job since Jan. 15, when new Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll started putting his staff in place. Lazor, 37, was the Seahawks' quarterbacks coach under Holmgren in 2008 and under Jim Mora this past season. He was with the Redskins from 2004-2007, when Gibbs was his boss, and also served as a quality-control assistant under Dan Reeves in Atlanta.

Before that, he was an assistant coach at the University of Buffalo and at his alma mater, Cornell, where he captained the 1993 team.

"I have lived in the state previously for four years," said Lazor, who lived in Leesburg when he coached for the Redskins, "and I have some very good friends in the area who have coached at Virginia. In my mind, I have an unbelievable view of what Virginia football is, what it's going to be and should be.

"I think Virginia is a place that is going to win. We have worked for some of the same coaches in the past and they could not have given me a higher recommendation of the type of person Mike London is."

Lazor becomes the eighth full-time coach hired by London, who indicated this week that graduate assistants Ron Mattes and Gordie Sammis will handle the offensive line.

Mattes, who spent seven years in the NFL and later served as an assistant at James Madison, will be in charge.

The ninth full-time assistant will be on the offensive side of the ball, London said this week.

Prospects interviewed by London for the offensive coordinator job include Carolina Panthers quarterbacks coach Rip Scherer and ex-Syracuse and Clemson offensive coordinator Rob Spence.

 

UVa Insider, the column - Doug Doughty

Sorry for the abbreviated UVa Insider column before leaving for tonight’s Virginia-Virginia Tech men’s basketball game in Charlottesville, where the Cavaliers are a two-point favorite, which means Tech would be favored if they were playing in Blacksburg.

Both Joe Gibbs and Mike Holmgren contacted London on Lazor’s behalf and London confidante Bill Musgrave gave Lazor his blessing. What probably impresses me the most is Holmgren’s endorsement.

Before turning back to Lazor, let me say that 2009 Parade All-American Morgan Moses called London on Wednesday night and affirmed the oral commitment that he had made to UVa associate head coach Jim Reid earlier in the day at Fork Union.

So, if I’ve got this straight, Moses will return to Fork Union on Feb. 10 for the fourth of five terms. Fork Union coach John Shuman said his recommendation is that Moses also attend Fork Union’s fifth term, which ends May 28, in hopes of creating a “cushion” before his arrival in Charlottesville.

“With UVa’s admissions structure, they just don’t want minimum stuff,” Shuman said.

Another of Virginia’s 2009 signees and fellow Fork Union offensive lineman, Cody Wallace, is also at Fork Union this winter. Wallace (6 foot 5, 285 pounds) actually met NCAA eligibility guidelines coming out of high school Moorestown, N.J., and briefly attended summer school before it was decided he would be best-served by a year at Fork Union.

Shuman said that one of the stipulations for Moses, listed at 6-7, 330 when he came to Virginia was that he participate in off-season workouts.

“We kind of let him be a free spirit and do Internet courses and stuff like that,” Shuman said. “We were like ‘get it done, get it done, get it done,’ so that we could try and get this stuff straight.

“Now that he’s coming back, we’re like, ‘We want you to participate. We don’t want you to be here just hanging out.’ Cody is like a machine. If [Moses] could ever hang out with Cody, who knows?’ “

(I’ll interrupt at this point to say that Fork Union’s postgraduate rival, Hargrave Military, announced today that Robert Prunty has taken a post on Tommy Tuberville’s coaching staff at Texas Tech and will be succeded by Troy Davis. Prunty did a terrific job in building the Hargrave program).

Speaking of private schools, I solicited opinions on one of UVa’s latest football recruits, Collegiate School quarterback Jake McGee, from two of the coaches who played against him.

“I think he is a great safety or LB prospect,” Fork Union undergraduate coach Micky Sullivan said. He “could play QB [at the I-A level] but not as well as S or LB.”

Woodberry Forest coach Clint Alexander said, “I think they would be crazy not to give him a chance at QB. He is certainly good enough to play other positions, but he is pretty good as a QB and he is a winner.”

Lazor latest addition to U.Va. staff
By Michael Phillips
Published: January 29, 2010
» 0 Comments | Post a Comment
vote
nowBuzz up!

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- In the Internet age, opinions are instant. Yes or no. Up or down.

So when Bill Lazor was announced as Virginia's new offensive coordinator yesterday, fans flocked to the Web to read up on this guy and make up their mind -- but there wasn't much to learn.

Yesterday morning, Lazor's Wikipedia page weighed in at a paltry 40 words. Hardly enough for a biography, let alone an opinion.

The final piece of Virginia's coach staff is somewhat of a wild card. Jim Reid has decades of experience. Mike London made a name for himself with a national title. Even Shawn Moore is a well-known face in Charlottesville. But Lazor is, well, nobody quite knows yet.

After a playing career at Cornell University, he joined Dan Reeves and the Atlanta Falcons. When Reeves left Atlanta, he highly recommended Lazor to Redskins coach Joe Gibbs. By 2006, Lazor was the quarterbacks coach in Washington, charged with helping a young Jason Campbell develop.

But the coaching carousel spins quickly in the NFL, and when Gibbs left, so did Lazor, who replaced Jim Zorn as quarterbacks coach in Seattle. That's where he was when he got the call from London this week.

"Bill brings a wealth of football knowledge and influence working for three NFL Hall of Fame head coaches," London said in a statement.

Lazor is the last big piece of the coaching puzzle at U.Va., joining defensive coordinator Reid, who was announced at the start of the month.

The defense has stolen the spotlight since London took over, with the announcement that the team would switch to a 4-3 alignment, but the offense will pose its own questions.

London indicated that he'd like to see a run-oriented team that occasionally takes shots down the field.

As for Lazor, well, nobody can say for sure what he'll do. For now, at least, he remains hard to peg down. But this is the Internet age, and that should be fixed within a few days.