No. 15 UVa receives scare from Carolina
By ANDREW JOYNER
Daily Progress staff writer
Virginia coach Pete Gillen warned his Cavaliers that a struggling North
Carolina team would give them all they could handle Tuesday night. Though he
does not always profess to be the wisest of men, Gillen was certainly correct.
The Tar Heels, who entered the game having lost 10 of their past 11 games,
erased a 12-point halftime deficit and briefly held a one-point lead in the
second before succumbing to the No. 15 Cavaliers, 73-63.
“We got ahead, but I think our guys either consciously or subconsciously
relaxed,” said Gillen, whose team had opened a 19-3 lead in the game’s first
four minutes. “They came back in the second half and we got a little hesitant
and tentative and we were fortunate enough to win. This time of the year we will
take any win.”
Chris Williams and Roger Mason Jr. led Virginia (16-6, 6-5 ACC) with 18 points
each. Junior center Travis Watson, who became the 37th UVa player to surpass the
1,000-point barrier for a career, had 17 points and 10 rebounds to account for
his 14th double-double of the season.
The win gave Virginia its second season sweep of North Carolina in three years
and just its third total in the last 21 years. North Carolina, which made a UVa
opponent season-low 17 field goals for the game, was led by 19 points from Kris
Lang and 12 from Jason Capel, who made just 1 of 11 shots from the field but was
10 for 10 from the stripe.
Virginia led 39-27 at halftime and by as many as 16, 52-36, in the second half
after a layup by Mason with 16:30 remaining. The Cavaliers, however, swung and
missed badly on their knockout attempt.
The Tar Heels (6-16, 2-10 ACC), which have now lost the most games in a season
in school history, torched the Cavs with a 13-0 run that was capped by an Adam
Boone layup that gave them a 56-55 lead with 9:22 left.
“We lacked a killer instinct tonight. We should have put the dagger through
the heart but we didn’t,” Williams said.
Virginia retook the lead for good on its next possession on a 3-pointer by Mason
with 8:56 to but again it did not exactly put the Tar Heels out for the count. A
basket by Lang with 1:47 left cut UVa’s lead to 65-63.
At that point, UVa freshman point guard Keith Jenifer gave himself and his team
a pleasant present for his 20th birthday.
Jenifer, who failed to get a shot off resulting in a shot-clock violation in the
previous possession, drove down the left side of the basket for a layup as the
shot clock again nearly expired to give UVa a 67-63 lead with 1:12 remaining.
“I think everyone would agree that was the biggest play of the game. I told
him that he had the courage to take the shot. Even if he missed it, he had the
guts to take it to the basket,” said Gillen, of his freshman’s only points
of the game. “It put us up four. If he had missed it, we might have become
even more tentative and hesitant.”
Hall’s status. The return of Virginia senior swingman Adam Hall, who has now
missed nine of UVa’s last 10 games with torn plantar fascia tissue in his
right, is still uncertain Gillen said Tuesday.
Hall, who injured the foot in the team’s first meeting against North Carolina
on Jan. 12, missed five straight games, returned against Maryland on Jan. 31,
and has missed another four straight.
“When he’ll come back or if he’ll come back, I honestly can’t tell you.
... I can’t jump into his body or feel his discomfort,” Gillen said. “We
need him back. He’s a great athlete. ... He’s a high-octane guy. He likes to
run and jump and I’m sure that puts pressure on the foot.”
Cavaliers’ victory unimpressive
but a victory nonetheless
By JERRY RATCLIFFE
Daily Progress sports editor
If the true gauge of a team’s quality in the ACC these days is by how badly it
beats North Carolina, then Virginia might be hard-pressed to get an invitation
to a garage sale, let alone the NCAA tournament.
For anyone who hasn’t been paying attention, this is not your father’s Tar
Heels. Carolina is simply awful, having lost 11 of its last 12 games. Hey, they
hung Dean Smith in effigy the last time a team this bad took the court in Chapel
Hill.
But as unimpressive as the Cavaliers’ 73-63 victory over UNC was on Tuesday
night, Pete Gillen will stick it in his back pocket, smile and walk away knowing
that his team was lucky to escape with its lives.
“This time of year we’ll take any win,” said Gillen, whose team improved
to 6-5 in the ACC and 16-6 overall. “We’re thrilled with the victory.”
They should be.
If there was ever a deceiving score to flash across the SportsCenter scoreboard,
it was this 10-point margin.
After Virginia had nearly blown a sizeable lead for the second time in the game,
the hapless Tar Heels were poised to deliver a death blow to the Wahoos’
season. Up 65-63 with 1:48 to play, the Cavaliers’ fate hung in the balance as
a freshman drove toward the basket.
Keith Jenifer, the sometimes wobbly rookie point guard, the same kid who had
held on to the ball so long that he committed a shot clock violation less than a
minute earlier, looked like a man desperately trying to repay a debt as he drove
in for a layup and a 67-63 lead with 77 seconds left in the game.
Because of the magnitude of the moment, it was clearly the play of the game, one
that essentially locked up the win for the Cavaliers, who could be within one
game of N.C. State for fourth place in the league by the end of the night (the
Wolfpack plays at No. 1 Duke).
“I told [Jenifer] that it took a lot of courage to make that play, whether he
made the shot or not,” said Gillen afterward. “It took guts to go to the
basket, especially for a freshman against Carolina.”
But as happy as Gillen was with the victory, he wasn’t happy with how it came
about. Virginia’s defense was shoddy at best. Had it been any other opponent,
the Cavaliers would have been sliced and diced into a lovely shishkabob.
Carolina was so inept that the Tar Heels couldn’t have thrown a beachball in
the ocean.
UNC recorded season lows in several shooting categories for a UVa opponent, such
as 2 for 16 from beyond the 3-point arch. Had it not been for the hulkish Kris
Lang in the middle, Carolina’s overall shooting percentage of 34.7 (17 for 49)
would have been much lower.
Virginia had no answer for Lang. Couldn’t guard the Tar Heel big man.
Otherwise, it might have been the route it could have been. Jason Capel was 1 of
11, Brian Morrison 1 of 7, Adam Boone 2 of 6.
Examine this boxscore and Virginia had such a statistical edge that it would
appear to be a blowout.
Not so.
After bolting to a 19-3 getaway to start the game, UVa’s players grew
complacent, lost interest and put the game into cruise control, causing their
coach to wilt in a pool of sweat on the sidelines. The Cavs still held a
12-point advantage at the break, but Gillen had seen this sort of thing happen
to his team before.
“Being up 12 was like fool’s gold,” said the coach.
In the Carolina locker room, Matt Doherty was trying to rally the troops.
“I told them that we weren’t playing well but that we were only down 12,”
said the Tar Heels coach. “I felt they were giving us opportunities and we
just had to take advantage.”
Carolina did in the second half with a 20-3 run that catapulted the Heels into
the lead. Somehow, Gillen got his team to dig deep and regain the lead with its
own 10-3 run but had to sweat it out until Jenifer delivered a dagger to UNC’s
midsection.
“We played with fire and this time we were singed,” Gillen said. “I was
disappointed we didn’t have the killer instinct.”
But it’s mid-February and the heat is on. Gillen will take ’em any way he
can get ’em and try to fix everything in his basketball laboratory between now
and the next date, Sunday at Wake Forest.
“We’re not Kansas, we’re not Duke or Maryland,” said Gillen.
And a win is a win is a win. Problem is, if Virginia can’t deliver more
passion, Tuesday night’s win might be its last.
Cavs struggle but manage to send UNC
to a new low
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Virginia
fans stormed the court last year after the Cavaliers knocked off No.2 North
Carolina 86-66 at University Hall.
In Virginia's 73-63 win over UNC Tuesday night, the post-game scene was
considerably more subdued. As the clock ticked down, a handful of security
guards positioned themselves near the court, in case any of the 7,331 fans still
in attendance got any ideas.
None did.
Much has changed in a year. A win over North Carolina is not what it used to
be. With Tuesday's loss, the Tar Heels dropped to 6-16, officially becoming the
losingest team in the school's 92-year basketball history.
For opposing fans, the Tar Heels' record-setting futility has taken the fun
out of beating UNC. But the Cavaliers did their part to keep U-Hall quiet as
well, blowing a 16-point second-half lead and allowing UNC to pull ahead with
9:22 left.
Virginia responded with eight straight points. UNC pulled within two with
1:48 left before a basket by freshman Keith Jenifer triggered a final Virginia
surge.
``We got off to a good lead and our guys consciously or subconsciously
relaxed,'' Virginia coach Pete Gillen said.
Virginia sprinted to a 19-3 lead after Roger Mason Jr. canned three
3-pointers in less than a minute.
``I think our guys thought the game was over,'' Gillen said.
Virginia followed its 15-0 run by scoring just eight points in the next 11
minutes against UNC's 2-3 zone.
The Tar Heels couldn't take advantage. UNC cut the lead to seven with 5:20
left, but missed too many makeable shots to get any closer. The Tar Heels shot
just 26 percent for the half and trailed by 12.
Virginia stretched the lead to 16 early in the second half before UNC got
3-pointers from Will Johnson and Adam Boone and some inside baskets from Kris
Lang to pull ahead 56-55.
``Lang took us to school,'' Gillen said.
UNC committed too many turnovers down the stretch, however, and Virginia was
able to seal the game at the foul line.
``This time of year we'll take any win,'' Gillen said. ``We know we made
mistakes. We know we were hesitant. But we'll take it and move on.''
The win was Virgina's second straight and leaves the Cavaliers at 16-6, 6-5
in the ACC. Mason and Chris Williams led Virginia with 18 points. Travis Watson
had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
UNC shot just 35 percent, and forward Jason Capel went 1-for-11. Capel missed
all six of his 3-point attempts, including an open one with 38 seconds left that
could have cut the Virginia lead to one.
Lang led the Tar Heels with 19 points but had just three rebounds. Virginia
had 43 rebounds to UNC's 29.
``We had our opportunities,'' coach Matt Doherty said. ``I was proud of our
guys the way they dug back.''
North Carolina had lost 15 games twice before, in 1951 and 1952, but never
16. The Tar Heels have five regular season games remaining, plus the ACC
tournament.
By ED MILLER, The
Virginian-Pilot
© February 13,
2002
Virginia-North Carolina match-up
lacked sizzle on court and in stands CHARLOTTESVILLE Habit, not anticipation, brought me here for another basketball game between
North Carolina and Virginia.
Judging from the rows of empty seats in the student section of University
Hall, other aren't as tethered to tradition as I am.
What's the world of ACC basketball come to when a visit from the Tar Heels
can't fill the gym?
No question, this was counted on to be a low-wattage affair, a game between
the conference's fifth-place team and a bottom feeder. The last thing anyone
expected was an actual contest.
The game's start only confirmed suspicions. But after speeding out to a 19-3
lead, U.Va. stepped off the gas, assuming the worst Tar Heels team in memory
would fold.
``We were playing with fire,'' Pete Gillen said about his team's Cavalier
approach. ``We could have gotten singed.''
Those looking for a reason to believe that U.Va. is not overrated will have
to tune into the next Cavaliers game. Ever the kind host, U.Va. did what it
could to keep North Carolina in a game the Cavaliers could have been expected to
win by three touchdowns.
U.Va. would go on to win 73-63, but only after falling behind by a point with
9:22 remaining.
``We didn't defend,'' said Gillen ``I just wasn't happy with our defense.''
Perhaps stunned by the scoreboard, North Carolina quickly reverted to form,
committing four quick turnovers and going scoreless for the next five minutes.
Even so, the visitors found a way to draw within two points with 1:48 to go.
Said Tar Heels coach Matt Doherty: ``We had our opportunities.''
They did. U.Va. saw to that.
When the Cavaliers went ahead early in the game, ``I think our guys thought
it was over,'' said Gillen. ``They started to cruise and go through the
motions.''
It wouldn't be the first time in recent weeks Gillen's team has not sustained
its level of play. The coach sought no excuse, for there was none. His team
needs a stronger backbone.
This was not a case of the Tar Heels discovering inspiration; senior Jason
Capel made one of 11 field goal attempts. And still, a Carolina team that's now
lost 11 of 12 games threw a scare into U.Va.
Tuesday night, the Tar Heels, 6-16, set a school record for losses in one
season. Doherty's team had already set a school mark for most ACC losses in one
season.
History is piling on these Tar Heels. U.Va.'s unconvincing victory gave the
Cavaliers their first regular-season sweep of this series since 1980-81.
No question North Carolina is undertalented. Its guard play is horrendous.
But a team cannot perform as poorly as these Tar Heels -- they came into the
night with an average loss margin in ACC games of 18.5 points -- unless its
coach is at least a little overwhelmed.
Doherty's team makes the same mistakes and suffers from familiar lapses every
game. The only difference in Tuesday's game was the forgiving nature of the
opponent.
This game didn't have much to offer in terms of basketball aesthetics.
``We'll take any win,'' said a glum Gillen.
It goes without saying, so will the Tar Heels.
For a while, it looked like U.Va. would do whatever it took to give them one.
The Virginian-Pilot
© February 13,
2002
| UVa finishes off rare sweep |
| The Cavs lose a big lead before completing their third regular-season sweep of UNC in 91 years. |
| By
DOUG DOUGHTY THE ROANOKE TIMES |
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Virginia men's basketball coach Pete Gillen wishes his team had a "killer instinct," which is not to be confused with a death wish. The Cavaliers showed signs of the latter again Tuesday night, blowing a 16-point lead before rallying for a 73-63 victory over ACC cellar-dweller North Carolina. It was the reminiscent of UVa's late-game collapse 12 days earlier against third-ranked Maryland, only this time 15th-ranked Virginia had enough time to recover. The Cavaliers outscored Carolina 8-0 over the final 1:12 and swept the regular-season series for only the third time in 91 years. It was the 11th loss in the last 12 games for the Tar Heels. "This time of year, we'll take any win," said UVa coach Pete Gillen, days removed from a four-game losing streak. "We're not that vainglorious. We're not Kansas or Duke." The Tar Heels, who trailed 52-36 with 13 1/2 minutes remaining, scored on their next nine possessions and took the lead 56-55 on a layup by Adam Boone with 9:20 left. Roger Mason Jr. quickly responded with a 3-pointer. The Cavaliers (16-6, 6-5) did not trail again, although the score remained close until the final minute. Carolina (6-16, 2-10) had closed to 65-63 before UVa freshman Keith Jenifer knifed through the Tar Heels' zone for a layup with 1:12 left and the shot clock running out. "The biggest play of the game," Gillen called it. "I told him it took courage to take the shot, even if he missed it. He had the guts to drive to the basket." It was the only basket of the game for Jenifer as the Cavaliers once more relied on their big three of Mason, Chris Williams and Travis Watson. Mason scored 18, Williams had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Watson had 17 points and 10 boards. North Carolina's 6-foot-11 Kris Lang led all scorers with 19 points, but he grabbed only three rebounds as the Cavaliers won the battle of the boards, 43-29. "It's a tough challenge for any team to keep them off the boards," said Carolina coach Matt Doherty, noting that the Cavaliers had 21 second-chance points. The Tar Heels had four. Virginia had plenty of opportunities for offensive rebounds during a second half in which it went 11-of-31 (35.5 percent) from the field. The Cavaliers shot 43.5 percent for the game. North Carolina shot 34.7 percent for the game, including 25.9 percent in the first half, but made 27 of 33 free throws. Senior Jason Capel, who was 1-for-11 from the field, went 10-for-10 from the line. The Cavaliers went on an early 15-0 run and led 19-3 before the first television timeout came mercifully for North Carolina, which shifted to a zone and held the Cavaliers to three field goals in their next 15 possessions. Mason, who hit three 3-pointers in the span of 1:02 during the Cavaliers' early blitz, did not have a field goal in the remainder of the half, but Virginia was able to keep a double-figure lead at 39-27. "It was fool's gold," Gillen said. "I don't know if our guys were thinking about Carolina's record and thought the game was over, but we were playing with fire and very nearly got burned." Carolina had come as close as 27-20 when freshman guard Melvin Scott hit the first of two free throws with 5:20 left in the half. For the longest time, however, the free-throw line was the only place where the Tar Heels could score. Carolina had seven first-half field goals, five in the first 19 minutes. UVa's fast start was its second in as many games with a starting lineup that included freshmen Jason Clark and Jermaine Harper. Down the stretch, Gillen went with sophomore J.C. Mathis, who took a charge against Lang with one minute left but missed two free throws that would have given the Cavs a six-point lead. "We were very concerned," Gillen said of his team's second-half execution. "We missed a layup on the break, we missed a dunk. I was beginning to think, 'Maybe it's not our night.'" Carolina has had a lot of nights like that during this, the worst season in the Tar Heels' history. For that, the Cavaliers could be grateful. |
Edging UNC no Virginia breeze
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Its loss to Maryland devastated the Virginia men's basketball team. This would have been worse.
Fortunately for the Cavaliers, who squandered a nine-point lead in the final 3:20 in a loss to the third-ranked Terrapins last month, they didn't have to deal with blowing a 16-point second-half lead and falling to struggling North Carolina.
U.Va. scored the game's final eight points last night to escape with a 73-63 win before a subdued crowd of 7,331 at University Hall. The Cavaliers swept their regular-season series with Carolina - which set a school record for losses in a season - for the second time in Pete Gillen's four years as their coach.
"You take it any way you can get it this time of year," said Virginia guard Roger Mason Jr., who scored 18 points.
After 15th-ranked U.Va. (6-5, 16-6) opened a 52-36 lead on a Mason drive with 13:58 left, UNC (2-10, 16-6) ran off 13 straight points to silence an arena that, because of a weak student turnout, was officially sold out but had more than 1,000 empty seats. Sophomore guard Adam Boone capped that run with a layup that gave the Heels their first lead, 56-55 with 9:23 remaining.
Shades of Maryland's comeback Jan. 31 at U-Hall?
"It did pop up in the back of my mind," Virginia forward Chris Williams said.
But Mason answered on the next possession with a 3-pointer that made it 58-56, and the Tar Heels wouldn't score again until senior center Kris Lang's two free throws pulled them to 63-57 with 3:49 left. Again, however, the Cavaliers couldn't put away UNC, which shot only 34.7 percent from the floor and got outrebounded 43-29.
"I was disappointed that we didn't have the killer instinct," Gillen said.
After junior center Travis Watson's stick-back made it 65-57, North Carolina cut its deficit to four. Then, following a shot-clock violation by Virginia in which the ball ended up in the hands of freshman reserve Keith Jenifer, who came in averaging 3.7 points, Lang scored inside again to make it 65-63.
Again Jenifer ended up the with the ball. This time the 6-3 point guard made the Heels pay. Yesterday was his 20th birthday, and Jenifer celebrated with what Gillen called "the play of the game" and Mason called "the biggest play he's made all season, because we needed it so bad."
With the shot clock winding down, Jenifer slashed through 6-8 Jason Capel and the 6-11 Lang in UNC's zone and slithered free for a layup that made it a four-point game with 1:12 left.
"Jenifer's a quick little kid," said Carolina coach Matt Doherty.
The Cavaliers entered as 15½-point favorites, and they looked infinitely superior to the Tar Heels at the outset. Mason hit three 3-pointers in a 61-second span to spark a 15-0 run that made it 19-3 less than five minutes into the game. But Carolina switched from man-to-man to a 2-3 zone, and U.Va.'s intensity waned. Mason didn't score in the final 15:25 of the half, and UNC sliced Virginia's lead to 12 by the break.
"We thought we could just cruise, just chill out, and nothing could be further from the truth," Gillen said. "It's a 40-minute game."
Lang led all scorers with 19 points. Williams had 18 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Watson, with 17 points and 10 rebounds, posted his ACC-leading 14th double-double of the season. Still, this was not a performance the Cavaliers, who turned over the ball 15 times, are likely to savor.
"We were playing with fire and very nearly got burned," Gillen said.
Cavaliers did not look good in beating a bad team
Bad hands.
Bad feet.
Bad heads.
Bad vibes.
Bad news.
We are talking here about once-regal North Carolina, so it says something about Virginia's Cavaliers when they blow a 16-point lead against this bunch before squeezing out a 73-63 decision last night that was in doubt until the final minute.
The Tar Heels came to town ranked last against ACC competition in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense, rebounding margin and turnover margin. They'd lost 10 of their past 11 starts. They were a wipeout waiting to happen.
But the Cavs let these ragamuffins back in the running twice, and it nearly cost them. U.Va.'s effort was, umm, uninspired. Its zone offense lacked coherence. Its shot selection and ballhandling wavered. Its step-slow defense sent UNC to the foul line far too often. It now takes to the road for biggies at Wake Forest and Florida State. Maybe it whooshes through those two outings, but this was no ringing-bells sendoff.
As for UNC, it wobbled to 34.7-percent marksmanship, was outrebounded 43-29 and slipped to 6-16 and a rock-bottom 2-10 in the league standings. This is virgin territory for a program that hasn't missed a postseason tipoff since 1966 and hasn't claimed fewer than 20 wins in 32 years, but these Tar Heels have broken ground in a variety of ways. As in:
And now - as of 10:15 p.m. last night - the most defeats in a season since Nat Cartmell, then the school's track coach, organized a basketball team in the winter of 1911, and the Tar Heels made their debut with a 42-21 win over something called Virginia Christian, and soon it was on to national prominence and Frank McGuire and Lenny Rosenbluth and then - in numbing order - Dean Smith, Billy Cunningham, Charlie Scott, Bob McAdoo, Bobby Jones, Mitch Kupchak, Walter Davis, that ridiculous comeback against Duke, Phil Ford, James Worthy, NCAA championships, Brad Daugherty, Kenny Smith, Jerry Stackhouse, Vince Carter and . . .
This.
Ahead 19-3 and then 52-36, Virginia should've buried these Tar Heels. Instead, it twice resurrected them.
"We let up a little bit," U.Va. coach Pete Gillen said. "We thought the game was over. Carolina's a little damaged. We thought we could cruise."
A lot of others have - UConn, Maryland, Duke, N.C. State and Wake, to name five. Things got so bad a week ago against Wake, the Deacons registered dunks on three occasions off inbounds passes after timeouts. That's the sort of UNC edition Virginia let off the canvas last night.
"Teams ought to put people away," Gillen said. "But we're not Kansas, we're not Duke, we're not Maryland."
Nor, on the other hand, is his crew North Carolina. This year, that's a good thing.
U.Va. adds 13th game to slate
CHARLOTTESVILLE - The longest regular season in University of Virginia football history - 13 games - will start Thursday, Aug. 22. U.Va. will play host to Colorado State that night in the Jim Thorpe Classic, sources confirmed yesterday.
No official announcement has been made, but U.Va.'s athletic department mailed out 2002 schedule cards to potential season-ticket buyers this week. On each card, next to a photo of all-ACC wideout Billy McMullen, is printed a schedule that starts Aug. 22 with Colorado State at Scott Stadium and ends Nov. 30 with Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.
The Jim Thorpe Classic, for which TV arrangements are being finalized, will be one of seven home games for Virginia. To be eligible for a bowl, U.Va. must finish 7-6 or better.
The Cavaliers went 5-7 in 2001, their first season under coach Al Groh. Because U.Va. opened last season against Wisconsin in the Eddie Robinson Classic, it needed a waiver from the NCAA to play in another preseason game in 2002. Teams generally are limited to one appearance every four seasons in such games.
Colorado State, of the Mountain West Conference, finished 7-5 in 2001 after beating North Texas State in the inaugural New Orleans Bowl. In nine seasons under coach Sonny Lubick, the Rams are 74-34. They've appeared in a school-record three straight bowl games. CSU played in three Thursday night games last season.
Tar Heels can't hold late lead
By BARRY SVRLUGA, Staff Writer
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. - The
good teams -- those of the experienced, tested variety -- live for these
situations. Tight game, tense situation, terrifying crowd.
That's what North Carolina faced Tuesday night, with Virginia staring back
and 7,331 at University Hall screaming away. It has been a while since the Tar
Heels were in a ball game in the second half, so forgive them, for a moment, if
they didn't know quite what to do.
"I think everyone got over-anxious," center Kris Lang said.
"They wanted to get another quick shot to put them away. You have to learn
not to do that. You've got to be patient."
If there was ever a time that the patience of Carolina Nation was tested,
this is it. The Heels scratched back from a 16-point second-half deficit Tuesday
night, and even had a lead with under 10 minutes to go. But then: anxiety,
panic, inexperience -- whatever. All of them crept in, and Virginia held the
Heels to just one field goal over the final nine minutes to pull out an ugly
73-63 victory.
That final stretch -- which included a set of eight straight possessions in
which the Heels committed four turnovers and missed four shots -- erased all the
good that had come from a 20-3 run, the run that had put the Tar Heels up,
56-55, with 9:23 remaining. But for this group that has now lost 11 of its last
12 games and, for the time being, sits alone in last place in the ACC, there is
little solace in a turnaround that didn't result in a win.
"It's hard to say exactly what happened," UNC point guard Adam
Boone said. "We had momentum, and then we lost it."
That could be said for either team at almost any point. Roger Mason Jr.
helped Virginia (16-6, 6-5 ACC) bolt to a 19-3 lead by burying three 3-pointers
in just 64 seconds, all part of a 15-0 Wahoos' run that had Carolina, like it
has been so many times this season, stunned.
The Heels (6-16, 2-10) toyed with coming back, but it didn't look serious.
They shot an abysmal 25.9 percent in the first half and trailed 39-27 at the
break.
"We thought we could just cruise, chill out," UVa coach Pete Gillen
said. "Nothing could be further from the truth. It's a 40-minute
game."
Shockingly enough, Carolina made it that much. Trailing 52-36, the Heels
started charging, beginning with a Will Johnson 3-pointer and ending with
Boone's twisting, fastbreak layup. Forget, for a moment, your foregone
conclusions, and turn your TV back on: Carolina had a lead.
"That was fun," freshman guard Melvin Scott said. "The bench
was into it. Coach was turning around, laughing. We were fired up."
But pick a theory. Did the run take so much effort, the Heels had nothing
left? Are these Heels so unaccustomed to these situations, they didn't know what
to do?
"Once we got back, we weren't able to keep it up," Boone said.
"We kind of exhaled maybe a little bit too much."
The exhale resulted in such things as three turnovers from Boone, an airball
from Scott, a missed 3-pointer and a turnover from senior Jason Capel. Virginia
--at times, equally inept on offense -- somehow cobbled together eight straight
points over nearly five minutes, and the Cavs had re-established themselves,
63-56.
"It wasn't effort," UNC coach Matt Doherty said. "It wasn't
like all of a sudden, fatigue. It was execution."
Still, Carolina had other chances to execute. With 1:47 remaining, Lang --who
scored a game-high 19 points -- hit a hook shot to pull the Heels within 65-63.
They needed a stop.
But Virginia freshman Keith Jenifer got the ball on the left wing. Lang and
Capel, Carolina's two most experienced players, went to trap. And Jenifer, like
some sort of waterbug, split it.
"He just hopped through it," Capel said. "He's a little guy.
He hopped right through it."
And with 1:12 left, just a couple of ticks on the shot clocks, he scored.
"That was the biggest play he's made all season, because we needed it so
much," said Mason, who, along with forward Chris Williams, led Virginia
with 18 points. "I'm glad he had the ball and not me."
For Carolina, the ball then went to Capel, normally the obvious choice. But
his 3-pointer from the right wing ricocheted away, typical on this night. The
senior who wanted so badly to be a star in his final season finished 1-of-11
from the floor, 0-of-6 on 3-pointers. He is now shooting just 27 percent from
behind the arc.
"All my looks felt comfortable," Capel said. "I don't know.
They all felt good, and I'm going to keep taking them."
Had the Heels took them, and made them, they may have won. But a 2-for-16
effort on 3-pointers wasn't good enough. Capel, Brian Morrison and Boone
combined to hit 4 of 24 field-goal tries.
So, another loss. A different style, a new experience. But a loss. And for
some of the players, the explanations -- inexperience among them -- are growing
old.
"I can't say youth goes into it anymore," Lang said. "They've
played one time around the ACC. I think now, it's just a matter of
discipline."
Cavs Avoid UNC Upset Bid
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, February 13, 2002; Page D04
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Feb. 12 -- For the second time in three days, Virginia built a double-digit lead against one of the ACC's worst teams, only to let it wither away. The 15th-ranked Cavaliers endured for a 73-63 victory over North Carolina tonight, but they were left shaking their heads after letting a 16-point lead shrink to two in the closing minutes.
Virginia led 19-3 less than five minutes into the game and 52-36 with 14 minutes left. But the Tar Heels, who lost their fifth straight, got back into the game with a 20-3 run and trailed 65-63 when center Kris Lang made a hook shot with 1 minute 47 seconds left.
"I think our guys thought the game was over [in the first half] because Carolina's record is not real good," said Virginia Coach Pete Gillen, whose team eked out a 71-67 victory at UNC on Jan. 12. "Our guys thought they could cruise and go through the motions. We were playing with fire and very, very nearly got burned."
The Cavaliers (16-6, 6-5 ACC) pulled themselves together after Lang's basket, and freshman point guard Keith Jenifer scored perhaps the biggest points of the game. Jenifer, who celebrated his 20th birthday today, drove along the baseline with the shot clock winding down and scored his only points of the night to give Virginia a four-point lead with 1:12 left.
"I just had to create something," said Jenifer, who could not beat the shot clock on the previous possession.
UNC Coach Matt Doherty, whose Tar Heels (6-16, 2-10) broke the 50-year-old program record for losses in a season and lost for the 11th time in 12 games, gave Jenifer credit for splitting the defense of Lang and fellow senior co-captain Jason Capel.
"He's a quick little guy and he got through there," Doherty said. "We talked about containing their penetration, but we didn't do a good job on that tonight."
Carolina could not answer Jenifer's basket. Lang, who led UNC with 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting, committed an offensive foul on the following possession. Virginia's J.C. Mathis missed the front end of the ensuing one-and-one opportunity, but the Cavaliers survived when Capel, who shot 1 of 11, missed an open three-point attempt. Mathis gathered the rebound and fired a long outlet pass to teammate Travis Watson, who easily converted a fast-break dunk with 33 seconds remaining.
Trailing 69-63, the Tar Heels were out of miracles. They twice fouled Chris Williams, who contributed 18 points and 10 rebounds, but he made all four free throws to finish 10 of 11 from the line.
"This time of the year, we'll take any win; we're not that vainglorious," said Gillen, who agreed that Jenifer's basket was the difference. "We're not Kansas or Duke or Maryland. We know we made a lot of mistakes, but we'll take it and move on. . . . We've got some maturing to do."
The Cavaliers got 18 points apiece from Williams and guard Roger Mason Jr. and 17 points and 10 rebounds from Watson. Lang and Capel, who hit 10 of 10 free throws and managed 12 points, were the lone Tar Heels to score in double figures.
Virginia took a 19-3 lead 4:34 into the game when Mason hit his third three-pointer in four possessions, and the Cavaliers maintained a 39-27 lead at halftime. U-Va., which shot 52 percent in the first half, blitzed Carolina with the same starting lineup it used in Sunday's 85-71 win against Clemson. The Heels shot 26 percent in the half, but Gillen said he was not pleased with his team's defense.
"I was very concerned at halftime," Gillen said. "We had a 12-point lead, but it should have been a lot closer. Carolina had a lot of good looks -- shots they normally make -- and they just weren't hitting them. In the second half, they started hitting a little bit more."
After halftime, UNC shot 46 percent while Virginia slipped to 36 percent. The Cavaliers returned to the tentative brand of basketball, especially on offense, that contributed heavily to the four-game losing streak that ended just two days ago.
"We got complacent, and we weren't aggressive," Mason said. "We've got to learn from it."
The No. 15 Virginia men's basketball team narrowly escaped North Carolina at University Hall last night.
"We played with fire and almost got burned," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said.
Luckily for Virginia, freshman point guard Keith Jenifer was able to douse the flames.
With little over a minute left Virginia was up by only two. They found themselves with the ball while the shot clock wound down, on the heels of a 24-second violation. Jenifer drove the baseline for a five-foot running lay-in that put Virginia up by four.
"The play of the game was when Jenifer drove to the basket," Gillen said. "For a freshman playing against Carolina that a very courageous shot."
"The clock was winding down," Jenifer said. "I had to make a move, so I did."
Courtesy of three three-pointers from guard Roger Mason Jr., Virginia (16-6, 6-5 ACC) jumped out of the gate to a 19-3 advantage. But an effective Tar Heel zone coupled with persistent Virginia fouling allowed North Carolina (6-16, 2-10) to battle back into the game. The Cavaliers failed to remain un-scorched as they beat North Carolina 73-63 in front of a less-than-capacity U-Hall crowd.
"When we were up big it was fools' gold," Gillen said. "We got hesitant. I think our guys thought the game was over, we thought we could cruise."
The Tar Heels certainly did not cruise as they made the defensive adjustments necessary to slow down Virginia.
"We were concerned about their athleticism, so we slowed them down with the zone," North Carolina coach Matt Doherty said. "It put the pace of the game in our favor."
UNC controlled the game's tempo and in doing so battled their way back into contention. The Tar Heels chipped away at the Cavalier lead, finding themselves down 12 at the half.
It didn't get better for Virginia in the second half as North Carolina took the lead courtesy of a 20-5 run capped off when Adam Boone took a turnover coast-to-coast for the lay-in to give the Tar Heels the 56-55 advantage.
North Carolina did most of their damage from the charity stripe. Virginia's soft zone defense too often put the Tar Heels on the free throw line. North Carolina had 33 free throw attempts, compared to Virginia's 19.
"We fouled too much," Gillen said. "Between their free throws and the zone we couldn't get into a rhythm."
Virginia's ineffectiveness against the zone resurfaced as they could not execute their offense effectively and struggled for almost every point.
"They were aggressive with their zone," Mason said. "It slowed us down."
Although the Tar Heel defense stifled Virginia, the Cavalier defense allowed North Carolina many open shots.
"I was not pleased with our defense," Gillen said. "I though they had some really good looks."
Chris Williams and Travis Watson each recorded double-doubles for Virginia as they both pulled down ten boards and netted 18 and 17 points, respectively. Mason also contributed 18 points to the Cavalier victory.
Though satisfied with the win, Gillen expressed disappointment that his team did not secure the outcome earlier in the evening.
"Teams have to put people away, we should have played with more passion," he said. "I was disappointed that we didn't have that killer instinct."
F or the first five minutes and 40 seconds of last night's win against North Carolina, Virginia looked like they deserved the No. 1 seed in the East region of the NCAA tournament. The rest of the game, however, the Cavaliers resembled a team that would struggle to make the newly expanded, 40-team NIT tourney.
Virginia resembled world-beaters as they jumped out to a 16-point lead with pressure defense and dead-on shooting. But the last-place Tar Heels turned around to put out a stingy 2-3 zone and outscored the Cavaliers by six the rest of the way. In most years that wouldn't sound bad at all. But with North Carolina resembling a Division II team for most of the season, there is some cause for concern.
Now I understand that most fans, or at least the ones that bothered to show up for a matchup against North Carolina and are not bandwagon fans (that's a completely different column), are saying to themselves "A win is a win is a win." And while the saying certainly applies to ACC play most of the time, the way the worst defensive team in the conference can simply eliminate any resemblance of an offense on their opponent's home court should worry these very same fans.
Without their up and down, fast-paced style of play, the Cavaliers look lost in a half court set. They appeared content to pass the ball around the perimeter of the zone, waiting for the shot clock to run down before they hoisted up a three or drove recklessly into the lane. An offense that, needless to say, won't win many games.
Which begs the question. What should they do about it?
While I certainly am no coach, nor do I claim to be, I know that Virginia is a team full of players that can do almost anything on the basketball court when they play up-close, pressure defense and cause turnovers to lead into fast break opportunities.
They are not players that can dribble into the lane and hoist up a jumper with someone right in their face or shoot three pointers from 25 feet. So in that vein, it is extremely important for the Cavaliers to force turnovers, run and stay out of the half court offensive set as much as possible.
Although it may look as if Virginia is giving up easy baskets, which is a given while pressing another team, it will be in its comfort zone of an up-and-down game. While it is very possible Virginia can shoot itself out of a zone - refer to the previous Wake Forest and Florida State games - it is likely they won't make enough to discourage teams to leave the zone that was so effective last night.
Virginia scored 19 quick points with North Carolina in a man-to-man defense and Roger Mason Jr. drilling threes in transition, while his teammates dominated one-on-one matchups. They didn't come upon their second 19 until the end of the first half, a full 14 minutes later, because they couldn't run up and down the court off of rebounds or shoot their way out of the zone. At one point during that stretch, the Cavaliers scored only six points in seven minutes.
When Virginia can't run, they must force the ball inside against the zone or hope they are hot from downtown that day. Either way, they cannot commit 24 personal fouls and stay unassertive in a 2-3 zone or they have little to no chance of winning the ACC road games still lying ahead.
And unless the people in Winston-Salem have no clue what's going on in the world of basketball, Virginia can expect that zone from the opening tip of this Sunday's game against Wake Forest.
If they don't correct their problems by then, Virginia will trudge home a very disappointed team and sit square in the middle of the proverbial NCAA "bubble."
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. To the people that didn't bother to stay for all of last night's game (or didn't bother to go at all) just to grab the first spots in line for Duke, you need to look at yourselves in the mirror and figure out what a fan really is.
UVa opens with a furious run, ends with a win over UNC
The Cavaliers proved Gillen's point for him in the first five minutes Tuesday night, opening their game against North Carolina with their best stretch of basketball this season, a 15-0 run that Virginia milked for the next half hour and ultimately a 73-63 victory.
But the win was not secured for Virginia (16-6, 6-5 ACC) until the final minute, when Keith Jenifer drove through the heart of the North Carolina defense - center Kris Lang and forward Jason Capel - for a runner that put the Cavaliers ahead 67-63 with 1:12 remaining.
"Travis (Watson) took Capel out of the way, so that made it easier," said Jenifer, celebrating his 20th birthday. "But it wasn't easy, though."
Roger Mason Jr. led the charge with 18 points, Travis Watson had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Chris Williams had 18 points and 10 rebounds in the win. North Carolina (6-16, 2-10), struggling through its worst season in generations, got 19 points from Kris Lang and 12 more from Jason Capel, but both missed on chances to make the game close at the wire. Capel was 1 for 11 from the floor, but made 10 of 10 free throws.
That opening stretch, which included three 3-pointers from Mason, three North Carolina turnovers and no offensive rebounds for the Tar Heels, showed how good Virginia can look when its transition game is humming. The Cavaliers' defense becomes a thicket of arms and legs impossible to navigate, and their offense creates such wide open shots that it seems the opponent has vanished.
"That showed how good we are," Mason said. "That showed how we can beat anyone in the country."
But then there are the lapses that cause Virginia to tread water in the halfcourt. After using that early run to take a 19-3 lead that sent the patchwork Tar Heels into complete disarray, North Carolina switched to a zone and the Cavaliers slowed down with exchanging Jason Clark for J.C. Mathis, and with the tempo went their momentum.
"We were concerned about their athleticism," North Carolina coach Matt Doherty said. "The zone slows them up. It forced them to pass the ball around the perimeter a lot. I think it did put the tempo in our favor."
North Carolina played Virginia evenly for the rest of the half, even getting within 27-20 before heading into halftime behind 39-27. After making 9 of their first 11 shots and causing three turnovers, the Cavaliers made 7 of 20 and got four turnovers the rest of the half.
"It's stretches like that, the lapses, that get us in trouble," Mason said.
The slowdown became dangerous in the second half, as the Tar Heels used a 20-3 run to take a 56-55 lead. When the Cavaliers were unable to get the ball inside easily, they resorted to dribbling around the perimeter and usually ended up taking bad shots or turning the ball over.
Lang exploited the difference for 13 second-half points. "He took us to school," Gillen said.
Virginia reclaimed the lead with a 9-0 run. A Mason 3-pointer and a pair of Chris Williams free throws put them ahead, 59-56, and a pair of missed opportunities - a botched layup by Elton Brown and a missed dunk by Watson - could have stopped North Carolina's momentum. A Mason layup off a defensive rebound gave them a five-point lead, and another pair of Mason free throws of a steal put the Cavaliers on top, 63-56, heading into the final four minutes.
North Carolina got within two points on a Lang hook with 1:45 left, but Jenifer's drive and an offensive foul by Lang with a minute left gave the Cavaliers some breathing room. But Mathis missed the front end of a one-and-one, only Capel missed a wide-open 3-pointer. Mathis got the rebound, hurled an outlet pass to Watson, who had a wide-open dunk for a six-point lead.
The game mirrored Sunday's, in which the Cavaliers took a 10-point lead in the first half, only to see it dwindle before a 15-0 run buried the Tigers in the second half. Virginia's halfcourt defense has not been horrible this season - ranking second in field goal defense in the ACC - but its offense, when not given the chance to flourish in the open court, bogs down and becomes a two-man game between Mason and Watson.
"We got some shots in the open court again, finally," Mason said. "We're getting a lot of zones, with teams shading particular ways, and we can overcome it. But when we run, that's easy for us."
That kind of assertiveness allows Virginia to mask its weaknesses. The Cavaliers know how to run. It might be too late in the season for them to learn how to walk.
Cavaliers hold off pesky Tar
Heels
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.
North Carolina made a startling comeback last night, charging from 16 points down in the second half into the lead, but couldn't hold on and allowed Virginia to escape University Hall with a 73-63 victory.
``Down 52-36, North Carolina generated a 20-3 run, with the last 13 points coming consecutively, to go in front 56-55 and shock a crowd of 7,331. It was North Carolina's first lead and, as the final 9:23 proved, its only one.Virginia was shaken, but North Carolina crumbled. It didn't score in its next eight possessions, missing four shots and committing four turnovers, three by point guard Adam Boone.
Given an opening, the Cavaliers regained their composure and surged in front 63-56, forging a margin big enough to withstand one final Tar Heels run in the last 4:02.
"It's hard to say exactly what happened," Boone said. "We had momentum and we lost it right after we took the lead. I think it was a classic case and one of those games where a team gives everything they have to get back but once we got back we just weren't able to keep it up.
"We exhaled a little bit too much. We got satisfied with the lead. We've got to keep on pushing."
The loss was the Tar Heels' 16th, the most they have ever had in a season, against six wins. They fell to 2-10 in the ACC and into last place, where they will reside until at least today when Clemson plays.
The Tar Heels have lost 11 of 12 games and 10 of the losses have been in ACC play.
"I've never been one to analyze which loss hurts more," Boone said. "To me losing is losing. And there's no fun way to do it."
Virginia improved to 16-6 and 6-5. Virginia beat UNC at home for the third consecutive season for the first time since 1980-82.
The Cavaliers also beat the Tar Heels for the fifth time in their past six games, their best run in the rivalry since winning five consecutive games in a streak that ended in 1920.
Chris Williams and Roger Mason led Virginia with 18 points each and Travis Watson added 17. Watson and Williams grabbed 10 rebounds each and helped Virginia forge a 43-29 advantage on the boards.
Kris Lang led North Carolina with 19 points. Lang's last basket, a six-foot hook shot, sliced Virginia's lead to 65-63 with 1:48 left but three more costly mistakes doomed UNC.
Watson muscled up on the left side of the basket but Lang stuffed his shot and a jump ball was called and The Cavaliers regained possession on the alternating possession rule. Only 12 seconds were left on the shot clock, putting the pressure on to score quickly.
Wiry Keith Jenifer, a freshman guard, had the ball on the left side. He was trying to pass in his role as point guard but found no one open and drove to the basket against the Tar Heels' zone. He zipped around Jason Capel on the left baseline, faking outside toward the free-throw line and cutting back to the inside, and banked in a layup with two seconds left on the shot clock.
"He drove baseline and I thought we had him trapped," Capel said. "He just kind of hopped through it. He's a little guy."
UNC still had 72 seconds left but Lang was called for pushing off on the right side of the lane for his fourth foul with 60 seconds left. J.C. Mathis missed the first shot of a one-and-one free throw and Jawad Williams rebounded for UNC.
Capel fired an open 3-pointer from the right side of the top of the key with 40 seconds left that missed. The ball bounded off the rim to the left side where Mathis grabbed the rebound. The shot completed a baffling shooting night for Capel, who missed 10 of 11 shots from the field and hit all 10 of his free throws.
"All my looks felt comfortable," Capel said. "They all felt good. And I'm going to keep taking them."
Watson raced down court and Mathis threw him a pass and he dunked alone with 33.8 seconds left to seal the victory.
A change in defensive strategy by Coach Matt Doherty helped UNC get back in the game. Doherty played the zone for the final 35:08 after Virginia threatened to blow UNC out of the building in less than five minutes of play.
Virginia roared to a 19-3 lead behind 3-point shooting. Ahead 4-3, it scored 15 points in the next 4:36 and produced the last 11 points in only 64 seconds.
Virginia could not sustain its charge, however. The zone forced Virginia to play at a slower pace and exercise patience, which its shooters do not like. Virginia led 39-27 at halftime but the zone helped UNC keep the game close enough to make a run.
Capel said that UNC's youth, coupled with being in few close ACC games, conspired to lead to another loss.
"I thought we made a great effort to come back," Capel said. "In other situations we would have caved in and got blown out of the gym. We hung around and fought, and we had a chance."
Cavs squander lead but survive UNC upset bid
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Dean Smith feels Tar Heels' pain
Charlotte Observer CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Former North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith said Tuesday he "feels badly" for second-year coach Matt Doherty and his players as the Tar Heels struggle through what will be the losingest season in school history. "It's something hard to go through," Smith said. "I'm very much supporting him and the team." Smith, who retired in 1997 as college basketball's all-time winningest coach, said he talks regularly with Doherty about a variety of subjects, most often about basketball strategy. Aware of criticism directed at Doherty this season, Smith came to his former player's defense. "He's our coach. He was national coach of the year last year," he said. "Our players are good people. They were recruited by a lot of schools. "They're trying the best they can. Matt is trying the best he can." Smith also talked about an addendum to his book, "A Coach's Life." In the paperback version, scheduled to be released this week, he offers some detail on what transpired in the first three years after his retirement, including the process that led to the hiring of Doherty. He writes that after Roy Williams, Larry Brown, George Karl and Eddie Fogler either declined the job or were unable to consider it, Smith approached Utah coach Rick Majerus about his interest in the position while Doherty and other former players were being considered. It contradicts suggestions that Smith and the Tar Heels would only consider a coach with ties to the program. "It isn't like we said it had to be someone from here," he said. "A couple of ex-players here called and named some names. Rick's was one of them." Smith said he and his successor, Bill Guthridge, worked as an unofficial search committee for athletic director Dick Baddour and Chancellor James Moeser in the hiring process. "When Larry (Brown) said no and the others were out, I asked Dick if he wanted me to call anybody outside," Smith said. "He said to see if there was any interest so I called Rick. We talked twice. But by then they had decided to go with Matt. Bill and I concurred." In the updated version of his book, Smith said he also offers suggestions for improving the game, including making junior college players and freshmen sit out a season, as transfers must, before playing. |
CHAPEL HILL - Maryland led North Carolina by 20, but enough was enough. Terps coach Gary Williams, tired of watching his team run aimlessly up and down the floor, barked the stop sign to guard Drew Nicholas:
"Drew, hold up, we need a play. Run this."
Williams held up a fist. Nicholas nodded, passed to Lonny Baxter on the wing, cut to the basket and caught a return pass for a layup. Just like that.
It was that easy Sunday for No. 3 Maryland, which beat North Carolina 92-77 at the Smith Center. Not that Williams particularly enjoyed the view. He spent the last 10 minutes stewing over his team's inability to build on a lead that reached 22 points.
"Why do you guys do this?" he asked his players at one point. "Don't you like being up 20?"
North Carolina (6-15, 2-9 ACC) tied the 1951 and '52 teams for most losses in program history and set a school record for most ACC losses. And even though the Tar Heels lost for the 10th time in 11 games, they won the second half 47-45. They were well aware of that; a staff member mentioned it as the team jogged off the floor.
Doherty beat his team to the locker room. As the players filed in, Doherty began clapping.
"He appreciated the effort," Tar Heels guard Adam Boone said. "That was nice to see."
With Juan Dixon (18 points) leading five Terps in double figures, Maryland (19-3, 9-1) led by double figures for the final 27 minutes. The Tar Heels closed the game with a 24-17 run behind Kris Lang and Jawad Williams, who combined for 34 of their 44 points in the second half.
"I know one thing," Gary Williams said. "They did a great job getting the ball to Lang in the second half. We couldn't stop him."
Lang had 19 of his 23 points in the second half. Jawad Williams, meanwhile, finished with the following season-high totals: 21 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
After three debilitating losses -- by 65 total points to Duke, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest -- Doherty found a building block in the second half.
"You have to hang your hat on something," he said. "At this point in the season, getting beat the way we did at Wake Forest (90-66 Wednesday), to come back and play with heart, show some fight, I'm pleased. That's a start. You have to have that. If you have that, you can win."
Not Sunday. Not against a Maryland team that has joined Duke and Kansas as the clear national title frontrunners.
But maybe Tuesday at Virginia. Or five days later against Florida State. Or three days after that against Ohio.
That was the gist of the message Gary Williams gave Doherty in an unusually long postgame handshake.
"I (told Doherty) keep the faith," Williams said, "because Matt can coach and Carolina is Carolina."
Some years more than others.