Cavaliers continue free fall; Surrender lead late to Georgia Tech

By ANDREW JOYNER
Daily Progress staff writer

As Georgia Tech guard Marvin Lewis’ high-arcing, 22-foot 3-pointer swished through the hoop Saturday in the final second, it took Virginia’s NCAA tournament hopes with it.
The shot lifted the Jackets, who trailed by six points with less than a minute to play, to an improbable and inexplicable 82-80 victory over the No. 22 Cavaliers, who have now dropped three straight and seven of their past nine games.
The game’s final minutes were eerily reminiscent of Virginia’s loss to Maryland here in University Hall on Jan. 31 in which the Cavaliers led by nine with 3:24 left only to lose 91-87. Missed free throws down the stretch was the particular ailment that night and it was again Saturday.
The Cavaliers (16-9, 6-8 ACC) missed four free throws in the final minute, one of which was by Roger Mason Jr., the ACC’s career best free-throw shooter by percentage, and the other three were by Travis Watson.
“Our defense let us down. Our free throws let us down. And our execution at the end let us down,” said UVa coach Pete Gillen, whose team allowed Georgia Tech to shoot 55.3 percent from the field and 15 of 25 from beyond the arc.
The Cavaliers held an 80-74 advantage with 1:28 remaining after a layup by Adam Hall. After the Jackets failed to convert at their end, they immediately fouled Mason with 57.6 seconds remaining.
In hindsight, the decision to foul Mason worked out for the Jackets but it was not a decision Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt liked at the time.
“If I’m not mistaken, he’s their best free-throw shooter. I was calling for the foul and [Georgia Tech assistant coach] Dean [Keener] leaned over my shoulder and yelled, ‘Not him, not him,’” Hewitt said. “Maybe I was a little jumpy. ... We dodged one.”
After Mason’s miss, Georgia Tech’s B.J. Elder buried a trey to cut it to 80-77 with 45 seconds left.
Virginia then wound the shot clock down to 18 seconds before calling a timeout with 28 seconds remaining. At that point, Gillen stressed to his team to attempt to get the ball to Mason on the inbounds pass. Instead it came to Watson, who promptly missed his front end of a one-and-one from the stripe.
The next strategy for Virginia was simply perplexing. With 19.6 seconds remaining, Gillen instructed freshman Jermaine Harper to foul Tony Akins before he or his teammates could attempt a shot.
“They were hitting so many 3s. The way they were shooting the ball, we thought they would tie it,” Gillen said. “If we’re up three we don’t want to tie and send it to overtime with a three. That was our thinking. ... We figured we get the ball back and hopefully run some clock and make our free throws.”
That latter part did not happen. Akins made both of his free throws and on the inbounds play, Georgia Tech put two players over Mason and forced UVa to inbound the ball to Watson. Watson was immediately fouled and missed both of his free throws with 18.8 seconds remaining to set up the final play.
“We called the press offense and they didn’t run the press offense. We wanted to get the ball to Roger but we didn’t run it. We got it to Travis, and he’s not our best free-throw shooter,” Gillen said. “Down the stretch, they didn’t do what we said. Instead they did it their way. ... I’ll take the blame, but they didn’t do what we told them to.”
Still, Virginia held a slim one-point lead before Lewis rained down a deep 3-pointer on what was a busted play, according to Hewitt.
“We ran a pick-and-roll for Tony. If he doesn’t get it, somebody’s supposed to come open in the corner, but the play broke down,” Hewitt explained. “Tony maintained his composure and waited for somebody to get open and got the ball to the right person.”
Added Lewis: “It’s one of those shots that you don’t worry about where you are or who is in front of you. You have to get the ball up and shoot it with confidence.”
The Yellow Jackets (13-15, 5-9 ACC), who made 15 of their 25 attempts from beyond the arc, were led by 23 points from Akins and 18 from Elder. Lewis, who was 5 of 6 on 3-pointers, finished with 15. The 15 3s by the Jackets tied a UVa record for opponents in a game.
Mason paced Virginia with 19 points while Watson, who did not start because of a stomach virus, had 17 and 11 rebounds. Chris Williams added 16 and Adam Hall, starting his first game in nearly two months because of injury, seemed to give UVa a lift with 15 points.
“This might be even worse than Maryland. We had this game. We missed free throws and had mental mistakes down the stretch. We blew it,” Williams said.
Added Mason: “Sometimes you have to face the facts and we let this one slip away and it’s nobody’s fault but ourselves. I take responsibility for it as captain of this team. I should have knocked down the free throws. We’re very disappointed but nobody is going to feel sorry for us.
“I didn’t address the team at all. I was at a loss for words myself,” Mason said.

Virginia left stunned after latest defeat

By JERRY RATCLIFFE
Daily Progress sports editor

The only sound in University Hall at the end of Virginia’s heartbreaking loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday night was the celebration by the visiting Yellow Jackets.
UVa’s coaches and players stood stunned after the Cavaliers blew a six-point lead with a minute to play and lost 82-80 on one of Tech’s 15 3-point field goals, the winner coming with one tick remaining on the scoreboard. More than 8,000 fans filed out of the joint in silence, several of them having returned to their seats after the Jackets mounted an incredible 11th-hour comeback.
It was a game Virginia couldn’t afford to lose and Georgia Tech had no business winning. In one minute, the Cavaliers destroyed an inspiring comeback and ruined a brilliant performance by senior Adam Hall, who showed everyone just what UVa had missed in his 11-game absence.
The Wahoos had wiped out a 14-point Tech lead by outscoring the Jackets 27-6 before the break as the two teams leapfrogged one another until Virginia seemingly took control down the stretch. UVa owned an 80-74 lead after Hall, who scored 15 points and had some key steals and rebounds, drove in for a layup that should have held up for a win to even the team’s ACC record at 7-7.
Things looked even brighter when Roger Mason Jr., who owned the highest career free-throw per-
centage (.875) of anyone to ever play in the ACC, went to the line with 57 seconds to play.
What followed will be debated for years to come as the Cavaliers came unglued and left themselves in a precarious position for postseason opportunities. Now 6-8 in the ACC (2-5 in the month of February) and 16-9 overall, UVa finishes the regular season against two of the top three teams in the nation, Duke and Maryland.
Mason missed the front end of a one-and-one and Tech’s B.J. Elder answered by drilling a 3-pointer that put fans back in their seats with 45 seconds to play, UVa leading only 80-77.
Coach Pete Gillen called a timeout with 28 seconds to go and set up the play he wanted, a downscreen to Mason. If Georgia Tech denied Mason the ball, another guard or small forward was supposed to come and get the ball. But Virginia’s players didn’t run the play Gillen called and center Travis Watson got the ball instead. Tech fouled Watson with 27 seconds to play, sending him to the line for a one-and-one.
Watson, who had not started the game because he missed Friday’s practice with flu-like symptoms, had made all three previous free throws but missed this one and Tech rebounded.
At that point, Gillen did what he has always done with 25 seconds or less to play. He ordered freshman Jermaine Harper to foul Tech’s Tony Akins as the Tech guard raced down the floor with the ball. Akins, who had drilled four treys earlier, was considered armed and dangerous by Gillen, who feared the worst.
Akins, the second-leading 3-point shooter in the ACC this season and an 80.5 percent free-throw shooter, was indeed fouled with 19.6 seconds to play. There lies the great debate.
Why foul Tech with so much time on the clock?
Gillen defended his strategy this way.
“They hit a million threes down the stretch. We thought they would hit a three to tie it. They were on fire, so we wanted to get the ball back ... not let them tie it and send the game to overtime,” said Gillen. “We figured we’d get the ball back again, run some clock. We didn’t think we’d miss four [free throws] in a row. I’ve always done that, given a foul the last 25 seconds.
“That didn’t beat us,” said Gillen. “We didn’t want our center to get the ball at the end. We wanted the ball in Mason’s hands.”
It was definitely a roll of the dice, one that might have worked had the Cavaliers not gotten the tight collar at the free-throw line.
Akins knocked down both of his free throws to cut Virginia’s lead to 80-79 with 19.6 seconds to play.
On the ensuing play, there was no way in the world Tech was going to let Mason catch the ball and send him back to the free-throw line. Chris Williams looked for Mason who, Williams said, “was getting mugged” by Tech defenders.
“Everyone else was open,” said Williams. He passed the ball to Watson, who was completely unguarded and was immediately fouled by Tech’s Robert Brooks, who was the designated fouler.
So, with 18.8 seconds to play, UVa clinging to a one-point lead, Watson went to the line again. This time the double-bonus was in effect, meaning he had two tries. He missed them both.
Gulp!
Everyone knew the Cavaliers were in deep doo at this point as Tech went into its offense. For a fleeting moment toward the end, it appeared the Jackets were too out of sync to make a play because Clarence Moore and Lewis were bunched so close to one another out near the top of the key that nothing good could come of it.
But the two corrected their spacing and the ball was whipped to Lewis about 23 feet out, top of the key. Lewis turned, fired and buried Virginia deeper in its late-season slump than anyone could have imagined a few weeks ago.
Gillen said he took the ultimate blame but didn’t mind pointing out that his players didn’t follow his instructions at game’s end and didn’t play defense in the first half, which resulted in Tech making 67 percent of its overall shots and 70 percent of its 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes.
Had the Cavaliers followed orders — isn’t that what players are supposed to do? — maybe they would have survived. If they had made their free throws there wouldn’t even be any discussion.
“It’s our fault as players,” said Mason. “We didn’t do our part. We didn’t execute and make our free throws at the end of the game. I’ll take the blame. I should have knocked down those free throws.”
Virginia can play the blame game as long as it wants but the Cavs are now confronted with the cold facts that unless they find a way to upset Duke here or Maryland on the road, or make a run in the ACC tournament, then they are looking at the NIT, not exactly what they had planned when they were sitting at No. 4 in the nation on Jan. 1.
Watson believes the only answer is unity.
“Either we spread out and go our separate ways or come together,” said Watson.
Maybe following directions wouldn’t hurt either. Just what do you think Mike Krzyzewski would do if his players didn’t follow his orders? They would be running mat drills at 5:30 the next morning in Cameron.
How Gillen chooses to handle the problem may determine how the next seven days play out.

Jackets' late trey shocks Cavs
Collapse cripples U.Va.'s NCAA bid

By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, February 24, 2002; Page D06

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Feb. 23 -- Virginia freshman Jermaine Harper slammed the corner of the press table and swatted a paper cup onto the court in disgust. It seemed like the appropriate response to a shocking last-second loss that might have ended the Cavaliers' NCAA tournament hopes.

Leading Georgia Tech by six with less than a minute left, No. 22 Virginia collapsed in a hail of missed free throws and blown defensive assignments. A three-pointer by sophomore Marvin Lewis with one second remaining completed the comeback for the Yellow Jackets, who stole an 82-80 win.

"We let this game slip away," Virginia's Roger Mason Jr. said. "It's nobody's fault but ourselves."

That has become a familiar refrain for the Cavaliers (16-9, 6-8 ACC), who have now lost seven of their past nine games. But tonight they regrouped after a 14-point deficit in the first half and led 80-74 when Mason, a 90 percent free throw shooter, went to the line with 57 seconds left.

But just as in its 91-87 loss to Maryland on Jan. 31, U-Va. could not close out the victory. Mason missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Georgia Tech freshman B.J. Elder hit a three-pointer on the next possession to cut the Virginia lead in half.

The Cavaliers ran the clock down to 27 seconds before center Travis Watson was fouled. He also missed on a one-and-one.

Leading 80-77, Virginia Coach Pete Gillen had Harper foul Georgia Tech senior point guard Tony Akins, the ACC's second-best three-point shooter, with 20 seconds left. Akins made both free throws.

"They were hitting so many threes," said Gillen of the Yellow Jackets, who made 15 of 25 from behind the arc, as many as any team has ever hit against Virginia. "We thought they'd tie it, the way they were shooting the ball. Don't let them tie it and send it to overtime."

The Cavaliers tried to inbound the ball to Mason, but again had to settle for Watson, a 72 percent free throw shooter. Gillen said his players did not run the play that was called in the huddle.

"We called a press offense, and they didn't run it," Gillen said. "We didn't want to get our center with the ball. . . . They didn't do what we said. They did it their way."

This time Watson had two free throws, but he missed them both, setting the stage for Lewis's shot from a few feet beyond the three-point line at the top of the key.

"It was one of those shots where you don't think about where you are, who's in front of you," Lewis said. "There's not much time left, so you've just got to get the ball up and shoot it with confidence."

Akins, who had game highs of 23 points and nine assists, coordinated the play. The play "broke down and instead of rushing a shot or taking a contested shot, [Akins] maintained his composure and waited for somebody to spring open," Georgia Tech Coach Paul Hewitt said. "I'm not going to tell you it was the shot we wanted, but at least [Lewis] was open."

Virginia got at least 15 points from each of its four veterans, including senior swingman Adam Hall, who played 34 minutes after returning Wednesday against Florida State from a foot injury that had caused him to miss 10 of 11 games.

Today Hall had 15 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals. Four of the rebounds were on the offensive boards. And his driving basket with 1 minute 28 seconds left gave Virginia a 80-74 lead, its second largest of the game.

"He did a great job," Gillen said. "That was a big basket he made. We missed him."

In the first half, the Cavaliers manufactured a 12-0 run and a 13-0 run but were so uneven that their halftime lead was only 45-44. They trailed 15-2 after 3 1/2 minutes.

"We got off to a terrible start. We played no defense," Gillen said. "We missed some free throws down the stretch. And at the end, even with all that, Marvin Lewis was wide open for the three. Wide open."

UVa falters down the stretch, falls to Rambling Wreck
By Steve Argeris
The News & Advance
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Virginia tripped over itself for another late-game collapse at home, virtually ending its hopes of an at-large NCAA Tournament berth by blowing a six-point lead in the final minute to Georgia Tech, 82-80, Sunday.

The No. 22 Cavaliers, losers of three straight and seven of their past nine games, had appeared to clinch a tough but momentum-building victory when Roger Mason Jr. went to the free throw line with 57 seconds left and an 80-74 lead.

"We wanted to keep the ball in certain people's hands," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. "But not Roger."

But Mason, the best free throw in ACC history entering the game at 87.54 percent, missed the front end of a one-and-one. Georgia Tech's B.J. Elder sank a 3-pointer and the Yellow Jackets fouled Travis Watson, the Cavaliers' Brookneal-based junior center. Watson, too, missed the front end of a one-and-one, with 27.1 seconds left.

Cavaliers coach Pete Gillen then elected to foul with 19 seconds left, and ended up sending Tony Akins, an 80 percent free throw shooter, to the line. Akins made both. Virginia then did not run the inbounds play the way it wanted to, sending the ball to Watson instead of Mason, who was double-teamed.

Watson, a 71.6 percent foul shooter, missed both free throws. Akins penetrated the lane as the clocked ticked down and sent the ball back to Marvin Lewis, who swished a 24-footer with a second left.

"They hit a million threes down the stretch," said Gillen, explaining his decision to foul Akins with so much time left. "We thought they would hit a three to tie it. They were on fire, so we wanted to get the ball back, not let them tie it and send the game into overtime."

Instead of overtime, the Cavaliers settled for a hope-killing loss. Virginia (16-9, 6-8 ACC) now has to face No. 3 Duke at home Thursday and No. 2 Maryland Sunday in Cole Field House's final game, with wins in both games (or a surprise run to the ACC Tournament final in two weeks) as its only chance at salvation.

"We're digging ourselves deeper and deeper," said Mason, who had a team-high 19 points. "I don't know where we stand right now, but we can't concede and we can't give up."

For much of this season, Virginia appears to have done both. Virginia started off poorly, allowing Georgia Tech to jump ahead 15-2 and holding a 30-16 lead eight minutes in. A 12-0 run got the Cavaliers back in the game at that point, and a 10-0 run put them ahead by as much as seven points that shrunk to 45-44 at the break.

The game mirrored a collapse here against Maryland Jan. 31, when the Cavaliers led by nine with just over three minutes left and lost, 91-87. Virginia did not fix one of its more glaring problems - defending the 3-point shot - as Georgia Tech matched a 19-year-old record by making 15 3-pointers (of 25 attempts). Akins and Elder each hit four, Lewis hit five. Akins finished with 23 points, Lewis 15 and Elder had 18 in the Yellow Jackets' third straight victory.

For Virginia, Adam Hall (15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals in 34 minutes) returned to the starting lineup, showing no signs of the foot injury that kept him out of 10 games this season. Williams had 16 points, showing the assertiveness in the second half that Gillen had practically begged for earlier in the year. Watson had 17 points and 11 rebounds, who did not start after a stomach problem kept him out of practice.

Jackets win on last shot
John Hollis - Staff
Sunday, February 24, 2002
Charlottesville, Va. --- With a simple flick of his wrist, Georgia Tech's Marvin Lewis delivered a buzzer-beating, game-winning 3-point shot and a likely knockout blow to any NCAA tournament chance for Virginia.

Lewis' shot was the final act in the Yellow Jackets' improbable rally from a six-point deficit in the game's final 1:27. It capped a memorable 82-80 victory before a stunned crowd of 8,392 Saturday at University Hall.

The 22-foot jumper from just beyond the top of the key was the last of 21 ties or lead changes in the second half.

"Tony [Akins] got me the ball and I knocked it down," said Lewis, who finished with 15 points. "There wasn't time to see where you were or who was in front of you. You just had to get the ball and shoot it with confidence."

Lewis' winner with one second left was the last of Tech's season-high 15 3-point baskets on 25 attempts. The play was designed for Akins to shoot off a high pick-and-roll, but he ipassed to his inexplicably wide-open teammate when he saw the Virginia defense awaiting him.

"I'm not going to say it was the play we wanted, but [Lewis] was open," Yellow Jackets coach Paul Hewitt said. "Marvin got a clear look and he buried it."

The loss was the Cavaliers' third in a row and their seventh in nine games, all but killing any chances they may still have entertained of making the NCAA field without an ACC tournament title.

Virginia (16-9, 6-8 ACC), which was ranked as high as fourth less than two months ago, still has to play third-ranked Duke at home Thursday before playing at No. 2 Maryland four days later.

The Cavaliers will long remember this setback. They misfired on all four free throws in the final 58 seconds, including a missed front end of a one-and-one by Roger Mason Jr. The junior guard is the team's top free-throw shooter and the most accurate in ACC history (90.2 percent).

Center Travis Watson missed three free throws in the final 26 seconds, the final two coming with 18 seconds remaining after the Jackets had intentionally double-teamed Mason in the hopes of Watson getting the ball. Watson entered the game ranked ninth in the ACC in free-throw percentage at 72 percent.

"Sometimes you have to face the facts," said Mason, who had 19 points. "We let the game get away."

Virginia coach Pete Gillen shares in the blame. His decision with an 80-77 lead to intentionally foul Akins with 19 seconds left was curious, given that it put an 81 percent free-throw shooter at the line with an opportunity to score without the clock moving.

Akins hit them both, and Tech (13-15, 5-9) made 15 of 17 overall on the day to assure its second consecutive win in Charlottesville.

Akins, who added nine assists and six rebounds to his totals, scored 17 of his 23 points in the first half as Tech led by as many as 14. Freshman guard B.J. Elder added 18 more points for the Jackets, whose season-best 55 percent (26 of 47) field-goal percentage helped offset 24 turnovers.

Watson added 17 points and 11 rebounds for Virginia, which managed just two field goals over the final 8:18.

A curious call for Gillen at the finish
By JOHN HOLLIS
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

Charlottesville, Va. -- Virginia coach Pete Gillen left himself open to be second-guessed with his decision to foul Tony Akins in the game's waning seconds. The Cavaliers led 80-77 with 19 seconds left when Jermaine Harper followed his coach's instruction and fouled the Tech point guard.