Scattershooting around the ACC, while noting that two Cavalier recruits are among the 100 finalists for the McDonald’s All-American Team ... Both Roanoke native J.R. Reynolds, currently playing for Oak Hill Academy, and Brooklyn, N.Y., recruit Gary Forbes, made the cut from more than 2,500 high school seniors for team consideration. Both signed with Virginia in November and both are having outstanding seasons. The team will officially be announced Feb. 27 on ESPN’s SportsCenter (6 p.m.). The game will be played March 26 in Cleveland. Virginia fans got a sneak peek at Forbes this season when he scored 32 points in a losing effort against Blue Ridge at U-Hall. Now, they can get a close-up look at Reynolds at U-Hall on March 1, when Oak Hill meets Montross Christian at 7 p.m. Reynolds recently popped in 14 (that’s not a typo) 3-pointers in an Oak Hill win. Recruiting guru Bob Gibbons’ most recent senior rankings has Forbes as the No. 75 prospect in the nation and Reynolds at No. 81. Forbes is a 6-foot-7 wing forward, while Reynolds is a 6-3 two guard. He May be back North Carolina freshman center Sean May had hoped to be cleared to play in Tuesday night’s win over North Carolina A&T, but team doctors did not give him the green light. That may come next week if the 6-9 player’s broken foot continues to heal at a rapid pace. Whether he will be allowed to play in games or not won’t be decided until further examination. May’s father, former Indiana All-American forward Scott May, was so concerned about his son returning prematurely, that he flew from Dallas to Chapel Hill late last week to attend the examination. UNC coach Matt Doherty would love to have May back for the stretch run but not if it means jeopardizing his center’s future. “I think his absence certainly affected us,” said Doherty. “We area more perimeter oriented team now. We went to Sean a lot inside and after he was injured [Dec. 27], I think our shooting percentage probably dropped about 10 percent as a team, from around 47 to 37 percent. “Sean would get us easy shots inside, he would get fouled, and then he would create easy shots for his teammates because defenses would collapse around him,” said Doherty. Free throws ... ... North Carolina now owns the longest active homecourt winning streak in a college basketball series with its 49 straight wins in Chapel Hill over Clemson. ...UNC took the lead in that category when the previous longest streak, Princeton’s 52-game home string over Brown, came to an end last Friday night. ...FSU fans were excited when they watched the Seminoles beat Georgia Tech last weekend but Coach Leonard Hamilton kept things in perspective when he said: “I don’t think anybody has ever been invited to do anything at the end of the season with only 12 wins the last time I checked ... so we need to continue to stay focused.” ...Speaking of Tech, the Yellow Jackets, 0-9 on the road overall and 0-6 on the road in ACC games this season, are shooting only 19.3 percent on 3-point attempts in ACC road contests. ...Maryland and Wake played its postponed game from Sunday to Monday even though Terps’ AD Debbie Yow wanted the game played later because she feared no one would show up after the weekend blizzard. As it turned out, 14,222 took in the game as Maryland reclaimed first place in the conference. ACC officials had to play the game because of a rule the conference adopted in 1996 that stated a game must be played if both teams and the game officials can make it to the arena. ...The Terps got a one day consideration because the school couldn’t get enough staff members to the arena to adequately staff the contest. Short yardage ... ... For the first time since taking over Duke’s football program, Coach Carl Franks will have an official offensive coordinator, having promoted quarterbacks coach Jim Pry to the post, meaning Franks will not call the plays next season but will have input. ...Speaking of offensive coordinators, one of Virginia coach Al Groh’s options is to call plays himself, which would allow Groh to promote graduate assistant Andy Heck to a fulltime assistant coaching position. ...Clemson basketball power forward Chris Hobbs is toying with the idea of giving football a try for the Tigers as the 6-7, 255-pound junior debates joining spring practice after hoops season concludes. ...Keeping in tune with his slogan that “Recruiting never stops until the Waffle House closes,” Groh and his staff are already making inroads with several rising seniors, already looking at Columbia, S.C., defensive end Mack Frost Jr., 6-5, 245, who likes the Hoos along with South Carolina, Clemson, Georgia and Maryland (USC and Clemson have already offered). ...UVa is looking at Troy James, a 6-5, 295 offensive tackle from Duncan, S.C., and Frankie Caldeyro, a 6-0, 175 speedy wide receiver/cornerback from Portsmouth’s Churchland High (he likes Virginia, Penn State, Maryland and Boston College). ...Last, but not least is Cedric Peerman of William Campbell High. He’s a 5-10, 185 running back who rushed for 1,992 yards and 38 TDs as a junior. He scored seven more TDs through the air (he’s looking at UVa, Virginia Tech, UNC, Clemson and Maryland).

Coaches and players will never admit to looking past a game or even assuming a victory before it’s played. Yet, when Virginia looked at its February schedule, a home date against Clemson was likely put down in the win column even though no one would admit that publicly. It was the kind of the game when ticking off wins necessary to reach the NCAA tournament, a ‘W’ was penciled in without much thought. The game was at home where Virginia never loses; the Tigers haven’t won at University Hall in six years. The reasons were infinite. Of course, there is an old saying about what happens when you assume. Behind 32 points from Ed Scott, Clemson defeated Virginia 73-64 on Tuesday night at U-Hall as the Cavaliers dropped their third straight contest and fourth in six games this month. Just 10 days ago after defeating Maryland and N.C. State in back-to-back games, the appropriate question was where the Cavs might be seeded in the NCAA tournament. Now, with its NCAA hopes in critical condition at best, a second straight trip to the NIT seems like the Cavs more likely March destination. “This put us in a big hole. Now every game is a must-win,” said sophomore Devin Smith, who scored a career-high 30 points against the Tigers. The loss was Virginia’s second straight at U-Hall, the first time that has occurred since the 1997-98 season. Before last Saturday’s loss to Duke, there was a thinking that U-Hall was a place that always cured Virginia’s woes, but now that premise is shaky. In each of these past two games, even the home crowd wasn’t able to hide the Cavaliers’ weaknesses. Turnovers, inconsistent play at the point and an unreliable offense have been the obvious flaws during this three-game slide. Defense, a usual woe for the Cavaliers, has almost taken a backseat to the offensive problems. Clemson won Tuesday night despite shooting 37.9 percent from the floor, misfiring on 15 of its first 17 shots to start the second half. Scott was essentially Clemson’s only consistent offensive weapon on the floor in the second half but he alone was enough to fell the Cavaliers, who shot just 34.4 percent for the game. “We probably rushed things offensively. We didn’t execute too well. We were probably trying to get it back too quickly,” said Virginia coach Pete Gillen. The Cavaliers were not aided by a 1 for 9 shooting performance by junior guard Todd Billet, who missed a significant portion of the game between the first and second halves recovering from a cut to his forehead suffered in the final minute of the first half. Billet returned to the game at the 16-minute mark of the second half in a new No. 21 jersey but still struggled with his shot. Billet, who committed six turnovers, connected on his lone 3-pointer with 3:55 remaining. “I think teams are coming after us more at the point guard spot. We have to make some adjustments and see what we have to do. We’re having trouble scoring. That’s one of the problems I think,” Gillen said. “Sometimes when Todd plays the point, he has trouble scoring.” North Carolina exposed UVa’s point guard troubles last Wednesday by consistently pressuring the ball and both Clemson and Duke have followed suit. Both Billet and junior guard Majestic Mapp have had troubles settling the UVa offense in these instances. Those contests have coincided with the suspension of starting point guard Keith Jenifer for conduct detrimental to the team after an arrest on an assault and battery charge on UVa’s corner on Feb. 2. On Tuesday night, Gillen made reference to Jenifer’s absence. “If Keith plays, we might not win, but we are a different team with him. He shot himself in the foot with what he did. That’s frustration,” Gillen said. “Please don’t misunderstand me, I wouldn’t say we’d win. I’m not saying that at all but we’re a different team when he’s penetrating and creating things.” It should be noted that Virginia did win at Maryland and then at home against N.C. State without the oft maligned Jenifer and he had been benched by Gillen in the three games prior to his suspension. Virginia will have a small respite before traveling to Wake Forest on Sunday and Gillen promised Tuesday night that he “would evaluate everything we do” in that time. Time, however, is not on Virginia’s side at the moment, at least regarding the NCAAs, but the UVa players are at least trying to maintain optimism. “If we win a few games and win a couple in the ACC tournament, we’ll be fine,” Smith said.