One month ago, Virginia ended a three-game losing streak with an 85-75 victory over then-No. 17 Wake Forest at University Hall. Tonight in Winston-Salem, N.C., the Cavaliers hope that a victory against the Demon Deacons can again cure their woes. Virginia, in the midst of another three-game losing streak after a 73-64 loss at home to Clemson on Tuesday, begins a three-game road trip tonight that will either make or break its season. After the game against Wake, the Cavaliers will travel to Ohio University on Wednesday and then end their week at Florida State on Saturday. With little room for error in terms of their NCAA hopes, the Cavaliers will need to find success in a place they rarely have: the road. “I feel confident that we will play better. I feel confident that our guys are going to give it their best effort. I still feel that we are capable of winning some games down the stretch. Of course, first you have to win one game before you win more than that,” said UVa coach Pete Gillen. “Wake Forest is certainly a big challenge but I feel good about our team.” While Gillen is fond of using the terms “challenge” or even “big challenge” when describing any upcoming game for this squad, no one would argue with him in this case. Regardless of the current fragile state of the Cavaliers, tonight would be a difficult task even if they were playing at their best. The Deacons are 13-0 at home this season and UVa has lost seven of its last eight at Joel Coliseum, with the last two losses coming by an average of 22.5 points. Virginia rarely seems comfortable in any opposing ACC arenas but its last two trips to Wake have produced games in which the Cavaliers had only fleeting moments of competitiveness. And thus it is there that Virginia will attempt to make a final push for a NCAA tournament bid. “We are in a big hole right now and, at this point, every game is a must-win,” said sophomore Devin Smith after Tuesday’s loss to Clemson. A component of Virginia’s current losing streak has been inconsistent play at the point from both Todd Billet and Majestic Mapp. Teams have pressured the ball with more emphasis since the suspension of Keith Jenifer, and Billet and Mapp have had turnover troubles trying to combat it. Mapp had a good stretch at the point against Clemson to begin the second half while Billet, who suffered a cut to the forehead caused by an inadvertent elbow by teammate Travis Watson, struggled at times, finishing 1 of 9 from the floor with six assists and six turnovers. Gillen was asked Friday if he might consider starting Mapp at some point in the near future. “We’ve considered it and it could happen. I probably should have played him a little bit more the other night. He’s not 100 percent healthy but he has already helped us win some games, which is something we didn’t expect. … He was never a jet but he certainly was quicker than he is now,” said Gillen, who reiterated Friday that Jenifer is indefinitely suspended. “[Mapp starting] is certainly in the mix.” One possibility would be to play Billet and Mapp together. The combination has not started this season but has been in games for certain periods with some success. Gillen notes that when Billet plays the point, he struggles offensively with his shot. The pairing of Mapp with Billet could ease such problems and also increase the overall ballhandling — at least in theory. “We’re certainly considering that and we may do that. Majestic is a pure point guard and that could happen and it could happen soon and they’ll certainly play a lot together,” Gillen said. The point guard situation seems to be just one of a host of worries for Gillen at the moment. From off-court issues with Jenifer to this current losing streak and the specter of another trip to the NIT instead of the NCAAs, pressure from fans in particular have been mounting on Gillen. Gillen acknowledged some of that criticism Friday. “I put more pressure on myself than external. Sure there’s external pressure and the more you lose, there is more pressure. It goes with the territory. … We are a little wounded right now,” Gillen said. “Nobody feels worse than I do when we lose. I blame myself a lot of times. We can’t play for the players, but I take the criticism. … We have five games left and we still have a goal of reaching the NCAA tournament. Will it be difficult? Yes. Is it possible? Yes. We’ve had some adversity and some of it we’ve caused ourselves, but you have to deal with that adversity.”

Every Virginia fan remembers the dismal ending to last basketball season when the Cavaliers lost 10 of their last 13 games, including an opening round loss in the NIT to visiting South Carolina. Before UVa coach Pete Gillen walked off the floor that night, he went out of his way to make a statement on the arena’s public address system. “I promise you we’ll be even better next year,” said Gillen to the fans as they exited the building. Well, it is “next year” and Virginia stands 14-10 overall and 5-7 in the ACC heading into a three-game road trip beginning today at Wake Forest, where the Deacons are undefeated, extending to Ohio University at midweek and concluding at Florida State next weekend. If the Cavaliers are going to be better than last season’s 17-12, 7-9 record, they had better get busy. The current three-game losing streak, highlighted with an embarrassing home loss to Clemson, has put Gillen in a predicament. Wahoo fans are not satisfied with the effort, or rather lack of it they see from their basketball team. Who’s to blame? Many of them place the blame directly on Gillen. Some of them would even like to see Virginia tear up the eight years remaining on his contract, buy him out, and head in another direction. Much to their dismay, it appears that Gillen’s neck is not on the proverbial chopping block, at least not as far as UVa’s athletic department is concerned. “Pete is our coach and I am supporting him,” UVa athletic director Craig Littlepage told this columnist. “Although Pete, the staff and team feel we should be doing better, we are all committed to figuring out the issues and fixing them. “It might be difficult for everyone to be positive about the program, but the only way for the team to be successful is for all of us to support them,” said Littlepage. “Our fans have been great this year and I hope they will help the team get through the stretch run of the season.” Problems abound One of the issues has been point guard Keith Jenifer, who was suspended indefinitely by Gillen the first week of this month. The coach has commented that without Jenifer, Virginia is a different team. His quickness and ability to penetrate has been missed at times by the Cavaliers, who have relied heavily on shooting guard Todd Billet to play the point, spelled by backup point guard Majestic Mapp, coming off two years of knee rehab. Mapp cannot blow by defenders but does offer a heady approach to the game. Billet is a cerebral point as well but playing the position appears to take away from his offense. Another issue has been the perception that the players do what they want, don’t listen to the coaches and whine when things don’t go their way. Two of the Cavaliers addressed that issue to some degree at a basketball luncheon a week ago. Jermaine Harper, who was suspended at the beginning of the season after being charged with DUI, apologized to the crowd comprised of UVa hoops fans for his actions, showed remorse and begged their forgiveness. He also thanked the coaches for giving him a second chance. You have to appreciate that kind of honesty from a kid who made a mistake. It took a lot of guts to get up at a function and make that sort of statement. But that wasn’t all. Elton Brown, perhaps the youngest sophomore in the ACC (he won’t turn 20 until next September), also spoke to the crowd of about 150 boosters. Brown apologized for not always hustling and for sometimes pouting when he is taken out of games. Always known for wearing his emotions on his sleeves, Brown promised to make amends. Gillen said Friday before heading to Winston-Salem that he has spent time since the loss to Clemson, attempting to rebuild the team’s confidence. He and his staff have remained positive, upbeat. They have shown the players films of what they’re doing right and what they’re doing wrong. They have worked with them individually on those points of emphasis. He also said he is confident the team can pull together down this crucial stretch of games. “I feel confident that we’ll play better, that our guys will give it their best effort,” said Gillen. “I feel we can win games down the stretch.” The coach also admitted he is aware of the criticism being hurled his way, even though he said earlier this year that he doesn’t read negative e-mails and letters sent to the office by irate fans, shielded somewhat by his secretaries. Still he knows it is there. “I put more pressure on myself,” said Gillen. “The more you lose, there’s more pressure. It goes with the territory. I blame myself a lot of times. I take the criticism. We want to be a lot better. We’re not dead yet. Our goal is still the NCAA Tournament ... that’s possible, yes, and difficult, yes. I know there’s criticism.” Littlepage said he was hesitant to bring up one fact because he didn’t want it to get misinterpreted to be rationalizing the situation, but the AD did bring up a good point. Gillen has a better five-year conference game record than any of the following ACC coaches had their first five years in the league: Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski; Maryland’s Gary Williams; and N.C. State’s Herb Sendek. True. There were fans at Duke who wanted to run Coach K out of town after a slow start, but instead, former AD Tom Butters saw promise in Krzyzewski and instead of firing him, gave him a long extension. Williams, saddled by problems created by predecessor Bob Wade, got off to a bad start and Sendek has never really been an overwhelming favorite of Wolfpack fans. That hasn’t been the case with Gillen. He actually won before anyone expected him to and perhaps that is part of the problem. Too much success too soon raised expectations prematurely. Coach K’s record after his first five years was 28-42 (40 percent); Williams’ was 26-50 (34 percent); Sendek’s 26-54 (33 percent). And Gillen’s? 34-42 (45 percent). “The point I try to make in looking at this is that the ACC is a tough league,” said Littlepage, who coached in it twice as an assistant to Terry Holland. “As much as we want a better record this year, every ACC coach has gone through the same difficulty getting traction in the conference. “Pete is a successful veteran coach and has proven himself building successful programs at Xavier and Providence,” said Littlepage. “I know he will succeed here over the long haul. His early success here surprised everyone to the extent that we won earlier than anyone imagined we would. The end of last year and here recently we’ve not had the success we desire and that is difficult for everyone.” Gillen and his team could become their own best ambassadors if they can come together and finish strong in the three remaining road games, two ACC home games, the ACC Tournament and whatever lies beyond. Then, for Pete’s sake, the coach won’t have to make any more promises.

The attackmen showed their youth. The defenders were, as their coach put it, “lethargic.” But the Virginia men’s lacrosse team had no trouble defeating Drexel on Saturday because its midfielders were simply marvelous. UVa’s middies combined for 15 goals in a season-opening 19-8 victory at the University Hall Turf Field. The first midfield unit of A.J. Shannon, Chris Rotelli and Billy Glading, all seniors, finished with 11 goals as the fourth-ranked Cavaliers tuned up for upcoming road games at No. 1 Syracuse and No. 2 Princeton. “Our middies were all over them,” said Shannon, who notched a career-high five goals. “I thought we had better legs than they did in the midfield and a lot of guys took advantage of that.” Rotelli matched his career high with four goals, while Glading had two. UVa coach Dom Starsia said he expected his seniors to carry the offensive burden early in the season since the starting attack is comprised of two sophomores and a freshman. “That’s what’s going to be required here, especially while the three young attackmen get their feet on the ground,” Starsia said. “I expect we’re going to have a very good attack over the course of the season, but we’re fortunate to be in a position where we can depend a little more on our midfielders right now. I think, in the end, really good offensive teams have to have top attack play. Eventually, that will happen for us.” Besides sophomore Joe Yevoli, who had three goals, Virginia’s attack lacked scoring punch. John Christmas, a preseason first-team All-American, never looked comfortable and recorded his only goal and assist in the final quarter. Matt Ward, a talented freshman, finished with one assist late in the game. It was up to the midfielders to supply the offense, and they were clearly capable. Rotelli raced through Drexel’s defense, creating scoring chances for himself and teammates. With two assists, the All-American ended up with a career-best six points. Shannon bulled over short-stick defenders and unleashed a succession of rockets. The Dragons rarely slid on defense, so Shannon exploited the mismatch and scored at least once in each quarter. “Billy, Roto and I have been around for a while now. We know you have to step up, beat your guy and stick your shot,” Shannon said. “Until the young guys find their footing, we know we’ve got to initiate the offense through the seniors.” Sophomore midfielder Nathan Kenney scored two goals, while freshmen Tyler Gilbert and Kyle Dixon each had one. Starsia wasn’t particularly pleased with the effort on defense. The Cavaliers led just 8-4 at halftime and 11-6 after three quarters. Even standout goalie Tillman Johnson was average, making seven saves and allowing seven goals. “I thought we were a step slow and a dollar short in the first half on the defensive end,” Starsia said. “We can play better.” A few hard fouls by Drexel’s defensemen angered the Cavaliers, who put the game away with eight goals in the fourth quarter. It almost surely will take a more complete performance to beat the defending national champion Orangemen on the road next Saturday. “We came out completely flat. No one was willing to work,” Rotelli said. “Everyone wanted it to be easy. It wasn’t easy. We didn’t deserve to be beating them at halftime. But at least we came out with the intensity we needed after halftime and did what we needed to do.”