Deacons smother Virginia
Wake's Gray drops in 26 during rout
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
February 1, 2004

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Last week a caller to his radio show chastised UVa coach Pete Gillen for not hassling the referees enough to get a technical. Gillen, vehemently and somewhat tersely, dismissed the caller’s suggestion.

If that caller’s hypothesis was that a Gillen technical might somehow lead to a victory, he was wrong.

Gillen did get whistled for a technical Saturday against No. 19 Wake Forest but it was a mere footnote as the Deacons easily raced past the Cavaliers, 91-78.

Justin Gray had 26 points and Trent Strickland added for 14 for the Deacons (13-4, 4-3 ACC), who made their first six 3-pointers en route to 27-6 spurt to open the game.

“The key to the game is that they came out and played tremendously well to start the game. … It was like a fight. They just came out and knocked us down and we just never recovered,” said Gillen, whose second technical of his six-year Virginia career came with 12:58 left in the first half and his team trailing 22-6. “They played great and we were stunned.”

Elton Brown led Virginia (12-6, 2-5 ACC), which has now lost 16 of its last 17 ACC road games, with 24 points, many coming after the game had been decided. Derrick Byars, breaking out of a prolonged slump, added 18 points while freshman Jason Cain had a career-high 11.

Virginia was 0-12 from behind the arc and didn’t record a trey for the first time in 354 games. The last time Virginia didn’t connect on a 3-pointer was March 27, 1992, in a NIT quarterfinal contest against New Mexico.

The Deacons eventually pushed the first-half lead to as many as 27 after a tip-in by Richard Joyce made it 37-10 with 8:45 left before intermission. The Deacons eventually took a 44-27 advantage at intermission.

Virginia made one last-ditch effort to get back in the game as it cut the lead to 56-42 on a Jason Clark layup with 17:15 left in the contest. The Deacons, however, removed themselves from any danger with a rare seven-point possession moments later.

As Gray swished a trey to make it 61-42 with 11:54 left, Virginia’s Gary Forbes was whistled for an intentional foul after jostling with Wake’s Kyle Visser as the ball went through the hoop.

Visser made one of two from the line. On the ensuing possession, Visser was again fouled and again made one of two from the stripe but this time Strickland grabbed the rebound and followed with a layup to make it 65-42 with 11:38 left.

Wake ultimately pushed the lead to as many as 28 before the game became essentially glorified garbage time.

Brown scored 14 of his 24 points in the final 6:28 as Virginia’s late run made the final score respectable if not deceiving.

“Take your hat off to Wake. Skip has a great team. They knocked us off in the first five minutes and we never recovered,” Gillen said.

UVa now plays on Wednesday when it hosts Maryland.

 

Byars climbs out of slump in UVa's loss
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
February 1, 2004

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.

If there was any consolation for Virginia’s road weary basketball team on its latest venture to Tobacco Road, it was that Derrick Byars finally broke out of his month-long funk.

Mired in a dreadful slump that dated back to the Cavaliers’ home loss to Providence on Jan. 3., the sophomore from Memphis, Tenn., had made only 5 of his last 31 field-goal attempts over a seven-game stretch, including a three-game span where he went 0 for 9 prior to Saturday’s trip to Wake Forest.

While Virginia was drummed 91-78 by the Deacons, the Cavs’ 16th ACC road loss in their last 17 games, Byars’ spirit was somewhat lifted by a performance that broke through the dark cloud that had followed him for the past several weeks.

Against the Deacs, he connected on 6 of 11 field goal attempts and added a half dozen free throws for 18 points. Byars’ recent woes were a stark contrast to how he started the season, scoring in double figures in eight of his first 10 games, capped by a 20-point effort in UVa’s stirring comebacker against Iowa State on New Year’s Eve.

How strange that his shooting touch abandoned him immediately after that game.

“It was great to see him break out of it,” Coach Pete Gillen said.

Quid pro quo

For Gillen, it might have been somewhat of a trade off, losing a league road game that his team wasn’t supposed to win anyway (Wake was a

14-point favorite) in exchange for getting Byars back.

The coaching staff had tried everything this side of a shrink to lift the 6-foot-7 shooter out of the fog. They had Byars watching film of himself from when he was playing well. They tried extra shooting.

But this was more complicated than the old axiom that is the antidote for baseball players’ batting slumps: Take two aspirin and call me in the morning. Byars didn’t consider that, nor did he sleep with a basketball or confer with any witch doctors on how to break the spell.

He kept the faith

When asked if he was back, Byars didn’t hesitate with his answer.

“No, I’ve been here,” he said. “I knew I would come back eventually with my play. I tried not to get frustrated. I never lost confidence in myself.”

Gillen couldn’t figure out what was preventing Byars from playing up to par. He acknowledged that the youngster was a bit of a perfectionist and was a little fragile, but had no sure-fire method of bringing his game back to life.

The fact that Byars did play well was an encouraging sign to his teammates.

Just how important is it that Byars fought his way back? Consider that UVa won seven of the previous eight games when he scored in double figures.

“It was good to see,” said teammate Elton Brown, who also made somewhat of a

breakthrough by scoring 24 points. “We need Derrick because we still have to play everybody in the ACC one more time, plus Maryland. The main thing was that he didn’t put his head down during all this.”

The locker room scene was somber after another conference road loss as the Cavaliers fell to 12-6 overall and 2-5 in the ACC. But the fact that they were down 31-8 before they could blink, yet never stopped fighting salvaged their self respect.

“We need Derrick to be aggressive in scoring, rebounding, and everything,” said senior point guard Todd Billet. “We need him to step up big for the rest of the season.”

Byars gives Virginia another threat on the perimeter, but also a player with the athletic ability to drive the lane and make things happen.

“I knew I wasn’t perfect,” Byars said when reminded of Gillen’s comment about his perfectionist expectations. “I think I’m past that stage.”

During the slump, Gillen stuck with him as much as one could expect but eventually had to decrease his playing time. If that got to Byars, he wouldn’t admit to it, noting that he still clocked enough minutes to stay in some sort of rhythm even if the shots weren’t falling.

It wasn’t the first time he had suffered through such misery. Byars experienced a couple of bumps in the road as a freshman, particularly near the end of the season.

Just as last year, he sought out the advice from his parents, who filled him with encouragement throughout the ordeal. It would be safe to say the Byars’ long distance bill might have been as thick as the Memphis phone book for the month of January.

If he truly put this behind him on Saturday, it could give the Cavaliers a fighting chance during the second half of the ACC season. At least that’s what his teammates and coaches are banking on.

“If I keep that effort up, I’ll be satisfied with my play,” Byars said before leaving Joel Coliseum on Saturday.

But only if that adds up to more wins for a team that is in desperate need of a win.

Byars has broken from his slump. Now, it’s Virginia’s turn.

 

Bench can be uncomfortable, U.Va.’s leading scorer learns
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© January 31, 2004

As Elton Brown went, so the Virginia Cavaliers would go this season.

That was the word out of Charlottesvile in the preseason, from coach Pete Gillen and from a trimmed-down and supposedly rededicated Brown.

“One person can’t change it, but I can do a lot to help build this program back to what it was,” Brown said in November.

The 6-foot-9, 255-pound Brown is finding that hard to do from the bench, which is where he’s spent much of the last three games after losing his starting job. Brown expressed frustration over his lack of playing time after Virginia’s loss to North Carolina last Saturday, in which he played a season-low 17 minutes.

“You’re a team leader,” Brown said. “Every go-to guy is going to have bad games. I’ve seen other teams on the college level, their player has been on a drought, but, I mean, you stick with him.”

Brown is one of the most talented low-post scorers in the ACC and can be the focal point of the Virginia offense when he’s on his game. But his shortcomings as a defender and rebounder have cost him his starting job — for now.

“Scoring is what he does well,” Gillen said Friday. “We need him to help in other areas: rebounding, defense, diving on the floor.

“He’s a tremendous player. We just need him to be consistent in every area.”

Gillen declined to say whether Brown would start today at No. 19 Wake Forest. Virginia (12-5, 2-4 ACC) hasn’t played in a week and is seeking its first conference road win.

Brown still leads the team in scoring at 14.6 points a game but is averaging just 10.3 in conference games and just seven in his last three games.

Brown said he doesn’t have to score to be effective and is aware that Gillen wants him to defend and rebound better. He said he’s found it hard to get into the flow of the game coming off the bench.

“I’m kind of cautious,” he said. “I’m wondering if I make a mistake, I’m going to come out of the game.”

Brown’s most glaring mistakes Saturday cost Virginia down the stretch. Once, he shot a turnaround fadeaway that missed everything and led to a North Carolina score. On another occasion, he scored a basket, only to allow North Carolina’s 265-pound Sean May to beat him downcourt for an easy layup.

When citing team leaders Friday, Gillen conspicuously failed to mention Brown, citing Devin Smith, Todd Billet and even the seldom-used Majestic Mapp instead. Brown said there’s nothing he can do but keep plugging away.

“I think I’m going to get it rolling soon,” he said. “The Wake Forest game is going to be a good one.”
 

UVa a no-show from outside
The Cavaliers see their string of 354 consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer end.
Doug Doughty
doug.doughty@roanoke.com

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - So much for the theory that Virginia men's basketball coach Pete Gillen needs to get more technical fouls.

Gillen, questioned by radio callers for his inability to challenge officials, picked up the second technical foul of his six-year UVa career but that didn't change his team's ACC road fortunes.

Next time, Gillen's radio critics might want to recommend that the Cavaliers make some 3-point shots.

Virginia had made at least one 3-pointer in 354 consecutive games before going 0-for-12 in a 91-78 loss at Wake Forest.

"Worse than Elon," the Wake students chanted derisively in the game's waning moments. "Thanks for practice."

The Cavaliers (12-6, 2-5) had not lost a game by fewer than 15 points before Saturday, but the final margin was the most misleading statistic of the day.

Wake Forest (13-4, 4-3) led by 27 points in the first half. After UVa had trimmed the margin to 14 points early in the second half, the Deacons built the lead to 28 points at 75-48.

The Cavaliers' hopes of a miracle comeback were dashed during a 16-second span when the Deacons scored seven points without changing ends of the floor.

After Justin Gray hit a 3-pointer to put the Deacons ahead 61-42, UVa freshman Gary Forbes was called for an intentional foul against the Deacons' Kyle Visser.

Visser hit one of two free throws; then, after Wake regained possession, Visser went to the line again. He missed the second of two free throws, but Trent Strickland tipped in his miss.

"I don't know what happened," Gillen said. "Visser was banging and flailing. He's a very good player, but he's also a very physical player, so I have no problem with Gary for defending himself."

Forbes told Gillen that Visser punched him. "But I never touched him," Forbes said. "The referee said, when I turned around, that I looked kind of violent."

Gillen picked up his technical during the first half, when the Cavaliers were down 22-6, on their way to 27-6.

"I almost got two," Gillen said. "I almost got bounced, but you've got to fight for your players. I have no comment on the officials, other than to say I didn't like what what was going on."

It was only after a dramatic pause that Gillen added "with our team."

Gillen said the Cavaliers took some positives from the game, including an 18-point effort by Derrick Byars, a struggling former starter who had averaged 1.7 points over the previous seven games.

Byars rejected the notion that he was "back."

"I've been here," said Byars, a double-figure scorer through the first 14 games. "I was out there playing today. The minutes aren't as important as getting in a rhythm. My confidence has always been there. It's not like [a similar swoon] last year."

If Byars didn't notice the difference, his teammates did.

"It was very important," Elton Brown said. "It's good to see him back. We're going to need him."

Returning to the starting lineup after a three-game absence, Brown scored 20 of his team-high 24 points in the second half.

Virginia freshman Jason Cain had a season-high 11 points, but Nos.1 and 2 scorers Todd Billet and Devin Smith combined for six points, with Smith again prevented from starting by a back problem.

Wake got a game-high 26 points from Gray, who spent two years at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., but was not recruited by Virginia .

The Cavaliers had signed Keith Jenifer and Jermaine Harper in the previous class, but both have since left the program.

"I committed to Wake pretty early in my senior year," Gray said, "but, if Virginia had wanted to talk, I would have had an open mind."

 

Wake wallops U.Va.
Fast start helps No. 19 Deacons defeat Cavaliers
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published February 1, 2004

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- By the time Virginia became interested enough to play Saturday afternoon, it was long past the too-late stage. Wake Forest came out like Muhammad Ali in his prime, and the Cavaliers played the role of Sonny Liston.

Forget the final score - Wake 91, U.Va. 78 - or that J.R. Reynolds' tip-in with 15 seconds left allowed the Cavaliers to cover the spread. The Demon Deacons had a 27-point lead just over 11 minutes into the game, and only a belated Virginia spurt - along with Skip Prosser's generosity toward his old boss - prevented the margin from getting completely out of hand.

"It was like a fight, when a guy comes out in the first 20 or 30 seconds, swings and knocks you on your back," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "We just never recovered. We fought, but it's tough when a good team gets up 24-6, whatever it was, it's tough to come back - especially on the road. They played great. We were stunned."

Wake (13-4, 4-3 ACC) hit its first five attempts from the 3-point arc and led 19-4 with 14:39 left in the first half. Then it was 24-6, 27-6, and finally 37-10. A telling sequence: After a Gary Forbes turnover, Justin Gray nailed a 3-pointer on the break. Reynolds missed a trey, and off the long rebound Taron Downey hit from the arc in transition.

"The play early on was about as well as we can play," said Prosser, who played four walk-ons in the final two minutes. "Our shots fell and we guarded them really well. One feeds off the other."

Short of a season-ending injury, the first 10 minutes couldn't have gone much worse for Virginia. Down 22-6, Gillen's frustration boiled over after Devin Smith was called for a questionable charge. Gillen picked up his second technical in six seasons at U.Va.

The Cavs (12-6, 2-5) did finally compete and avoided complete embarrassment. Virginia outscored Wake 17-7 in the final 8:04 of the first half and 9-7 in the opening four minutes of the second. The Deacs' lead was trimmed to 56-42 with 12:41 remaining, but boosted by a seven-point possession - thanks to an intentional foul called on Forbes - Wake doubled that margin over the next four minutes.

"We waited too long to come back," Forbes said.

For the first time since March 27, 1992 - a stretch of 354 games - Virginia did not hit a 3-pointer. The Cavs were 0-for-12 from the arc against a team that had given up at least nine treys in each of its past five games. Wake ended up hitting 9-of-19 from long range, with Gray and Downey a combined 8-of-12.

The only good news for Gillen is that two players he badly needs broke out of scoring slumps. Derrick Byars finished with 18 points, six more than he had scored in his previous seven games. Elton Brown had 24 on 9-of-15 shooting, and though 13 of that came in the final 71/2 minutes he'll take it.

"Get me going for Wednesday," said Brown, referring to a home game against Maryland. "I've got my confidence going back again and I feel comfortable on the court."

Deacs have 'uproariously good time'
2-1-04
By BILL HASS, Staff Writer
News & Record

WINSTON-SALEM -- Justin Gray got the message from Wake Forest basketball coach Skip Prosser -- keep shooting.

The sophomore guard tossed in 26 points and helped the Deacons to a fast start that buried Virginia before the Cavaliers knew what happened in front of 14,163 fans in Joel Coliseum.

Wake's 91-78 win -- a deceptive score because the game was never close -- boosted 19th-ranked Wake to 4-3 in the ACC and 13-4 overall. Virginia, losing its 16th ACC road game in its last 17 tries, fell to 2-5, 12-6.

Gray, falling one point shy of his career high, hit 5-of-8 3-point attempts.

"I could feel it," Gray said. "As soon as you let it go you just watch the basket and you know it's going in."

The Deacons hit their first four 3-point attempts and six of their first seven as they bolted to a 29-6 lead barely eight minutes into the game. Gray and Taron Downey hit three long ones each in the stretch.

"It feels good," Gray said, "especially when you've got somebody running at you and even though they contest it you still knock it down. It makes your confidence level go up.

"When Taron hit his and I hit mine and then I hit again, I was like 'oh man, it's going to be pretty good for us.' "

Even Prosser wasn't immune to the effect of the 3-pointers.

"When shots drop, everything's fun," he said. "The pizza tastes better afterwards, the sodas. So we had an uproariously good time out there today. It's fun when you make 3s, especially."

Two games ago, Gray suffered through a 1-for-10 shooting day in a loss to Florida State. But that didn't discourage Prosser.

"I said 'I'm never going to take you out for taking (an appropriate) shot,' " Prosser said. "But I will take you out if you don't guard, don't rebound and do those things.' The message being, 'when you're open, you've got to shoot it.'

"Shooters have days like that. I've coached some absolutely wonderful shooters who have a 2-for-16 (in a game). He's a good shooter and I don't want him hesitating, I want him shooting the ball."

For all the fun the Deacons had shooting, Virginia was equally miserable. The Cavs missed all 12 3-point attempts, the first time they had been shut out there in 345 games dating to 1992. Coach Pete Gillen felt were many of them were bad decisions.

"We took some bad shots on 3s, which led to long rebounds, which led to fast breaks," Gillen said. "They knocked us down like a fight -- in the first 30 seconds a guy swings and knocks you on your back, and we just never recovered."

Defensively, the Deacons paid particular attention to Virginia's Todd Billet, who scored 25 points in Joel Coliseum last season. With Downey guarding him, Billet only got off four shots and scored four points.

"I was trying to deny him the ball a lot," Downey said, "and whenever he got the ball, just keep my hands up so his shot wasn't as fluid as it usually is. I just tried to get in his shooting pockets."

Devin Smith, Virginia's other 3-point threat, didn't start because of a bad back, played 18 minutes and scored two points.

Prosser felt he might have cost the Deacons some offensive and defensive rhythm in the first half by using 11 players. Virginia cut the margin to 17 at halftime and worked it to 56-42 with 12:41 left.

But on a key possession, Gray nailed another 3 and Virginia's Gary Forbes was called for an intentional foul against Wake's Kyle Visser underneath the basket.

"We were just tangled up a little bit," Visser said, "both going for the rebound and that happens. I think (Forbes was called for) an elbow, but I don't think it was intentional. I probably did the same thing to him, so it could have gone either way."

The upshot was Visser hit a free throw, Wake kept possession, Visser got fouled again and hit the first free throw and missed the second. But Trent Strickland, who scored 14 points, grabbed the offensive rebound and scored.

Essentially, it was a seven-point possession that gave Wake a 65-42 lead and ensured that the uproariously good time would continue.
 

Cavs Clobbered at Wake
Deacons Take Charge Early; Virginia Makes No Threes : Wake Forest 91, Virginia 78
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, February 1, 2004; Page E06

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Jan. 31 -- In the first eight minutes of Saturday's game at Wake Forest, Virginia Coach Pete Gillen called a timeout and substituted liberally. He raged down the sideline to argue a call against his team, earning just his second technical foul in five-plus seasons with the Cavaliers.

None of it worked; the 19th-ranked Demon Deacons blew out to a 29-6 lead and eased to a 91-78 win that wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated.

Saddled with its 16th loss in 17 ACC road games, Virginia (12-6, 2-5) slid closer to the bottom of the conference standings and continued to make a case for inclusion in the ACC tournament's ignominious play-in game.

"We've got a lot of work to do," center Elton Brown said.

Each team shot 50 percent and committed plenty of turnovers, but the Deacons (13-4, 4-3) separated themselves by hitting 9 of 19 three-pointers, including six in their opening blitz. Virginia missed all 12 of its attempts from behind the arc, breaking a streak of 354 consecutive games with at least one three.

Guards Justin Gray (26 points) and Taron Downey (13 points) did most of the three-point damage for Wake Forest, which has beaten the Cavaliers in nine of its past 10 visits to Winston-Salem.

"When the shots are falling, everything seems fun," Demon Deacons Coach Skip Prosser said. "The pizza and soda taste better after the game. So we had an uproariously good time out there."

One of the few bright spots for Virginia was the reemergence of sophomore Derrick Byars, a gifted wing player who had scored 12 points in the past seven games. Saturday he hit 6 of 11 shots for 18 points and continued to play with the assertiveness he showed in limited minutes in Virginia's previous game, a 96-77 loss at North Carolina.

Brown added 24 points, though nearly two-thirds of them came once the game was out of reach.

The Cavaliers also said they were encouraged by the 13-point final margin, which was as close as they had been since the game's opening minutes. Virginia trailed 85-62 with 31/2 minutes remaining but kept working, helped in part by a Wake Forest lineup populated with several walk-ons and end-of-the-bench reserves.

"A lot of times we just quit, and today we showed a lot of character, a lot of heart," swingman Gary Forbes said. "A loss is a loss and everybody's upset about losing, but the fact that we made an effort [when] most teams would just lie down . . . says a lot about the character that we have."

Yet by those waning minutes, the Demon Deacons already had done all they needed to do to grab their second straight win. The start was "about as well as we could play," Prosser said. Less than 51/2 minutes in, the lead was 19-4; it got as high as 37-10 before halftime.

Cavaliers Notes: Forward Devin Smith seemed to aggravate a back injury when he crashed to the floor in the first half, but he returned to the game. . . . Center Donte Minter played a season-low four minutes after injuring his right knee in practice this week.
 

Deacons demolish Cavs
Three-guard lineup too quick, too accurate for Virginia
By LORENZO PEREZ, Staff Writer

WINSTON-SALEM -- After busting its losing slump against Maryland on Thursday, Wake Forest simply busted Virginia on Saturday.

Fueled by an early 3-point shooting blitz by guards Justin Gray and Taron Downey, the Demon Deacons flew to a 27-point lead in the first half and cruised to a a 91-78 win against the Cavaliers.

After favoring a more traditional starting lineup with two forwards and a center in recent games, Wake (13-4, 4-3 ACC) returned to the three-guard lineup that went 10-0 as starters earlier this year.

The move paid off quickly, as Gray and Downey each drilled three 3-pointers in the first half, combining to make five in a row in the first five minutes of the game. At that point, Virginia (12-6, 2-5) was down 19-4 and was staggered.

"Gray was on fire, and Downey, those guys really knocked us," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "Like in a fight, the guy comes out in the first five, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, the guy just swings and knocks you on your back, and we just never recovered."

Gray finished with a game-high 26 points and six rebounds, while Downey added 13 points.

While Downey has scored in double figures in four of the past five games, Gray's slump didn't end until Thursday, when he scored 20 points against Maryland.

The basket didn't look larger Saturday, said Gray, who finished 7-for-10 from the field. But almost every shot felt perfect as he let it fly.

"I know I can make the shots, so every time I am open, I am going to shoot," Gray said. "I get a lot of encouragement from coach [Skip Prosser] and the team to keep shooting the ball."

Defensively, Wake shut down two of the three Virginia players it wanted to keep in check, as guard Todd Billet and forward Devin Smith combined for just six points. The third, center Elton Brown, led the Cavaliers with 24 points.

Wake's defense kept the pressure high much of the game and forced 19 turnovers. The Deacs never gave Virginia a comfortable shot from behind the arc, and the Cavs missed all 12 3-point attempts.

Wake stretched its lead to 37-10, but Virginia chiseled away and went into halftime down 44-27. Resorting to a matchup zone that appeared to confuse Wake for several possessions, the Cavaliers drew within 14 points with 12:41 remaining in the second half.

"We probably lost a little bit of our rhythm, both offensively and defensively," Prosser said. "Having said that, you have to give Virginia credit ... They kept coming at us and coming at us, so I never really felt overly comfortable."

With Virginia down 58-42 at the 12:19 mark, Gillen yelled at his team to "dig deep!"

That translated into a dramatically deeper hole, as Gray hit a 3-pointer and referees whistled Virginia forward Gary Forbes for an intentional foul underneath against Wake center Kyle Visser.

With Gray's basket, Visser's free throws and a Trent Strickland tip-in off a missed Visser free throw, Wake Forest had a seven-point run and a 65-42 lead.

Asked about the intentional foul, Gillen said Forbes told him Visser threw a punch underneath and that Forbes fought back.

"It was awfully physical," Gillen said of both teams' play. "Visser's a physical guy, he was banging and flailing away ... both guys were banging, so I have no problem with Gary for defending himself."

Now carrying a two-game winning streak into Wednesday's game at N.C. State, Downey said the performance cemented what he and his teammates already knew.

"When we got that win against Maryland, we got our swagger back," he said.


 

Wake buries U.Va.
Cavaliers fall behind 29-6, lose 16th of past 17 ACC road games
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Feb 1, 2004

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Sophomore forward Derrick Byars snapped out of a monthlong slump, scoring 18 points - six more than he totaled in his previous seven games.

There were few other positives for Virginia yesterday in its 91-78 loss to ACC rival Wake Forest at Lawrence Joel Coliseum. The 19th-ranked Demon Deacons (4-3, 13-4) floored the Cavaliers (2-5, 12-6) early, and only a strong finish by the visitors made the final margin respectable.

"We were stunned," U.Va. coach Pete Gillen said. "We kept swinging, but it's tough to come back against a real good team when you get into that big of a hole."

Wake hit its first five 3-point attempts and led 29-6 less than 9 minutes into the game. At the 8:44 mark, Virginia trailed 37-10.

It was like a fight, Gillen said, where in "the first five, 10, 30 seconds, the guy swings and knocks you on your back. We just never recovered."

Byars, after scoring 20 points against Iowa State on New Year's Eve, went 5 for 31 from the floor in his next seven games. He made 6 of 11 yesterday.

"I think Derrick broke out of it," Gillen said.

Only three players scored in double figures for U.Va. - Byars, junior center Elton Brown (24) and freshman forward Jason Cain (career-best 11). The Cavaliers battled until the end, but "it's tough to come back against a real good team any place, at home or on the road, but espe- cially on the road," Gillen said.

Especially when the visiting team is Virginia. The Cavs have dropped 16 of their past 17 ACC road games.

In his first start since Jan.15, Brown made 9 of 15 shots from the floor and grabbed five rebounds. Fifteen of his points, however, came after sophomore guard Justin Gray's fifth trey gave Wake a 75-47 lead with 8:21 left. Wake coach Skip Prosser, a former Gillen assistant, substituted freely in the final minutes, and Virginia closed on a 13-4 run.

"That's the positive thing that we have, being able to come back," freshman swingman Gary Forbes said. "A lot of times we just quit, and today we showed a lot of character and heart."

Wake shot 47.4 percent from 3-point range, making 9 of 19 attempts. Virginia shot 0 percent. After making at least one 3-pointer in 354 straight games, the Cavaliers went 0 for 12 from beyond the arc yesterday.

They had made at least three treys in every other game this season. Not since March 27, 1992, when the Cavaliers beat New Mexico 76-71 in an NIT quarterfinal at the Richmond Coliseum, had they failed to scratch from 3-point range.

Senior guard Todd Billet, Virginia's top perimeter shooter, attempted only one 3-pointer yesterday. The Deacons held Billet to four points, tying his season low.

"Last year we held Billet to 25 points" in U.Va.'s visit to Winston-Salem, Prosser said. "He torched us, and we wanted to play harder against him."

U.Va. closed to 44-27 by intermission and twice in the first 8 minutes of the second half cut its deficit to 14. On the second occasion, Virginia junior Jason Clark's follow made it 56-42 with 12:41 left.

Two minutes and 20 seconds later, Wake's lead was 28, and the game was effectively over.

A disastrous sequence doomed the Cavs. After Wake's Jamaal Levy scored to make it 58-42, Forbes was whistled for a questionable charge. Gray (game-high 26 points) followed that turnover with a trey that made it 61-42, and the 6-6 Forbes was called for an intentional foul against Wake center Kyle Visser under the basket.

The 6-11, 224-pound "Visser's a very good player, but he's a very physical player," Gillen said. "Both guys were banging. I have no problem with Gary for defending himself."

Visser made 1 of 2 from the line, and Wake retained possession. Clark then fouled Visser, who made the front end of a one-and-one. He missed his second attempt, but high-flying Trent Strickland (14 points) soared for a follow, and just like that, U.Va. was down 65-42.

"When you're coming back like that and get it to 14, you can't have any setbacks," Billet said. "It's like you're back at square one."

Virginia picked up eight fouls before Wake was called for its first personal. That whistle came 90 seconds after Gillen picked up a technical foul, only his second in six seasons at Virginia. Gillen declined to criticize the officials afterward, but Forbes wasn't so reluctant.

"We were playing five against eight today in my eyes," he said.