ACC slide continues
Virginia falls to 2-7 in the conference after defeat
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
February 8, 2004

Virginia entered the week with two opportunities to end its ACC slide. Instead, the Cavaliers journeyed farther into the abyss with two more conference losses.

N.C. State, behind 26 points from Julius Hodge, sent Virginia to its fourth straight loss and at least momentarily put the Cavaliers in sole possession of last place in the league with a 79-63 decision.

For the Wolfpack (14-5, 7-2), it completed a season sweep of Virginia and marked their seventh win in the last eight contests with the Cavaliers (12-8, 2-7).

The Cavaliers, who lost 71-67 to Maryland on Wednesday, have now lost eight of their past 12 contests and the losing is clearly taking its toll on both embattled UVa coach Pete Gillen and his players.

“It’s tough. … We didn’t play as well as we could and they made us look bad,” said Gillen, whose normal jovial manner has long since disappeared. “We couldn’t score and we had trouble defending.”

When asked if he felt his team has squandered two opportunities with the two home games this week, Gillen answered in the affirmative.

“The Maryland game was a game we were right there to win. We had a chance to win that one. … N.C. State is like some of those old Princeton teams and they carve you up. They made us look bad today,” Gillen said.

Devin Smith came off the bench to score 14 points for Virginia while Gary Forbes and J.R. Reynolds each added 10.

Senior point guard Majestic Mapp started for the first time since Nov. 27, 1999, as Gillen used his sixth different starting lineup in as many games. Mapp finished with zero points and one assist in 12 minutes.

“We had lost a couple in a row and we wanted a change. We thought we needed a change. … We gave Majestic a chance and I thought he did a solid job,” Gillen said.

As with a plethora of games this season, the Cavaliers lost this one in the final minutes of the first half.

After trailing by as many as seven early, the Cavaliers surged to a 20-19 lead on a pair of free throws by Donte Minter with 7:48 remaining. Moments later, with the scored tied at 22, Elton Brown missed a relatively easy layup in the lane. The Wolfpack, which outrebounded UVa 39-22, snared the carom and eventually Marcus Melvin connected on a 3-pointer to make it 25-22 and the Cavaliers would never get closer than three points again. The Wolfpack ultimately took a 34-23 halftime lead.

“A big key to the game was when it was tied at 22 and we miss a wide open layup. Our players got deflated and I think the building got deflated. They come down and hit a 3 and get momentum,” Gillen said.

Added N.C. State coach Herb Sendek: “That was the key run for us there at the end of the first half when we were able to get a bit of a working margin.”

Thanks to 59.1 percent shooting in the second half, the Wolfpack were easily able to keep the Cavaliers at bay. Even when Virginia was hitting its shots, N.C. State was as well and thus the deficit didn’t decrease. At one point, Virginia scored on five straight possessions only for that to be nullified by three treys by Engin Astur and a layup by Illian Evtimov.

“They hit some 3s and once they got the lead, they had found their comfort zone,” Gillen said.

At one point, N.C. State pushed the advantage to as many as 19 as Virginia got no closer than 11 the rest of the way.

“It’s frustrating, but we can’t give up right now. We have seven more games left and then the ACC tournament. We have to step it up another notch and get off this losing streak,” said junior forward Jason Clark. “Nobody likes losing.”

 

Just the facts: Gillen's record not that great
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
February 8, 2004

It was another tough day for Pete Gillen on Saturday when his Virginia basketball team let a second straight home game slip through its fingers.
The game was a microcosm of the Cavaliers’ losses this season. Close for the first 15 minutes or so, then an implosion. Knotted at 22 all with 6:48 to go, visiting N.C. State outscored UVa 12-1 the rest of the half and the Cavs never cut it under double digits again.
With the loss (the seventh in the last eight games to the Wolfpack), Gillen’s team dropped into the ACC cellar, at least until Clemson visits Duke tonight at 7:30 p.m.

Feeling the pressure
For the beleaguered Gillen, the hot seat got a little warmer as the Cavs lost their fourth straight league game and head to No. 1 Duke next Wednesday.
Asked if he felt the heat or was aware of the unrest in the Wahoo Nation over Virginia’s performance for the past three seasons, Gillen acknowledged he had.
“Yeah,” Gillen said. “All we can do is go day by day. We’re 12-8. There’s always heat. I’ve got seven years left on the contract. We’re not giving up, we’re not quitting. We’re in the toughest league in the country.”
Certainly the coach is aware of the whispers. While he doesn’t read negative emails or voice mails (his secretaries shield him from such distractions), he must know what his critics are saying.
New rumors fly every day. Gillen is interested in the St. John’s vacancy. Funds have been raised to buy out his contract. So-and-so at XYZ University will be his successor. No wonder UVa athletics director Craig Littlepage approached Gillen in the hallway outside the pressroom and told his coach to hang in there.
Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek, who has been as embattled as any coach in the league over his career, could easily relate to Pete’s problems.
The “Fire Sendek” Web site was down Saturday. The “Pete Must Go” site was up and running.
“I don’t know what that indicates,” Sendek said. “It could be back up tonight. That’s the nature of our sport and you can’t allow those things to influence how you do your job. Unfortunately our sports culture today is a little off center.”

The hot topic
The topic of conversation concerning UVa basketball these days centers more about whether or not Gillen will keep his job than it does about the team’s chances of making postseason play. Unless there is a specific “buyout clause” in that long-term contract, you are talking about paying out seven years of guaranteed money.
At this point, it might be worth examining the pros and cons of Gillen’s era at Virginia.
Most everyone who has made a point of getting to know him agrees that Gillen is a great guy. He gets out into the community and meets and greets fans and students as much as his schedule will allow.
Gillen runs a clean program. There hasn’t been a hint of bending NCAA rules during his six years at UVa and he
encourages a family atmosphere with his players.
For the most part, Gillen’s players graduate. His emphasis on academics fits his personality as a former English teacher.
No one wants to win more than Gillen. No one hurts as much when Virginia loses as Gillen.
His penchant for squandering timeouts like a sheik at a blackjack table in Vegas has become a sore spot with fans. Shuffling players in and out of games have made critics question how players can get a feel for the flow of the game.
Those are his peccadilloes. That is his coaching style. Supporters would say, ‘No one complained about it when he was winning.’
Littlepage lended support last season when the Cavaliers’ nose-dived at year’s end for the second straight time. He pointed out that Gillen’s first five years were comparable to those of some of the league’s most successful coaches, Mike Krzyzewski, Gary Williams and Sendek.
There are lies, damn lies and statistics, but the cold hard facts are these:
Gillen’s ACC record in five-and-a-half seasons at UVa reads 37 wins and 58 losses. That includes a home record of 28-17 and a road record of 9-35.
Except for his first season, when he inherited a losing team with some NCAA restrictions due to probation, the Cavs have finished with a winning ACC home record, although currently they are 2-3 in U-Hall this season.
Gillen has winning records against three ACC programs: Florida State (7-4); Clemson (7-4); and North Carolina (6-5). He also has a 5-1 record against state rival and soon-to-be ACC opponent Virginia Tech.
Gillen has losing records against the rest: Duke (2-9); Maryland (4-7); Georgia Tech (2-9); Wake Forest (5-6); and N.C. State (4-8).
Virginia has a 61-21 record against non-conference competition under the Brooklyn native, but postseason has not been kind to him. The Cavs are 0-5 in the ACC Tournament, 0-1 in the NCAA and 1-3 in the NIT, meaning the one postseason win was against Brown last season.
Gillen’s teams are 6-18 versus top 10 ranked opponents, but 12 of those losses came against Duke, which hasn’t lost much to anyone during that span. The six wins were against No. 2 UNC, No. 3 Duke, No. 3 Duke again, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 8 Maryland and No. 9 Maryland.
Versus other teams ranked No. 11 to No. 25, Gillen has a 10-12 record, including two losses this season at Georgia Tech and at Wake Forest.
Perhaps one of the most frustrating facts to Virginia fans has been the late-season collapses or the failure to finish strong. The record in games after Jan. 31 is an unimpressive 18-37, counting Saturday’s loss to the Wolfpack.
Some suggest it’s not just a two-and-a-half season problem, but rather a nine-year problem for Virginia basketball. Some say that ever since Jeff Jones guided the Cavaliers to the Final Eight, before losing to Nolan Richardson’s national championship Arkansas team, there has been little to cheer about.
In that span, Virginia is last among all ACC teams in conference tournament wins and in postseason wins. Kids who were 10-years-old in 1995 have never seen the Cavaliers win an ACC Tournament game.
To Gillen’s credit, he has been handicapped the past several seasons by the lack of a true, quality point guard. Without a solid point guard in college basketball, you’re playing with one arm tied behind your back, particularly in the ACC, which boasts some of the best.
Gillen points to the future, noting that most of this young team is returning and will be joined by what recruiting analysts ranked as the 19th best early signing class in the country. That class includes a first-class point guard and a big man.
The fans are still coming to U-Hall and they have been supportive. Booing would not be fair to the current players and could hamper future recruiting.
Critics argue that with the program moving into a new, 15,000-seat arena in a couple of seasons, Virginia can’t afford to keep losing or no one will show up.
While no one can predict what UVa’s administration may do if Gillen can’t pull the team out of its most recent tailspin, the classy thing to do for Cavalier fans is to continue to support their program and wait until the season ends to make their sentiments known.
Anything less could hurt the program more than it helps.
 

Home not so sweet for Cavaliers
North Carolina State shoots 51 percent to hand UVa its second home loss of the week.
By Doug Doughty
doug.doughty@roanoke.com
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Call it the week that wasn't.

Once formidable at home, Virginia lost at University Hall for the second time in four days Saturday, and this time it wasn't close.

North Carolina State took command late in the first half at University Hall and handed the Cavaliers their fourth straight loss, 79-63.

"We didn't take advantage of being at home and that's going to hurt us," said co-captain Todd Billet, held scoreless until the last five minutes. Playing at home "is such a luxury in this league. We've got to defend our home court better than what we did the last two games."

Virginia (12-8, 2-7 ACC) was coming off a 71-67 loss Wednesday to Maryland in which the Cavaliers had the ball and a chance to win in the final minute, but that was an exception. Seven of UVa's losses have been by 13 points or more.

State (14-5, 7-2) shot 59.1 percent in the second half and 51.0 for the game, and the Wolfpack hammered UVa on the boards, 39-22. State was eighth out of nine ACC teams in rebounding before Saturday.

"We get frustrated," said Gillen, whose team ranks ninth in the ACC in rebounding. "Sometimes we put our heads down. N.C. State right now is playing great. They're a very talented team, but we're a lot better than that in our eyes."

The optimism that accompanied an 8-0 start has subsided and there were rumblings about Gillen's job security even before the back-to-back home losses.

"All we can do is just go day by day," Gillen said. "There's always going to be heat. Hopefully, we'll be here for a while. There's seven years left on the contract. We're not giving up. We're not quitting. We're in the toughest league in the country, playing a lot of young guys."

Gillen changed his starting lineup for the sixth game in a row, replacing one fifth-year senior point guard, Billet, with another, Majestic Mapp. It was Mapp's third career start and his first since November 1999.

"We had lost a couple in a row and we wanted a change," Gillen said. "We wanted to get Todd off the ball. Teams have been coming after him pretty hard."

Mapp played 12 minutes and missed both of his shots from the field, dropping him to 10-for-39 (25.6 percent) for the season. The Cavaliers' most effective point guard was 5-10 freshman T.J. Bannister, who had six points and four assists in 18 minutes.

The game got away from the Cavaliers during the final 6 1/2 minutes of the first half. After freshman J.R. Reynolds hit a jumper to tie the score with 6:49 remaining, the Wolfpack outscored UVa 12-1 before intermission.

At 22-22, the Cavaliers had two opportunities to take the lead, the first a 3-point attempt by Gary Forbes and the second a short jumper by Elton Brown. Marcus Melvin followed with a 3-pointer off the break for State.

"We got deflated," Gillen said. "The building got deflated."

Brown, coming off consecutive 24-point games, spent most of his afternoon on the bench Saturday and finished with five points and one rebound in 14 minutes. Devin Smith, who was able to play 26 minutes with a herniated disk that prevents him from starting, led the Cavaliers with 14 points.

Julius Hodge led all players with 26 points, hitting 11 of 13 free throws for a Wolfpack team that leads the ACC in free-throw percentage and was 20-for-25 on Saturday.

"When they get up, they get comfortable, they get relaxed and just put you in the blender," Gillen said. "Hodge, in my opinion right now, is the best player in the league. He makes guys better. They get it to him and he makes the right decisions."

In Herb Sendek, the Wolfpack also might have the ACC coach of the year to date. State, picked for fourth in the ACC, is in second place behind Duke and has two fewer losses than any team except the Blue Devils - not bad considering Sendek was the target of a firesendek.com Web site early in the season.

That Web site subsequently has disappeared, but "I don't know what that indicates," Sendek said. "It could be back up tonight."

Sendek chuckled at the thought, but there was little humor Saturday from his counterpart.

 

Terry the Crusader
Holland says college athletics need major reforms
By David Teel
Daily Press

For 25 years, Terry Holland was the consummate college sports insider. Final Four basketball coach; big-time athletic director; chairman of the NCAA tournament selection committee; tireless fund-raiser.

But in the dusk of his career, Holland has moved outside to the fringes, to the, dare we say, radical side, railing against the system that empowered him. From his makeshift office at the University of Virginia, Holland advocates national reforms that would shake this multi-billion-dollar business to its core:

No missed class time for competition; freshman ineligibility; paying schools that do not compromise their academic standards.

So, Terry Holland, what’s it like to be a 61-year-old, gray-haired flamethrower? The question literally launches Holland from his chair.

“I’m a radical because I want student-athletes to go to freakin’ class?” he says. “The fact that you say that tells me we have a helluva problem.”

The problem, according to Holland: Coddled by excessive salaries and perks, coaches, administrators and university presidents refuse to challenge a status quo obsessed with “unbridled commercialism and competition that threatens the academic integrity of every Division I campus.”

Holland recites a laundry list of scandalous behavior: winking at academic fraud and blackballing those who expose it; enticing recruits with money and/or sex; hiring coaches tainted by NCAA rules violations.

The perpetrators cut across college demographics from small to large, public to private, east to west. Baylor and St. Bonaventure. Georgia and Minnesota. Colorado and Tennessee. Fresno State and Washington.

“We have to acknowledge the system is failing rapidly because we have some incredibly intelligent people doing some incredibly stupid things at every level, including our presidents,” Holland says. “Those who won’t admit that are absolutely crazy.”

Holland has gone public, writing in December to NCAA president Myles Brand, courting the media and appearing Monday before the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, a think tank that has long advocated reforms. Three other basketball figures joined Holland: former North Carolina coach Dean Smith, Clemson coach Oliver Purnell and Old Dominion women’s coach Wendy Larry.

But Holland and others concede that wholesale change is unlikely.

“Sure, it’s a longshot,” says reform activist Jon Ericson, a retired Drake University professor. “But I have great respect for Terry. He’s done a 180 since coaching, and I think that gives him a credibility others might not have.”

“I think Terry wants to get people’s attention and get them thinking about this creatively,” Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage says. “We’ve let some things go down a path that hasn’t been productive for us institutionally or for the student-athletes. The idea of institutional autonomy has led us down a path that has us only competing with the Joneses.”

Holland spent a generation competing with the Joneses, not to mention Smiths, Krzyzewskis and Valvanos. From 1975-90, he coached Virginia to 326 victories, nine NCAA tournaments and two Final Fours, forever elevating the program’s expectations and profile when he signed Ralph Sampson.

After his exit from coaching, Holland served as athletic director at his alma mater, Davidson, before returning to prime time as Virginia’s AD in 1995. He chaired the NCAA basketball committee during the 1996-97 season, retired as AD in 2001, led fund-raising efforts to expand Virginia’s football stadium and construct a new basketball arena, and works as a special assistant to university president John Casteen.

None of Holland’s teams or departments was associated with academic shenanigans, and in fact, Virginia and Davidson rank annually among the national leaders in athletes’ graduation rates. Yet Holland finds disturbing trends at every school that fancies itself top-25, Virginia included:

More athletes whose academic credentials pale to the average student; fewer schools objecting to television-mandated schedules; more coaches extending road trips for no good reason.

Holland’s mission, however quixotic: “Put the toothpaste back in the tube.”

He begins with scheduling and class time, focusing on his men’s basketball roots. For more than 20 years, teams have traveled to road games the day before competition. Wednesday game? Fly out Tuesday. Perhaps miss a class or two Tuesday, definitely miss class Wednesday.

Holland the coach did not object. After all, coaches want their players rested and relish the extra day’s control.

Holland the reformer is appalled.

“There’s certainly no data to suggest we’re winning any more road games,” he says. “But there’s always been a desire to make the kids feel that they are big-time.”

Littlepage, himself a former assistant and head coach, agrees.

“When I came to Virginia in ’76,’’ he says, “we left the morning of the game (via charter). We have elongated all things associated with road games, even if we play in Richmond. What is the value of leaving the day before a game besides the fact that everyone else does it?”

Holland realizes no coach or AD will unilaterally disarm. That’s why he advocates national legislation, only for men’s basketball — although he sees the same practices in other sports.

“As long as the other guy can’t do it, it won’t be a problem at all,” Holland says. “Every increase in travel budget translates to more missed class time because now teams are going to Hawaii, the West Coast. What are we investing our money in? Let’s invest our money in chartering planes so they don’t have to miss class.”

Tom Yeager, commissioner of the Colonial Athletic Association and chair of the NCAA Infractions Committee, sees two holes in Holland’s argument: Schools with more modest budgets must bus or fly commercial; sprawling conferences such as the Pacific 10 cannot avoid some missed classes.

Yeager applauds Holland’s aim but has no sympathy for “the ACCs of the world.”

“They charter everywhere,” he says. “But they are their own worst enemies. Just stop (traveling the day before a game). … It’s all about the coaches, getting in a place to tell the coaches, ‘This is the way it’s going to be.’ ”

Holland the pragmatist grudgingly concedes that some missed classes may be unavoidable, but he quickly returns to radical mode, ranting at the NCAA for its championship scheduling. He cites the men’s basketball tournament, which conducts its first two rounds Thursday-Sunday, assuring that every team will miss at least one day of class. If those games were played Saturday-Tuesday, Holland contends, the 32 first-round losers could avoid missing any class.

“The fact that the NCAA schedules its (tournament) contests the way it does is an abomination,” he says.

But is missing class truly an issue in a wired world? Can’t athletes monitor academics by packing a laptop along with the Walkman?

“You’ve always had a certain percentage of kids who would find ways to be successful academically, too, and they are truly, truly unbelievable people,” Holland says. “But I think you have to protect the things those people value, as opposed to continuing to erode it. …

“At some point, all the kids are going to give up and say it’s not worth it. They’ll make a choice between academics and athletics. There’s no way you can do both. So I think we have an obligation not to make it tougher, but to make it easier.”

Academics and athletics? Ericson calls it the “Big Lie,” the notion that underqualified students can spend 30-plus hours a week with their teams, miss many classes, arrive at others exhausted and receive a first-class education.

Holland sees two ways to ease the burden: Return to freshman ineligibility — a standard the NCAA repealed in 1972 — to give athletes a year to adjust to college before encountering the time demands of varsity competition; most important, recruit student-athletes who match the academic profile of the student body at large.

While the NCAA considers legislation that would punish schools for low graduation rates, Holland proposes the opposite: Reward schools for constructive behavior. Tapping into the money CBS pays the NCAA to televise the basketball tournament — $389 million this year, with annual increases to $764 million in 2013 — Holland suggests giving a school $20,000 for each scholarship basketball player whose SAT score is greater than 80 percent of the previous year’s entering class average. Moreover, he advocates paying $10,000 for each player who graduates within four years and granting those players a fifth year of eligibility that does not count against the 13-scholarship maximum.

Under Holland’s plan, former Virginia center Travis Watson and former Virginia Tech guard Brian Chase could have played a fifth season this year after earning their degrees in 2003.

“Everybody can do it,” Holland says, “but there’s no reason to now because it’s going to cost you money and get you beat up even more. But if a president or AD had the option of recruiting good kids, getting more scholarships and money out of it, they’d have a reason.”

Holland considers his incentives “a new set of marching orders,” as opposed to the current standard of win — or else. He believes men’s basketball can set standards the NCAA could later adopt for other sports.

“To get the money to build our facilities, we have promised our constituents that we are going to the next level, whatever that level may be,” says Holland, including himself among the offenders. “That means, at a minimum, being one of 64 in basketball or being top-25 in football, which means that 80 percent of your programs get a failing grade based on what you promised your constituents.”

Will constituents, those who contribute millions to stadium construction and pay thousands to lease luxury suites, tolerate new marching orders? Will they be satisfied if their team recruits better students but wins fewer games?

“Maybe you create a whole different fan base by the time it’s over,” Holland says. “A lot of people tell me they’re sick of it, that they can’t go watch a game in good conscience anymore because they know what’s going on.”

Cavs headed in other direction from Pack
Fourth straight loss puts U.Va. in ACC basement
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published February 8, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Herb Sendek was cracking jokes in the postgame press conference. Pete Gillen looked like someone had run over his dog. How's that for Bizarro World?

When you consider the direction of the two coaches' respective programs, it makes perfect sense. North Carolina State's 79-63 victory over Virginia Saturday afternoon maintained the Wolfpack's status as Duke's main challenger in the ACC and left the Cavaliers alone in the conference basement. It was Virginia's fourth straight loss, the last two coming in University Hall.

"We didn't take advantage of being home, and that's going to hurt us," guard Todd Billet said. "That's a luxury in this league - you have to defend your home court better than we did the last two games. It definitely gives you a mountain to climb."

State (14-5, 7-2) outscored Virginia 12-1 in the final 61/2 minutes of the first half, shot 59 percent from the floor after the break and cruised to its seventh win in the series' last eight games. The Cavs (12-8, 2-7) trailed by as many as 19 points and never got closer than 11 in final 20 minutes.

Virginia shot 41.5 percent from the floor and had five offensive rebounds, two numbers that give you an idea of how badly things were on the offensive end. Defensively, the Cavs had no answer for Julius Hodge's movement without the ball and Marcus Melvin's crisp passing.

"They can make you look bad," Gillen said. "And at times, they did make us look bad."

Never worse than the final 6 minutes, 44 seconds of the first half. After J.R. Reynolds' jumper tied the game at 22, the Cavs got back-to-back defensive stops. Virginia freshman Jason Cain then lobbed a pass over Melvin's head to Elton Brown in the post. There was nobody between Brown and the basket. All it took was a layup. Or a dunk.

But he missed. One of the easiest shots of his career - of anybody's career - and he flubbed it. State pushed the ball the other way and, 10 seconds after Brown's miss, Melvin nailed a pull-up 3-pointer. Instead of being up 24-22, U.Va. trailed 25-22.

The beginning of the end, it turned out. Melvin abused Brown in the post, Hodge went 2-for-2 from the foul line, and Melvin hit another trey. Meanwhile, Virginia missed seven straight shots and got only a Reynolds free throw in that stretch. The Cavs trailed 32-23 when Sendek called a 30-second timeout with 27.6 seconds left.

Then came the backbreaker. Hodge missed on a drive to the goal, but Ilian Evtimov followed at the buzzer to make it an 11-point game at halftime.

"We were deflated; the building was deflated," Gillen said. "And they got the momentum."

The Cavs made a small run in the second half, cutting it to 65-54 on T.J. Bannister's drive with 4:19 left. But after Melvin was whistled for a charge, Devin Smith's 3-point try - which would have cut it to eight - rimmed out. State went on a 6-0 run and it was over.

In the closing seconds, some students began chanting "Fire Gillen." Time will tell how much athletic director Craig Littlepage listens.

"There's always going to be heat," Gillen said. "Hopefully we'll be here a while. We've got seven years left on our contract and we're not giving up."
 

Pack's Web of success
AL FEATHERSTON : The Herald-Sun
afeatherston@heraldsun.com
Feb 7, 2004 : 10:52 pm ET

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The firesendek.com Web site isn't doing so well these days. The site -- devoted to criticism of N.C. State coach Herb Sendek -- has disappeared, just as Sendek's eighth Wolfpack team is playing the best basketball Pack fans have seen since the days of Jimmy Valvano.

N.C. State, a surprising second-place finisher at the halfway point in the ACC race, added yet another ACC road victory to its résumé Saturday at University Hall, polishing off Virginia 79-63 with almost ridiculous ease.

"They made us look bad," a disheartened Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "They can make you look bad, the way they play. They're second place in the league and they deserve that right now."

N.C. State (14-5, 7-2 ACC) won for the third time in five ACC road games this season. In fact, the Pack -- once regarded as a poor road team -- has won five of its last seven ACC road games. The Pack's 16-point win at Virginia came on the heels of last Sunday's 12-point win at Maryland -- the school's first back-to-back double-figure ACC road wins since 1983.

"We just felt like losing on the road had to stop," senior Marcus Melvin said. "We just feel like we've got to grind out our road games like we do our home games."

That's exactly what N.C. State did to Virginia (12-8, 2-7 ACC). It started with a 17-1 run in the last 6:49 of the first half and the first 2:47 of the second half when the Pack held the Cavaliers without a field goal.

"The key to the game was when it was 22-22 and we got a layup and missed it," Gillen said. "We got deflated. The building got deflated. They came down and hit a 3 and that gave them momentum."

N.C. State senior Scooter Sherrill just laughed when a reporter asked him about Virginia's 9½-minute cold spell.

"That's funny -- that's usually us," he said, referring to N.C. State's former road woes. "Guys are more focused on the road now. In the past, guys wanted to get a win. Now, we feel like we should get a win."

That's how the Pack played against the Cavaliers.

Melvin started the decisive run when he took a pass from Hodge and dropped in a 3-pointer on the fast break to break that tie at 22. Melvin scored five more points on the 12-1 run to end the half, plus a three-point play to push the lead to 39-23 in the opening moments of the second half.

But it was Hodge who did the most damage, slashing through the Cavs at will en route to a 26-point performance. He added seven rebounds and three assists.

"Hodge, in my opinion, is the best player in the league," Gillen said. "He makes the people around him better."

Hodge got a lot of help -- not just from Melvin, but also from freshman point guard Engin Atsur. Atsur helped turn back a mild Virginia rally in the second half -- the Cavs got within 11 points on several occasions -- by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers. Ilian Evtimov also added 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

"I think they're a better team than last year," Gillen said of the Pack. "They've got more parts of the puzzle. Engin Atsur hits 3s. ... Evtimov is back. When they get in a groove, they just carve you up."

N.C. State, which may be on the verge of returning to the Top 25 for the first time since the first week of the season, is playing with remarkable confidence.

But Sendek, who refused to get too pessimistic when the Pack was struggling, now refuses to get too optimistic now that things are going well.

"We're humble enough and realistic enough to know that if we're not at our best on any given night, we're not going to win," Sendek said. "At the same time, we respect ourselves. ... The margin of difference is very, very slim."

Sendek isn't even taking solace from the disappearance of the Web site devoted to his dismissal.

"I don't know what that indicates," he said. "It could be back up tonight."

NOTES -- N.C. State hosts Florida State on Tuesday at the RBC--Center. n Both coaches and their assistants wore tennis shoes in conjunction with a Coaches vs. Cancer promotion. Sendek wore black shoes with black laces that he joked were a gift from Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. n Gillen gave fifth-year senior Majestic Mapp his first start in more than four years. Mapp, who started two of the first five games he played as a freshman in 1999-2000, missed the next 2½ seasons with a knee injury. n N.C. State won for the second time since 1988 in Charlottesville, although both wins have come in the last three years. N.C. State has beaten Virginia seven times in the last eight meetings. n The Pack's 39-22 rebounding edge was itslargest margin of the season and a stark contrast to the first meeting, when Virginia led 37-31 on the boards.




 

Cavs Hit ACC's Rock Bottom
Hodge's 26 Points Key Wolfpack in Rout: N.C. State 79, Virginia 63
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, February 8, 2004; Page E07

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Feb. 7 -- A week ago, the Virginia Cavaliers were mired near the bottom of the ACC standings and losing their grip on a postseason berth, but they had at least one thing going for them: consecutive home games against unranked Maryland and North Carolina State.

Turns out even that didn't help. Three days after a loss to the Terrapins, Virginia took it on the chin against the Wolfpack, 79-63, and moved into sole possession of last place in the conference.

Julius Hodge led the way with 26 points as N.C. State solidified its hold on second place and improved its case for inclusion in next week's top 25 rankings. Up 11 after a surge in the minutes before halftime, the Wolfpack (14-5, 7-2) let the Cavaliers no closer in the second half.

"They made us look bad," said Virginia Coach Pete Gillen, whose team is alone in ninth place at least until Clemson plays at top-ranked Duke on Sunday. "They can make you look bad."

The Cavs (12-8, 2-7) have lost four games in a row and six of eight. With seven games left before the ACC tournament, they still need at least two wins to ensure the .500 record required for a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. An NCAA tournament bid seems essentially out of reach.

Those two wins won't come easily for Virginia against a closing schedule that includes home games against No. 15 Georgia Tech, No. 17 North Carolina and No. 16 Wake Forest and trips to Duke, Florida State, Clemson and Maryland. The Cavaliers have won once in their past 17 ACC road games.

"We made it tougher, but it's not like we're out of it," said forward Jason Clark, who had a season-high eight points and a team-high five rebounds Saturday. "We still have a chance at the postseason. Whether it's NIT, NCAAs, it doesn't matter. It's not like we're out of it."

Devin Smith, who led Virginia with 14 points, was more direct in his assessment of the homestand: "Those were two games we needed."

Tied at 22 after J.R. Reynolds (10 points) hit a jumper with 6 minutes 49 seconds left before halftime, the Cavaliers lapsed into a 9½-minute stretch in which they scored only one point.

N.C. State took full advantage, starting a 17-1 run when Marcus Melvin hit a three-pointer with 5:02 left in the half. Melvin scored 11 of his 16 points during that stretch, capping it by getting out in transition for a three-point play that put the Wolfpack up 39-23 less than 2½ minutes into the second half.

"We just couldn't score for a while and when they get into their groove offensively, they just carve you up," Gillen said. "When they got the lead, they got comfortable, they got relaxed and they just put you in the blender."

Smith and Reynolds were the only Cavaliers who really got on track offensively. Elton Brown missed 5 of 7 shots and played a season-low 14 minutes. Todd Billet, left out of the starting lineup for the first time this season, missed 4 of 5, extending his shooting slump (7 of 25) to five games.

"We can't give up on ourselves," Gary Forbes said. "We just have to get it together."

Notes: With Billet on the bench, fifth-year point guard Majestic Mapp made the third start of his career and first since Nov. 27, 1999. Billet, a fifth-year transfer, had started 49 of his 51 games at Virginia, but he hasn't scored in double figures in the past five games. . . . Gillen, N.C. State Coach Herb Sendek and their assistant coaches joined their colleagues around the country in wearing sneakers instead of dress shoes to show support for the Coaches vs. Cancer organization on its national awareness day.

 

At U.Va., coach's seat is hot, coach's team is not
BOB LIPPER
POINT OF VIEW: Feb 8, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE Pete Gillen has a beaten-down look these days, and so does the basketball program he shepherds for $900,000 per annum. He wipes his brow with a hanky. ACC rivals wipe his Virginia Cavaliers off the floor. He paces the sideline and scans the bench for a replacement part. His step-slow defenders become fall guys for a layup drill.

His engagingly disheveled persona descends into sad resignation, no snappy one-liners anymore to brighten the mood. His squad tailspins deeper into free fall, no rescue rangers on the roster to reverse the trend.

The Cavs were whipped by N.C. State 79-63 yesterday to extend their lease on the ACC's basement. Wolfpack boss Herb Sendek said U.Va. "never made it easy for us." He'll reach a different conclusion after he watches the tape. The Cavaliers trailed by 11 at intermission and never trimmed the deficit below double digits. They were outboarded 39-22 by the second-weakest rebounding team in the league. They've now lost eight times by an average margin of 15½ points. Their next assignment is at Duke. The dirge plays on.

Gillen during the postmortems allowed that State "did make us look bad" but pointed out his crew still owns a winning record overall. He also reminded everyone that a lifetime remains after this season on the ridiculous 10-year deal U.Va. gave him after the 2000-2001 campaign.

"There's always going to be heat," Gillen said. "Hopefully, we'll be here awhile - got seven years left on the contract. We're not giving up. We're not quitting."

His lawyer would strangle him if he tried. AD Craig Littlepage conceded to unrest among U.Va.'s extended family but declined to say if Gillen's job was on the line.

"The people are concerned," Littlepage said. "I think we're all concerned. Everybody wants to get this thing turned around."

Whether U.Va. can do it with Gillen's hand on the joystick is the very large question that hovers over University Hall. This is his sixth season in Mr. Jefferson's gymnasium. He's 37-57 against ACC opponents - 2-7 this year. He hasn't escaped the first round of the ACC tournament and is tracking toward the play-in game as we speak. His lone postseason win came against a non-scholarship Brown entry in the NIT. He went 9-7 back-to-back in the league a few years back and has been slip-sliding ever since.

Gillen made his reputation between 1986 and 1994 at Xavier, where he was on the cutting edge of frazzleball, but that approach shakes up no one anymore, particularly in a league as sophisticated as the ACC. Now he harps on opponents' experience - forgetting the two fifth-year seniors and three juniors in his rotation - and stresses opportunities for his five freshmen, a veiled plea for patience and trust in the future.

That presupposes Gillen's ability to develop talent, a gift he hasn't exhibited. Donald Hand was still barging into the lane as a senior. Adam Hall's offense never grew much beyond the occasional jazzy dunk. There are no Drew Nicholases to show for Gillen's tenure, no Marcus Melvins, no players he's nurtured from could-be rookie to indispensible senior.

I get no pleasure in saying all this. People tell me Pete Gillen is a decent, caring guy, and I'll accept that on faith. On the other hand, he's never been shy about blaming his players for setbacks - most recently fingering Todd Billet for botching the fatal possession in Wednesday's loss to Maryland. He's a coach, not Mother Teresa. He knows it's about winning games, not saving souls.

When Gillen insisted six years ago to a Providence recruit there was no truth to reports he was headed for U.Va. and then bolted a couple of days after the kid signed, for instance, he said it was just business. When he announced last fall he wasn't going to let solid-citizen Majestic Mapp return for an extra year, he said it was just business.

When a college sizes up a slapdash product and takes a long, hard look at the guy in charge, that's not being rash or insensitive.

It's not a rush to judgment.

It's just business.