Forbes fuels Cavs' win
Sophomore scores 21 points in UVa's third straight victory
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
February 13, 2005

The defensive replacement became the offensive difference.

Gary Forbes, originally inserted to slow down Virginia Tech guard Zabian Dowdell, scored 21 points - 17 coming in the second half - as Virginia won its third straight contest with a 65-60 win over the Hokies on Saturday at University Hall.

Forbes at one point scored 14 of Virginia’s 16 points during a game-breaking 18-3 run in the second half.

“We put Gary Forbes in for defense. We put him in to guard Dowdell. As it turned out, he was our leading scorer,” said Virginia coach Pete Gillen, who was soaked in sweat and had his shirt unfurled at the final buzzer. “When Gary gets it going, he gets it going. He gave us the spark.”

Devin Smith added 16 for the Cavaliers (13-9, 4-7 ACC) while Elton Brown had 10. Sean Singletary finished with 10 points, seven assists, seven rebounds, two steals and one turnover as he played the entire 40 minutes.

Dowdell finished with 20 points and Coleman Collins had 19 for the Hokies (12-10, 5-6 ACC), who have dropped three straight. Carlos Dixon, the Hokies’ leading scorer, was plagued with foul trouble throughout and was 0 of 3 from the floor and had just four points.

The game was quite a contrast from the Hokies’ 79-73 win in Blacksburg just a little more than two weeks ago. In that contest, Virginia Tech shot 52.7 percent from the floor and forced 22 turnovers. On Saturday, the Cavaliers limited the Hokies to just 35.7 percent shooting while committing just nine turnovers.

“I think our defense was the story of the game, especially in the second half. We defended them pretty well and that was the difference. Simply put, we made stops,” Gillen said. “We got flustered down there and they have great hands and can slap away the ball. We stressed protecting the ball. We did a little better in that department today.”

For the third straight game, Gillen opted for a methodical and patient offense and again it proved effective enough. Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg noted that Virginia’s new style makes it a tougher team to prepare for and defend.

“When you limit the number of possessions, you limit the number of turnovers. … The last time we played them, [they] turned the ball over 22 times,” Greenberg said. “With the personnel they have, it was a good decision. It’s paying dividends for them.”

The game was tied at 26 at halftime and then Hokies opened a 38-32 lead with just less than 14 minutes remaining.

That’s when Forbes started his personal run of points.

First, he nailed a 3-pointer and back-to-back shots in the lane to make the score 41-39.

Moments later, Forbes’ traditional three-point play tied the game at 44 with 8:59 left.

Forbes followed that with an acrobatic putback and then threw down an alley-oop pass from Singletary to give Virginia the 48-46 advantage with

6:32 left. The Cavaliers never relinquished the lead after that.

“I think I just got in the zone and in rhythm. … I have a lot of confidence in my shot now. Whether it’s a halfcourt shot or a layup, I just felt that I was going to make it,” Forbes said. “If you are not confident, that takes away from your game.”

Forbes was a frequent starter during his freshman season but has started just three times this year. Yet, the role coming off the bench seems to suit him in a way.

“You see things that you wouldn’t if you were on the court. You can capitalize on that and then bring some energy to the floor,” Forbes said.

Added Gillen: “Gary is an emotional player. Sometimes he’s a roller coaster. … [Saturday] he just played and he was in the flow and was great.”

A Singletary trey, another Forbes layup and breakaway dunk by Smith pushed the lead to 55-47 with 4:23 left. The Hokies briefly cut it to three in the final moments but Virginia converted five of its final six attempts from the stripe to seal the victory.

A week ago, the fortunes of the Cavaliers could not have seemed lower. Coming off a lopsided loss at Providence and playing at a place (N.C. State’s RBC Center) in which it had never won, the psyche could not have been good. A week later, things look quite different.

“I think we hit our all-time low and there was nowhere to go but up. We’ve just been working hard and trying to stay humble. Since that Providence game, we have come together as a team,” Singletary said. “We’re playing hard and that is why we are winning.”

Changes pay dividends for Cavaliers
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
February 13, 2005

Until the last week or so, the 100th year of Virginia basketball hadn’t offered up much to celebrate.

They don’t roll out balloons and bunting or launch fireworks when you’re dwelling on the bottom of the ACC standings. But hold on.

Since switching to a more deliberate spread offense and focusing more on defense, the Cavaliers are the second-hottest team in the league. Sparked by a 17-point, second-half effort by Gary Forbes, Virginia streaked to its third straight win Saturday in a

65-60, come-from-behind win over arch rival Virginia Tech.

The win, UVa’s third over the last eight days, lifted the Cavs to eighth place in the ACC standings, exactly where they were predicted to finish in the league’s preseason poll. Standing at 13-9 overall and

4-7 in the conference, the Wahoos have five more regular season games remaining before the ACC Tournament begins next month in Washington, D.C.

Tough road ahead

Before you put on your party hats and blow out those whatchamacallits and go dancing around the room like an idiot, realize that three of those five remaining games are on the road. Two of them are at No. 2 North Carolina and

No. 6 Wake Forest.

Yes, the possibility of making the NCAA Tournament, which is supposedly the waterline for coach Pete Gillen hanging around, truly exists if the Cavs can get to 7-9. But, to quote coach speak, lets take this thing one game at a time.

That’s exactly how Gillen’s guys have gotten to 4-7. When all the other stuff stopped working and the Cavs were unraveling before their coach’s very eyes in second halves of games, Gillen decided to try something new.

Some will call in drastic, but hey, if it works.

The strategy has been simple. Play three guards, which automatically should help protect the basketball a little more. Spread the floor, which accomplishes two things: a) negates the opponents’ size advantage; and b) shortens the game by running more clock, which also reduces the number of possessions, thusly reducing the number of turnovers.

Less turnovers

Since going to the spread, UVa has turned it over 16, 10 and nine times. The 16 came at N.C. State when the strategy was a bit new, considering the Cavaliers had practiced it for, oh, say about one hour before using it in a game.

But none of that means diddly squat if the Cavs don’t play defense. They silenced

N.C. State’s 3-point guns, then came from 14 down to beat Florida State at the buzzer before turning up the defensive pressure against the Hokies in University Hall.

With many of the lords of UVa’s 100-year hoops history watching from the stands on this day of basketball reunion, the Cavaliers didn’t embarrass their ancestry. A couple of members of Virginia’s Mt. Rushmore of Roundball were on hand, Buzzy Wilkinson and

Barry Parkhill, had to be pleased to turn thumbs down on the Hokies at the end.

For once, it was the other guy talking about how his team wasn’t tough enough, one of Tech coach Seth Greenberg’s complaints. This time, Gillen got to brag a little about playing defense rather than making excuses about why it was missing from the agenda.

“The story of the game was our defense, particularly in the second half,” Gillen boasted. “Simply put, we made stops.”

And lots of them.

The Hokies shot only 35.7 percent, the lowest by a Virginia conference opponent this season. It was the seventh time this season that UVa’s opponent scored 60 or fewer points, a record in Gillen’s seven years on board.

It also made Virginia 8-1 in games decided by five points or less this season, which should make believers out of the players when the topic of defense comes up.

J.R. Reynolds, who handcuffed reigning ACC Player of the Year Julius Hodge, in Raleigh a week ago, teamed with Forbes to throw a blanket over Tech’s Carlos Dixon. The Hokie, who had averaged 14 points a game and put up 16 against UVa in Blacksburg last month, was 0 for 3 and scored four free throws on Saturday.

“We put Forbes in for defense,” Gillen said. “We didn’t expect [the offense], but when Gary gets going, he gets going.”

And how. During one stretch, Forbes was everywhere. He was a scoring machine, putting up 18 of UVa’s

23 points over a nine-minute span. The Cavs went from six down (38-32) to up eight (55-47) when Forbes went on his scoring rampage. For the record, he finished with 21.

Afterward, Forbes talked about intensity and fire and protecting the value of the basketball, all items that seemed lost for a long stretch of the season until recently.

Freshman point guard Sean Singletary (10 points, seven assists, one turnover, three steals, 40 minutes), who seems to be taking more of a leadership role as the season grinds into the home stretch, said that while more energy was noticeable in the team’s play, it was still all about defense and taking care of the ball.

“It’s obvious we’re giving more effort regardless of what offense we play,” Singletary said. “It’s finally clicked in our heads that we can win if we play defense. Now, we really believe.”

If the Cavs can squeeze out three wins in their last five games, they’re at least a bubble team, with a strong RPI and strength of schedule as allies. Maybe a little luck is on their side.

“The basketball gods have been good to them, too,” Greenberg lamented.

Wilkinson, one of UVa’s immortals, is pulling for them. Singletary paid a visit to Wilkinson during one of Friday’s festivities and got some good advice from one of the legendary scorer’s in Wahoo history.

“He said for me to keep my head up and keep playing hard,” Singletary said of Wilkinson’s words of wisdom.

If all the Cavaliers adopt that philosophy, who knows what might happen.

FORBES RESCUES UVA
Forbes scores 21 off bench in win
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE - A defensive substitution gave Virginia the offensive boost it needed Saturday as the Cavaliers extended their men's basketball winning streak to three games.

Gary Forbes, sent into the game to shadow Virginia Tech's Zabian Dowdell, scored 14 points in a 6:36 span as UVa rallied for a 65-60 victory at University Hall. "We put Gary Forbes in for defense and he ended up being our leading scorer," UVa coach Pete Gillen said. "We didn't expect that to happen, frankly. But, when Gary gets it going, he gets it going."

Forbes matched his season's high with 21 points, with both efforts coming as a reserve.

"When he plays with confidence, the sky's the limit," UVa freshman guard Sean Singletary said.

Virginia Tech (12-10, 5-6 ACC) jumped to an eight-point lead in the first half, watched the Cavaliers force a 26-26 tie at the half, and built its lead to six points on three occasions in the second half.

The Cavaliers (13-9, 4-7) were trailing 38-32 before getting a 3-pointer from Forbes, who scored 17 points in 16 minutes of second-half playing time.

"Forbes was a big part of our scouting report," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "In this new style that they're playing, I think he's a tougher matchup because it gives him a little more freedom."

Senior center Elton Brown returned to the Cavaliers' starting lineup for the first time in three games, but Virginia stuck to the style it had unveiled one week earlier, when it had slowed the tempo in a 64-62 victory at North Carolina State.

"You limit the possessions, and obviously, you limit your turnovers," Greenberg said.

The Hokies had forced 22 turnovers in a 79-73 victory over the Cavaliers in Blacksburg, but, 16 days later, UVa had nine turnovers.

Nevertheless, Gillen felt the victory was won at the other end.

"The story of today's game, in my opinion, was our defense," Gillen said. "Especially in the second half, I thought we defended them pretty well. Simply put, we made stops. When we defend, we have a chance against a lot of teams. "

Tech shot 35.7 percent from the field, the low against Virginia since Robert Morris shot 32.2 percent in the opening game of the season.

Virginia, which was 3-of-15 from the field during the first 8 1/2 minutes, shot 50 percent in the second half and 41 for the game. Forbes, a 6-foot-6 sophomore from Brooklyn, N.Y., was 7-of-8 in the second half and 9-of-14 for the game.

That followed consecutive zero-assist, four-turnover outings against N.C. State and Florida State.

"I was more upset with the turnovers than the playing time," said Forbes, who found himself on the bench late in both games. "If you turn it over, you won't get playing time."

Forbes' performance Saturday came on the same floor where, two weeks earlier, he had expressed an eagerness to be a team leader following a 110-76 drubbing by North Carolina.

"I kind of feel like I'm the emotional leader on the team," Forbes said. "In the locker room, I'm always the loud one. On the court, I'm getting everybody riled up and getting the crowd into it."

One difference Saturday was the play of Singletary, who never came off the floor and had 10 points, seven assists (compared to one turnover) and three steals. UVa didn't lead by two scores until Singletary's 3-pointer made it 51-46 with 5:34 left, and he later stripped the ball from Jamon Gordon with 3:16 left and Tech seeking to cut into a 55-50 deficit.

UVa scorers in double figures included Devin Smith with 16 and Brown with 10. Tech got 20 points from Dowdell and 19 points from Coleman Collins, who were a combined 14-of-28 from the field, but the rest of the Hokies were 6-of-28.

Carlos Dixon, who had matched his season high Tuesday night with 22 points against Maryland, missed all three of his shots from the field and finished with four points. For most of the afternoon, he was guarded by UVa sophomore J.R. Reynolds, who made a layup 50 seconds into the game and did not score again.

Reynolds is 5-for-28 from the field during the past three games, including 1-for-16 on 3-pointers.

"Crazy, isn't it?" Reynolds said. "I'm just happy we're winning. Who knows what might happen when the shots start falling again?"

UVa defending for Pete's sake
Commentary by Aaron McFarling
The Roanoke Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE - They had every reason to fold, these guys. They were sitting at the bottom of the ACC. Their coach was as good as gone. They were hearing it from media and fans.

Underachievers. Bums.

Losers.

Quitters.

But somehow, in one gritty week, the Virginia Cavaliers have risen above all that. They've pecked away at each label, renewed their commitment to each other, restored their sense of pride.

They've now won three straight. The latest was a 65-60 decision over Virginia Tech on Saturday at University Hall. And while it remains a quixotic dream for UVa to reach its preseason goal of making the NCAA tournament, something nice is happening in Charlottesville: The team is playing hard.

Call it Pete Gillen's last stand. Enjoy it for what it is, a seven-day respite from a season gone haywire, a tribute to the resiliency of a dozen young men.

And whether you like Gillen or not, you have to admire the way he hasn't lost this team.

Lord knows the Cavaliers haven't been winning these games on talent alone. They shot 41 percent from the field Saturday, only slightly better than they did in the win over Florida State on Wednesday and slightly worse than they did in a victory over N.C. State on Feb.5.

But what they're doing has a beauty all its own. They're outworking people. They're sprawling for loose balls, swatting away layups, tipping offensive rebounds back outside to teammates.

And they're playing defense, the truest barometer of unselfishness. Anybody can find energy when it means putting more points next to your name. It takes commitment to bring that same vehemence to the other end.

"That's the main thing," post player Elton Brown said. "There's a difference between pretending to play defense and really playing it. I think right now, we're really playing defense, helping each other, taking charges, diving on the floor. Every time you see a person with the ball on the other team, you just react to it."

"I think it's subtle," Gillen said, "but I think they're feeling a little bit better about themselves."

Subtle? How's this for subtle: The much-criticized Brown, benched just two games ago, hopping in the lane Saturday like a kid, waving his arms to the crowd. Point guard Sean Singletary with a wide, sweeping, Tiger-style fist pump after canning a key 3-pointer. Or even Gillen himself leaping a foot off the ground at the final buzzer.

That was almost as subtle as Seth Greenberg's postgame disappointment.

Which, by the way, was warranted. The Hokies had a great chance to win this game and move to 6-5 in the ACC. They led by six with 12:45 remaining and had the crowd experiencing the matinee blahs.

But Tech has hit that long-anticipated slump in its season of bliss, and the shots that fell in January are turning cold. Losers of four of their past five, the Hokies have a daunting meeting with Duke on Thursday night.

Of course, neither team has it easy this week. On Wednesday, Virginia must travel to North Carolina, which beat the Cavaliers by 34 points two weeks ago.

"Out of the frying pan and into the inferno," Gillen said.

See that, though? At least the one-liners are back.

And they don't even seem forced.

Off-target Hokies place blame on selves
"You can't keep missing easy shots, especially on the road," says Tech's Jamon Gordon.
By Mark Berman
981-3125
The Roanoke Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Too many missed shots resulted in a missed opportunity for a Virginia Tech victory.

The Hokies shot a season-low 35.7 percent from the field in a 65-60 loss at Virginia on Saturday. "We missed a lot of easy shots, shots we're supposed to make," Tech's Jamon Gordon said. "You can't keep missing easy shots, especially on the road. Every time we missed, they scored in transition."

Only eight of Tech's 36 missed shots were from 3-point range. The Hokies missed numerous layup and dunk opportunities. Tech's only scorers in double figures were Zabian Dowdell (20 points) and Coleman Collins (19 points). Gordon was 2-of-8 from the field and Deron Washington was 3-of-9.

"We definitely missed a lot of easy opportunities up under the basket," Dowdell said.

"Those are shots we've got to hit if we want to be successful," Collins said.

Carlos Dixon, who was 0-of-3 from the field, declined to comment after the game. Dixon played only five minutes in the first half because of foul trouble but played the entire second half. He had four points, 10 below his average.

"We've got to look and find out why Carlos Dixon only got three shots," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "I have to criticize myself. I've got to really evaluate why that happened. Was it good Virginia defense? Was it a bad job of us getting him the ball where he needed to get the ball? Did he run the court as hard as he needed to?

"We can't win with him getting three shots."

Tech once again got little offense from its bench - only walk-on Chris Tucker's two points. Marquie Cooke again struggled, going 0-of-5 from the field.

"If he can see a couple shots go in, he'll see a bigger basket," Greenberg said of Cooke. "Right now he's not seeing a very big basket."

The Hokies (12-10, 5-6 ACC), who host No.7 Duke on Thursday, lost for the third straight time and for the fourth time in the past five games.

Tech's other losses in this span were to Duke, Wake Forest and Maryland. But Tech had beaten UVa 79-73 in Blacksburg last month, so this seemed like a prime opportunity for the Hokies to earn their third ACC road win. Tech led in the second half from the 18:50 mark until UVa tied the score with 8:59 to go.

"We didn't finish things out the way we had been doing prior to this last week or so," Collins said. "This was definitely a chance for a win. This was a team we've beaten before. We knew they were kind of vulnerable."

Down 41-35 with 12:42 to go, the Cavaliers went on a 20-6 run to build a 55-47 cushion with 4:22 left. Swingman Gary Forbes had 13 points in the run. Forbes scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half.

"He just kept getting open on offensive rebounds," Gordon said. "We weren't trying to box him out and he killed us."

Tech cut the deficit to 55-50 on a 3-pointer by Dowdell with 3:55 left, but Sean Singletary stole the ball from Gordon and UVa regained a seven-point lead.

The Hokies had 10 turnovers, one more than UVa. Tech forced 22 turnovers in its first meeting with UVa.

"When we played them the first time, they played right into our hands," Gordon said. "This time they just slowed the game down and made good shots."

Dog day afternoon in Charlottesville
Published February 13 2005
David Teel

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Dead legs, lifeless fans. That about sums up the basketball teams at Virginia Tech and Virginia on Saturday.

And probably for the remainder of the season.

The Hokies, worn by an unproductive bench and grueling schedule, are fatigued. The Cavaliers, their coach fighting a fight he can't win, are unloved.

Those truths were all too evident in Virginia's 65-60 victory at University Hall.

The Cavaliers strolled into their home gym Saturday with their first two-game winning streak since December. The program was celebrating its centennial season with a players' reunion, and the opponent was the dastardly Hokies.

Standing-room-only, bring-your-own-earplugs sellout? Joint jumpin' an hour before tipoff?

Hardly. The announced crowd was 8,223, nearly 200 shy of capacity. And with the exception of students, those who braved the sunshine and mild temperatures to get here acted like they were watching opera.

Here's the problem: Many (most?) Virginia "fans" want their team to lose. They want coach Pete Gillen (one NCAA tournament bid in six previous seasons) replaced, and they fear a Lazarus act that would save his job.

Well, absent advancing to an NCAA regional semifinal, it's difficult to fathom school honchos retaining Gillen. Not when fans are disaffected, and not when those fans need to pony up more than $25 million to complete fundraising for a 15,000-seat arena scheduled to open in 2006.

To their credit, players and coaches have not conceded. Gillen has reverted to a spread offense that shortens the game, and thus far he's 3-for-3 with victories against North Carolina State, Florida State and Virginia Tech.

Virginia (13-9, 4-7) isn't good enough to advance to a regional semifinal and certainly isn't good enough to win at North Carolina on Wednesday. But the effort is admirable.

So, too, is Virginia Tech's. The Hokies (12-10, 5-6) already have won more conference games than anyone imagined in their inaugural ACC season. But Saturday was their third consecutive defeat, a slide that may not abate.

Tech's issue is depth, or lack thereof. Reserves have scored 20 points combined in the last four games, and the subsequent burden on the starters shows.

"The starters are a little fatigued," guard Jamon Gordon said. "If we can get our bench to come through a couple of games, we'll be all right."

The bench didn't come through Saturday. Guard Marquie Cooke contributed six rebounds in 26 minutes but missed all five of his shots. Forward Chris Tucker provided the only points with a 16-foot jumper midway through the first half.

"I can only get so much out of these guys," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "It's not like we played like dogs. We played well and had a chance to win the game. We just got a little tired."

The Hokies appeared especially tired midway through the second half when the Cavaliers began a 16-3 run that turned a 44-39 deficit into a 55-47 lead. Virginia reserve Gary Forbes scored seven of his game-high 21 points during the stretch, jumping and dunking over flat-footed Hokies.

"We needed to be tougher in that two-to-three minute stretch," Greenberg said. "They were a little more alert."

Greenberg said he's trying to nurse his team through the final five regular-season games, the ACC tournament and a possible National Invitation Tournament bid. He's shortening practices and substituting more frequently. But with reserve guard Shawn Harris sidelined by a knee injury (he's day-to-day), Greenberg's options are limited.

Of equal concern to Greenberg: Carlos Dixon, Tech's No. 2 scorer, has managed five points or less in three of the last five games. Saturday, Dixon scored four points, 10 below his average, and missed all three of his field-goal attempts.

"We can't win with him getting three shots," Greenberg said.

How much either the Hokies or Cavaliers can win the rest of the season is very much in doubt.

U.Va. uses sixth sense
Going nowhere, Virginia turns to an unlikely offensive source: Sixth man Gary Forbes.
BY DAVE JOHNSON
247-4649
Published February 13, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Four and a half minutes into the second half, just after Virginia Tech had sprinted out to a six-point lead, Virginia coach Pete Gillen called on energetic swingman Gary Forbes. Gillen was looking for defense, which is this kid's specialty. What he got was instant offense.

Forbes scored 17 of his 21 points in the game's final 13:06 as the Cavaliers rallied to defeat the Hokies 65-60 Saturday for their third consecutive victory. He was also largely responsible for holding Carlos Dixon, Tech's second-leading scorer, to four points as U.Va. posted its most-lopsided victory - believe it or not - since a 12-point win over Furman on Dec. 8.

During the deciding 81/2-minute stretch in which Virginia turned a 38-32 deficit into a 55-47 lead, Forbes scored 16 of his team's 23 points. That included a rare 3-pointer and a crowd-pleasing dunk off a Sean Singletary lob in transition. All the while sticking with Dixon, who took only three shots in 25 foul-plagued minutes.

Tech coach Seth Greenberg said earlier in the week that he considered Forbes to be the Cavaliers' key player, and he emphasized to that to his team during practice. Yet all Forbes did was prove him correct.

"You've got to know Forbes," Hokie guard Jamon Gordon said. "You've got to know his game. He's always going to attack the glass. He killed us."

The Cavaliers (13-9, 4-7) won for the third time in eight days, a stretch that just happens to coincide with a change in philosophy. Virginia's strategy lately has been to shorten the game, which has led to fewer possessions.

It made a difference Saturday. In the Hokies' six-point win last month, Virginia turned the ball over 22 times. Saturday, that number was nine. Tech shot 52 percent in the previous game but hit only 36 percent this time. After giving up an average of 88 points over its first eight conference games, Virginia has held each of its last three opponents below 62.

"It's helping us a lot," forward Devin Smith said. "We're not constantly running up and down. We have players who are injured and the loss of Jason (Clark to academics) has shortened the bench a little bit. We've got to conserve our players."

Nearly two-thirds of the Hokies' offense came from guard Zabian Dowdell (20 points) and center Coleman Collins (19). Everyone else was a combined 6-of-28 from the field, including Dixon's 0-of-3 afternoon.

"I've got to look and see why Carlos Dixon got only three shots," Greenberg said.

Tech (12-10, 5-6) also got next to nothing from its bench, which was a combined 1-of-8. The Cavs got plenty from theirs.

When Forbes entered with 15:39 left, the Cavs were 1-of-7 from the field after halftime. But 21/2 minutes later, he hit a pull-up 3-pointer on the break to ignite Virginia's best stretch of the day. The Cavs scored on 16 of their final 19 possessions and didn't commit a turnover from the 13-minute mark on.

"The story of the game, in my opinion, is our defense - especially in the second half," Gillen said. "That was the difference. When we defend, we have a chance against a lot of teams. ... But Gary was terrific."

Averaging 8.4 points a game, Forbes is more of a slasher than a shooter. Gillen likes the energy he brings off the bench. Forbes has started three of Virginia's 22 games this season, and in two of them he scored one point each.

So either way is fine by him.

"I'm always motivated to play," he said. "Good things come to those who wait, I guess. Once you get into the flow, everything starts going for you. Starting doesn't matter to me - as long as I'm on the court."

More days like this will ensure it.
 

Cavs' surge continues
With three straight losses in ACC, Hokies are headed in the opposite direction
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The University of Virginia's ascent in men's basketball continued yesterday at University Hall. So did Virginia Tech's descent.

On an afternoon when U.Va. officially celebrated the school's 100th season of hoops, a less-than-capacity crowd of 8,223 saw the Cavaliers rally for a 65-60 victory over their ACC brethren from Blacksburg. Virginia (4-7, 13-9) won its third straight and avenged the 79-73 loss it suffered Jan. 27 at Tech.

"We were waiting for this game," said senior forward Devin Smith, who had 16 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots for Virginia. "We knew we had to protect our home court."

For the Hokies (5-6, 12-10), the defeat was their third in a row. Tech led 38-32 with 13:40 remaining, only to see U.Va. swingman Gary Forbes single-handedly take over the game.

Forbes, who scored four points in Virginia's loss at Cassell, came off the bench to torch the Hokies for 21 yesterday, matching his season high. Seventeen came in the final 13:08. The 6-6 sophomore from Brooklyn, N.Y., also had five rebounds -- four at the offensive end and two blocks.

"He killed us on the glass," Hokies guard Jamon Gordon said.

In one nine-minute stretch of the second half, Forbes scored 16 of his team's 21 points, a spree that included a 3-pointer, a three-point play, a stick-back and a dunk off a lob pass from freshman point guard Sean Singletary.

"When Gary gets it going, he gets it going," Cavaliers coach Pete Gillen said. "We put him in for defense, and he gave us the offensive spark."

Less spectacular but equally effective was Singletary, who played all 40 minutes and totaled 10 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, three steals and only one turnover. In Blacksburg, a sprained ankle had limited Singletary to 18 minutes.

"This was an opportunity for us to get back at them, and we did it," he said.

In little more than a week, Virginia has changed the course of its season. When the Cavs arrived at N.C. State on Feb. 5, they were in the ACC cellar. But they won in Raleigh for the first time since 1997 and then beat Florida State at U-Hall on Wednesday night. Yesterday's victory moved U.Va. into sole possession of eighth place in the ACC. The Hokies dropped into seventh.

"We're taking tiny steps forward," Gillen said, "but we still got miles to go before we sleep."

In the stands were such former Cavaliers as Buzzy Wilkinson, Barry Parkhill, Terry Gates, Yuri Barnes, Harold Deane and Cornell Parker, and U.Va.'s defensive intensity -- not a Gillen trademark -- delighted the alumni. Virginia Tech shot only 35.7 percent from the floor. Led by Forbes and sophomore guard J.R. Reynolds, Virginia held Gordon to six points and limited the Hokies' second-leading scorer, senior swingman Carlos Dixon, to three shots.

The Cavaliers needed such stout defense on an afternoon when Smith went 6 for 15 from the floor, Reynolds went 1 for 9 and sophomore point guard T.J. Bannister went 0 for 5.

"Simply put, we made stops," Gillen said. "When we defend, we have a chance against a lot of teams."

The Wahoos also protected the ball, something they failed to do in Blacksburg. At Cassell, Virginia turned the ball over 22 times. Employing a slower-paced spread offense for the third consecutive game, the Cavs cut their turnovers to nine yesterday.

"When we played them the first time, they played right into our hands," Gordon said.

Sophomore guard Zabian Dowdell hit 4 of 7 shots from beyond the arc and led Tech with 20 points. Sophomore center Coleman Collins added 19 points for the Hokies, who didn't surrender the lead for good until Forbes scored on a dunk with 6:32 left.

"It was a game we were in a position to win, and we just didn't finish," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said.

Fatigue factor is cited in loss
Tech's coach is quick to say everyone's tired this time of the season
BY MIKE HARRIS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Feb 13, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE- The analogy is often made that a basketball season is like a marathon. That being the case, it looks like Virginia Tech might be hitting the wall.

Hokies coach Seth Greenberg doesn't buy that, but three of his starters said after yesterday's 65-60 loss at Virginia that they are getting tired.

Tech, which lost its third straight to fall to 5-6 in the ACC and 12-10 overall, uses its starters more than most teams. Even though foul trouble opened the way for non-starters to play 45 minutes yesterday, Tech's bench contributed just two points.

This is the first time this season the Hokies have lost three straight.

"In terms of hitting the wall, I just don't buy that," Greenberg said. "Where we are in our schedule has made it very difficult for us. You're going to have to be awfully good to win at Maryland, to win at Duke. We were awfully good to win at Miami.

"Yeah, we're tired. Everyone else is. Everyone else is tired, that's just the way it is."

Of the 11 ACC teams, only Miami gets less out of its bench in terms of points per game. The Hokies' Jamon Gordon and Carlos Dixon have gone the route twice each. The minutes are starting to add up. Three of Tech's starters average more than 30 minutes.

"The starters are tired. I guess we got to suck it up," Gordon said. "The way things are looking now, we're just going to have push through it. Sometimes I get tired, and I have to fight through it and try to play defense."

Said 20-point scorer Zabian Dowdell, "The season is definitely wearing on us. A lot of guys are playing a lot of minutes. We have to find a way to stay fresh and win games. That's what it comes down to. Coach has been coaching a long time, I know he can find a way to keep us fresh and be ready to come out hard every game."

The schedule will help eventually. Tech has home games against Duke on Thursday and Miami on Saturday, then has a week off before traveling to N.C. State.

Greenberg has been structuring his practices to try to work in some teaching without taking too much of a toll on his players.

"[Friday] we had no contact. We just shot, dummied, kind of reviewed our defensive rotations," he said. "We're probably going to have to do more of that. We have no other options."

Tech actually did a good job on most of the Cavaliers yesterday. J.R. Reynolds was 1 for 9 from the floor, T.J. Bannister 0 for 5. Devin Smith had 16 points but needed 15 shots. He was 2 for 10 from 3-point range.

The Hokie killer was 6-6 sophomore Gary Forbes, who had 21 points and four offensive rebounds. He had 14 of Virginia's 16 points in stretch where the Cavaliers dug out of a six-point hole in the second half, and his slam with 6:32 left gave Virginia the lead for good.

Forbes scored only four points when Tech beat Virginia on Jan. 27 in Blacksburg.

"We were losing him, and he was getting a lot of rebounds and stick-backs," Dowdell said. "We needed to do a better job of finding him, and that's something we didn't do tonight."

The earlier victory over Virginia was the Hokies' fifth straight and the first of a three-game skid for the Cavaliers. Now Virginia has won three close games, and Tech is the team with the losing streak.

"It's a crazy league, man," Gordon said. "We have to do something to get back to the way we were playing. Teams are scoring on us too easy, rebounds are killing us."

Said Tech forward Coleman Collins, "When we were high, we didn't want to get too high. Now that we're down, we're not going to get too low."

 

Cavs get 'swagger back'
By Andy Bitter / Lynchburg News & Advance
February 13, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The second time around, Virginia and Virginia Tech reversed roles.

The suddenly resurgent Cavaliers won their third straight on Saturday, topping the Hokies 65-60 at University Hall. A week after sitting at a lowly 1-7 in conference play, Virginia is now one of the hottest teams in the ACC. Virginia Tech, meanwhile, is struggling to pull out of a tailspin, having lost four of its last five.

“We’ve got our swagger back, we’ve got a lot of confidence and we’re thinking we can go into every game and win,” UVa freshman point guard Sean Singletary said. “We thought we could win before, but I don’t think as a team it was genuine. Now we really believe it.”

Unlike the first meeting, in which Virginia Tech forced 22 turnovers and shot 52 percent, Virginia (13-9, 4-7 ACC) protected the ball and defended as well as it has this season.

Still playing a three-guard, slow-tempo offense, the Cavaliers turned the ball over only nine times and prevented the fastbreak buckets on which Tech thrives.

“When you limit the number of possessions, you limit the number of turnovers,” Tech head coach Seth Greenberg said. “You’ve got three guards who take care of the basketball. … With the personnel they have, it was a good decision. It’s paying dividends for them.”

At the other end, the Cavaliers limited the Hokies (12-10, 5-6) to just 35.7 percent shooting (20-56), the lowest field goal percentage allowed in an ACC game by Virginia all season.

“We’re really playing defense,” said UVa forward Elton Brown, who returned to the starting lineup and scored 10 points to go with seven rebounds. “There’s a difference from when you’re pretending to play defense and when you’re really playing it.”

Said Singletary: “I think it’s finally clicking in our head that without defense, we can’t win.”

Gary Forbes was the hero du jour for the Cavaliers. He came off the bench to provide a defensive spark and ended up leading UVa with 21 points, 17 of which came in the second half.

He scored 16 of Virginia’s 21 points during one stretch in the second half and keyed a 16-3 run that gave UVa a 55-47 lead with 4:23 to play.

During the run, the sophomore swingman converted a three-point play, made a putback off a T.J. Bannister miss, threw down a backdoor alley-oop from Singletary and made a wide open layup after Virginia Tech lost track of him in the paint.

“I kind of feel like I’m the emotional leader on the team,” said Forbes, who was 9 of 14 from the field. “I get everybody enthused and everybody into it. In the locker room, I’m always the loud one. I’m always yelling. It’s the same thing on the court.”

“When Gary gets it going,” Virginia head coach Pete Gillen said, “he gets it going.”

The Hokies trimmed the margin to three in the final minute, but UVa made 8 of 10 free throws down the stretch to seal the win. It was the Cavaliers’ biggest win since a 12-point victory over Furman on Dec. 8.

Devin Smith scored 16 points for the Cavaliers despite a 2-for-10 day from behind the arc (UVa was 5 of 23 as a team). Singletary turned in an all-around effort with 10 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, three steals and only one turnover.

Zabian Dowdell paced Virginia Tech with 20 points, making 4 of 7 from 3-point range. Coleman Collins added 19 points and six rebounds.

Their efforts were not enough to offset off days by Carlos Dixon and Jamon Gordon, who combined to score 10 points. Dixon, who came into the game as Tech’s second-leading scorer at 14.2 points per game, got in foul trouble early and took just three shots from the field, missing all of them. He finished with four points, all on free throws.

Tech also missed several easy baskets, including a pair of dunks.

“It was a game that we were in position to win,” Greenberg said, “and we just didn’t finish.”

The road gets tough quickly for both teams. On Thursday, Virginia Tech hosts Duke, which beat the Hokies by 35 in Durham last month. The Cavaliers travel to play North Carolina on Wednesday. UNC won by 34 in Charlottesville two weeks ago.

“We’re out of the frying pan and into the inferno,” Gillen said. “We’re taking tiny steps forward, but we’ve still got miles to go before we sleep.”

Cavs Up, Hokies Down
U-Va. Wins Third Straight ACC Game; Tech's Skid Hits 3: Virginia 65, Virginia Tech 60
By Michael Arkush
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, February 13, 2005; Page E08

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Feb. 12 -- In one week, much has changed for Virginia and Virginia Tech. The latest proof came Saturday afternoon at University Hall, as the Cavaliers prevailed over the Hokies, 65-60.

The Cavaliers (13-9, 4-7 ACC) have won three in a row. The Hokies (12-10, 5-6) have lost three in a row. The Cavaliers have emerged from the conference cellar to within a game of seventh place. The Hokies, who won four straight conference games in January, will host Duke on Thursday.

Gary Forbes, who scored 17 of his 21 points in the 2nd half, basks in the cheers at University Hall. "When he's good, he's great," Pete Gillen said. (Josh Meltzer -- Roanoke Times Via AP)

"We knew this part of the schedule was going to be tough," Virginia Tech Coach Seth Greenberg said. "I'm not the rocket scientist people thought I was when we won four in a row, and I'm probably not as dumb as people think I am right now. That's the way this league is."

Unlike their prior two victories, against North Carolina State and Florida State, the Cavaliers did not require any late-game heroics. Instead, they won with solid defense down the stretch and a stellar performance from sophomore reserve Gary Forbes, who scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half.

The Cavaliers, again operating at a slower pace when they couldn't get a break in transition, committed only nine turnovers. In its 79-73 loss last month in Blacksburg, Va., Virginia turned over the ball 22 times. Freshman point guard Sean Singletary had seven assists and only one turnover Saturday. He added 10 points and seven rebounds.

"The crowd at Virginia Tech got us out of sync and we got flustered," Virginia Coach Pete Gillen said. "We emphasized to our guys that when you drive, you have to put two hands on the ball and protect it. We did a little better job protecting it."

Gillen put Forbes in for defensive purposes, but Forbes began to contribute at the other end. During one period midway through the second half, he scored 14 of Virginia's 16 points, helping the Cavaliers erase a 41-35 deficit. His tip-in with 7 minutes 10 seconds to go gave Virginia a 46-44 lead. The Cavaliers didn't trail again.

"Gary Forbes is a very emotional player," Gillen said. "Sometimes, he's a roller coaster. When he's good, he's great, but when he gets out of sync, he's not. He's a talented and tremendous player. He was the difference."

Forbes had been out of sync recently. Since notching 17 points against Duke on Jan. 16, Forbes had scored a total of only 40 in seven games.

"I was getting offensive rebounds and put-backs," Forbes said. "Then everything just started flowing for me."

The climb doesn't get any easier for the Cavaliers, who will play at No. 2 North Carolina on Wednesday.

For Virginia Tech, which shot 35.7 percent, the NCAA tournament hopes that seemed so tantalizing not long ago have given way to just trying to maintain a winning record after upcoming home games against Duke and Miami.

Zabian Dowdell led the Hokies with 20 points, and Coleman Collins added 19, along with six rebounds. But senior Carlos Dixon, who had been averaging 14.2 points, was plagued by early foul trouble and scored only four points in 25 minutes, missing all three shots.

"We can't afford for Carlos to get three shots," Greenberg said. "He's too big a part of what we're doing. I've got to really evaluate why that happened."

The Hokies seized a 19-11 advantage, but the Cavaliers fought back. Virginia took a 24-23 lead on a three-pointer by Devin Smith, the hero in Wednesday's triumph over Florida State.

At the half, the score was tied at 26. The Hokies shot 31 percent in the first half; the Cavaliers 33.3 percent.

The Hokies again seemed in command early in the second half, before Forbes took over.