Cavaliers' defense falters
Wake shoots 61 percent from the field
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
February 27, 2005

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Cavaliers’ defense was downright offensive Sunday afternoon.

No. 6 Wake Forest torched Virginia with 61 percent shooting, including 72 percent in the second half, en route to a 90-68 victory at Joel Coliseum.

The 61 percent tied the best mark in the tenure of fourth year Wake coach Skip Prosser and the 72 percent in the second half was the best performance of a half for the Deacons in nearly three years.

The Cavaliers’ effort didn’t allow them a claim to even being the best defensive opponent from Virginia to play the Deacons in the past week. Longwood, in its first season in Division I, “held” Wake Forest to 45.5 percent shooting in an 88-47 loss Wednesday in Winston-Salem, N.C.

“They are a team that is very talented and we just couldn’t stop them,” Virginia coach Pete Gillen said.

Justin Gray paced the Deacons (24-4, 11-3 ACC) with 20 points. Chris Paul and Eric Williams each added 17 while Vytas Danelius had 13.

Devin Smith finished with 22 for Virginia (13-12, 4-10), which has followed a three-game winning streak with a three-game losing streak. J.R. Reynolds and T.J. Bannister each had 15. Gary Forbes, who had averaged slightly over 20 points over the last three contests, did not score in 15 minutes of action and was benched for most of the second half as Gillen said he was not satisfied with his defensive effort.

Of course, the same could be said for nearly all the Cavaliers.

“A lot of that was us. There is no way a team should shoot 72 percent in half. There really is no explanation for that,” Bannister said.

Wake led 44-31 at intermission but the Cavaliers quickly cut into that advantage at the start of the second half. The Cavaliers opened with a 10-2 run and when Bannister, who entered the game with just one made 3-pointer this season, buried a trey the lead was just 46-41 with 18:03 left in the contest.

That prompted a timeout from Prosser.

“I was disappointed. We were up 13 at the half and then we had a couple of bad defensive and offensive possessions,” Prosser said. “I don’t like to call a lot of timeouts. I usually like them to figure it out by themselves but I felt one was called for at that point.”

This timeout certainly proved to be quite beneficial.

The Deacons methodically built up its lead and Virginia would get no closer than six the rest of the way. The Deacons later used a 13-3 run that was punctuated by a Gray 3-pointer that vaulted them to a 75-54 lead with 7:23 left. That stretch featured several putback and follow baskets as the Deacons dominated the offensive boards.

“I thought our effort on the boards was good. We had 13 offensive rebounds,” Prosser said. “We were in a malaise a little offensively and were able to pull out of that.”

Virginia offered little resistance thereafter as it played without freshman guard Sean Singletary, who sprained his right ankle and then fouled out of the game with 10:56 remaining.

“We lost our momentum. … I went down and then fouled out and we just seemed to play with less life after that,” Singletary said.

That lifeless-ness was visible in the waning moments. The Deacons pushed the lead to its final resting point when reserve John Bunk converted a wide-open dunk with 22 seconds left in the contest.

Virginia returns to action Wednesday when it hosts N.C. State.

Heart can't fill an empty UVa gas tank
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
February 27, 2005
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.

Virginia limped onto Tobacco Road on Sunday afternoon with little left in its gas tank. Emotionally drained from a season gone sour and playing the sixth-ranked team on its home court was the recipe for a blowout.

Still, with 14 minutes to play in the game, the downtrodden Cavaliers were still in it thanks to a lot of heart. Unheralded guard T.J. Bannister, who took control of Virginia’s offense when Sean Singletary again sprained his right ankle, drilled a shot from Bonusphere to cut Wake Forest’s lead to six.

But teams that run purely off heart at this time of year are like a race car running off fumes. It’s only going to last so long before the inevitable.

Next-to-last recipe

That’s exactly what happened to the Wahoos as Wake shook off the malaise that plagued the ACC’s second-place team through most of the first 26 minutes of play and proceeded to put the Cavaliers in their place: next-to-last. The Deacs used a 22-7 run over the next seven minutes to send Virginia back across the border with another loss in Joel Coliseum, its fifth straight here.

The loss dropped the Cavaliers to 13-12 overall and 4-10 in the ACC, essentially eliminating any chance the team had for an at-large NCAA bid. Only a miraculous run in the ACC Tournament, coupled with wins in their last two regular-season games (against N.C. State and Florida State), could save their bacon.

Certainly they didn’t look the part of a team worthy of a bid during the final 14 minutes Sunday.

Wake manhandled the Cavs at almost every spot on the floor as the Deacs shot 72 percent (18 of 25) in the second half from the field. It was the best shooting half by coach Skip Prosser’s team since 2002. For the game, Wake shot 61 percent, which matched the best by a Prosser team during his four years on the job.

Meanwhile, the Cavs were killed on the boards 38-23, partially a product of using a three-guard lineup, and more due to not blocking out.

A myriad of reasons

“We didn’t screen out well,” said Gillen, who appeared as emotionally drained as his team during the post-game media briefing. “They’re bigger and stronger than us at several of the positions. We didn’t do a good job on the defensive boards. We worked on [boxing out] for a number of days, but we didn’t do a good job of it today.”

Gillen didn’t have a lot to say, but then what could he say about a team that had dropped 11 of its last 16 games.

With each mounting loss, the chances of Gillen returning as the Cavaliers’ coach grows slimmer. You can see it in his eyes. He wears it on his brow.

Perhaps the double-overtime loss to Maryland in Charlottesville last weekend, a game the Cavaliers could easily have won, drained the life out of him and his team.

Maybe they can all see the writing on the wall.

Even Prosser didn’t take much joy in securing Wake’s 24th win of the season, the fourth most in school history, by adding to his old bosses’ woes. Prosser was Gillen’s assistant at Xavier and has gotten the best of his mentor in five of the eight ACC meetings between them.

“It’s always hard when you have to coach against a very dear friend,” Prosser said afterward. “I thought Coach [Gillen] really had those guys ready to play.”

Virginia played as hard as it could under the circumstances, at least for a while. The Cavs were physical and aggressive until the Deacs’ getaway.

Gillen didn’t linger after the 90-68 setback. He didn’t talk at length about the loss. He didn’t address the future. He did what was required and disappeared.

Virginia’s locker room emptied out quickly with Bannister, who scored a career-high 15 points (including only the second and third 3-pointers of the season), much at Gillen’s urging, the only player to handle media questions.

A little bit later, Singletary limped in, disheartened over his injury and another loss, but determined to keep fighting. He unashamedly defended his coach in spite of the heat Gillen has gotten all season.

“Anything can still happen,” said Singletary like a good soldier should. “We’ve just got to listen to our coach. I believe in him 100 percent and I guess I’ve got to get everybody else to believe in Coach Gillen because he’s doing all he can.

“The play on the court from our team hasn’t been there. Coach Gillen can’t go out there and play for us. There’s nothing wrong with what he’s telling us. We’ve just got to listen,” the freshman guard said. “He’s not out there playing. When we’re winning, we’re getting all the praise. But when we’re losing he’s taking all the cheap shots. I really don’t like that at all.”

No one gets any pleasure from watching Gillen struggle. He is a good man and he tries as hard as he can.

But a 117-90 overall record, 45-65 in the ACC, a h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e road record in league competition and a boatload of NIT appearances hasn’t helped his cause.

Against Maryland, the defensive intensity was there and the Terps, granted not as good or as gifted at most positions as the Deacons, shot a mere 39 percent.

The intensity faded as the afternoon wore on Sunday as did the Cavs’ NCAA chances.

There’s at least three chances to get it back. What will the Cavaliers do with them?

Cavs fail to keep up with Deacons
No. 6 Wake Forest shoots 72 percent in the second half to pull away in the last 10 minutes.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Legendary Boston Celtics basketball coach Red Auerbach had his victory cigars. Virginia coach Pete Gillen, not nearly as successful as Auerbach, has the aptly named Mike Forkin.

When the Cavaliers are done, Gillen can stick a fork in them. Virginia gave sixth-ranked Wake Forest a game for nearly 30 minutes Sunday, but, in the end, it was Forkin time as the Deacons pulled away for a 90-68 victory at Lawrence Joel Coliseum.

It was the 15th home victory without a loss for Wake, which recognized seniors Vytas Danelius, Taron Downey and Jamaal Levy in pregame ceremonies, although they do not play their final home game until Wednesday night, when Georgia Tech comes to town.

Maybe coach Skip Prosser wanted to make sure the Yellow Jackets had his players' full attention, although no team had swept the Wake-Virginia series in the previous seven years.

Wake had defeated the Cavaliers 89-70 in Charlottesville and was a 16 1/2 -point favorite Sunday, when the Deacons built a 44-31 halftime lead due to some relentless offensive rebounding.

Virginia (13-12, 4-10) held the Deacons (24-4, 11-3) to three offensive rebounds in the second half, but there were two sides to that story.

Wake shot 72 percent from the field in the second half, missing only seven of 25 shots, and matched its high during the four-year Prosser coaching era by shooting 61 percent for the game.

"A lot of it is us," UVa point guard T.J. Bannister said. "There's no reason a team should shoot that high a percentage on you. There's really no excuse for it."

Devin Smith made four 3-point field goals for UVa and finished with a game-high 22 points. Bannister matched his career high with 15, the same as J.R. Reynolds, seemingly turning a corner after a four-game slump in which he was 5-for-33 from the field.

On the other hand, sophomore Gary Forbes, who had averaged more than 20 points over the previous three games, failed to score and played only 15 minutes - five in the second half.

"I wasn't pleased with his defensive effort and I took him out, simple as that," Gillen said. "I wasn't pleased and decided not to play him."

If it was poor defense that landed Forbes on the bench, it's a wonder that anybody stayed in the game.

"Our foul trouble hurt us and we couldn't defend them," Gillen said.

The only UVa player to foul out was freshman point guard Sean Singletary, who picked up his fourth foul on the same play - with 14:48 remaining - on which he twisted his right ankle.

It was the third time Singletary has been forced from a game with an injury to the same ankle, but after going to the UVa locker room to have his ankle retaped, he re-entered the game following a timeout with 11:12 left.

Singletary immediately hit a 3-pointer, extending his streak of games with at least one 3-point field goal to 11, but, with 10:56 remaining, he picked up his fifth foul.

"I think he's going to be a really good player," Prosser said. "Watching tape of their Maryland game, if he doesn't foul out, they beat Maryland."

Singletary has fouled out of only three games, but has developed a tendency to get in early foul trouble. There were almost seven minutes left in the first half Sunday when he picked up his third.

"He's a young player," Gillen said. "He's playing against maybe the best point guard [Chris Paul] in the country. He made some mistakes, but he got hurt, he hobbled up the court and made a 3. That shows you the heart of the young man."

The Deacons displayed their heart on the backboards, where they outrebounded UVa 38-25.

"We try to lead the league in offensive rebounds because that's a big-time effort stat," Prosser said. "That's a stat that's misleading sometimes. As I told the players [Saturday] in practice, we were third in offensive rebounds and the two teams ahead of us were Clemson and Miami.

U.Va. should try to see the Forest for the trees
Published February 28 2005
David Teel

WINSTON -- salem, n.c.

New arena, new players, new coach: Regardless of the seismic changes awaiting the University of Virginia's basketball program, the Cavaliers will never match the Dukes, North Carolinas and Kentuckys of the ACC and national stage.

But here's what Virginia can aspire to: the level Wake Forest has reached under Skip Prosser.

Quality venue, rabid fans, a coach with a knack for acquiring and developing talent: The Deacons have those assets and plenty more, witness their 90-68 pasting of the Cavaliers on Sunday at Joel Coliseum.

Little about the game will interest or surprise you.

Sixth-ranked Wake Forest (24-4, 11-3) led throughout the final 35 minutes. In an effort befitting the ACC's weakest defensive squad, Virginia (13-12, 4-10 with two regular-season games remaining) allowed the Deacons to shoot 61 percent, 72 percent in the second half.

Wake was Wake, Virginia was Virginia, and Prosser was Prosser, spicing up his postgame with words such as malaise, Pavlovian and Skinnerian (had to Google that last one).

But don't get lost in Prosser's vocabulary. The guy can coach, recruit and motivate. Moreover, he's a protégé of Virginia coach Pete Gillen, irony enough to make any Cavaliers fan wince.

Building on the foundation left by former coach Dave Odom, Prosser has the program, campus and city abuzz. This season will mark the Deacons' fourth NCAA tournament appearance in as many years under Prosser, their fourth consecutive winning ACC record. His players improve (junior center Eric Williams), graduate (seniors Taron Downey, Jamaal Levy and Vytas Danelius will earn degrees) and interact with loyal supporters.

More than 90 minutes before tipoff, as the student section began to fill, Downey was a sole figure on the floor, shooting jumper after jumper. A couple of students, donned in the requisite yellow-and-black tie-dyed T-shirts, were working the Sunday crossword.

"Four-letter word for err," they shouted at Downey.

"Got me on that one," Downey said.

Goof? Regardless of the answer, the banter continued for several minutes.

The bond between team and crowd is most evident, naturally, during a game, when the 14,665-seat, 16-year-old arena becomes one of college basketball's best venues, and yes, that includes Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium. The piped-in music, the pep band, the ACC's toe-tappin'est fight song, and a Bible Belt crowd rising to boogie to a little hip-hop: It's good stuff, stuff Virginia might one day match.

Season after next, the university opens 15,000-seat John Paul Jones Arena. Its suites will be sweeter than Joel's, its grub more gourmet. And it will have the video boards Joel lacks.

But will Virginia's product create the daunting home-court advantage Wake Forest enjoys? The Deacons are 15-0 at Joel this season, 43-3 during the last three. They haven't lost a non-conference game here since 2002, when Cincinnati prevailed.

"The fans have become a key to our success," Williams said.

"When I was a freshman, it was different," Levy said. "The coaching staff has done a great job helping create this."

Prosser, who assisted Gillen at Xavier, has done it by recruiting, with the exception of brilliant point guard Chris Paul, lesser-regarded prospects and molding them into an efficient team. It's that trick that has eluded Gillen for most of his seven seasons at Virginia, and it was evident Sunday as the Deacons carved up the Cavaliers with back cuts for easy layups.

Sure, Prosser might lose Paul to the pros two years early, and replacing Wake's three key seniors could prove difficult. But despite an undergraduate enrollment of only 4,000 (less than a third of Virginia's), Wake is on the verge of a 15th consecutive postseason appearance.

If here, why not at Virginia?

Deacons get offensive in win over Cavaliers
2-28-05
By Aaron Fitt Special to the News & Record
News & Record

WINSTON-SALEM -- Virginia coach Pete Gillen slammed his fist down on the end of the scorer's table so hard it shook, and then he stalked into the tunnel.

A moment earlier, Wake Forest's Justin Gray had missed a 3-pointer from the right wing, but Vytas Danelius had grabbed the offensive rebound and laid the ball in as time expired in the first half of Wake's 90-68 victory Sunday at Lawrence Joel Coliseum.

Gillen had reason to be frustrated. The No. 6 Demon Deacons didn't miss many shots Sunday, and when they did it seemed like there was always another Deac there to get the rebound.

"We didn't screen out well," Gillen said. "They're bigger and stronger than us at several of the positions. We didn't do a good job on the defensive boards."

Wake Forest (11-3 ACC, 24-4) ended up with 13 offensive rebounds and 38 overall, compared to seven offensive boards and 23 overall for the Cavaliers (4-10, 13-12). What is particularly impressive about Wake's offensive rebounding total is that the Deacons didn't have an awful lot of chances to grab them -- they shot 61 percent in the game, tying the best mark in Coach Skip Prosser's four-year tenure.

In the second half, Wake shot 72 percent from the floor, its best shooting half since Feb. 6, 2002 against North Carolina. The Demon Deacons made 11 of their first 14 shots to open each half, although they tailed off to a 52.9 shooting percentage in the first half.

"I thought we played more like Wake Forest basketball in the second half rather than the first half," Prosser said. "I thought we were in a malaise, both offensively and defensively, and I thought we shook the malaise in the second half."

Malaise or not, the Deacons took a 44-31 lead into the intermission thanks to Eric Williams, Chris Paul and Gray, each of whom scored in double figures in the half.

Wake attacked the basket with entry passes into the post and with penetration from the perimeter, and its first five baskets of the game came on layups. That early interior success helped open up the perimeter for shooters like Paul, Gray and Taron Downey.

"We had open shots because guys were really unselfish today, making the extra pass," Paul said. "Then when you've got Big E (Williams) dunking it down there, that definitely raises your field-goal percentage."

Still, Virginia managed to stay within striking distance for the first 10 minutes of the second half, thanks to some hot 3-point shooting.

Unfortunately for the Cavs, every time they got close, Wake Forest pulled away. At one point, 3-pointers accounted for three straight Virginia field goals, but the Demon Deacons answered with a basket on their ensuing possession each time, either from inside or outside.

"(Virginia has) people that can shoot the 3s, like we've got," Williams said. "I think that our strength was that we were really, really unselfish, and just about every game where we've been unselfish, it's showed in our shot percentage."

Wake Forest wears down Virginia
By Andy Bitter / Lynchburg News & Advance
February 28, 2005

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Across the board, Wake Forest was simply a bigger, faster and stronger team than Virginia on Sunday. Name a category, and the Demon Deacons were - in a word - better than the Cavaliers in a 90-68 romp at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum.

Shooting? The Deacons (24-4, 11-3 ACC) torched the nets, shooting 61 percent for the game and tying the team’s best mark for a game in head coach Skip Prosser’s four years at the school.

Rebounding? Wake dominated UVa 38-23 on the boards, including a 13-7 advantage on the offensive end.

Defense? The Cavaliers still haven’t determined if that blur that went by them was Wake Forest point guard Chris Paul (17 points, five assists, four steals) or an actual speeding bullet.

“They were just very big and physical (and) just wore us down,” Virginia head coach Pete Gillen said. “They’re talented in every area. They are a team that has a chance to get to the Final Four and win a national championship.”

Barring an ACC Tournament miracle, Virginia (13-12, 4-10) will miss the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season. Even more alarming is if the Cavaliers fail to win either of their last two regular season games - at home vs. N.C. State on Wednesday or at Florida State on Sunday - they might not make the NIT.

Wake Forest’s biggest postseason question is whether or not it will earn a No. 1 seed. The Deacons were never truly challenged on Sunday, building a comfortable 44-31 halftime lead.

So in control was Wake that when Virginia trimmed the lead to five with a 10-2 run to start the second half, it was disregarded as a hiccup. The Deacons shot 72 percent in the second half and bolstered their lead with a 22-7 run that doomed the Cavaliers to their third straight loss.

“A lot of it was us,” said UVa guard T.J. Bannister, who matched a career-high with 15 points. “There is no reason a team should shoot that high a percentage on you.”

Justin Gray led Wake Forest with 20 points off the bench. Eric Williams had 17 points and eight rebounds and Vytas Danelius added 13 points and six rebounds. Danelius also led the offensive rebound charge, grabbing four.

Prosser the psychologist explained why his team rebounds so well at the offensive end.

“Whether it’s Pavlovian or Skinnerian or whatever, when that shot goes up and they’re not flying to the glass, there’s a bit of a verbal price to be paid,” Prosser said. “We try to ingrain that in them so it’s not even a thought process. It’s just a reaction. Shot goes up, I go to the rim or I get corrected.”

One bright spot for Virginia was J.R. Reynolds, who found his shooting stroke. The sophomore, who had scored 22 points in the previous five games, scored 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

Devin Smith led UVa with 22 points, making four 3-pointers.

Those performances were not enough to offset the rest of the team’s struggles. Plagued by foul trouble, a sprained ankle and having to guard arguably the best point guard in the country, Sean Singletary scored only seven points in 16 minutes before fouling out with almost 11 minutes left. Reserve Gary Forbes, who had reached double figures in the previous three games, did not score in his 15 minutes.

The loss is sure to put more heat on Gillen, something Singletary thinks is unwarranted.

“We just have to get everybody else to believe in Coach Gillen because he’s doing everything he can,” Singletary said.

“He can’t go out there and play for us. There’s nothing wrong with what he’s telling us. We’ve just got to listen.

“When we’re winning, we’re getting all the praise. But when we’re losing, he’s taking all the cheap shots. I really don’t like it at all because he’s doing all he can.”

 

Defense deserts Cavs in loss to Deacons
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Feb 28, 2005
WAKE 90 U.VA. 68

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- It would be difficult for a Division I basketball team to defend much more poorly than Virginia did yesterday. Yes, sixth-ranked Wake Forest is supremely talented and stocked with big-time scorers. But the Cavaliers offered little resistance, especially in the second half.

"We just couldn't stop them," U.Va. coach Pete Gillen said after the Demon Deacons romped 90-68 before 13,692 fans at Law- rence Joel Coliseum.

The Deacons struggled from the line, but against the ACC's worst defense, they made 18 of 25 shots from the floor -- a cool 72 percent -- after intermission. For the game, Wake made 36 of 59 (61 percent), a display of marksmanship that matched its best effort in four seasons under coach Skip Prosser.

"There's no excuse for that," said sophomore point guard T.J. Bannister, who made a career-best two 3-pointers, tied his career high with 15 points and had six of Virginia's nine assists.

"There's no reason a team should shoot that high a percentage on you."

On those occasions when Wake (11-3, 24-4) missed, it often came up with the rebound. Thirteen of the Deacons' 38 boards -- Virginia pulled down 23 in all came at the offensive end.

U.Va. (4-10, 13-12) started three guards -- the 5-10 Bannister, 5-11 Sean Singletary and 6-2 J.R. Reynolds. Among Wake's first five were Vytas Danelius, Eric Williams and Jamaal Levy, each listed at 6-9.

"They're bigger and more athletic at a lot of positions than us, and we didn't do a good job on our defensive boards," Gillen said.

This marks the first time since 1996-97 that one of these teams has swept their regular-season series. Wake whipped Virginia by 19 at University Hall on Jan. 2. Nobody expected an upset yesterday, but U.Va., which trailed 44-31 midway, opened the second half with a flourish.

A fast-break layup by Singletary pulled the Cavs to 46-38, and then Wake turned the ball over. Since making his first 3-point attempt of the season, in the Nov. 19 opener, Bannister had missed 11 in a row from beyond the arc. But Gillen told him during yesterday's game that Virginia couldn't keep playing 4 on 5 when it had the ball, and so Bannister launched a long jumper as Wake played off him.

It fell through to make it 46-41. Wake ran off six points, but Virginia battled back again, and another Bannister trey made it 53-47 with 14:12 remaining. And then the Deacons snapped to attention and ruthlessly, efficiently disposed of U.Va.

By the 7:20 mark, Wake led 75-54. The Cavaliers never got closer than 17 thereafter.

"They're a tough team to guard," Bannister said. "They can score at every position."

Junior guard Justin Gray, an all-ACC performer in 2003-04, didn't start but led the Deacons with 20 points. Sophomore point guard Chris Paul and Williams added 17 apiece. Williams also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and outplayed his Virginia counterpart, 6-9 senior Elton Brown (six points, six rebounds, two turnovers).

In U.Va.'s previous three games, sophomore swingman Gary Forbes had come off the bench to average 20.3 points. He failed to score yesterday. Nearly seven minutes elapsed before Gillen put Forbes in, and by that time the Cavaliers trailed 19-11. Forbes played only five minutes in the second half.

"I wasn't pleased with his defensive effort, and I took him out, simple as that," Gillen said.

Gillen's best offensive player, senior forward Devin Smith, scored a game-high 22 points, 16 in the first half. Reynolds, shooting well for the first time in seven games, added 15 points.

Singletary, spectacular last weekend in a double-overtime loss to Maryland, struggled against Paul, perhaps the nation's premier guard. After spraining his right ankle with 14:51 left, Singletary re-entered the game at the 11:42 mark and promptly drained a 3-pointer that made it 59-50. Thirty-four seconds later, however, Singletary picked up his fifth personal. Wake scored 13 of the game's next 16 points.

"When I fouled out, the guys just -- I don't know -- they had less life," Singletary said.

Virginia plays its final regular-season home game Wednesday night, when N.C. State (6-8, 16-11) visits U-Hall.

The Target: Paul tired of hardball tactics
By Lenox Rawlings
JOURNAL COLUMNIST

Just in case any philosophy professors wondered: When Chris Paul falls in a crowded arena, Wake Forest people make plenty of noise.

Paul fell in the first half of the Deacons' 90-68 win yesterday, fouled by Virginia's Sean Singletary and pushed from behind by 255-pound Elton Brown. Referees noticed the foul but not Brown's forearm shot to the shoulder blade, so the offended Joel Coliseum fans and Coach Skip Prosser expressed their ire.

Paul, his face down and his temper up, beat the parquet floor with both hands, which meant that his hands probably hurt worst of all. Center Eric Williams, who outweighs Brown by about 15 pounds, ambled over for mop-up duty.

"After he got fouled the first time, then Elton Brown kind of shoved him in the back and he hit the floor," Williams said. "I just made sure I went over there and brought the whole thing up and got Chris off the ground. I wasn't going to hit nobody or curse anybody out, but at the same time, I was just letting everybody know nothing's going to happen, especially when I'm on the court."

Big E stayed cool, considerably cooler than Prosser or Paul. Prosser crossed his arms, hollered down the court at referee Duke Edsall and demanded an intentional foul. The demand wasn't granted. When play returned to the end near the Wake Forest bench, Prosser persisted, pleading the familiar Deacon case that opponents have fingered Paul for rough treatment as part of their psychological strategy.

Eventually, Edsall informed Prosser than he didn't see Brown's cheap shot (which was replayed on TV). Prosser wouldn't let it go, his swirling gestures and pouting frowns further inciting the crowd to boo. Referee Reggie Cofer told Prosser to desist - or else.

Else, it was. Prosser squatted on the sideline near Cofer and kept talking, which prompted Cofer to call a technical foul.

Paul also wanted satisfaction.

"I used to say stuff back, but now I just shake my head and say I don't know what to do," Paul said. "One of the officials just said: 'Don't talk to me. Don't talk to me.' So, you've just got to play and pray to God you don't get hurt."

Paul (6-0, 175 pounds) has been riled by raw aggression several times this season, in the first meeting with freshman Singletary and most recently against Duke's surprise starter, Patrick Davidson. Walk-on Davidson committed two fouls against Paul in just two minutes, then departed, never to return as the Blue Devils won 102-92.

Distressed Deacon fans exaggerated Davidson's message and his impact, turning a cameo appearance into a villain's epic role. Still, the sting lingers, in the stands and at certain spots along the bench.

"A lot of people say you shouldn't get frustrated," Paul said. "I try my best not to. It's just that when it happens over and over again, it's kind of hard not to show any frustration. But, like I said, sometimes it gets old, especially when it's right there in the officials' face and stuff, and they pretty much blame it on you. You've just got to keep playing and try not to worry about it."

Paul kept playing in the earlier Virginia game, when Singletary hit him harder and more often. Paul converted 11 of 12 free throws and scored 21 points - or 19 more than the rookie calling him out.

Duke's tactics jerked Paul's chain for a while, but he eventually responded with 27 points. Singletary fouled out in 16 minutes yesterday, scoring seven points. Paul delivered 17 points, five assists, four steals and the first dunk of his college career.

After an open-court turnover in the first half, Paul ripped a two-handed slam through the rim. His narrative: "I looked at Trent (Strickland) like: 'You might as well stay back. I'm not passing this one.'"

Nor was he passing up the chance to complain about opponents' muscle-flexing, that ageless ploy designed to change the subject in the main subject's mind.

"I guess you can look at it as a compliment," Paul said, "but then it's also kind of crazy, just never knowing what's going to happen when you drive into the lane. I understand the hard fouls, but some that are out of the ordinary are kind of scary."

Brown's push hardly ranked as Paul's greatest hit. "I think probably as hard as I've been hit was when I walked and Elton Brown fell into me in the second half," Paul said. "I knew I had walked. I was just scared for my life when he fell on me."

Paul grinned. One teammate, 20-point scorer Justin Gray, laughed off suggestions that Brown had pounded Paul into the floor with his nudge from the rear.

"I saw a little push," Gray said. "But he might have won an Oscar for that a little bit. I'm going to give him a hard time about it."

Gray sneers at the tempest over the Brown incident and the Davidson incident and perceived slights without high-profile characters.

"That happens to anybody's best player, I think," Gray said. "I think people want to get in your head or distract you from the task at hand. I just keep trying to tell him to calm down. Sometimes, you do get caught up in the game. You do get caught up in the refs or the fans getting all into the game, but you've got to keep your composure. This game, he did a pretty good job of settling down and getting the shots for us we needed and not rushing anything."

From Big E Williams' big-picture perspective, anyone who nails Paul usually hammers himself in the thumb.

"People are trying to really - for lack of a better term - chump Chris a lot," Williams said. "It's not going to happen. You're not going to get in his head. You're not going to get him upset. I mean, why try? Why can't you play basketball? It's not going to work. He shows it all the time. He always comes back. When you do that, you're just making it worse for yourself because he's just going to come out and play harder."

And you know what basketball philosophers say in the ACC backwoods: The harder they play, the harder they fall.

Deacs stomp Cavaliers
Second-half outburst seals win over Virginia
By Dan Collins
JOURNAL REPORTER

For all the attention generally paid to a team's starting five, it's the finishing five that more often decides the outcome of a game.

Taron Downey, an infrequent starter but member in good standing in Wake Forest's finishing five, finished off Virginia yesterday in the sixth-ranked Deacons' 90-68 victory in front of 13,692 at Joel Coliseum.

Scoring six of his eight points in a second-half flurry lasting a minute and 15 seconds, Downey led the charge that extended Wake Forest's lead to 21 points with 7 1/2 minutes to play. Coach Skip Prosser didn't seem the least bit surprised to see the Deacons stage their game-breaking rally while star Chris Paul was on the bench catching a rest.

Wake Forest improved to 24-4 overall and 11-3 in ACC play. Virginia tumbled to 13-12 and 4-10 with its 10th loss in 14 games.

"Ray Charles could see that Taron Downey is a heck of a basketball player," Prosser said. "But I am surprised when people are surprised that Taron plays well

"That's maybe because I watch him every day in practice, and I've watched him play for four years at a very tough spot. He has acquitted himself. We don't win every game, but he has led us to a pretty good percentage of winning some basketball games in a very demanding conference."

Justin Gray piled up 20 points and six rebounds, Eric Williams contributed 17 points and eight rebounds, Paul had 17 points, four assists and four steals and Vytas Danelius chipped in 13 points and six rebounds as Wake Forest swept the season series with Virginia for the first time since 1997 - Tim Duncan's senior season. The Deacons shot 72 percent from the floor in the second half and tied their season high of 61 percent for the game.

Even so, the Deacons were caught flat-flooted at the start of the second half, when Virginia, scoring on its first four possessions, pared a 13-point halftime deficit to 46-41.

"We needed something to get us going," Downey said. "I thought we weren't playing with as much confidence as we could at the beginning of the game."

Wake Forest had built its lead back to 62-51 when Downey hit two foul shots for a 13-point cushion. After the first, Paul took his first rest of the game.

J.R. Reynolds then drilled one of Virginia's nine 3-pointers, but Gray sank a jumper from the key for a 66-54 lead. After an offensive foul called on the Cavaliers' Donte Minter, Downey drove through the flagging Virginia defense for a layup and a 14-point lead.

Adrian Joseph missed a 3-point attempt for Virginia, and Downey, keeping the pressure on, drove to the basket and made a contorted layup over 6-9 Elton Brown for a 70-54 cushion.

"I shot a couple of threes and they didn't go in," Downey said. "One of them felt good. One of them I just bombed away.

"But when you're jumper's not going you have to do different things, so I just started going to the rack, and they started going in for me."

Two possessions later, Downey set a pick left of the key that Gray rolled off of to sink a 3-pointer. The basket extended the lead to 75-54 and the Cavaliers, deep in foul trouble, were no closer than 17 the rest of the way.

"The whole time I'm sitting over there, I'm just so happy for (Downey)." Paul said. "I think a lot of times people feel like if I go out of the game, or somebody else goes out of the game, there's going to be a drop off. But it's nothing like that.

"Downey can do anything that I can do, and vice versa. He's just a leader, and he just plays hard. He's great."

Honored with fellow seniors Danelius, Jamaal Levy and Scott Feather in a pre-game ceremony, Downey started for the third time this season. But few Deacons have been playing better lately than Downey, who has shot 59 percent from the floor and averaged 12.4 points during the last seven games.

"He's finally taking initiative," Williams said. "He's finally being that leader that we all love to follow.

"He's always been a leader, but he was always very, very, very unselfish. Since I've been here, I've always told Taron he needs to shoot the ball a lot more. I've told him he needs to take it to the rack."

Devin Smith scored 22 points, and Reynolds and T.J. Bannister each scored 15 for Virginia. But Wake Forest outrebounded the Cavaliers 38-23, held them to 40 percent field-goal accuracy and exploited the foul trouble that limited freshman point guard Sean Singletary to 16 minutes.

"They were just very big and physical, and they just wore us down," embattled Coach Pete Gillen of Virginia said. "They're talented in every area.

"They have a team that has a chance to get to the Final Four and win a national championship. They've got a great team. We just couldn't stop them."

Prosser emptied the Deacons' bench leading 86-66 with 1:38 remaining. John Buck, a 6-8 junior walk-on, provided the exclamation mark to Wake Forest's eighth win in nine games by taking a pass from fellow walk-on Brian Jessen and slamming a fast-break dunk for a 90-68 lead.

The regulars on the Wake Forest bench whooped and hollered in celebration. Buck has scored five points in 22 career games.

"Chances are one in a thousand that it worked out," Buck said. "I got out on the break, and Brian Jessen gave me a great lead pass, and I threw it down.

"As soon as I came down I was thinking, 'Did the shot clock go off, or did I travel?' I'm not used to it that much. It was a big surprise and a huge thrill. I will never forget that moment."

Deacons prove Joel Coliseum is sanctuary
Former assistant to Pete Gillen, now at helm of his own team, leads Wake Forest to defeat of Virginia, uses frequent rebounds as strategy
Becky Piedel, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- A shot to Skip Prosser's players is like the ring of a bell to Pavlov's dogs: when it goes up, they had better salivate for the rebound, or else there will be a price to pay.

The Demon Deacons obeyed their instincts and their coach's philosophy yesterday afternoon, out-rebounding Virginia 38-23, including 13-7 on the offensive end, en route to a 90-68 victory at Joel Coliseum.

"We missed a lot of shots, so we gave ourselves the opportunity to get offensive rebounds," Prosser said. "We try to lead the conference in offensive rebounds -- that's an effort stat."

Virginia (13-12, 4-10 ACC) went almost eight minutes without a field goal in the first half, resulting in a 13-point halftime deficit. But the Cavaliers made up ground early in the second half.

The Demon Deacons (24-4, 11-3) opened up the half with turnovers on their first three possessions, allowing the Cavaliers to capitalize with a 10-2 run to cut Wake Forest's lead to five, 46-41, with 18 minutes remaining.

But the run proved inconsequential. Wake Forest shot 72 percent in the second half to push the lead back to double digits with 13 minutes to play. Virginia guard T.J. Bannister attributed Wake Forest's husky shooting numbers to poor defensive play.

"A lot of it is us," Bannister said. "There's no excuse –- no reason anyone should shoot that well against us. We've just got to get better with our defense. But they're a tough team to guard because they can score at every position."

Devin Smith led the Cavaliers with 22 points. J.R. Reynolds added 15 points, and Bannister added six assists and tied a career high with 15 points.

The Cavaliers got a scare early in the second half when freshman point guard Sean Singletary re-twisted his oft-plagued right ankle. The freshman lay on the court in evident pain before being carried off by teammates. He had his ankle re-taped and returned to the game about three minutes later, only to pick up his fifth foul on a check to Wake Forest's Taron Downey with 11 minutes remaining.

"They're bigger and stronger than us at several of the positions," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "They are so big and athletic. They were getting second shots and we kept getting in foul trouble."

Foul trouble hurt the Cavaliers early. The backcourt duo of Downey and Chris Paul drew two fouls on Bannister and three on Singletary in the first half. Paul out-maneuvered the Virginia guards on offense, frustrating them into fouls.

"He's really a good player," Prosser said of Singletary. "I think his rhythm was just disrupted by foul trouble and injuries."

Junior guard Justin Gray led the Demon Deacons with 20 points. Eric Williams and Paul each added 17, and Vytas Danelius added 13 on his senior night.

Virginia's hopes of extending its season are dour with only two games remaining in the regular season. Bannister, for one, is looking to his higher faith for confidence.

"I'm a Christian and I believe that God's going to help us come through and I have faith," Bannister said. "Like coach Gillen tells us, 'Never give up, never give up,' ... And we have to motivate our seniors to keep working hard because they want to end the season with a bang."

Playing a scripted game
Bart Isley, Cavalier Daily Sports Columnist
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.

In Virginia's 90-68 loss to Wake Forest Sunday, three classic movie story lines played out on the hardwood.

First, there was the traditional samurai movie motif of a student returning to defeat his master.

As almost everyone knows by now, Wake coach Skip Prosser served as an assistant to Pete Gillen for eight years at Xavier before replacing Gillen as head coach in 1994.

Now Prosser is piloting one of the nation's top programs, a team that is currently ranked No.6 in the country and was picked by many pundits to win the ACC at the beginning of the year. The Deacons are second in the conference at 11-3, and with a solid run to finish out the year could make a solid case for a number one seed in the NCAA tournament.

Prosser's former mentor is following an entirely different road. After a fast start to his tenure at Virginia, Gillen's job security has been the program's running story for past three seasons.

Gillen's troubles continued yesterday with the Cavaliers' seventh ACC road loss. Despite the Cavaliers' mid-season resurgence (a three-game winning streak prior to the North Carolina loss eleven days ago), they are in danger of slipping below .500 overall with just two games left on the regular season schedule.

Gillen's best coaching move of the year -- spreading out the offense and slowing down the game -- still didn't put the Cavaliers in position to knock off the Deacons. Foul trouble plagued Virginia, especially Sean Singletary, perhaps Virginia's hardest working player, who fouled out with almost eleven minutes left in the second half.

Prosser doesn't seem to relish the role of winning big over his former boss.

"It's always hard when you have to coach against a really dear friend," Prosser said after the Deacon win.

The second theme that played out seems to be a staple of all sports movies. I like to refer to it as the "mid-movie montage." This is where the majority of the regular season is condensed to about three minutes of footage in which the star player or a team seems completely unstoppable. In Hoosiers, Jimmy Chitwood and the rest of the squad exploded through several different teams before the next dramatic problem hit them.

Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, no Virginia player had an outing that would be included in that kind of highlight reel. Wake point guard Chris Paul's performance in the first half of the game certainly could be part of his own "mid-movie montage," however.

Paul scored or helped his team in almost every facet of the game early on. He knocked down a lay-up, then a leaner in the lane as well as a mid-range jumper. The sophomore also crossed over a Cavalier guard before finding a wide-open Justin Gray for three. Paul finished the highlight reel with a steal and a breakaway dunk, his first of the season, all in the first 7 minutes of the game.

Paul finished with 17 points, five assists and four steals, just another day at the office for the National Player of the Year candidate.

Sure, the student defeats his master story line is compelling and everyone enjoys seeing a great player do what he does best. But whether it's "Rudy," "Little Giants" or the kids from "The Sandlot," everyone loves an underdog, and despite the Deacons' big win, they also provided the game's "Rudy-esque" story line.

With two minutes left in the game, Wake's John Buck, a junior forward with a .1 points per game average, trotted onto the court to the delight of the entire Demon Deacon' student section.

With 25 seconds on the clock, fellow junior Brian Jessen stole the ball from Cavalier reserve Billy Campbell. Jessen pushed the ball ahead to Buck who dunked it to finish off the fast break, putting an exclamation point on the Deacon win, as well as rubbing salt in the Cavaliers' wounds. Buck received perhaps the loudest cheer from the Wake faithful during the entire game after the dunk.

"As I was running back up the court, I was thinking, did the shot clock go off? Did I travel?," Buck said. "That's a huge thrill that I'll never forget."

The only movie theme that seemed absent from the game was the "miraculous upset." With just N.C. State and Florida State left on the conference slate, both teams the Cavaliers beat earlier in the year, Virginia fans will have to wait until the ACC tournament to see if Gillen and the Cavaliers can put together that story line.