Cavs learn from mistakes, hang tough vs. Hokies
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
February 12, 2006

On Jan. 11 at University Hall, Virginia was in the driver's seat against Florida State.
The Cavaliers held a five-point lead with less than a minute to play, but wound up losing in overtime.

On Saturday night against Virginia Tech, Virginia seemed destined for another meltdown. The Cavaliers, who were leading at the end of regulation, had fallen behind 75-72 with 2:31 left in overtime.

But Dave Leitao's first year as coach has been all about steady improvement and learning from mistakes. The Cavaliers didn't let things slip away again.

Virginia gave its fans a great reason to be excited about the future. The Cavaliers hung tough, played smart and didn't panic. The end result was an 81-77 win.

"Hopefully wins like this can make you grow up in a hurry," Leitao said, "especially with this last stretch of games we have left to play."

With the win, Virginia (12-9, 6-5) moved into a tie for fifth place with Miami in the ACC. The Cavaliers already have two more conference wins than they did all of last season. With a couple more, they could find themselves in the hunt for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Virginia plays a non-conference game against Longwood on Wednesday before traveling to Florida State on Saturday. Then, the Cavaliers host Boston College before games at Clemson and North Carolina. They close out their regular season at University Hall against Maryland.

The win over Virginia Tech came on the heels of a disappointing loss to the Terrapins on Tuesday night in which Virginia was outscored 16-5 in the last 3:09.

Cavalier guard J.R Reynolds, who had a career-high 12 assists, said it felt great to beat the Hokies for the second time this season.

"We've got the crown now," Reynolds said. "It feels real good to sweep them because they're a real good team.

"Our guys did a great job of paying attention to detail and knowing their strengths and weaknesses."

Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg, whose team dropped to 3-8 in the ACC, was clearly disappointed.

"You have to give them credit," Greenberg said. "I thought they played extremely hard. It could have gone either way.

"We got stopped the last few possessions. It's a fine line between winning and losing."

The Cavaliers came out blazing against the Hokies, shooting 59 percent in the first half. They led by seven at the break.

However, Virginia went cold in the opening minutes of the second half. Virginia Tech heated up.

The Hokies' A.D. Vassallo showed why he had been named Freshman of the Week in the ACC for the last two weeks. Vassallo scored 13 of his 19 points - including three 3-pointers - after the intermission.

Virginia Tech's Jamon Gordon also kicked his game up a notch. Gordon, who finished with 24 points and seven rebounds, put the Hokies up 52-50 - their first lead since 8-7 - when he hit a driving layup at the 11:37 mark.

That could have been the first opportunity for Virginia to crumble. But two consecutive baskets by freshman Mamadi Diane - one on a long-range tip-in - put the Cavaliers up again.

From there, it was a seesaw game. The lead changed 12 times in the final 11 minutes of regulation.

Sean Singletary, Lars Mikalauskas, Jason Cain and Reynolds all had key baskets.

"Everybody brought something to the table," Singletary said. "It was a team effort."

Singletary, who led the Cavaliers with 23 points, put the team up 69-67 on a 3-pointer with 47 seconds remaining.

After a timeout, Gordon took a pass off an inbounds play and was fouled. He went to the line and hit two clutch free throws to knot the game.

Virginia had a chance to win in regulation, but Reynolds' underhand scoop shot bounced off the rim as time expired.

In overtime, the Cavaliers started strong with a 3-pointer by Adrian Joseph, but went scoreless for over two minutes. During that time, Gordon connected on a short shot that went for a 3-point play and Vassallo drained a 3-pointer.

"We did a really good job of staying calm," Leitao said. "I think from that point on we relaxed enough to work on our execution.

"We haven't been the best in late stages of games at executing. I thought today we did a good job, and as a result got high percentage shots."

Virginia was aggressive. Reynolds and Singletary drew fouls and converted four free throws on the team's next two possessions. Then, Reynolds found Mikalauskas under the hoop to put the Cavaliers up three with 28 seconds on the clock.

Joseph, who finished with 15 points and five rebounds, said the team is feeling good.

"Virginia Tech has lost a lot of games, but they're a good team," Joseph said. "Winning this game is a great win for us. It boosts the whole's team's confidence. Now we just have to go out and win another one."


DUNKS: Virginia guard T.J. Bannister (sports hernia injury) missed his fourth straight game.

Virginia and Virginia Tech each had 36 rebounds. It was the first time in the last five games that the Cavaliers did not outrebound their opponent.

Reynolds said he had never had 12 assists before - in any game, at any level. He said he was joking with Singletary following the game about the fact Singletary had zero assists. Singletary on Reynolds' newfound playmaking abilities: "It was obvious that those guys were overplaying on the screens," he said, "so things opened up for the big guys who were wide open down low. He played a good floor game."

 

Virginia runs to 2-0
UVa baseball hammers out win over Coastal Carolina
From staff reports / Charlottesville Daily Progress
February 12, 2006

CONWAY, S.C. - When the selection committee for the NCAA Baseball Tournament sits down at the end of May to select the field of 64, they will talk about quality wins.
Virginia got one on Sunday.

Thanks to 16 hits and strong pitching performances from Jacob Thompson and Michael Schwimer, the Cavaliers knocked off Coastal Carolina, 8-3, in the final game of the Springmaid Beach Resort Tournament.

Virginia (2-0) could have won by a bigger margin - it stranded 11 men on base and had four others caught stealing - but coach Brian O'Connor could find little to complain about.

"It was a really a great win for our baseball team," O'Connor said. "We had great pitching and we swung the bats well. It was a great win for a young team. We started three freshmen on the infield and a sophomore at first base in Sean Doolittle. To get a win against an outstanding program like Coastal Carolina is pretty exciting."

Thompson (1-0) won his collegiate debut, tossing five solid innings. The rookie from Danville allowed just one hit ? Coastal's leadoff batter Dom Duggan hit a solo homer in the first ? and struck out four batters.

After Duggan's blast, Thompson and Schwimer combined to hold Coastal hitless until the 8th inning.

"Jacob Thompson showed in this kind of environment, what he is capable of doing and that there was a reason as to why we started him," O'Connor said. "He has a lot of confidence and he is aggressive. He believes in his stuff.

"Schwimer pitched outstanding. He really did. He came in and went right after them, throwing strikes and attacking them. He is going to be a critical factor for us this year."

In the meantime, Virginia manufactured runs. The Cavaliers started to pull away with a run in the first and two more in the fourth as they chased Coastal Carolina's starting pitcher Andy DeLaGarza (0-1) from the game.

Virginia's biggest inning at the plate came in the sixth as it used four hits and an error by the Chanticleers to push three runners across the plate.

The Cavaliers added an insurance run in the eighth and ninth inning, which proved important in the bottom of the ninth.

Shooter Hunt, who like Thompson, made his UVa debut. Hunt struggled, allowing three hits, two walks and two earned runs and left the game with the bases loaded and two outs.

O'Connor turned to sophomore Sean Doolittle, who fanned Adam Vrable to end the game to earn his first save of the season.

"I normally don't like to bring in a new pitcher with the bases loaded, but in this situation with Sean, you could do it. He has got a lot of poise," O'Connor said.

Five players had multi-hit games for the Cavaliers, including Mike Mitchell (3 for 6) and Brandon Guyer (3 for 5).

Virginia is scheduled to play its home opener on Wednesday against Old Dominion. The first pitch is slated for 3 p.m.
 

Not short but a sweep
The Cavs withstand a Hokies' rally to win in overtime and take the season series.
By Doug Doughty

CHARLOTTESVILLE - In the first 79 games of his college basketball career, J.R. Reynolds never once handed out more than six assists.

Against Virginia Tech, Reynolds' 12th assist was his biggest Saturday night as Virginia held off Virginia Tech 81-77 at University Hall.

The Cavaliers (12-9, 6-5 ACC) led by as many as 15 points in the first half and 12 points in the second half before the Hokies (13-11, 3-8) roared back to send the game into overtime at 69-69.

A 3-pointer by freshman A.D. Vassallo gave the Hokies a 75-72 lead with 2:30 remaining in overtime, but Virginia scored the next eight points.

After Reynolds and Sean Singletary each hit a pair of free throws, Reynolds drove the lane and found freshman Lauris Mikalauskas for a layup that gave the Cavaliers a 78-75 cushion with 1:04 remaining.

Vassallo had a 3-point attempt to tie the score with just under 30 seconds left, but it fell well short as Tech coach Seth Greenberg pleaded for a foul. Greenberg took off his coat and threw it at the Hokies' bench.

"It wasn't [Vassallo shot]," Greenberg said. "Look at the film. Sean double-dribbled in the corner."

UVa essentially clinched the victory when Jason Cain made the second of two free throws to put the Cavaliers ahead by four points with 6.9 seconds left.

"I told the team at the end of regulation that, if we could rewind to our Florida State game, we could look at the things we didn't do in overtime," said UVa coach Dave Leitao, whose team lost to the Seminoles 87-82, one of its two losses in 11 home games.

"I told them, 'This is where you define yourself.' In the last five minutes, we did what was necessary. This was a very, very difficult game. My heart goes out to Virginia Tech for all [the Hokies] have had to go through off the court, but they've been playing really, really well."

On a night when he did not have a single assist, Singletary scored a team-high 23 points, including a 3-pointer with 54 seconds remaining in regulation that put the Cavaliers ahead 69-67.

It was Virginia 's first 3-pointer of the second half after the Cavaliers had missed their first nine attempts.

UVa had made six 3-pointers in the first half, including back-to-back treys by Reynolds that put Virginia ahead 36-21. Singletary missed the last 4:06 of the first half while nursing two fouls, and the Hokies capitalized by cutting the deficit to 39-32.

Virginia had squandered a 14-point, first-half lead Tuesday in dropping a 76-65 decision at Maryland . The Cavaliers also had a double-digit second-half lead in that game, just as they had Saturday, when they stretched the margin to 44-32 with 19:08 remaining.

Tech fought back behind Vassallo and junior guard Jamon Gordon, who finished with a game-high 24 points. Vassallo, who played three minutes and went scoreless in the first game between the teams, scored 19.

Virginia had won the first game between the teams, 54-49 in Blacksburg , but all three of Tech's victories against UVa this year - in football, men's soccer and women's basketball - had come in Charlottesville .

The Cavaliers remained strong at the end despite using only seven players. Reynolds played 41 minutes despite an apparent cramp that sent him from the floor with 15:51 left. He was back in the game by the 14:29 mark.

After shooting 59.1 percent in the first half, Virginia cooled off and finished at 45.8. The Hokies shot 53.8 percent in the second half to finish at 44.9 and battled UVa to a 36-36 standoff on the boards.

Tech made four more field goals, but that was offset by the Cavaliers' 19-for-23 free-throw shooting.
 

Cavaliers, Tech are fun now
Aaron McFarling

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The final seconds of regulation were ticking away, and Virginia guard Sean Singletary was bent over at the waist, slowly dribbling away the time. The game was tied. His team wanted the last shot.

A few feet away, Virginia Tech guard Jamon Gordon stood in an athletic position, waiting for Singletary to make a move. And oh, had Singletary made some moves Saturday night. Turnarounds. Dipsy-doos. Fadeway 3s. Total circus stuff.

Singletary faked a quick step.

Gordon flinched.

Singletary stopped. Gordon relaxed.

And right there in the middle of the floor, in the biggest moment of the game, Gordon's face broke into a wide grin.

Why not? This was fun.

Fun for Singletary, who scored 23 points and finished in double figures for the 12th straight game. Fun for Gordon, who was his usual ball of energy while posting a game-high 24 points.

Fun for the fans here at University Hall, who danced and shouted and celebrated a 81-77 overtime victory before heading back into the snowy night.

And at least until the final minute of overtime, it had to be fun for the Hokies, too.

UVa swept the two-game season series, but this game had everything the first Tech-UVa meeting didn't. Pace. Flow. Intensity. Fancy dunks. Great passes. Multiple virtuoso performances from individual players.

Oh, sure, both games came down to the end, but did anybody actually enjoy watching that 54-49 clunker in mid-January?

This one was a treat, and it showed things bode well for both programs. UVa hit five straight 3-pointers at one point in the first half, including two deep ones from Roanoke 's J.R. Reynolds. Tech swingman A.D. Vassallo (19 points on 8-of-15 shooting) continued to prove that he can be that fourth weapon the Hokies have so sorely needed.

The biggest thing the Cavaliers earned was a chance to keep dreaming. With an RPI in the 60s, the 'Hoos had to have this one to think about the NCAA tournament, and they got it.

They are now 6-5 in the ACC, firmly in that mix behind Duke and North Carolina State for third place. There are winnable conference games left against Florida State , Boston College , Clemson and Maryland .

Even the road trip to North Carolina could be nice if Reynolds continues to shoot like he has recently - he's better than 40 percent from 3-point range during the past 14 games - and role players such as Adrian Joseph (15 points, five rebounds) and Jason Cain (10 points, eight rebounds) continue to produce.

What the Hokies have proved during the past four games - decided by a total of seven points - is that they won't be a pushover the rest of the season no matter how many struggles they have, nor will they be an easy out in the ACC Tournament.

The biggest difference for Tech has been Vassallo. He looks more comfortable every day. A total nonfactor the last time these teams met, he's emerged as a scoring threat from the perimeter or slashing to the hoop. In his past five games, he's scored 80 points and grabbed 28 rebounds.

And maybe you caught a glimpse of him, right after he drilled that 3-pointer in overtime that gave the Hokies their final, fleeting lead. He was smiling.

Right now, it's fun to be him.

It's fun to be a 'Hoo.

And win or lose, it's fun to be a fan.
 

Narrow losses frustrate Tech
Mark Berman

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Close losses are nothing new to the Virginia Tech men's basketball team, but that doesn't mean Saturday's defeat wasn't a bitter one.

Tech coach Seth Greenberg was swearing when he began discussing the latest loss with his assistants outside the Hokies' locker room Saturday, and he was still swearing when he finished their conversation.

"I don't like losing," Greenberg said later of the 81-77 overtime defeat at Virginia. "We're trying to build a championship-caliber, NCAA-tournament program, and I don't enjoy losing. I'd rather vent it away from the kids."

The mood was much brighter down the hallway at University Hall, where the Cavaliers (12-9, 6-5 ACC) were all smiles after sweeping the regular-season series.

"We're defending the state," UVa guard J.R. Reynolds said. "We got the crown now, so it feels real good. ... Our guys did a tremendous job paying attention to detail, knowing their strengths and weaknesses."

Greenberg said his biggest mistake Saturday was not using freshman post player Cheick Diakite more in the game and vowed to evaluate "what we're getting out of that position." Diakite had one basket and one rebound in two minutes.

"He gave us good energy," Greenberg said. "He's really been practicing well and he's starting to understand what we're doing."

The Hokies (13-11, 3-8) used a starting frontcourt of forwards Deron Washington, A.D. Vassallo and Wynton Witherspoon for the fourth straight game. Center Coleman Collins, coming off the bench for the third straight game following his two-game absence, had just six points and two rebounds in 31 minutes. His cancer-stricken father is very ill.

"He's got a burden that's sapping him from his energy," said Greenberg, whose team lost by six or fewer points for the eighth time this season. "He's going through it ... in the biggest conference in America, the most-publicized conference in America, and it's a very public pain he's going through."

Collins then walked by Greenberg in the hallway, and Greenberg told him, "Keep your head up, Coleman."

Tech and UVa each snared 36 rebounds. Tech has outrebounded only one foe in its last 11 games. Guards Jamon Gordon and Zabian Dowdell led the Hokies with seven rebounds apiece.

UVa "got some key rebounds that kind of killed us," Gordon said. "That's the only problem with the team. ... Somebody [has] just got to start rebounding the ball."

Gordon, whose two free throws with 36 seconds left in regulation sent the game into OT, had a career-high 24 points. Dowdell managed only 10 points. Gordon and Dowdell had said Thursday they were the better backcourt, but UVa's tandem was more prolific. Sean Singletary had 23 points and Reynolds 19.

"That's just them talking," Reynolds said of the Hokies' earlier statements. "But we know the truth."

Reynolds dished out 12 assists, doubling his previous career high.

"They had two guys on me every time I came off screens," said Reynolds, a former Roanoke Catholic star. "My guys were open."

UVa coach Dave Leitao looked in his players' eyes after regulation and reminded them of their overtime loss to Florida State last month.

"Coach was like, 'Remember Florida State. Remember that feeling,' " said forward Jason Cain, who had 10 points and eight rebounds. "That pretty much motivated everybody."

Vassallo had 19 points, including a 3-pointer that gave the Hokies a 75-72 lead with 2:34 left in OT. But the Hokies then missed some big shots.

After Reynolds sank two foul shots, Dowdell missed a jumper with the shot clock winding down. After Singletary made two free throws to give UVa the lead for good at 76-75, Witherspoon missed a 3-pointer with 1:07 to go. After a Laurynas Mikalauskas bucket extended the lead to 78-75, Vassallo's 3-point attempt fell short with 17 seconds to go.

Greenberg was irked by the possession that ended with Witherspoon's miss.

"Coming out of the timeout, ... we wanted to be aggressive," said Greenberg, who fell to 1-4 against UVa. "We settled. Wynton got a good look ... but in that situation you would like to see someone making a play at the basket."

Vassallo, a freshman who once languished on the bench, scored in double figures for the fourth time in five games.

"Every game I come in, I'm more confident," he said.

Virginia, which entered Saturday on a 1-3 skid, has even more reason to be confident. "We were on a little fall and we had to pick it up, so today was a good win," Cain said. "This is the first game I feel like we stayed focused for most of the game."
 

More frenzied ACC fun
David Teel
February 12 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- ACC basketball these days is crazier than Sly Stone's Grammy get-up. Virginia's 81-77 overtime victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday merely added to the mania.

Neither team led by more than three points during the final 14 minutes of regulation or the 5-minute overtime until Adrian Joseph's two free throws with 12.9 seconds left in the extra period gave Virginia an 80-75 edge. Back-and-forth they went, swapping the lead, making tough shots, bungling easy ones.

Pretty it wasn't. But rivalry games often aren't, and the crowd that braved the snow to get here wasn't worried about aesthetics. This was about winning and trimming magic numbers.

They are modestly magic, but magic nonetheless, the victories each of these teams needs to clinch a break-even record and National Invitation Tournament eligibility. Neither is NCAA tournament-caliber, but given their respective trials - coaching transition for Virginia, personal tribulations for Tech - making the NIT would rate as an accomplishment.

The Cavaliers (12-9, 6-5 ACC) need two victories to assure a 14-14 record, and with a gimme on the horizon against Longwood, the number is, for all intents and purposes, one.

The Hokies (13-11, 3-8) also need two wins to clinch a .500 record. Their five remaining regular-season games all are against ACC opponents, the next of which comes Saturday at home against North Carolina State, the conference's second-place team.

Entering the weekend, 14 of the last 21 ACC games had been by four points or fewer, or in overtime. Virginia Tech had played three consecutive one-point games for the first time since closing the 1973 NIT with a trio of one-point victories.

Also: N.C. State had won two double-overtime games in 10 days, Boston College's last four games had been decided by 11 points combined, Duke's last three by seven before the Blue Devils "routed" Maryland by eight Saturday.

The Virginia-Virginia Tech series has the bug. In their first four meetings as ACC rivals, the Cavaliers have outscored the Hokies 273-265. None of the games - Virginia is 3-1 with a sweep this season - was decided by more than six points.

And even as Virginia bolted to double-digit leads in both halves - 15 in the first, 10 in the second - you had the sense this would be decided late. The sense was spot-on.

Virginia made only one 3-pointer in the second half, but man, was it large. Sean Singletary's 3 with 53.7 seconds remaining gave the Cavaliers a 69-67 lead before Jamon Gordon's two free throws forced overtime.

Virginia coach Dave Leitao could have cost his team the game, racing out of the coaches' box and onto the court before the final horn of regulation. Leitao wanted a goaltending call; he's lucky he didn't get a technical foul.

Freshman A.D. Vassallo's 3-pointer gave the Hokies a 75-72 lead in overtime, but the Cavaliers scored the next eight points, six at the free throw line and two on a garbage bucket by Lars Mikalauskas, who gathered a loose ball underneath and made a layup.

Vassallo scored 80 points in Tech's first 19 games. He's got 80 in the last five, including 19 Saturday. He's a smooth shooter, but his 3-point attempt from the right wing with less than 15 seconds remaining in overtime hit nothing but air.

Hokies coach Seth Greenberg begged for a foul on J.R. Reynolds, but Reynolds defended the shot perfectly, and Vassallo told Greenberg he wasn't fouled.

Like his teammates, Vassallo played soft first-half defense, allowing Virginia to shoot 59.2 percent and take a 39-32 halftime lead. Tech's defense was much better in the second half and overtime but could not slow Reynolds off the dribble.

Reynolds scored 19 points, but his defining contribution was 12 assists. No other Virginia player had more than one.

So just another night in the ACC: Entertainment for spectators and television viewers; deadline hassle for the hacks. Fun for all, except those on the losing end, who on this night faced a dicey bus ride home in the snow.
 

Virginia avoids potential dagger
Barney Breen-portnoy

Virginia kept the hope of dancing in March alive with Saturday evening's win over Virginia Tech. A home loss to the lowly Hokies likely would have ended any chance that the Cavaliers had of making the NCAA Tournament field. With Saturday's gritty overtime victory, however, Virginia avoided that potential dagger and notched its sixth conference victory, with five conference games remaining.

The story of Saturday's win must include the dazzling performance of junior guard J.R. Reynolds. With the spotlight always shining brightly on Sean Singletary, I feel that Reynolds rarely gets enough credit for how indispensable he is to the success of this team. While Singletary led the Cavaliers with 23 points Saturday, Reynolds was Virginia's most important offensive player, notching 19 points and a career-high 12 assists. Reynolds' most impressive assist came with 3:57 left in the second half. Slashing through the lane, Reynolds read Virginia Tech's hedging defense beautifully and slipped the ball to Laurynas Mikalauskas for a lay-up that gave the Cavaliers a one-point lead.

Another player who deserves much kudos for his performance Saturday is Adrian Joseph. The sophomore logged 40 minutes of playing time while putting up 15 points. Strength and conditioning coach Shaun Brown's intense drills must be paying off, as Virginia used only seven players throughout the game and the Cavaliers never seemed to waver due to fatigue.

As has been the case for most of the season, Virginia received the bulk of its scoring from its perimeter players -- Singletary, Reynolds and Joseph. In the paint, Jason Cain led Virginia's big men with 10 points and eight rebounds. Mikalauskas scored only two buckets but both were huge momentum jolts for Virginia. Mamadi Diane also hit several key shots, highlighted by an impressive put back of an errant Joseph three-point attempt. It was also nice to see offensively-struggling sophomore Tunji Soroye throw down a dunk early in the second half. After the game, coach Leitao spoke of the importance of trying to get his big men some more touches down low.

Despite the inclement winter weather, a boisterous crowd showed up to cheer on the Cavaliers. I find the growing tension between the Hoo Crew and the non-Hoo Crew parts of the student section quite amusing. First off, I must say that I appreciate the passion and dedication of the Hoo Crew's members and leaders. Yet, I also appreciate the values of individualism, so I had to chuckle when the Hoo Crew and its president were booed lustily by the non-Hoo Crew student section minutes before the opening tip. As we move into the future, I sincerely hope that the athletic department will give the same respect and consideration to non-Hoo Crew student fans as it does to the members of its Hoo Crew pet project.

To build a resume that would impress the NCAA selection committee, Virginia will likely have to win its remaining conference home games -- against Boston College and Maryland -- and snatch at least one, if not two, road victories from a schedule that includes trips to Florida State, Clemson and North Carolina. Although the failure to win at either N.C. State or Maryland hurt Virginia's chances, the window of opportunity for the Cavaliers' first NCAA Tournament berth since 2001 remains slightly ajar.

Wednesday's matchup with Longwood should provide Leitao with an opportunity to give playing time to some seldom-used bench players. Seeing Matt Deasey score in double digits will make an interesting evening out of a game should otherwise be lopsided.