Lucky No. 7
Cavs take sole possession of 1st place in ACC
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7247
February 7, 2007

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Comcast Center was dead silent. The 17,950 fans in attendance had come to a stark realization: Their team’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament had just grown extremely remote.

“I love to hear the silence of the crowd,” said Virginia guard J.R. Reynolds. “That’s why I love playing on the road.”

However, in the bowels of the arena, just outside of the UVa locker room, a loud chant could be heard.

“Tunji! Tunji! Tunji!” Reynolds and other Virginia players shouted in unison.

Tunji Soroye, Virginia’s 6-foot-10 center, had his best game of the season, maybe of his career. The Nigerian hauled in a career-high 11 rebounds, swatted four shots and hit three clutch free throws that propelled UVa to a 69-65 victory Tuesday night.

With their seventh straight win, the Cavaliers (16-6, 8-2) now sit all alone atop the ACC, a half-game ahead of Boston College, which plays at Miami tonight.

The last time Virginia won seven league games in a row was in the 1981-82 season

“I felt real good tonight,” Soroye said. “I’ve been working on my game, getting in shape and I was ready.”

So were Virginia’s other role players.

Adrian Joseph scored 13 off the bench. Lars Mikalauskas had five rebounds. Jason Cain played excellent defense on Maryland’s Ekene Ibekwe, holding him to just five points.

“You’re going to need team wins sometimes if you’re going to keep winning games, especially in tough environments like this,” said Virginia coach Dave Leitao, “so I’m extremely proud of our guys.

“It was a big-time effort by Tunji. I could see it when he went into the game with five minutes left that he had some extra spring in his legs.”

That was a good thing considering Virginia saw a 15-second half lead get whittled to a point on a pair of Ibekwe free throws with 12 seconds left.

Maryland fouled Reynolds to stop the clock. The senior captain, as he did in the upset of Duke last week, came up big, knocking down a one-and-one.

Trailing by three, the Terrapins’ Eric Hayes inexplicably took a long jumper from inside the 3-point line. Soroye gobbled up the rebound, then hit the front end of a one-and-one after he was fouled to seal the victory.

“I was pressured a little bit,” said Soroye, who had earlier hit two clutch free throws to give Virginia a 65-60 lead, “but at the same time I was calm because I’ve been working on my free throws a lot.”

Reynolds, who finished with a game-high 23 points, was happy for Soroye.

“He was great for us,” Reynolds said. “Different guys stepped up for us and that’s what you need on the road. Tunji did a tremendous job. You can’t ask for anything more.”

Sean Singletary, who had one of his quieter games of the season - he finished with just 10 points, nine below his season average - said the team is having fun.

“That’s what happens when you’re winning,” he said, “and everyone’s contributing.”

Virginia played one of its best halves of the season in jumping out to a 41-31 lead at the intermission.

UVa shot 52 percent from the field and held Maryland to a 36-percent clip. The Cavaliers did an excellent job of playing aggressive, yet smart. They didn’t pick up their first foul of the contest until over seven minutes in.

After Maryland tied the game at eight, Virginia went on a 13-2 run to take a 21-10 lead on a Jason Cain jumper, which came off a pretty fake.

A strong drive and dish by Reynolds to Will Harris put UVa up 37-25.

“You have to come out strong,” said Maryland coach Gary Williams, “and we didn’t match Virginia’s intensity.”

With just under a minute left, Cain dribbled all the way up the court, blew by his man and scored on a drive as he was being challenged by two Maryland help defenders. It was quite possibly the most aggressive move of his college career.

“It was a terrific effort all the way around,” Leitao said.

 

UVa getting that certain swagger
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
February 7, 2007

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - S-w-e-e-p. How sweet it was for Virginia’s basketball team, once cursed outside its own city limits, to waltz - make that swagger - into Maryland’s Comcast Center on Tuesday night and walk out with firs place in the ACC in its hip pocket.

The fact that the Cavaliers did it against the Terps, a team that had been a true nemesis over the past decade, added more meaning.

UVa’s lack of success in Garyland had been puzzling. For the past three seasons, the Cavaliers had delivered solid first-half performances here, only to implode under Maryland’s suffocating pressure in the second.

Tuesday night it was different.

The Cavs had built and maintained a healthy lead through most of the game, almost making it a snoozer until the Terps woke up and took things to the wire before Virginia held on for a 69-65 victory.

With the win, coach Dave Leitao’s team continued on the hottest roll in the ACC with seven straight conference victories. No Virginia team has done that since the days of Ralph, back in 1981-82.

Improving to 16-6 overall and 8-2 in the league, Virginia continued to shrug off its old habit of folding on the road.

This was the third win on the ACC road during the seven-game spree, the first Cavalier team to accomplish that feat since the 1994-95 season. It was also Virginia’s first win at Comcast since 2002-03.

The Cavs had lost nine of the previous 12 meetings with the Terps and 19 of 27, however, they recorded their first sweep of Maryland since that same ’02-03 campaign.

While some of the familiar faces sparked this win, such as senior guard J.R. Reynolds’ game-high 23 points, this one was more of a team victory.

Reserve center Tunji Soroye made the most of his 25 minutes of playing time, pulling down a career-high 11 rebounds, blocking four shots, intimidating Maryland from taking shots in the paint and sinking 3 of 4 free-throw attempts.

His performance was so valuable to the cause that Virginia’s players charged into their locker room chanting the big man’s name.

“Tunji, Tunji, Tunji,” the Cavaliers recited in acknowledging his meaningful deeds.

For Leitao, it was reason to celebrate his team answering the bell yet again. When the Terps made a strong comeback, whittling UVa’s 59-44 lead down to a mere point at 66-65 with 12 seconds remaining, it was up to Reynolds and Soroye to win it at the free-throw line, and they did.

Virginia put a strong emphasis on preventing Maryland from dominating in the lane, which had been the keys to previous Terrapin comebacks.

Not this time.

Not only has Virginia broken its road spell, but the Cavs are creating a science of winning close ones. UVa owns a 4-1 record in ACC games decided by five points or less this season.

Not bad for a team picked to finish eighth in the league.

 

Cavaliers move to ACC lead
Virginia makes its seven ACC wins in a row by taking an early lead and knocking off Maryland.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Remember when the knock against Virginia was that the Cavs couldn't win on the road?

UVa moved into sole possession of first place in the ACC on Tuesday with its third straight road win, 69-65, at Maryland.

Before winning at North Carolina State on Jan. 24, the Cavs had gone more than a year without a road win.

Now, they're in the midst of a seven-game ACC winning streak, their longest since 1982. Virginia (16-6, 8-2) also won for the sixth time as an underdog this season.

Maryland (17-7, 3-6) cut a 15-point deficit to 66-65 on a pair of James Gist free throws with 12.6 seconds left, but senior J.R. Reynolds from Roanoke converted a one-and-one to give the Cavs breathing room.

Tunji Soroye made the front end of another one-and-one with 3.3 seconds left to make it a two-possession game.

Reynolds missed a free throw when put in a similar situation against Stanford in a game the Cavs lost. That never entered his mind Tuesday.

"I love to hear the silence of the crowd," said Reynolds, who finished with a game-high 23 points. "That's why I like to play on the road so much."

The Cavaliers led by 15 on four occasions, with multiple chances to go ahead by 17 or more, before Maryland went on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 59-53 on a 3-pointer by Mike Jones with 7:48 remaining. Virginia, a 512-point underdog, had four turnovers in five possessions before Reynolds grabbed a rebound and went baseline-to-baseline for the lay-in that made it 61-53.

The Terrapins' half-court pressure clearly was wearing on the Cavs, as evidenced by a Sean Singletary pass directly to Mike Jones, whose breakaway dunk pulled the Terps to 61-57 with 5:44 left.

Moments later, Virginia got a crucial stop when post man Jason Cain raced down the court and blocked a Greivis Vazquez breakaway try with 4:50 remaining. Cain earlier had blocked a Terps breakway in the first half.

"A terrific effort all the way around," UVa coach Dave Leitao said.

Virginia has had a history of pulling out to convincing first-half leads at Comcast Center and Tuesday was no exception. The Cavs led by as many as 14 points and were up 41-31 at the half.

In addition to the customary scoring and floor leadership Virginia has come to expect from veteran guards Singletary and Reynolds, it got some uncharacteristic contributions from Soroye, a seldom-used 6-foot-11 junior.

Soroye, playing just over 9 minutes per game, was on the floor for 14 minutes in the first half and had five rebounds and two blocked shots. Soroye's inside presence helped limit the Terps to 36.1-percent shooting.

Soroye, who had played a total of 12 minutes in the previous two games, went to high school at Montrose Christian in nearby Kensington. He played 25 minutes overall, finishing with three points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and a steal.

As the UVa players left the arena, they could be heard shouting, "Tunji, Tunji."

"It was a big-time effort by Tunji," Leitao said. "I could see when he went in the game in the first 5 minutes that he had a spring to his step. He hadn't been playing a lot. He'd been a little bit down. He'd been through a lot. I was happy to see him get this reward."

Virginia had a 45-32 rebounding margin and Maryland was just 8-of-15 from the free-throw line.

"In a close game like that, you look at rebounding and free-throw shooting," Terps coach Gary Williams said. "Everything else was close."

 

For UVa signees, it's wait till August
Virginia is one of only two ACC schools that doesn't allow football recruits to get a head start by enrolling in January.
By Ed Miller
Landmark News Service

All things considered, Peter Lalich would rather be in Charlottesville.

Nothing against West Springfield High School, where he is preparing to graduate in June, but Lalich sounds like a guy who is over it. His academic load is light, his prep football career history. He feels ready to move on, athletically and academically, to the University of Virginia.

"I'm not doing anything at home that's really important," he said.

Today is national signing day for football, and Lalich -- one of the nation's top high school quarterbacks -- will sign a letter of intent with the Cavaliers. But he won't be able to begin practicing at UVa until August.

He wishes it were otherwise. If Lalich were going to any number of other schools, he might have been able to enroll in January, get a head start on his classes and, most importantly for a quarterback with designs on playing as a true freshman, participate in spring practice.

"It gives you an edge," Lalich's father, Todd, said this week. "We were definitely interested in coming down early."

But unlike all but one other ACC school (Boston College), Virginia does not offer January admission to incoming freshmen. UVa is one of the last holdouts against a practice that is becoming increasingly popular.

A total of 13 players who recently graduated high school early are already enrolled at ACC schools, including five at Clemson and two at Virginia Tech. In the Southeastern Conference, 19 are enrolled -- including eight at Florida, the current national champion -- according to figures compiled by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Those numbers don't include players coming in from postgraduate prep schools or junior colleges.

In Groh's six years at Virginia, UVa has not admitted any early high-school graduates.

"Every year we meet a few kids who make their intentions of enrolling in January known very much in the beginning," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "For those kids, the question, 'Do you admit students in January?' is asked as often as 'What kind of majors do you have?' "

To those prospects, Groh's answer is always the same:

"This isn't something that's possible here."

Virginia's policy causes Groh to eliminate some elite prospects early in the recruiting process.

The vast majority of players still enroll in August. Not everyone is prepared academically or socially to leave high school early. It also takes planning to graduate early.

Still, Groh said, "It would give us more flexibility to deal on an individual basis with the highly talented player who's also an accomplished student."

The policy of not admitting freshmen in January is not limited to athletes. It is based on the university's desire that all students have the same "first-year experience" of living in a dorm and bonding with their classmates, officials have said.

Michigan, North Carolina State and UCLA all told Lalich he could enroll early, he said. But Lalich has "wanted to go to Virginia from the first day they offered him," his father said.

"He's a loyal kid."

Had January admission been available at Virginia, Lalich would not have been the least bit sentimental about missing the final months of his senior year. He could have still gone to his senior prom, he said, noting that UVa is just a couple of hours away.

"It's all about business, basically," he said.

With early admission not possible, the Lalich family considered letting Peter move to Charlottesville and live with the family of a friend while attending Western Albemarle High School. However, they were told it would be a violation of NCAA rules, Lalich said, because the father of Lalich's friend at Western Albemarle is a former UVa football player.

"I thought I would be able to be around for all of spring practice and just watch and get the mental part of the game down," Lalich said. "But it would have caused more problems than it would have helped."

So Lalich is left to work out on his own.

Not so for Georgia Tech's Steven Threet, who is also a 6-foot-5 quarterback rated as one of the nation's top 10 by rivals.com. He's already on Georgia Tech's campus. Willy Korn, another quarterback, is already at Clemson. Jimmy Clausen, considered by many to be the nation's top QB prospect, is already at Notre Dame.

Tim Tebow, who played at Florida as a true freshman last fall, also enrolled early.

Lalich said he feels as though he's at a disadvantage compared to those players.

"It's pretty hard to win a starting job when you're only there from August on," he said.

Lalich will watch as many of Virginia's spring practices as he can over West Springfield's spring break, he said.
 

Cavaliers In First; Terps in Trouble
Maryland Is 3-6 in ACC After Home Rally Fizzles: Virginia 69, Maryland 65
By Eric Prisbell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 7, 2007; Page E01

Virginia Coach Dave Leitao views the current ACC standings as a mere snapshot of the league race, a picture that he admits could further blur within a week. While that might be true, for one night recent trends for two schools continued to hold true.

Virginia improved its winning streak to seven games, significantly bolstered its NCAA tournament hopes and grabbed sole possession of first place in the ACC with a 69-65 victory over Maryland before a frenzied crowd at Comcast Center. And Maryland continued its inconsistent ways, dropping its second game in three weeks to the Cavaliers and weakening its already fading NCAA tournament hopes.

The Terrapins (17-7, 3-6) dropped their second home game in ACC play and now likely need to win five of their remaining seven games to have a realistic chance to earn an at-large tournament berth. Virginia (16-6, 8-2) has won more than six consecutive ACC games for the first time since winning 11 straight in the 1981-82 season.

With his team trailing by 10 points, Coach Gary Williams marched off the court at halftime, pumped his fist twice in the direction of the crowd and said: "We're going to win this game. C'mon!" His players played with the spirit of their coach in the second half, and it was nearly enough to overcome a 15-point deficit.

Maryland held Virginia scoreless for more than five minutes as the Terrapins whittled the deficit to one. Maryland freshman Eric Hayes made a critical three-pointer from the top of the key with just under a minute to play to pull his team within two points. With 19 seconds left, and Maryland down 66-63, Hayes missed a contested three-pointer.

Only seven minutes into the second half, Williams inserted seldom-used Dave Neal and left four of his starters, including three seniors, on the bench. Greivis Vasquez, who had a strong first half, was the only starter Williams kept in the game during the stretch.

If nothing else, the move lifted the spirits of the crowd after Neal made a three-pointer from the top of the key. Williams stayed with the unique lineup for less than two minutes. When the starters returned, the Terrapins trailed by 15 points, which proved to be too deep a hole. Barely.

On Jan. 16, Maryland nearly rallied from a 20-point first-half deficit but fell to the Cavaliers in Charlottesville, 103-91. Rebounding was a prime issue in both losses for Maryland.

In the first meeting between the schools, the Terrapins had no answer for wing player Mamadi Diane, the streaky sophomore who scored a career-high 26 points. Last night it was another forward, Adrian Joseph, who hurt Maryland, particularly with his outside shooting.

Williams spent most of the first half oscillating between angry and incensed. Maryland made only five of its first 18 shots in a half littered with miscues, missed layups and bobbled balls. In a gesture that summed up their struggles, D.J. Strawberry looked at reserve Will Bowers, pointed to his own head and emphatically said, "Think."

Virginia, on the other hand, was opportunistic. For example, after a long rebound came out to J.R. Reynolds, the Cavaliers got the ball in the hands of Sean Singletary, who swished a three-pointer from the corner. Moments later, Reynolds (game-high 23 points) sank a 17-foot pull-up jumper to extend the advantage to double digits.

It was not the finest half for Maryland's Mike Jones, who was scoreless in Saturday's Wake Forest victory. In the first half last night, Jones made his first two baskets, including a three-pointer from the corner, but missed his next four shots, including a dunk and a breakaway layup.

What might have been worse in the view of his coach was the lax defense he played on Joseph, whose three-pointer over Jones gave the Cavaliers a 30-18 lead. Joseph later swished an open baseline shot to give Virginia a 14-point lead, its largest of the half.

Maryland came into the game stressing rebounding, but lost that battle in the first half. In fact, the 6-foot Singletary had more rebounds at halftime (five) than any Maryland player.

The player who saved the Terrapins in the first half was Vasquez, who made 5 of 7 shots and scored his team's final seven points to keep the game competitive.

 

Alone at top
Virginia wins its seventh straight ACC game for the first time since 1982, knocking off Maryland to take over sole possession of the ACC lead.
BY DARRYL SLATER
Daily Press
February 6, 2007, 11:59 PM EST

COLLEGE PARK, MD. -- On the evening of Jan. 13, the Virginia men's basketball team returned from a loss at Boston College – the Cavaliers' third consecutive defeat. They were 9-6 and 1-2 in the ACC.

Something had to change.

Something did.

Check that. Lots of things did; better defense and increased contributions from role players to name two.

Virginia won its seventh consecutive ACC game Tuesday night, hanging on to defeat Maryland 69-65 at the Comcast Center. The Cavaliers, now alone in first place, hadn't won seven consecutive league games since 1982, when they won 11 straight and finished 12-2.

"We're feeling good right now," said senior shooting guard J.R. Reynolds, who had a game-high 23 points. "And the thing is, we're still hungry."

The Cavaliers (16-6, 8-2 ACC) led by 15 points as late as 12:11 remaining in the game before Maryland went on a 19-6 run that had its fans aching for a repeat of recent Virginia collapses in College Park.

After their run, the Terrapins (17-7, 3-6) trailed 68-65 with five seconds left when freshman guard Eric Hayes missed a jump shot from just inside the 3-point line. Then Virginia center Tunji Soroye, who had a surprisingly productive night, hit one of two free throws with three seconds left to essentially seal it. Soroye finished with three points and a season-high 11 rebounds in a season-high 25 minutes.

Soroye's free throw followed two clutch free throws by Reynolds with 11 seconds remaining. Maryland had pulled within 66-65 on James Gist's two free throws at 13 seconds. But Reynolds sank both of his free throws to make it 68-65 before Hayes' errant jumper.

"This is gonna really help me because everybody could tell I was mentally down," Soroye said of his struggles this season. He came into the game averaging 2.1 rebounds and 9.2 minutes and seemed to have regressed from last season.

The second half started as well as the first ended for the Cavaliers, who held their opponent to 70 or fewer points for the fifth consecutive game. They took a 52-37 lead with 15:04 remaining on junior forward Adrian Joseph's 3-pointer from the corner. Joseph made another 3, his third of the game, with 12:11 left to make it 59-44.

Then the Terps made their run. The biggest basket of the run came when Hayes nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 53.2 seconds left, trimming Virginia's advantage to 65-63. With 23.2 seconds left, Virginia swingman Mamadi Diane made the second of two free throws to give the Cavaliers a 66-63 lead. Then Gist made his free throws.

The Cavaliers led by as many as 32-18 in the first half and went into the locker room up 41-31. It was the fifth consecutive year that they led at halftime in College Park. They had won just one of the previous four games. Last year, Virginia led 38-30 at the half but fell 76-65.

Virginia took its 14-point lead on a jump shot by Joseph with 6:19 remaining. The Terps went on a 6-0 run to respond, but Reynolds silenced the re-energized crowd by hitting a 3-pointer with 3:48 left to make it 35-24. Reynolds held his right hand in the air while running back down the court, as if to announce his presence.

He didn't need to. His 13 first-half points – on 5-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-6 on 3s – were enough to attract everyone's attention. Reynolds came into the game second in the ACC in conference-games scoring, with 21.9 points per game.

He staked Virginia to a 16-8 lead with 14:28 remaining in the first half when he yanked down his own missed jumper, made a layup and hit a free throw after getting fouled by Will Bowers. As the layup fell through the net, Reynolds flexed his biceps and roared.

Meanwhile, the Terps' offense disappeared. They shot just 13-of-36, as Gist had just four points, on 2-of-8 shooting. He led the Terps in scoring in each of the past three games, averaging 22 points. In the season's first 20 games, he averaged 11. Gist finished with 10 points.

Cavs refuse to crumble
Maryland storms back; clutch free throws secure another ACC win for U.Va.
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Feb 7, 2007

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - That Maryland would rally last night was certain. The unknown was how the University of Virginia men's basketball team would respond, on the road in the one of the ACC's most hostile arenas.

The Cavaliers staggered under the heat generated by Maryland's comeback, but they never collapsed. The Terrapins, down by 15 with 11 minutes left, cut their deficit to one with 12.6 seconds remaining.

They got no closer. Clutch free throw shooting by senior guard J.R. Reynolds and an unlikely hero, reserve center Tunji Soroye, lifted U.Va. to a 69-65 victory before a stunned crowd of 17,950 at Comcast Center. With the victory, Virginia swept its regular-season series with Maryland for the first time since 2002-03.

"I knew and kept telling the team, 'We've got to stay poised,'" U.Va. coach Dave Leitao said, "because I knew they were coming back."

The Terps (3-6, 17-7) never made it all the way back, however, and so for one day at least, the Wahoos (8-2, 16-6) have first place in the ACC all to themselves. Boston College (7-2, 16-6) can move back into a tie for first with a win tonight at Miami.

"We stemmed the tide, obviously, and did a great job," Leitao said.

Fouled with 11.4 seconds left, Reynolds went to the line for a one-and-one. Calmly, coolly, with screaming Maryland students in the background, he dropped in both free throws to make it 68-65. Freshman point guard Eric Hayes missed a jump shot for Maryland, and then Soroye grabbed the most important rebound of his career.

A 6-11 junior who played his high school ball in Rockville, Soroye was fouled immediately and went to the line for a one-and-one with 3.2 seconds to play. He made the first free throw, dash- ing Maryland's hopes of a miracle finish, and it didn't matter that his second shot rolled out.

Soroye, who played a season-high 25 minutes, came off the bench to grab a career-best 11 rebounds, three more than his previous record. He also contributed four blocked shots, three points, one assist and one steal.It was a performance that prompted his teammates to chant, "Tunji, Tunji, Tunji!" as they raced to the locker room after the final horn.

Virginia has won seven straight ACC games for the first time since 1981-92. Three of those victories have come on the road, the longest such streak for U.Va. since 1994-95.

In each of its four previous visits to the Comcast Center, U.Va. had led at halftime. In only one of those games, however, had the Cavs held on to win: in 2002-03, Pete Gillen's penultimate season as their coach.

The first-half pattern repeated itself last night. Virginia led by as many as 14 in the opening period and went into the break up 41-31.

Only the inspired play of freshman guard Greivis Vasquez, who scored 13 points in the first half, kept the Terrapins from getting blown out early.

Reynolds finished with a game-high with 23 points, and junior forward Adrian Joseph came off to bench to add 13 for U.Va. on 5-for-7 shooting. All-ACC point guard Sean Singletary struggled, as did sophomore swingman Mamadi Diane, but teammates such as Joseph and Soroye and Laurynas Mikalauskas (five rebounds) refused to let the Cavaliers lose.

Soroye hit two pressure free throws with 2:02 left to give U.Va. a 65-60 lead.

"Sean didn't have an 'A game' today," Leitao said, "but you're going to need team wins, and I'm extremely proud of our guys."

Diane, who scored a career-high 26 points in a win over Maryland last month, went to the line for two shots with 23.2 seconds left last night. He badly missed the first, barely hitting the rim, but made the second to push Virginia's lead to 66-63.

Maryland called a timeout with 19.3 seconds left. Instead of going for a 3-pointer, the Terps went inside to junior forward James Gist, who was fouled in the act of shooting. Gist's two free throws made it 66-65 with 12.6 seocnds left.

 

Cavaliers pull out victory over Terps
Despite a nearly six-minute scoreless stretch, Virginia rallies behind Soroye to secure third ACC road win
Clayton O'Toole, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate

College Park, MD-- With three seconds left and Virginia only up three, Cavalier center Tunji Soroye took a deep breath and coolly drained two game-clinching free throws. His two freebies capped a career night for the 6-foot-10 junior, as well as Virginia's seventh consecutive conference win – a 69-65 victory over rival Maryland.

"I definitely felt the pressure," Soroye said of his final two free throws. "But at the same time I was calm. I work on my free throws a lot in practice."

In what has become typical Virginia fashion, the Cavaliers jumped out to a quick 21-10 lead at the 11 minute mark of the first half. Maryland used a six-point run with around five minutes to play to cut the lead to eight. The Terrapins, however, never got any closer in the first as Virginia went into halftime up 41-31.

The Cavs (16-6, 8-2 ACC) came out strong after halftime, stemming a potential Maryland run exiting the locker room. With just over 12 minutes to play, Virginia swingman Adrian Joseph found himself wide open on the wing for three of his 13 points for the game, increasing the Cavaliers' lead to 15.

"Kudos to [Joseph] for shot-making today," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. "I was kidding him yesterday that he owed us some shots, because he hadn't been playing as well lately. He did exactly that."

Things turned sour for Virginia after that, as the Cavaliers embarked on a nearly six-minute scoreless stretch in which Maryland (17-7, 3-6 ACC) scored nine points to pull within six at 59-53.

"Defensively we were strong enough," Leitao said. "But we began to spring a leak sometime during the second half."

Over the last 4:45, Maryland simply couldn't put together enough offense to overcome the Cavaliers, who held on for their third consecutive ACC road win.

The real story of the night was Soroye, who entered last night's contest averaging a paltry 9.2 minutes, 1.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. Last night, however, Soroye was a monster defensively as well as on the glass, grabbing 11 rebounds and totaling four blocked shots. In addition, Soroye held Maryland star forward Ekene Ibekwe to only two first half points and five for the game.

"It was a big time effort from [Soroye]," Leitao said. "I could see it early in the game that he had some extra spring in his legs. Four blocked shots, 11 rebounds and some big, big free throws at the end."

Reynolds led the Cavaliers with 23 points, and the team managed to gain the win despite a sub-par, 10-point performance from All-ACC point guard Sean Singletary.

The Cavaliers will try to extend their winning streak to eight this Saturday afternoon in Blacksburg, when Virginia takes on in-state rival Virginia Tech at 4 p.m.

 

London's presence could be difference for Groh, Cavs
Joey Mancini, Cavalier Daily Columnist

It was initially reported by the Tidewater-area Daily Press last Friday, with further reporting by the Charlottesville Daily Progress yesterday, that current Virginia defensive coordinator Mike London has interviewed with Old Dominion University officials about their head football coaching job.

In 2009, after the matriculation of two recruiting classes, Old Dominion University will begin play on the gridiron. The Daily Press also reported that in addition to London, William & Mary assistant head coach Bob Solderitch has alsointerviewed for the job. Last Thursday, London supposedly toured the ODU campus and facilities, according to the Daily Press.

London, currently under contract with Virginia, formerly coached at various levels for the Houston Texans, Boston College University, the University of Richmond and the College of William & Mary. He came back to the Cavaliers' staff last offseason with high accolades as the stabilizing force on a staff marred with turnover. Four coaches had left Virginia to go elsewhere -- three for head coaching positions. London had previously coached as part of Al Groh's original staff in Charlottesville from 2001 to 2004.

Did you ever see the guy in orange jumping up and down on the sideline whenever Virginia made a play this fall, on offense or defense? That figure was likely Mike London. Always known as a solid recruiter, London kept that reputation and earned another as a catalyst for Virginia come game day.

Despite rumors that London has just been interviewing "for practice," there are obvious personal draws toward the ODU job. For one, it would bring London closer to his family's hometown of Hampton. On a professional level, the opportunity to be a head coach and lead a program literally from the ground up must be enticing for an ambitious guy like London.

But, I'd rather not dissect the personal and professional factors playing into a decision like this. It's not my life and it's not my career.

I will, however, address the possible implications for Virginia if London is offered the job and agrees to go to Old Dominion.

Jan. 24, the Cavalier football schedule was announced for 2007. In a year when Groh probably needs to win at least eight games to keep his job, the schedule conveniently includes nine or 10 very winnable matchups. To avoid scrutiny from a fan base that is restless and may already be shifting toward the basketball court, Groh obviously needs to lead a 180-degree turnaround from his team's 5-7 performance of 2006.

Without Mike London, that task becomes much more difficult. Outside of Jameel Sewell, the only bright spot during the 2006 campaign was London's tenacious, aggressive and viable defense. Age-old weaknesses in the secondary suddenly became strengths. The defensive line saw not only one star emerge (Chris Long) but also a second (Jeffrey Fitzgerald).

While the Cavaliers ranked last or next-to-last in the ACC in total offense, rushing offense, passing offense and scoring offense, they were among the best in the conference defensively, finishing fourth in total defense and third in passing defense.

London has also been the key recruiter for a number of stud 2007 Cavalier commits, including OL Lamar Milstead, LB J'Courtney Williams, and DT Nick Jenkins. A number of 2008 recruits are already tagged as being recruited by London.

In just one year since returning to Charlottesville, London has made an impact on and off the field. Losing him equates not only to a second consecutive offseason of significant instability, but also to a tangible deficit on the defensive end of the field.

It is fortunate for Virginia that the ODU coaching search will extend slightly beyond today's signing day for college football recruits; otherwise, London's impact could have been felt in painful de-commits that would undermine a strong 2007 class that he helped build.

Outside of that, however, if London accepts an opportunity at ODU, it would be unlikely that Virginia would be able to hire a defensive coordinator who would make as immediate an impact as he has. But the larger consequences of losing London won't be visible until the fall, when the Cavaliers commence the most important season in Al Groh's tenure. In his postseason press conference, Groh laid out his expectations for a 2007 campaign where "the prize can be a lot greater" than it potentially was in 2006.

Fans have largely agreed, adding a tough stipulation: Another losing season and you're gone. In fact, most agree that with such talent, expectations and a cushy schedule, anything less than an eight-win season should provoke Groh's dismissal.

If Mike London does leave (and I still want to emphasize the "if"), you would see public smiles because of the respect that London carries in Virginia football circles. Everyone would wish him well, including Al Groh, who has previously pushed London's candidacy for positions elsewhere.

But in the days following London's potential departure, questions like those we discussed before the 2006 season would reemerge for Virginia. This time, however, the stakes would be much higher, with Groh's job on the line amongst perceived disarray. "Rebuilding" was for 2006; a greater prize supposedly awaits in 2007.

Yet, without the services of Mike London, the journey toward that prize becomes much more difficult for Al Groh. And assuming Groh realizes this, you can bet it is pretty tense over at the McCue Center right now. Groh's future may well depend on how London's situation plays out.
 

Cavs aim to convert wins into postseason success
Virginia will begin 2007 season with 12 new names on roster, three are ranked in Perfect Game's top 100 players
Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, Cavalier Daily Senior Writer

This year, the Virginia baseball team was named pre-season No. 9 by Baseball America, an unprecedented honor for the team. The question now facing the team that has made regionals three years in a row -- hosting two -- only to collapse in the first round is, can they live up to the pressure?

Adding to the challenge facing the Cavaliers this year is the fact that three of the top five teams -- including No. 2 Clemson -- are from the ACC.

"You know that every weekend, whether it is one of those top ten teams or not, that it's going to be a team that's good enough to be a top ten team," junior Sean Doolittle said. "So we have to come ready to play every day."

For Virginia, there are two major keys to achieving success this season. The first is finding a way to fill the void left in the pitching staff by the departure of Mike Ballard.

Ballard started 16 games last year for the Cavaliers and had a total record of 9-3, including one no-hitter.

Offensively, Virginia will need to replace Tom Hagan. Hagan started in 61 games for the Cavaliers and had the second best batting average on the team with .357.

"Mike Ballard and Tom Hagan were both great players in our uniform for quite a while and key components," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "You're going to lose guys every year. We've been fortunate with our recruiting the last couple years that I believe we're going to be able to replace those guys."

Fortunately for the Cavaliers, they have one of the best recruiters in the nation in O'Connor. O'Connor pulled down the No. 8 recruiting class in the nation in 2005, his second year at Virginia. Additionally, Virginia welcomes 12 new players, three of whom are ranked in Perfect Game's top 100.

"They're doing really well," Doolittle said. "They've bonded really well with a lot of the older guys. They came in here, they started working hard and they're ready to learn, and that showed to myself and the old guys that they were really here to keep this tradition that we have going on."

While the freshmen will no doubt become key players on the team, Virginia's strength this season will probably lie more in who is returning than whom they have recruited.

Offensively the Cavaliers have senior Brandon Marsh, who holds the top batting average on the team (.380). They also return junior Brandon Guyer, who hit seven home runs last year -- the most on the team -- and David Adams, who hit the second highest number of home runs, even though he was only a freshman.

For pitching, Virginia will probably utilize Doolittle, who started 15 games last year -- one less than Ballard -- and won 11 of them. The only problem with putting Doolittle on the plate is that it leaves his other position, first base, open. Previously, Hagan would take his place.

Hagan "was great because Hagan was versatile," O'Connor said. "How we'll do it is Jeremy Farrell, as of right now, will play first base when Sean Doolittle pitches."

The Cavaliers also have an expert closer in senior Casey Lambert, who holds the record for saves at the University with 32.

With Virginia's strong roster and challenging competition, Cavalier fans can look forward to an exciting season.

"Handling adversity on any team is a big thing," O'Connor said. "I look forward to seeing how this team handles that, because this team has now got a target on its chest, rather than in the past the targets have been on our opponents."

 

Terps can't catch Cavs
Down 15, Maryland trims margin to 3, but UVa. holds on
By Heather A. Dinich
Sun reporter
Originally published February 7, 2007

COLLEGE PARK // Just as it has done all season, the Maryland men's basketball team waited until the end to make a push, and just as time is running out in the Atlantic Coast Conference schedule, it ran out on the Terps last night.
Maryland could not quite overcome a 15-point deficit, despite having a chance to tie the game with five seconds to play, as it fell, 69-65, to Virginia at Comcast Center.

Virginia guard J.R. Reynolds, who scored a game-high 23 points, hit two free throws that put the Cavaliers ahead 68-65 with 11.4 seconds left.

Terps freshman guard Eric Hayes missed a long-range jumper with five seconds left, and a free throw by Virginia's Tunji Soroye with three seconds remaining sealed the win.

Maryland coach Gary Williams, who finally let down his guard and was irritated with his team, called the players' first-half effort "lethargic."

"We played hard the last 10 minutes," Williams said. "If I knew [what the problem was], I would've called eight timeouts and made them play hard. I don't know what the problem was."

He wasn't the only one who couldn't explain it.

"To come out flat at home just doesn't make any sense," said senior guard D.J. Strawberry. "In a game of this magnitude, with Virginia being first in the league and us needing wins every game, to come out flat just didn't make any sense."

Maryland (17-7, 3-6) had lost at home only one other time this season - an ugly, 63-58 defeat by Miami on Jan. 10 - a loss that continues to look worse as the season progresses because of Miami's mounting problems.

Now, the Terps head into Sunday's game against Duke in a tighter situation.

League-leading Virginia (16-6, 8-2 ACC) started its six-game winning streak against Maryland last month and extended it to seven against the Terps last night.

The last time Virginia won more than six conference games in a row was in 1981-82 when it won 11 straight ACC games and finished with a 12-2 league mark.

Williams attributed a chunk of the difference in the game to free-throw shooting and rebounding. The Terps made just eight of 15 free throws and were out-rebounded by 13. At one point in the second half, Williams replaced four starters with reserves.

"I was willing to try anything at that point because we weren't going to win - not execution-wise, but playing at the emotional level we were at," he said.

"Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I thought we played harder toward the end of the game, but there's 30 minutes that goes by before we played at that level. That's not what it takes to win a game like this. Virginia is good."

Hayes, who has proved to be a pure shooter when he gets open, made a clutch three-point shot with 53.2 seconds remaining to close the gap to 65-62. On what should have been Virginia's final possession, Strawberry was called for a foul when he tried to pluck the ball away.

After a sluggish start that included a missed dunk and a missed layup in the first half by Mike Jones, he redeemed himself in the second and gave the Terps a fighting chance at making a comeback.

Jones scored seven straight points for Maryland, including a breakaway dunk at the 5:46 mark that closed the gap to 61-57. It was the closest Maryland had been since the game's opening five minutes and capped a 13-2 run.

As expected, Maryland couldn't completely contain the backcourt duo of Sean Singletary and Reynolds, who combined for 33 points. It wasn't just them, though. Reserve forward Adrian Joseph was 5-for-7 from the field and 3-for-5 from three-point range and added 13 points.

With 15:03 left to play, Joseph hit a three-point shot that put the Cavaliers ahead 52-37. He hit another three-pointer at the 12:13 mark to again give Virginia a 15-point margin.

As Williams walked off the court at halftime, he defiantly pumped his fist twice at the crowd, the same way he does when he walks onto the court for every game. It seemed to indicate a promise he wasn't giving up on this game, despite trailing 41-31 at the half.

After the game, he said he still isn't giving up.

"We could've used this win tonight, obviously, but we have a lot of home games left," Williams said. "We have to take advantage of it and be tough enough to win on the road. There's nothing over. Right now. I've seen it happen before. Here."
 

UVa men top Terps, take ACC lead
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
February 7, 2007

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - First-half leads in College Park are nothing new for Virginia. Holding onto them, that's a different story.
So Tuesday night's game seemed familiar. The Cavaliers led at halftime - the fifth straight year they've done so. Predictably, Maryland stormed back, cutting a 15-point deficit to one in the final minute. All that remained was the breaking point, when the Terrapins finally got over the hump, something the Cavaliers had watched them do each of the last three seasons.

It never happened.

Eric Hayes' jumper from just inside the 3-point line with under 10 seconds didn't fall. Fittingly, 6-foot-11 center Tunji Soroye secured the rebound - his career-high 11th of the game - and sealed the 69-65 win, pushing Virginia's conference winning streak to seven, its longest since the 1981-82 season.

The win elevates the Cavaliers (16-6, 8-2 ACC) to the top of the ACC standings by themselves, a half game ahead of Boston College, which travels to Miami today. It's UVa's best ACC start since the 1982-83 season, Ralph Sampson's senior year.

Virginia won despite getting a big game from only J.R. Reynolds, who led the way with 23 points.

Sean Singletary struggled to a 10-point night, nine below his season average. As a team, the Cavaliers were just 6 of 24 from 3-point range and committed 20 turnovers.

UVa got contributions elsewhere, though. Adrian Joseph scored 13 points off the bench and Soroye had a career game despite scoring just three points. He had an enormous impact, notching an assist, a steal and four blocks in addition to his outstanding night on the boards.

"It was a terrific effort all around," Virginia head coach Dave Leitao said. "Sean didn't have an 'A' game today, but you need team wins sometimes if you're going to keep winning games. I'm extremely, extremely proud of our guys."

With wins against N.C. State, Clemson and Maryland, Virginia has its first three-game ACC road winning streak since the 1994-95 season.

It almost slipped away. Virginia extended a 41-31 halftime lead to 15 with 12:16 remaining on a 3-pointer by Joseph, who had three points in his previous two games but was 5 of 7 from the field Tuesday.

The Cavaliers scored just four points in the next 10 minutes, however. Maryland (17-7, 3-6) went on a 16-4 run, cutting UVa's lead to three with 2:39 left when Greivis Vasquez connected with D.J. Strawberry for an alley-oop layup.

The lead stayed at three until the final minute. James Gist made a pair of free throws for Maryland to cut the lead to 66-65 before the Terps fouled Reynolds with 11.4 seconds left, sending him to the line for a one-and-one.

Reynolds, who missed a crucial free throw at the end of the Stanford loss, calmly sank both.

"I bank on those guys," Leitao said. "You have to mentally make free throws more than have a touch at that point in the game."

Maryland got the ball to Hayes coming out of a timeout. He spun near the top of the key and missed a shot from just inside the 3-point line. Soroye snagged the rebound, was fouled and hit one of two free throws at the other end to end any potential buzzer-beating drama.

Chants of "Tun-ji, Tun-ji" by his teammates echoed in the hallways of the Comcast Center after the game.

"He wasn't playing a lot and was kind of down about that," Leitao said, "and (assistant) coach (Steve) Seymour talked to him and wanted to make sure that he at least came out with some more energy. He did that in practice and obviously today it showed."