Cavs blow lead, fall to Miami
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
February 22, 2007

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - A warm-weather city with lots of Hispanic folks. Not very many fans in the stands. Some very ugly basketball.

If there had been pina coladas on sale in the concession stands, Virginia’s performance against Miami on Wednesday night could have easily been mistaken for one of its nightmarish efforts in the San Juan Shootout.

Yeah, you could say UVa’s latest move into the top 25 probably won’t last long. Playing in the Sunshine State, the Cavaliers were porous on defense, got killed on the boards and couldn’t hit any shots in the second half.

Not a good combo.

The net result was an embarrassing 68-60 loss to Miami in front of 3,707 fans at the BankUnited Center.

“It was a little bit like [Puerto Rico],” said Virginia guard Sean Singletary. “We had an immature showing. We didn’t take care of our business at all.

“As a team, we were disconnected. When you have that, things aren’t going to go your way. You get bad vibes and you struggle.”

Virginia (18-8, 9-4 ACC) had entered the contest tied for first place in the ACC with North Carolina. Miami was dead last.

“College basketball is all about young people’s emotions,” said Virginia coach Dave Leitao. “When they don’t have it, they are not too good. When they have, they are good. I wish that was mentioned more. It’s how games are won and lost.”

As poor as Virginia played, it was in the game until the end. UVa, on the strength of 50-percent shooting, actually had a 35-26 lead at the half. However, the Cavaliers were just 6 of 22 in the second half.

With just 1:06 left, Miami’s Jack McClinton broke a 58-58 tie with a deep 3-pointer from the wing with J.R. Reynolds draped all over him.

After Reynolds hit two free throws to pull Virginia to 61-60 with 52 seconds left, McClinton struck again. Off a set play following a timeout, McClinton received the inbounds pass from Anthony Harris and knocked down another triple with the shot clock running down and 21 seconds remaining on the game clock.

“I work on that a lot when I stay in the gym and take extra shots with the coaches,” said McClinton, who led the Hurricanes with 14 points. “I just came off the screen and knocked it down.

“I don’t know where I was. I just knew I had an open look and let it go.”

Said Reynolds, who was defending McClinton: “I was trying to get around the screen and stay low, and I just lost my footing.”

On the ensuing play, Singletary drove to the hoop, but was tied up for a jump ball after a quick whistle. Miami knocked down four free throws to seal the game.

The Hurricanes (11-16, 4-9) were able to neutralize Singletary and Reynolds for much of the game. Reynolds took just seven shots in scoring 13 points. Singletary had 17, but it came on just 7-of-16 shooting, including 1 of 6 from 3-point range.

“Defense comes down to heart, and everyone went out there and played with heart,” McClinton said. “It wasn’t just one player guarding Singletary and Reynolds, it was everyone helping out.”

In addition to its bricklaying, Virginia was outrebounded 27-12 in the second half.

“We allowed Collins to dominate us on the inside in the second half and offered no resistance,” said Leitao, whose team hosts Georgia Tech on Saturday.

In the first half, Virginia led by only three, but then went on an 11-2 run to take a 30-18 lead.

UVa shot 50 percent from the field and held Miami to 36-percent shooting, but turned the ball over 10 times.

“If we had played to our capabilities, [the lead] would have been much larger at that point,” Leitao said. “We challenged them to do better and we weren’t. We were worse.”

Singletary said Virginia didn’t have the killer instinct it needed.

“We didn’t come out in the beginning and jump on them early like we should have and take control of the momentum of the game,” he said. “Therefore they had a lot of confidence. When you give good players confidence, they can make things happen.”

Reynolds said the team had no focus.

“I’m not going to say we took them lightly, but we just didn’t play our game,” he said. “We weren’t crisp on offense and didn’t play very good team defense. That caught up to us in the end.”

 

Baseball team blanks Coppin State
From staff reports / Charlottesville Daily Progress
February 22, 2007

The Virginia baseball team won its fifth game in as many days, topping Coppin State, 12-0, Wednesday afternoon at Davenport Field. The win improves the Cavaliers’ record to 7-1 on the season, while the Eagles fall to 0-4.

“It is nice to have this five-game stretch done,” said UVa coach Brian O’Connor, “but I thought our guys did a good job of coming to park with a business-like attitude every day and handled it well."

Tyler Cannon, and Patrick Wingfield led the Cavalier offense by each going 2 for 3 on the day. Jeremy Farrell and Mike Mitchell also had two hits a piece for Virginia.

Freshman Neal Davis got his first career win on the mound, allowing no runs on just one hit over three innings.

Men’s Swimming & Diving

Cavs tied in swimming events, but trail overall

In Chapel Hill, N.C., the Virginia men’s swimming and diving team is tied for first place at the 2007 ACC Championship Meet after Wednesday’s competition at Koury Natatorium on the campus of North Carolina. The Cavaliers have 74 points over after the first day of four-day meet, and are tied with Florida State.

The standings do not yet include the diving results, which took place last week during the women’s ACC Championships. The Cavaliers did not score any points during the two diving events and the Seminoles scored 91.

In the first relay of the opening night, the Cavaliers won the race in a meet record 6 minutes, 27.08 seconds. The team of Pat Mellors, Rich Hutton , Stefan Hirniak, and John Millen gave Virginia its eighth consecutive win in the event.

In the other relay of the opening night, the Cavaliers finished second in the 200 medley relay. The team of Bryan Stahl, Vanja Rogulj , Lee Robertson and Greg Imboden swam a time of 1:27.91, and were edged by two-tenths of a second by the Seminoles.

The meet continues through Saturday.

 

Virginia crisp in season opener
By Drew Hansen / dhansen@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
February 22, 2007

On Wednesday night at the U-Hall Turf Field, Virginia Tech attack Kady McBrearty broke down the middle of the field and netted a goal against her twin sister, Virginia goalkeeper Kendall McBrearty, to tie the score at one goal apiece in the seventh minute.

With the early score, the Hokies took a little extra time to celebrate, maybe sensing this was there chance to hold the momentum and take a shot at a tough UVa women’s lacrosse team.

In actuality, it was the last time the Hokies really had any reason to be merry.

Virginia held possession for much of the remaining half and built a sizeable lead in what became a 15-2 rout.

Kate Breslin scored seven goals - four of which were assisted by fellow attack Ashley McCulloch - to lead the Cavaliers, who found victory in their season opener.

“It felt really, really good [to get out and play]. We were really anxious to get the season underway,” said Breslin, who struggled with a hip flexor injury for much of last season. “It definitely felt good. We played really well and we’re happy with today’s win.”

After some shaky stickhandling and passing in the early going, Virginia found its offense and settled down.

The ninth-ranked Cavs (1-0, 1-0 ACC) had multiple scoring opportunities early in the game, but players were missing catches and even throwing the ball away.

“First couple minutes definitely were a little hairy,” Breslin said. “After a while we were able to connect and the defense played great, and we were able to cause a lot of turnovers and the midfield attackers were able to capitalize on that.”

Virginia took control in transition, as its attack and midfielders made long runs up the field, and the passing got crisp around the net.

Virginia’s Blair Weymouth, last year’s national rookie of the year, made a long run down the right flank in the ninth minute, broke to the net and made a spot-on pitch to Breslin for her second goal - the first of three straight from the senior - to build a 4-1 lead.

With 10:07 remaining, Jess Wasilewski netted Virginia’s prettiest goal of the night.

Kaitlin Duff, a speedy freshman, made a quick run down the right flank and passed the ball back toward the front of the goal to catch Wasilewski in stride for the Cavs’ eighth goal of the night.

“It was good to see our kids settle down, recapture some of that poise and then take control of the game,” said Virginia coach Julie Myers, now in her 11th year at the Cavs’ helm.

Myers was particularly enthused with the play of Breslin.

“Kate’s a great player,” the coach said. “She’s always had amazing hands and the ability to score a bazillion goals. It’s great to have Kate back. I think she’s going to take a lot of pressure off of Blair Weymouth, off of Ashley McCulloch and everybody else that plays attack. Having her back is huge.”

Kady McBrearty scored the only other goal for Virginia Tech (0-2, 0-1) with 7:14 remaining in the first half off a restart in front of the Cavs’ net.

Breslin’s final goal gave the Cavs a 12-2 lead with 23:00 remaining in the second half and Myers didn’t hesitate to empty her bench for the remainder of the game.

Notes

Virginia earned a point in the Commonwealth Challenge with the victory, extending its lead to 8.5-4.5 in the yearlong competition with its chief in-state rival. … The Cavs improved to 27-5 in season openers and 26-6 in home openers in program history. ... Virginia travels to Temple on Sunday at 1 p.m. for its next game.

 

UVa falls out of 1st at Miami3 DECK HED WILL GO HERE
The Hurricanes grab the lead for good with just over a minute to play to cap a sizable comeback.READIN HERE AND HERE AND HERE 4 DECKS.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CORAL GABLES, Fla.-- Virginia hasn't been this close to Puerto Rico since December.

That's in terms of performance as well as geography.

The Cavaliers came into the BankUnited Center with a share of first place in the ACC and left with chants of "overrated" ringing in their ears Wednesday night after a 68-60 loss to Miami.

Virginia (18-8 overall, 9-4 ACC) led by as many as 12 points in both halves but did not score from the field in the final 5:30 and missed 12 of its last 14 shots.

Miami (11-16, 4-9) took its first lead of the second half at 53-51, then fell behind 56-53 before coming back to take the lead for good, 61-58, on a Jack McClinton 3-pointer with 1:06 remaining.

After the Cavaliers closed the deficit to 61-60 on a pair of J.R, Reynolds free throws, McClinton hit another 3-pointer with 25 seconds left.

When coach Frank Haith sensed that his team was struggling to get a good look, he called timeout with 25.7 seconds to play. McClinton was the first option as he took the inbounds and wheeled after coming off a screen.

"J.R. got through the screen all right," UVa coach Dave Leitao said, "but, then, he slipped."

McClinton, averaging a team-high 16.3 points before Wednesday night, was 2-for-9 from the field before his dramatic 3-pointers ruined the night for his old coach, UVa assistant Rob Lanier.

Lanier coached McClinton as a freshman at Siena in 2004-2005, but the season did not go well. Lanier lost his job and McClinton looked into transferring.

"Sure, there was consideration," said McClinton, when asked if he looked at Virginia as a possible destination, "but that was a long time ago."

Virginia had won nine of its past 10 games in turning around a season that looked bleak when the Cavaliers lost two of three at the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico.

Reynolds and Singletary weren't at their best in that three-day event and they weren't at their peak Wednesday night, combining to make only two of nine 3-pointers. Singletary had one assist and four turnovers, the last with 16 seconds left and UVa down 64-60.

"I don't think either one played the way they're capable of playing," Leitao said. "And there was nobody behind them."

Actually, freshman Jamil Tucker hit three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points in only his third appearance in the last five games, but there was little other redeeming value to the Cavaliers' trip.

Virginia shot 39.1 percent from the field, committed 17 turnovers (seven on offensive fouls) and was outrebounded 41-32.

Miami freshman Dwayne Collins had 12 of his game-high 14 rebounds in the second half, when the Hurricanes outrebounded UVa 27-12.

"Coach [Haith] got on me at the half," said Collins, who also had eight of his 11 points in the second half.

"What he told me was, I wasn't rebounding, I wasn't scoring, I wasn't doing what I was supposed to be doing."

Singletary and Reynolds entered the game ranked second and fifth, respectively, in free-throw shooting in the ACC, but in a 2:22 span late in the game, both missed front ends of one-and-ones.

As to whether the missed free throws had a deflating effect, Leitao said: "I think that's a reach."

If an Adrian Joseph 3-point try had connected, Virginia would have had a 15-point first-half lead, but Leitao had an uneasy feeling up 35-26 at the break.

"We were out of sorts defensively, but we left many, many opportunities out there," he said. "I thought that lead was capable of being a lot larger.

"I challenged them to be better in the second half and we weren't. We were worse. Never during the course of the game did I feel comfortable with what we were doing offensively. I didn't think we played well offensively in our last game."

Virginia, which fell into a tie with Virginia Tech for second place in the ACC, shot 37.3 percent Saturday in a 73-70 victory over Florida State.

The Cavaliers return home Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. game with Georgia Tech and there will be no assurances if Virginia doesn't return to its midseason form.

"It's a disappointing loss," said Singletary, whose 17 points led all scorers. "We didn't take care of business, but fortunately we've got three [regular-season] games left."

 

Second-half surge fuels CanesDwayne Collins had 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds to help UM erase a nine-point halftime deficit and beat its third ranked opponent this season.
BY ROMAN O. GARCIA JR.
Miami Herald Writer

Miami used a ferocious rally from a nine-point halftime deficit to defeat No. 24 Virginia 68-60 on Wednesday night in front of 3,707 fans at BankUnited Center.

Sparked by the hustle of Dwayne Collins and clutch shooting from guards Jack McClinton, Denis Clemente and Anthony Harris, the Hurricanes were able to defeat their third ranked opponent this season.

Collins, a freshman from Miami Senior High, finished with 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season.

McClinton added 14 points, and Clemente (eight points) and Harris (11 points) provided clutch shooting in the second half.

McClinton connected on two three-pointers in the final minute to give Miami the lead to stay.

''I've been staying late after practice working on my shooting,'' McClinton said.

``I just had full confidence when I put those shots up.''

Brian Asbury, who finished with 11 points and six rebounds, hit four free throws in the final 15 seconds to seal the victory.

STRONG SECOND HALF

Miami (11-16, 4-9 Atlantic Coast Conference) opened the second half on a 10-5 run that was punctuated by a follow-up dunk by Collins. The run cut the Virginia (18-8, 9-4) lead to four points with 15:27 left.

The Hurricanes would take their first lead since 3-2 when Harris hit a shot to make it 53-51 with 7:51 left in the game.

''Tonight was a hard-fought game,'' said Miami coach Frank Haith, whose team drew six offensive fouls. ``I thought we played outstanding defense in the second half.''

Virginia, which came into the game having won nine of its past 10 games, was led by Sean Singletary (17 points) and J.R. Reynolds (13 points).

The Hurricanes, who forced 17 turnovers, welcomed the strong play of Jimmy Graham, who appeared in his second game since returning from injury, in the post with five points and five rebounds.

''Having Jimmy back really helps me out a lot,'' said Collins, who was limited to two points and two rebounds in the first half.

``The other teams need to concentrate on him a bit, allowing me to move around a little bit.''

Miami connected on 10 three-pointers compared to seven for Virginia.

DIALING LONG RANGE

McClinton had four three pointers to pace the Hurricanes from behind the arc.

Meanwhile, Miami outrebounded the Cavaliers 41-32 after being outrebounded (20-14) in the first half.

''Since the game at Virginia [on Feb. 3], we've learned a lot,'' Haith said.

``Tonight we made the plays, and we need to carry the momentum from tonight into our final three regular-season games.''

The Cavaliers, who came into the game tied atop the ACC standings, led by as many as 12 points late in the first half, using an 11-4 run to pull away from the Hurricanes.

Singletary paced Virginia in the first half with 11 points, and Miami was led by Harris' six points.

Miami shot 35.7 percent (10 of 28) in the first half, and the Cavaliers shot 50 percent (12 of 24).

The Hurricanes forced 10 turnovers in the half.

Miami next plays Saturday at Virginia Tech (19-8, 9-4), which defeated Boston College 79-62 on Wednesday.

 

Listless Cavs fall to Canes
McClinton completes Miami's rally with two late, lethal 3-pointers
BY SOLANGE REYNER
Feb 22, 2007
MIAMI 68 VIRGINIA 60

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Even though Virginia kept its distance in the first half, coach Dave Leitao didn't feel comfortable with what his team was doing on offense.

Eventually, he said, the Cavaliers' defective execution and lack of focus caught up with them in the second half. When U.Va. sputtered, the Miami Hurricanes, currently residing in the basement of the Atlantic Coast Conference, did just the opposite. A strong second half enabled the Hurricanes to pull off a 68-60 upset of the No. 24 Cavaliers last night.

Miami (4-9 ACC, 11-16) pushed the intensity behind solid performances from forward Dwayne Collins, who posted his fifth double-double; and Jack McClinton, who hit two Enormous 3-pointers in the final 66 seconds.

"I think Miami had an edge in the second half in the way they approached the game mentally," Leitao said.

Miami, loser of eight of its past nine games before its win over Virginia, wouldn't quit. While the Hurricanes are still undermanned -- they lost two starters for the year and recently returned post player Jimmy Graham (broken hand) -- they have put pressure on conference foes throughout the season.

Three of their recent conference defeats have come by a margin of nine or fewer points.

"We needed something like this to get us back on our heels," said McClinton, who finished with 14 points, 12 of which came from beyond the arc.

Virginia now must look to recover. The Cavaliers have three conference games left, two at home, before the ACC tournament starts on March 8. They also have their second matchup against Virginia Tech on March 1. The Hokies blew them out 84-57 in early February.

"We've got to be much more efficient with what we're doing," Leitao said.

Miami seemed to have more success in the second half simply because Collins became more aggressive. Collins had eight points in the opening minutes of the half, a surged that enabled Miami to pare a nine-point halftime deficit to 40-36.

Turnovers and missed jumpers didn't help the Cavaliers during that key stretch. Miami also managed to limit J.R. Reynolds (13 points) and Sean Singletary (17 points), who combined had 12 points in the second half. Miami was superior beneath the backboards (41-32) and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds to Virginia's 10.

Miami tied the game twice before taking the lead for only the second time in the game when Anthony Harris hit a layup with 7:40 remaining to make it 53-51.

McClinton's 3-pointer at 1:06 put the Hurricanes ahead at stay at 61-58. Reynolds hit two free throws to make it 61-60 with 51 seconds remaining before McClinton hit his fourth 3-pointer of the night with just under 30 seconds remaining.

 

Cavaliers slam Coppin St.
Virginia win out against Eagles 12-0 before game called in seventh inning
Eric Kolenich, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor

The Cavaliers came out of the gate strong yesterday, tagging Coppin State freshman pitcher Drew Boyer for six runs in the first inning. Virginia (7-1) added another six and won 12-0 in a game that was called after seven innings.

"A six [run] spot in the bottom of the first is a great boost, especially for a pitcher," freshman pitcher Neal Davis said.

Despite the lopsided score, Virginia coach Brian O'Connor expected more from his team against Coppin State (0-4), which has a 13-man roster and only two pitchers.

"Baseball's a crazy game," O'Connor said. "We really did not hit that many balls hard today. It should have taught our team, as well as their team, if you throw strikes and throw the ball to the plate, you've got a chance. I looked up [at the scoreboard] after a couple innings and they had given up six or eight runs and we had really only hit about three balls hard."

O'Connor used yesterday's game as a chance to play some players that wouldn't normally see playing time.

Senior catcher Ryan Hudson saw time at first base, freshman pitcher Matt Packer was in the lineup as designated hitter and senior John Scaglione played the whole game at second base.

"I just like the fact that we can score runs from anywhere in our lineup," O'Connor said.

Despite the slightly unfamiliar names in the Virginia lineup, big numbers were not absent.

Freshman shortstop Tyler Cannon went two for three with two RBIs and two runs scored, and the Cavaliers played hard through the whole game, stealing three bases.

"We don't take any team any lighter than others," Davis said. "[O'Connor] told me to go out there and throw strikes, have confidence, and the way we've been playing the last few days –- very few errors, putting up a lot of runs –- it gives pitchers a lot of confidence."

Davis made the first start of his career yesterday, following freshman Jeff Lorick, who made his first career start yesterday. Like Lorick, Davis found success in the first start of his career yesterday.

"It definitely gives me a lot of confidence in my pitching ability, Davis said. "I know that if I throw strikes and have confidence in my fielders, and do what I've been taught to do by the coaches, I'm going to come through."

Davis went three innings, giving up one hit, striking out six. Sophomore southpaw Brad Grove pitched three perfect innings and sophomore Shane Warren made his season debut with a one-hit seventh inning.

After five straight games, the Cavaliers finally get a day off today.

"I'm just glad this five-game stretch is over with," O'Connor said. "This early in the season, having that many games scrunched together, I thought our guys took a business-like attitude to the five games and played pretty well."

The Cavaliers open a three-game series tomorrow against Bucknell at Davenport Field.
 

Cavaliers crush Hokies in opener
Virginia delivered a convincing 15-2 loss to Virginia Tech last night, aided by Breslin's 15 goals
Sam Dreiman, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

As the No. 9-ranked Virginia women's lacrosse team walked off University Hall Turf Field last night, not a frown was to be found on anyone's face.

The Cavaliers handed a severe beating to the Hokies in their season-opener with a 15-2 win, immediately bringing them to first place in the conference with a 1-0 record overall and in the ACC. Virginia also improved its all-time series against Tech to 11-0.

"We were anxious to get off to a good start," senior attack Kate Breslin said, who led the game with seven goals. "It was a little hairy in the first couple minutes, but it felt good once we got into the swing of things. I think a lot of attention focused on Blair [Weymouth] and some other attackers, so we were definitely able to open up things for my teammates and myself."

Breslin started off the game by recording the first four goals for the Cavaliers in a span of less than six minutes.

Virginia's fifth goal came with 13½ minutes left in the first half, when freshman midfielder Brittany Kalkstein passed from behind the goal to the left side for an easy shot in the net by senior midfielder and co-captain Jess Wasilewski.

Wasilewski would return the favor later in the second half when Kalkstein made a sharp cut to the center of the goal through the assist, helping Kalkstein record her first career goal as a Cavalier.

"I think one of our focuses on attack was to be patient, move the ball and look for open players, and it showed up a lot of assists instead of one-on-ones," sophomore attacker Ashley McCulloch said, who recorded four assists of her own last night.

Other than Virginia's dominating offense, what was most impressive was the defense's protection of the net.

"On defense, we did what we were supposed to do," junior goalkeeper Kendall McBrearty said. "We followed instructions, we got our doubles, we got the ground balls we wanted, we got the interceptions we wanted and we held them to seven shots. That's fantastic."

It was clear that every time Virginia Tech moved the ball into Cavalier territory, Virginia's defense clamped down hard. The defense hustled all around to prevent any mistakes that might cost Virginia a goal. The offense exhibited real structure and patience as well, taking its time in developing each play to come out with a goal during each possession.

"We tried to play a slowdown offense so we could really go through our systems," Virginia coach Julie Myers said. "We really wanted to make sure we could be disciplined and stick to an offense."

Last night's success represented more than season-opening win; to start off with an in-conference victory will boost morale and the squad's intensity in the games to come.

Virginia Tech's two goals were both recorded by junior attacker Kady McBrearty, Kendall's twin sister.

"It was interesting. It's never happened before," Kendall said about her sister scoring the Hokies' goals against her. "I like playing against her [Kady]. I'm happy she got those two goals. If anybody had to have them it was her."

Virginia travels to Philadelphia Sunday for its next match against Temple.