Virginia wraps up a good bye
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
February 25, 2007

On Wednesday night in Coral Gables, Fla., Virginia coach Dave Leitao had a befuddled look on his face following his team’s surprising loss to last-place Miami.

On Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville, the look was back.

However, this time there were a few chuckles mixed in.

A shocking, come-from-behind win that all but guarantees his team a spot in the NCAA Tournament - and clinches a bye in the first round of the ACC Tournament - was the reason.

No. 24 Virginia, thanks to a putback basket by Tunji Soroye with 32 seconds left, overcame a seven-point deficit in the final 3:41 to defeat Georgia Tech, 75-69, in front of a crowd of 14,564.

The victory was UVa’s 10th in conference play - the most since the 1994-95 campaign.

“As I just told the team and my assistants - for the life of me, I’m not exactly sure what happened,” said a wide-eyed Leitao. “We started off the game really well and we finished the game really well.

“All that stuff in the middle … I told [Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt] after the game that they really kicked our tails physically.”

Virginia (19-8, 10-4 ACC) was led by J.R. Reynolds’ 25 points. Sean Singletary had 24. The rest of the team had just 26 points.

UVa was obliterated on the inside for much of the second half. Georgia Tech (18-10, 6-8), which was led by Thaddeus Young (15 points) and Ra’Sean Dickey (14 points), outrebounded the Cavaliers, 35-27.

Two free throws by freshman Javaris Crittenton put the Yellow Jackets up 69-62 with 3:41 remaining. However, they didn’t score again the rest of the way as Virginia closed the game on a 13-0 run.

After a pair of Singletary free throws and a defensive stop, Reynolds exploded to the basket and connected on a three-point play to make it 69-67.

“I knew what position we were in,” said Reynolds, who was 9 of 17 from the field. “I just knew we needed a boost. I’m a leader of this team, and I knew I had to step up.”

On the ensuing Georgia Tech possession, it was Soroye’s turn. The 6-foot-11 Nigerian forced a Dickey turnover that led to a fastbreak. Singletary attempted a crazy 360 move that missed badly, but Jason Cain was there for the put-back to tie the score.

The game remained tied until Soroye followed up a missed Singletary 3-pointer with 32 seconds left.

“I just went for the ball,” Soroye said. “I didn’t have any rebounds in the first half and for [several] minutes in the second half. Coach [Leitao] started yelling at me. He said, ‘Have you got a rebound?’ I was like, ‘No.’

“So when I saw the ball go up, I didn’t know it was going to come out. I just went for it.”

Said Singletary: “It was wide open. I should have knocked it down. Everybody was watching me and expecting the shot to go in and Tunji was in the right place at the right time.

“He really manhandled them down low. It wasn’t like an easy layup. He had to show some grit and some heart and put that basket back in.”

Georgia Tech’s Anthony Morrow missed an open 17-footer with 17 seconds left and Virginia iced the game at the free-throw line.

“For a lot of that game, we had two guys who could play,” said Leitao, referring to Singletary and Reynolds, “but we weren’t defending, rebounding and playing tough.

“At the end of the game, they decided to get some stops as a group. Jason came up big and Tunji started clogging and making it a little more difficult to do what they were doing.”

In the first half, the game looked like it might be a blowout.

Virginia stormed out to a 22-6 lead. A Will Harris 3-pointer put UVa up 29-17 at the 8:41 mark.

However, Georgia Tech responded with a 16-0 run to take a 32-29 lead.

Virginia, which went nearly seven minutes without scoring, was pulverized inside by Smith and Dickey and trailed 38-34 at the break.

“We came out of the gates strong, but like we tend to do, we have lapses,” said Singletary, who had a team-high seven rebounds. “It’s a natural tendency to slip up and relax, but fortunately we were able to be resilient after we struggled.”

Leitao had difficulty dissecting his team’s performance.

“I’ll have to look at it again,” he said, “because it was all a blur.”

Dunks

Georgia Tech leads the all-time series, 36-28. …Virginia is now 15-1 at the John Paul Jones Arena. The 15 home wins is the most in school history. … In the pregame introductions, one of the loudest ovations was for Soroye, who has come on in the last several games. … With the win, Leitao has now defeated every team in the ACC in his first two years at Virginia. … Singer/songwriter Bruce Hornsby was in attendance.


 

Singletary, Reynolds get it done, again
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
February 25, 2007

As Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt aptly pointed out, host Virginia appeared dead in the water with just under four minutes to play in Saturday’s game at John Paul Jones Arena.

Everything, it seemed, had gone the visiting Yellow Jackets’ way up until then. Tech had dictated the game’s pace, had controlled the backboards, and was simply having its way with the less physical Cavaliers down in the paint.

Dave Leitao had something, too, his aces in the hole: Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds.

How many times has this dynamic backcourt duo rode to Virginia’s rescue?

Enough to lock up the Cavaliers’ first 10-win season in ACC play since 1994-95. Enough to assure the Cavs a first-round bye in the upcoming ACC Tournament. Enough to propel them into March Madness for only the second time in a decade.

Saturday was yet another example of how one play can turn a game completely around.

Down by seven points (69-62) with 3:41 remaining and the situation deteriorating quickly, things didn’t look good for the Wahoos. They had returned home after playing uninspired basketball in a losing cause to last-place Miami a few days before. Tech, a program that has redefined what it means to be a bad road team, came in looking to enhance its postseason status with an upset.

And for the first 37 minutes, Leitao agreed that the Yellow Jackets had basically kicked the Cavaliers’ tails.

What happened after that was pretty much a blur, even to Leitao, who helped take UVa (19-8, 10-4) closer to 20 wins.

“As I just told the team and the assistant coaches - for the life of me, I’m not sure what just happened,” Leitao said after watching his Cavaliers claw back for a 75-69 win.

What really happened was the stuff that athletes dream about.

Virginia reeled off 13 unanswered points to end the game. Stunned Georgia Tech never scored again after taking that 69-62 lead with 3:41 remaining.

And just guess who got things going in the Cavs’ favor?

Singletary, who scored 24 points, started the comeback with a drive down the lane and was fouled. He converted both shots.

Reynolds, who scored a game-high 25 points, made perhaps the biggest play of the game. He drove into the Land of the Vertically Gifted, scored and was fouled by Tech’s Ra’Sean Dickey, converting a three-point play the old-fashioned way.

Because the two Wahoo guards know the way to the basket the way muggers know the way to Central Park, they quickly whittled Tech’s lead to two at 69-67 with 2:45 to play.

After all the stirring comebacks the Cavaliers have made this season, they had to feel they were golden with that much time remaining on the clock.

“There’s not much anybody can say in a situation like that,” said Singletary. “Everybody just agrees to give up themselves for the good of the team and it usually works out well.”

“We just picked up the intensity, got a couple of stops on defense, and at last got on the offensive boards,” said Reynolds.

Hewitt said that Reynolds’ drive was the one critical defensive breakdown for his team down the stretch and it cost his team (18-10, 6-8) dearly.

“We just inexplicably got out of his way,” Hewitt bemoaned as his team lost for the 19th time in its last 20 road games dating back two years. “They got a three-point play and that’s what got their momentum going.”

It was the 17th consecutive game in which the tandem had scored in double figures and the third time this season both scored more than 20 in a game.

Tech had to believe things were still in its favor. At least all the indicators pointed that way. Coming into the game, the Jackets were 15-2 when leading at the half and 16-4 when outrebounding their opponent.

It’s usually Singletary and Reynolds that finish off the job.

But on this day, they needed a little help from their friends.

And, it was about time. For most of the game, the rest of Virginia’s players had been standing around watching the two Wahoo stars do it on their own. In fact, from the 8:41 mark of the first half until a Jason Cain dunk with 6:36 to play in the game, all of UVa’s points (23 of them) were scored by either Singletary or Reynolds.

With the game on the line, Cain scored on a stickback to knot it at 69-all with 2:25 remaining. Neither team scored again for nearly two minutes when Tunji Soroye put back a rebound for a 71-69 lead with 33 ticks left on the clock.

Tech imploded as customary outside of its own Thriller Dome, and Virginia took full advantage. Singletary finished off the Jackets with two free throws at the 15-second mark and Cain added a couple more.

The Cavaliers improved to 15-1 at home in front of the building’s namesake, John Paul Jones, who was sitting courtside to watch this team become the first in UVa history to stack up that many home victories.

Give Leitao credit. He recognized long ago that he had something very special in Reynolds and Singletary, the best guard duo in the ACC, if not the nation.

All along he has said that Virginia will go as far as these two guards will carry it. So far, that’s a pretty good journey with two regular-season games remaining before the ACC Tournament in Tampa, Fla.

Still, he is wary of the mileage on their bodies. Singletary played 39 minutes and Reynolds 38 in the game.

“I worry about it all the time,” said Leitao afterward. “I try to be smart about it and rest them. We’re going to keep riding it until somebody tells us we can’t ride it anymore. If anybody is going to be good, especially this time of year, their best players are going to be good for them.”

He’s right. That’s what crunch time is all about - great players doing great things.

Right now, Virginia is hoping to ride on that ticket all the way to the Big Dance.
 

Cavs bounce back versus Stony Brook
By Jim Furlong / Daily Progress correspondent
February 25, 2007

STONY BROOK, N.Y. - The Virginia Cavaliers replaced a week’s stress with success Saturday afternoon.

Coach Dom Starsia and team captains Ricky Smith and Drew Thompson, who are all natives of Long Island, competed near their roots and shared a dominating victory and a sense of relief with their teammates.

Danny Glading and Jack Riley each scored four goals to propel UVa to a 15-7 men’s lacrosse romp over the Stony Brook Seawolves.

The eight-ranked Cavaliers surged with an 8-0 run to start the second half, and their defenders and goalkeeper Kip Turner shut out the home team for almost a 40-minute span.

“That was a really nice win for us on the road,” Starsia said. “I was really proud of our guys, especially in the second half. .... We really tightened up on defense, especially.”

Starsia, during the post-game press conference, looked like a person who eliminated a lingering burden. He was eager to see this squad bounce back after losing its season opener against Drexel, 11-10, last Sunday at Klockner Stadium.

“I can tell you it has not been a restful week. That’s the honest truth,” Starsia said. “We have a young,

different team [compared to the 2006 NCAA champion]. ... I think we were a little startled by the [home] result last weekend.”

UVa has not started a season with back-to-back losses since 1966.

“I don’t want to overplay the point,” the coach said. “It was a stressful week. ... It really would have been hard to come back from 0-2.

I thought we had much better focus this week and, certainly, coming into this game, they showed a steely determination. We got after it the whole time.”

The Cavaliers spoiled Stony Brook’s season opener with a 42-29 advantage on shots and hustled for a 38-24 margin on ground balls.

“We came out with a lot more energy than last week,” Thompson said.

“I thought we were a lot smarter this week,” Smith said. “Like the coach said, our defense really stepped it up in the second half, the juices were flowing. We were really antsy to get back on the game field.”

Ben Rubeor, the third UVa captain, and Smith both believed a week of hard work paid off.

“After the game, [Thompson] and I actually said there was kind of a sense of relief,” Rubeor said. “We are team captains and there is a sense of responsibility to lead the team and come out victorious.”

Stony Brook, which lost its three previous meetings against the Cavaliers by a combined 60-12 margin, proved competitive in the first half. In chilly, sunny weather at LaValle Stadium, the Seawolves trailed 6-5 with 9 minutes, 47 seconds remaining in the second quarter, but Glading provided a two-goal lead at halftime.

Working from behind the cage, using solo moves with his superior quickness and agility, Glading pounced for the first two second-half goals. Garrett Billings, assisted by Rubeor, tallied with 7 seconds left in the third period for a 10-5 margin.

Riley, a junior with a career scoring high, added two fourth-quarter scores as the Cavs pulled away before an announced crowd of 2,262.

Stony Brook scored twice in the final minute.

UVa defenders Smith, Ken Clausen, Mike Timms and Matt Kelly helped limit the Seawolves to two shots in the third quarter, when the Cavs led 15-6 on ground balls.

“It comes down to experience. They have more,” said Bo Tripodi, who scored a team-high three goals for Stony Brook. “And in the third, they cashed in their opportunities.”

In the second half, Stony Brook often failed to clear the ball and fumbled several passes.

“A lot of that was Virginia’s athleticism, putting constant pressure on; bumping poles,” said first-year Stony Brook coach Rick Sowell. “[The final stats] said 16 of 20 clears for us. There is no way. I can’t believe we had seven of nine in the third quarter.”

Senior goalkeeper Brendan Callahan made 19 saves (10 more than UVa’s total).

“Brendan was seeing a lot more shots than he should have been,” Sowell said. “We couldn’t clear the ball and gave Virginia extra possessions.”

The Seawolves were listed with eight turnovers in the third quarter, and finished with five more than the Cavaliers (18-13).

Steve Giannone contributed two UVa goals and Billings, Glading, Rubeor and George Huguely each distributed two assists.

The Cavaliers return to action next Saturday, facing Syracuse in Baltimore. Second-ranked Syracuse will drop in the college polls after losing 8-6 against unranked Army on Friday night at the Carrier Dome.

 

Cavs take doubleheader from Bison
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
February 25, 2007

An eight-day stretch that his players dreamed of could not have ended soon enough for Virginia coach Brian O’Connor.

Knowing what playing practically every day over that span can do to a team and its pitching staff, O’Connor was more than willing to take the results: Eight wins, zero losses.

Virginia capped the perfect stretch with a doubleheader sweep of Bucknell on Saturday at Davenport Field - the Cavaliers won the opener, 3-0, before exploding for 13 hits in a 13-2 victory in the nightcap.

The seventh-ranked Cavaliers improved to 10-1 overall, while Bucknell (0-4) remained winless.

“We played eight games in eight days and you don’t do that in college baseball anymore,” O’Connor said. “It was nice to go through it, and how about the pitching that we got over that eight-game span.

“I don’t know what the ERA was but it had to be below 1.00”

Thanks to Jacob Thompson, who started the opener, second-game starter Matt Packer and four relievers, O’Connor was correct - through 80 innings, Virginia allowed only

seven earned runs (0.90 ERA).

Thompson (3-0) was masterful in the opener, giving up just two hits over seven full innings.

The only considerable bump in the road came in the sixth with the game scoreless. With two outs and two runners in scoring position, Thompson fanned Chris Pieper on a 3-2 pitch with a dipping slider that dropped below the bat.

As the sophomore raced off the field, he was mobbed by his teammates and almost lost his hat in the process.

“We had a good crowd turn out so that always gets you pumped up,” Thompson said.

The Cavaliers made sure Thompson got the win with a lone run in the sixth and tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh.

“Jacob won 10 ball games last year for a reason … he made a lot of clutch pitches when he needed to with runners in scoring position,” O’Connor said. “He is not a guy that is going to go out and dominate an entire game. There’s going to be some baserunners, but he made the big pitches when he needs to.”

In the second game, Virginia returned to an offensive attack that mirrored its efforts early in the eight-game stretch. The Cavaliers scored three in the second and added two more in the third, which gave Packer (2-0) more than enough run support.

The left-handed rookie went 5.2 innings, scattering eight hits while allowing two earned runs.

Virginia, sporting a .376 batting average at home, blew the game open in the seventh with a six-run inning.

Bucknell, which had played only one game prior to the series, left a favorable impression on O’Connor. Most of that concerned the Bison’s pitching.

“[Bucknell] pitched us well all weekend,” O’Connor added. “They did a nice job of changing speeds and they have a veteran pitching staff … and they pitched like it.

“There were some struggles for us all weekend, especially offensively, but that’s what we are going to have to deal with in our league.”

After two needed days off, Virginia plays Tuesday at home against VMI at 4 p.m.

 

Singletary, Reynolds the Cavaliers' glue
Dave Fairbank
February 25 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Two questions arise darn near every time Virginia's basketball team takes the court these days:

How in the name of Wally Walker have the Cavaliers won this many games?

How bad would they be without J.R. Reynolds and Sean Singletary?

The Cavaliers' alpha duo again carried the day in a 75-69 win against Georgia Tech that was as peculiar as it was remarkable.

Virginia won the first eight minutes and the last three minutes. In between, the Cavaliers looked like guys hanging onto a window ledge three stories up against a Georgia Tech team that is deep, athletic and mad long.

"I think what happened, simply put, is we have two very, very special players who at any point in time can make plays," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. "If you surround them with a team that plays defense and plays tough and rebounds, then you have a chance to win each and every night."

As much as Leitao knows the Cavs' formula for success, even he was flummoxed by exactly how his team pulled off Saturday's high-wire act.

Georgia Tech at times pounded Virginia on the boards. Reynolds' and Singletary's teammates provided little help for lengthy stretches. The Yellow Jackets' size - their shortest player is 6-foot-5 - made life difficult for Virginia.

The Cavs trailed by seven points with less than four minutes remaining and appeared, as Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said, "dead in the water." The Yellow Jackets ran their offense well and for the most part, got the shots they wanted.

So all Virginia did was score the game's final 13 points. Go figure.

The game's notable baskets late were two offensive rebound put-backs, first by Jason Cain to tie the game at 69 and the second by Tunji Soroye with 32 seconds left that put Virginia up 71-69.

But Cain and Soroye aren't in position to be late heroes without Singletary and Reynolds.

The two combined for 49 of the Cavaliers' 75 points. They scored Virginia's first 16 points of the second half.

From the 8:42 mark of the first half to the 6:36 mark of the second half, no one other than Reynolds or Singletary scored for Virginia - a dandy little 22-minute, 6-second span of offensive monopoly.

"I wouldn't say we have to do too much," Reynolds said, "but we've got to do enough to put ourselves in a position to win. We've got to do whatever it takes, to put the team on our backs, especially when things ain't going our way."

Leitao said that he constantly challenged the rest of the team "not to just stand around and watch them be good, but the other three guys that were on the court to give us some help in some different kind of area. And we weren't doing that for a large part of the game. We were just watching them be good. Finally, in the late stages of the game, we did other things to help us win."

Reynolds' three-point play with 2:45 remaining drew Virginia within 69-67 - a critical defensive breakdown, Hewitt called it.

"Just inexplicable," he said. "We got out of his way. We were running out to a guy that we didn't think was going to shoot a '3.' And if he was going to pitch it out to that guy for a '3,' we'd have loved to see him do it.

"But we know in that situation, those two kids are going to take it, put their head down and go to the basket. We just jumped out of the way, they got a three-point play out of it, and that was the one that got their momentum going."

So here Virginia is, with 19 wins overall and 10 in the ACC, due largely to two guys.

Leitao was asked afterward if he worried that he relies too much on Singletary and Reynolds.

"I worry about it all the time," he said. "I try to be smart about it and rest them."

Leitao said at this point of the season that neither of them practice two days before games and only sparingly the day before games.

"We're going to keep riding it," he said, "until somebody says we can't ride it no more."
 

U.Va. puzzled after win
dslater@dailypress.com 247-4641
February 25, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The win that likely secured the Virginia men's basketball team's first NCAA tournament appearance since 2001 left coach Dave Leitao baffled.

Baffled? Not delighted? Not energized? Not doing cartwheels around John Paul Jones Arena?

"For the life of me, I'm not sure what just happened," Leitao said Saturday after the Cavaliers beat Georgia Tech 75-69.

What happened was one of the more puzzling displays of basketball you'll ever see. Virginia jumped to a 22-6 lead in the first 12:29, only to have Georgia Tech go on a 21-5 run over the final 8:20 of the first half. The Yellow Jackets made 8 of 11 shots in the run and led 38-34 at halftime.

Georgia Tech shot 53.6 percent in the first half and 47.8 percent for the first 16:19 of the second half. The Yellow Jackets led 69-62 with 3:41 remaining but failed to score for the rest of the game, going 0-of-5 and committing four turnovers.

Center Tunji Soroye put the Cavaliers up for good, 71-69, with 32 seconds remaining when he rebounded Sean Singletary's missed 3-pointer and laid it in. "I just made up my mind to go for the ball," Soroye said. "I've got the ball and I'm like, 'Go up strong, and they're gonna foul me or something.' "

If that logic seems simple, perhaps it's because the Cavaliers (19-8, 10-4 ACC) have played in similar situations this season. Saturday marked the eighth time a Virginia game has come down to the final minute; the Cavaliers are now 5-3 in those scenarios. "We feel comfortable," shooting guard J.R. Reynolds said.

Saturday also stirred memories of other comeback victories this year - from 19 points down against Arizona, 16 at Clemson, 13 against Duke. "Somebody's out there workin' for us," forward Jason Cain said. "Somebody's out there workin' magic."

There's nothing mystical about this fact: No ACC team with 10 conference wins has ever missed the NCAAs. But victory No. 10 - Virginia's most since it went 12-4 in 1994-95 - was in doubt as the game wound down.

"They looked dead in the water with three minutes to go," said Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt, whose team, now 18-10, 6-8 ACC, must scramble to prove its NCAA worth.

Said Leitao: "I told Paul after the game that they really kicked our tails physically. We didn't accept the challenge of being as aggressive as they were. And it cost us. It cost us big-time, and it darn near cost us the game."

That, and the inability of anyone besides Singletary and Reynolds to do, well, anything. For the game's first 371/2 minutes, the guard tandem scored 47 of the Cavaliers' 67 points. During a timeout late in the game, Leitao poked Mamadi Diane, Cain and Soroye in their chests and asked, "How many points do you have? How many rebounds do you have?

The prodding motivated Cain to score four of his seven points over the final 2:23 - including the lay-up that tied the game at 69 - and sparked Soroye's go-ahead put-back with 32 seconds left.

"For a lot of that game, we had two guys that could play, but we weren't defending and rebounding and playing tough," Leitao said. "They decided at the end of the game to get some stops as a group."
 

Cavaliers stun Jackets
13-0 run to close the game strengthens U.Va.'s case for bid to the NCAA tournament
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Feb 25, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- It was difficult to tell which coach was more incredulous after yesterday's ACC men's basketball game at John Paul Jones Arena: Virginia's Dave Leitao or Georgia Tech's Paul Hewitt.

It was easy to tell which coach was hap- pier. Leitao's Cavaliers, on the verge of suffering a major blow to their NCAA tournament prospects, rallied in improbable fashion. U.Va. scored the game's final 13 points to stun the Yellow Jackets 75-69 before a delighted crowd of 14,564.

The 24th-ranked Cavaliers (10-4, 19-8) haven't won this many conference games in a season since 1994-95, when they went 12-4 in ACC play.

"As I just told the team and my assistants, for the life of me I'm not exactly sure what happened," Leitao said.

U.Va.'s star guards, J.R. Reynolds and Sean Singletary, combined for 49 points against Georgia Tech (6-8, 18-10). The winning basket, however, came from 6-11 Tunji Soroye, who entered the game averaging 1.7 points.

"Thank goodness we have those two" Reynolds (25 points) and Singletary (24) -- "and thank goodness Tunji can make a layup," Leitao said with a smile.

With the score 69-69, Singletary missed an open 3-point attempt. The Jackets had controlled the backboards to that point, but Soroye leaped and grabbed the rebound. The junior from Nigeria converted a follow shot that made it 71-69 with 33.8 seconds left.

Hewitt said. "We had the game in our hands, we got the stop we needed," Hewitt said. "We just didn't get the rebound."

During a timeout with 8:02 remaining, U.Va.'s second-year coach had challenged Soroye. "Do you have any rebounds?" Leitao asked.

"No," Soroye replied.

Leitao's response: "Then go get one."

In a game in which Tech post players Thaddeus Young and Ra'Sean Dickey dominated, Soroye scored all six of his points in the final 5:12. Virginia's other frontcourt starter, 6-10 senior Jason Cain, scored all seven of his points in the final 6:36. Cain also grabbed two critical rebounds late, one of which he turned into a stick-back that made it 69-69.

With two regular-season games left against No. 5 North Carolina and Boston College, both in Atlanta -- Georgia Tech may need to go 2-0 to be assured of a trip to the NCAAs.

Virginia's position looks considerably stronger. Since the NCAA tournament was expanded to 64 teams, no ACC team with a record of 10-6 or better in conference play has failed to receive an invitation.

U.Va. hosts Virginia Tech (10-4, 20-8) on Thursday night and then closes the regular season at Wake Forest (4-10, 13-14) on Saturday. The Cavaliers, like the Hokies, have clinched a first-round bye in the ACC tournament.

Reynolds said he's focused on the Hokies, not the NCAAs. "That's my last home game," he said. "I'm just worried about whipping them."

With 3:41 to play yesterday, U.Va. looked whipped. The Cavs trailed 69-62, and their first ACC loss at the JPJ seemed imminent.

"Give them credit," Hewitt said. "They looked pretty much dead in the water with about 3 minutes to go, and they summoned a lot of courage and came back and got the win."

Singletary started the rally with two free throws that made it 69-64. After a Georgia Tech turnover, Reynolds capitalized on a defensive breakdown and converted a three-point play -- one of five in the second for U.Va. -- and suddenly it was 69-67. Cain's stick-back tied the game, and then Soroye put the Cavaliers ahead to stay.

With 20 seconds left, junior guard Anthony Morrow missed an open jump shot that would have tied the game. Virginia went 4 for 4 from the line in the final 15.6 seconds to seal the victory.

The Jackets, who trailed by 16 early in the game, had scored on their final 11 first-half possessions to take a 38-34 lead into the break.

"I'm not sure we could fight any harder than we did or play any harder than we did for about 37, 38 minutes there," Hewitt said, "but we just didn't finish the game."

 

Singletary, Reynolds: On with the show
BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Feb 25, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE As the hot new entertainment palace in town, John Paul Jones Arena has switched on the spotlights for Dave Matthews, Kenny Chesney and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, among other slam-dunkers.

Billy Joel took it to the rim Friday night.

Blue Man Group comes next.

The artists-in-residence? They're a two-man group.

The irony of yesterday's JPJ feature attraction is it was decided on a stick-back by Virginia center Tunji Soroye, who like the Cavs' other big men -- is usually so far in the background, he might as well be a piece of scenery.

The reality is the Cavs continue to lean on Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds the way a tipsy Mardi Gras reveler leans on a lamp post.

Formula 1 -- there is no Formula 2 has worked for U.Va. 19 times this season, and it worked at a 75-69 gear ratio against Georgia Tech yesterday. The Cavs applied some rouge and mascara to their NCAA tournament makeup, everyone except the Jackets went home happy, Singletary and Reynolds didn't announce they were holding out for more meal money or open-book exams.


What's not to like?

Well, maybe one nagging issue with the dynamic duo.

"I feel we depend on'em a little too much," was the way forward Jason Cain put it. "We depend on'em to be miracle-workers out on the court. We can't do that all the time."

The raw numbers yesterday went like this: Reynolds and Singletary combined for 49 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and 16 of Virginia's 24 field goals. They assisted on six more baskets. That left two do-it-yourself successes for the other Cavs, one of them being Soroye's follow of a missed Singletary 3-pointer that put the homies ahead to stay at 71-69.

U.Va. coach Dave Leitao, his squad pummeled inside by the Jackets and on the ropes with 3½ minutes to go, said at first he was mystified by what had transpired out on the court.

But in actuality, he knew.

"I think what happened -- simply put is we have two very, very special players who at any point and time can make plays," Leitao said. "If you surround'em with a team that plays defense and plays tough and rebounds, you have a chance to win each and every night."

In the diluted world of college basketball, there's no substitute for a talented, seasoned backcourt, and that's Virginia in a nutshell. Reynolds is a senior, Singletary a junior. They both shoot the deep jumper. They both get into the lane. They can play some defense. They both usually deliver at money time.

They also ring up 48 percent of U.Va.'s points and take 44 percent of its shots, and they shoulder so much of a load, Leitao gives them extra time off from practice and a breather during games whenever he feels he can risk it (which isn't often).

Still . . .

No U.Va. player other than Reynolds or Singletary took a shot for nearly 4½ minutes yesterday. No one other than Reynolds or Singletary scored after intermission for almost 13½ minutes. Take away Laurynas Mikalauskas' 12 points against Longwood, and no frontcourt Cav has cracked double figures since Jan. 21.

So, yeah, the Cavs are 19-8 and bound for an upper-tier ACC finish and they're a lock for the NCAAs. They're good. But they also lost at Miami the other night when Reynolds was 2 for 7 and Singletary 7 for 16 -- and you wonder.

"Oh, yeah, I worry about it all the time," Leitao said. "But we're going to continue riding it till somebody says you can't ride it no more."

He has no choice. He has no Plan B, either. It's a crowd-pleasing but precarious way to live.

 

Virginia's late rally sinks Jackets
By MATT WINKELJOHN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/25/07

Charlottesville, Va. — Were this a prizefight, Virginia coach Dave Leitao might've held up the hand of Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt late Saturday afternoon in John Paul Jones Arena to reward valor shown.

But it was basketball, where battle scars don't win NCAA tournament bids, and all Hewitt got was a handshake after Virginia scored the final 13 points to beat Tech 75-69 in John Paul Jones Arena.

Losing stinks. Blowing a seven-point lead in the final 3:41 is agony. Watching your last chance to get a second road win almost leaves one speechless.

So Tech's Anthony Morrow sat in the locker room staring at the floor, knowing the Yellow Jackets (18-10, 6-8 ACC) are going to have to get busy Thursday and Sunday against North Carolina and Boston College.

"We just have to get this game out of our minds," Morrow said. "It's going to be a dogfight [against UNC]; we're going to have to fight for our lives."

Hewitt did not rage or vent. He seemed too stunned after Virginia guards J.R. Reynolds (25 points) and Sean Singletary (24) gave Tech fits, and Jackets point guard Javaris Crittenton (12) blended into the background more than in weeks.

"Up seven with 3-something to go ... we're supposed to close this game out," Tech's coach said. "If we make just one shot, or get one stop, we win."

Instead, the Jackets swung and missed repeatedly after Crittenton made two free throws to give Tech a 69-62 lead. Plus, the defense that rescued Tech from 16-point first-half deficit dropped its hands.

Highlights will show Reynolds and Singletary firing away. They combined for 23 straight Virginia points over a span of 22:05, but the home team's most meaningful surge came when its supporting cast finally stepped up.

Virginia's Jason Cain scored a layup (and an ensuing free throw) with 6:36 left, and players other than Reynolds and Singletary scored 13 of Virginia's final 24 points.

Thaddeus Young (15 points) and Crittenton — bit players in Tech's huge first-half rally — scored 18 of Tech's final 20 points, but after Crittenton's final free throws, the Jackets blanked out.

"For the life of me, I'm not sure what just happened," Leitao said after his team took a 22-6 lead and then was outscored 32-12 over the rest of the first half. "We started the game really well, and we finished really well. All that stuff in the middle, I told coach Hewitt they really kicked our tails physically."

Crittenton (3 of 10 shooting, season-low one assist, four turnovers) missed the final 9:08 of the first half with two fouls, and never gripped this game.

Virginia's guards left fingerprints everywhere.

After two Singletary free throws, Tech led 69-64 when Young traveled.

Reynolds soon drove the lane and shot. It could have been called a charge. The ball settled through the net, and a foul was called on Tech's Ra'Sean Dickey. A free throw shrank Tech's lead to 69-67 with 2:45 left.

"Defensively, I think we stopped doing the little things and got a little careless," Morrow said. Hewitt was more incisive. "It was just a very poor play on our part not to shut off the lane."

Reynolds quickly plucked the ball from Dickey for his game-high fourth steal, and Cain scored off a rebound to tie the game with 2:23 left.

Virginia's Tunji Soroye rebounded a Young miss, and then scored off an offensive rebound with 32 seconds left for a 71-69 lead.

Morrow missed from 18 feet. Singletary, who added team highs of seven rebounds and four assists, rebounded to all but finish Tech.

Said Leitao, "Simply put, we have two very special players who can at any point make plays."
 

Virginia claims first-round ACC tourney bye
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
February 25, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The game was slipping away from Virginia, and it was no fault of Sean Singletary or J.R. Reynolds. Georgia Tech's stable of long, lean, physical athletes was doing a number on the rest of the Cavaliers.
So after calling a timeout with just over eight minutes left, coach Dave Leitao got in the faces of his other starters, Mamadi Diane, Jason Cain and Tunji Soroye, pounded them each in the chest and rifled off a series of questions.

"Do you have any points? Do you have any rebounds? Do you have any defensive stops?" he asked.

The response to each question was the same: No.

"Well go do it, then," was Leitao's retort.

They did, making quicker rotations on defense, getting aggressive on the boards and, when given the opportunity, making baskets, none bigger than Soroye's putback off a Singletary miss with 32 seconds left that broke a tie game and proved to be the game-winner in the Cavaliers' 75-69 win over the Yellow Jackets on Saturday.

"From me saying, 'Hey, we've got to defend; we've got to start getting stops,' they started saying it," Leitao said. "And they started hitting each other in timeouts and demanding it. ? The light switch went on."

Virginia (19-8, 10-4 ACC) scored the game's final 13 points, holding Georgia Tech (18-10, 6-8 ACC) scoreless over the last 3? minutes.

It was the Cavaliers' third come-from-behind victory in the ACC this season. UVa overcame a 14-point deficit in the final five minutes to win at Clemson and came back from eight down with 3:42 to left to beat Duke. Virginia trailed by seven with 3:41 to go Saturday.

"Give them credit," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. "They looked dead in the water with three minutes to go and they summoned a lot of courage and came back."

Reynolds and Singletary combined for 49 points, going a combined 16-for-38 from the field and making all 11 of their free throws.

"Thank goodness we have those two," Leitao said, "and thank goodness Tunji can make a layup."

The win assures Virginia one of the top four spots and a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament. It's the first time the Cavaliers have won 10 ACC games since the 1994-95 season.

"It's been a long time and it's finally starting to come together ? but the season doesn't stop," said Reynolds, who was keenly aware that Virginia Tech comes to Charlottesville on Thursday in a matchup of 10-4 teams. "It keeps on moving and we want to keep it moving in a positive direction."

Georgia Tech led 38-34 after a bizarre first half that saw the Cavaliers get off to a 22-6 start and the Yellow Jackets close on a 21-5 tear.

The Yellow Jackets, who are second in the ACC in rebounding margin and held a 19-10 advantage on the boards in the first half, continued to dominate the glass and the post in the second. Freshman forward Thaddeus Young (15 points, six rebounds) and junior center Ra'Sean Dickey (14 points, five rebounds) led the way, helping Georgia Tech build a 58-52 lead with 8:07 remaining.

"They really kicked our tails, physically," Leitao said. "And they kicked our tails in a way that I'm used to having our team do to other people."

Then came the timeout and Leitao's challenge.

UVa responded. Georgia Tech led 69-62 with 3:41 left after a pair of free throws by Javaris Crittenton, but it wouldn't score again, missing five shots and committing four turnovers over final three minutes.

The Cavaliers scored seven straight points to tie things up, capped by a Cain putback off a Singletary miss on a fast break with 2:33 to play.

It stayed tied at 69 until the final minute. Coming out of a timeout, Singletary tried an open 3 in the corner. It was short but fell right into the arms of Soroye under the basket.

"I was like, 'I'm going to go up strong and they're going to foul me,'" Soroye said.

But no defender was around. Soroye paused for a second and easily made the layup to give Virginia the lead for good at 71-69. He finished with a season-high six points, all of which came after Leitao's challenge.

"It just goes to show you what kind of heart and talent we have on this team," Singletary said. "Even if you have talent, it doesn't always get you wins. We play with a lot of energy and a lot of heart and were very resilient out there."


 

Cavs late rally beats streaking Georgia Tech
Virginia finds a way to rally from seven back in the last 4 minutes to knock off streaking Georgia Tech.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- A 6-foot-11, 245-pounder with three rebounds in 28 minutes made for an unlikely hero Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena.

Offensively challenged Tunji Soroye scored the go-ahead basket on a stickback with 32 seconds remaining as 19th-ranked Virginia rallied to defeat Georgia Tech 75-69.

The Cavaliers trailed 69-62 before scoring the last 13 points of the game. Georgia Tech did not score over the final 3:40.

"I just told the team and my assistants, 'For the life of me, I'm not exactly sure what happened,'" second-year UVa coach Dave Leitao confessed to the media.

He did know that Virginia had captured its 10th ACC victory of the season, a level the Cavaliers have reached only once in the previous 25 seasons, when the 1994-1995 UVa team went 12-4 in league play.

"We did it with smoke and mirrors," Leitao said.

Virginia (19-8 overall, 10-4) has overcome larger deficits than it did Saturday, rallying for victories after trailing by 19 (Arizona), 14 (Clemson) and 13 (Duke).

Georgia Tech (18-10, 6-8) never led by more than seven, but the Yellow Jackets were mauling Virginia in the paint.

"I told [Georgia Tech coach] Paul [Hewitt] after the game that they really kicked our tails," Leitao said. "And they kicked our tails in a way that I'm used to having our team do to other people."

An early 3-point barrage enabled Virginia to take a 22-6 lead before Hewitt called a timeout with 12:28 remaining in the first half. From that point, Georgia Tech scored on 16 of its next 17 possessions in taking a 38-34 lead.

It was nothing fancy. The Yellow Jackets took high-percentage shots and, on the rare occasions when they missed, they'd get the rebound and keep shooting till the ball went in.

Little changed until the last 4 minutes.

The only reason the game was close was the play of UVa veteran guards J.R. Reynolds and Sean Singletary, who scored 23 consecutive points for the Cavaliers over a 22 minute, 6 second span.

"There was six-something left on the clock and I had just called a timeout," Leitao said. "I pounded each one of the three guys, other than Sean and J.R., and said, 'How many points do you have, how many rebounds do you have, how many stops have you made?'"

Jason Cain immediately responded with a drive to the basket, a contested dunk that somehow clattered through the basket, and a free throw for a three-point play.

After a 3-point shot by Reynolds, Soroye added another old-fashioned three-point play -- one of five by the Cavaliers in the second half.

At that point, Georgia Tech's lead was down to one, 62-61, but big man Thaddeus Young hit a 3-pointer from the corner, fellow freshman Javaris Crittenton added a pair of free throws and it looked as if the Yellow Jackets had regained the momentum.

"I'm not sure we could fight any harder than we did for about 37 or 38 minutes," said Hewitt, whose team had won five of six.

The key play, in Hewitt's eyes, came when Reynolds drove down the right side of the lane, drew contact and converted the three-point play that made it 69-67 with 2:45 left.

"We know, in that situation, [Reynolds and Singletary] are going to put their head down and go to the basket," he said. "We just jumped out of the way. Give them credit. They looked dead in the water with 3 minutes to go, and they summoned a lot of courage and came back."

Cain scored all seven of his points in the final 6:36, when he also had two rebounds and drew a foul, and Soroye scored all six of his points in the final 5:12, when he had two of his three rebounds. He had been scoring 1.7 points per game.

Soroye's go-ahead basket came after the Cavaliers had worked to set up Singletary for a 3-pointer from the left corner -- one of his few open looks of the half.

"It's like everybody was just standing there, watching to see if the ball went in, and nobody boxed out Tunji," said Singletary, who had 24 points.

Added Leitao, "Thank goodness Tunji can make a layup. ... Well, today he did."

 

Cavaliers' stars need support
Jeff Gilbert

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Georgia Tech was leading Virginia 45-39 Saturday when the horn sounded for a TV timeout. It was time for UVa coach Dave Leitao to challenge the other three on the floor one more time to give J.R. Reynolds and Sean Singletary some help.

It was also time to ask a trivia question of a fan for one of the many giveaways during a Virginia game at John Paul Jones Arena.

The question: What year did Tom Petty release the song "Free Fallin' "? The fan made the right choice and won a prize.

As the song played, it sounded more like a commentary on the previous 65 minutes of the Cavaliers' season. The first 40 of those minutes resulted in a confounding loss at last-place Miami on Wednesday night. The next 25 minutes found the Cavaliers trailing and playing like their season was free fallin'.

When the seventh-place Yellow Jackets took a 69-62 lead with 3:41 left, Petty was no longer just a singer. He was a prophet. But prophets can be false.

No one could have predicted what would happen next. The Cavaliers scored the final 13 points and won 75-69 to stay tied for second place in the ACC with Virginia Tech.

Predictions on what will happen next for Virginia are risky. A free fall is always possible when two players, even if they are as good as Reynolds and Singletary, have to carry a team. And they do carry this team.

"I worry about it all the time," Leitao said.

Reynolds and Singletary are the face of this team, but a team needs more than a face. It needs other parts to rebound, challenge shots and occasionally score. Virginia got that from Jason Cain and Tunji Soroye during its comeback.

Virginia's attention is now solely on Virginia Tech's visit on Thursday, and the Cavaliers will need those other parts to be working for more than the final minutes. The Hokies rocked the Cavaliers 84-57 in Blacksburg on Feb. 10 and looked like a tournament-ready team in Wednesday's blowout of Boston College.

"We know what they did to us," Reynolds said. "Now they've got to come to us."

The Cavaliers are a much better team at home, so another Tech blowout is unlikely. Plus, beating Georgia Tech removes some thoughts the Cavs won't have to consider Thursday.

UVa has 10 conference wins, and no ACC team has been left out of the NCAA tournament with that number of wins since at-large bids have been given out. And UVa has clinched a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament.

Leitao nor any of the players would say afterward that there is less pressure now. That's the attitude they should have, but they won't be preoccupied with thoughts of needing that 10th win or hoping for that bye as they prepare for the Hokies.

They talked that way soon after the game.

"It doesn't have much to do with the plays or the talent," Singletary said of the Tech game. "It has everything to do with our mind-set."

The mind-set for Cain and Soroye in the final minutes has to carry over into the Virginia Tech game.

They can't wait for Leitao to challenge them in a timeout like he did with eight minutes left by asking them if they have any points, if they have any rebounds, if they have any defensive stops.

All they could say was no, because it seemed that the Yellow Jackets were grabbing every rebound and scoring on every possession. They finally answered the challenge in the final four minutes.

Oh, the answer to the trivia question was 1989. In that year, there was no free fall for the Cavaliers. They won 22 games and reached the final eight of the NCAA tournament, losing to eventual champion Michigan.

A season-ending free fall, a least on this day, doesn't seem likely for the Cavaliers. But that's up to other parts named Cain and Soroye, to name two.
 

Wins Give Cavs' Coach Plenty to Shout About
By Adam Kilgore
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, February 17, 2007; Page E10

There are times, when Dave Leitao's words blister his eardrums, that Mamadi Diane thinks, "Why is he yelling at me? Why doesn't he pick on somebody else?"

"But you just got to look at the bigger picture," Diane said. "You messed up, and you got to take the message of what he's trying to say and just understand that he intends nothing personal."

In his second year at Virginia since replacing Pete Gillen, Leitao has ushered the Cavaliers back to national prominence and put them on pace to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001. Entering today's home game against Florida State, the Cavaliers (17-7, 8-3) are tied for second in the ACC.

"It's about 95 percent Coach Leitao and 5 percent us," junior point guard Sean Singletary said. "He's just great with this team. We're not the most talented bunch in the world. Everybody knows that. But he's the difference. He puts the right combination of players together and creates an environment for us to win."

Leitao has led by emphasizing defense with a seemingly abrasive style that, players say, belies a caring and personal touch. One of Leitao's most distinctive traits has become his scorched-Earth tongue-lashings on the bench. He commands the sideline with his towering frame, usually pacing a few steps onto the court, stomping his heel on the hardwood.

He snapped a clipboard over his knee at North Carolina State. He stuck his face centimeters from Diane's and bellowed at him during an early-season game. He yells to the point where it may seem overbearing.

But, "that's not the case at all," Singletary said. "We understand why. That's the biggest key to that. You take the message. You don't take the way he's saying it. He leaves everything out there. He tells you what you're doing wrong, but he'll pull you aside after the fact."

No matter how harsh his tone, Leitao explains his intentions. The Cavaliers understand Leitao's intensity and have grown to feed off it. Freshman Will Harris said players in practices have adopted Leitao's attitude, challenging one another like the coach does.

"He doesn't bring players in that can't respond to challenges," Harris said. "He brought us in, and he knows that we can respond to challenges. He challenges us to be better than we think we are. He tries to push people beyond their limits."

When Virginia staggered to a 1-2 start in the ACC, giving it a 9-6 record and an outsider's view of the NCAA tournament, Leitao never altered his approach. He may have picked his spots to yell more carefully, but certainly wasn't going to stop picking them.

"I don't think I stopped being demanding about how I wanted them to conduct themselves," Leitao said.

The Cavaliers ran off seven straight victories to momentarily take first place in the league and achieve their best 10-game ACC start since 1983. Of course, Leitao never differed his style during that streak, either.

"Coach is the kind of guy that can get on you," Harris said. "It seems bad at first when he starts doing it. But later on you'll see there's nothing but love behind it. There's nothing but love behind the yelling and screaming."

 

Bears to mull over options with Jones
By Larry Mayer

INDIANAPOLIS – The Bears want Thomas Jones to return for the 2007 season, but it’s not a slam dunk that the veteran running back will remain with the team.

Jones, who has rushed for 3,493 yards and 22 touchdowns on 850 carries in three seasons with the Bears, is entering the final year of a four-year contract.

Running back Thomas Jones ran for 1,210 yards and 6 TDs on 296 carries in 2006.
“We’d certainly like to have Thomas back next year,” general manager Jerry Angelo said at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. “I’m going to do some more thinking about his situation.

“He’s expressed some things to me personally and we’ll work on some things. My understanding is he really enjoyed the season and really likes being a Bear and it has nothing to do with anything but what he feels might be in his best interest.

“I told him that I would listen, and I did, and we’re going to mull over some things.”

Jones rushed for 1,335 yards in 2005, the most by any Bears running back other than Walter Payton. The former Virginia star then gained 1,210 yards in 2006, becoming the first Chicago player to post back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons since Neal Anderson did so three straight years in 1988-90.

“I would definitely like Thomas Jones to be a Bear next year,” said coach Lovie Smith. “Thomas has been one of our leaders. He had an outstanding season.

“I like what we’re able to do at the running back position. Thomas is our starter. I like what Cedric Benson did coming onto the scene last year and I’ll always talk about Adrian Peterson too.”

Sharing the workload with Jones this past season, Benson showed flashes of what the Bears envisioned when they selected him with the fourth overall pick in the 2005 draft out of Texas.

Asked if Jones has expressed a desire to return to the Bears under the same conditions, Smith said: “I don’t think anyone wants to come back under the same conditions. Things change. Look at our (coaching) staff. That’s a part of life in the NFL when change does happen.

“Thomas Jones is a warrior. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. Of course we would like for him to come back.”

Benson emerged during the second half of the 2006 season, rushing for 432 of his 647 yards in the final seven games. He capped the regular-season with the first 100-yard game of his career, gaining 109 yards on 13 carries in a Sunday night loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Although Benson still lacks experience as an NFL feature back, Angelo insisted that he would feel comfortable turning over the starting job to the former Texas star if that’s what the scenario dictates.

“If that situation does pose itself, then yes,” he said. “Are there still some unknowns? Yes, but when we brought Thomas Jones in here (as a free agent in 2004), there were some unknowns, and we felt good about him and he answered the bell.

“It’s just part of the business sometimes. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. You’d like to know that everybody you put out there has been tried and tested, but it doesn’t work that way.

“You've seen the way we've built this team. We went out there and played a lot of youth. We put people out there and we had a lot of confidence that they had the tools to do the job, but yet they have to grow on the job and the only way you’re going to know is when you put them out there. It’s hard to simulate a game in practice."

Benson sprained his knee in the Super Bowl, a minor injury that will not require surgery. He also missed six games as a rookie in 2005 with a similar problem and sat out part of training camp and all four preseason games with a shoulder injury.

“He’s had some injuries,” Angelo said. “I can’t go on any more than that, so I can’t say there isn’t some concern. But he works pretty good in the offseason and takes care of himself. It’s a violent game and if you get hit in the wrong place at the wrong time, you’re going to get an injury.”