Little relief in sight for Cavs as Heels come calling
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
February 12, 2008

Oftentimes a coach who takes over a program that hasn’t performed to its perceived potential gets a free pass in his first season at the helm.

A good example would be Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie. This year, he’s lost to the likes of Gardner-Webb, Houston and San Diego.

On Monday, Virginia coach Dave Leitao didn’t come right out and say that he deserves a mulligan for what has transpired in 2007-08 - his team has lost six straight and is last in the ACC. However, Leitao compared his third year in charge to most coaches’ first.

“When I first got here, I was blessed with two of the best players that the ACC had in Sean [Singletary] and J.R. [Reynolds],” Leitao said. “Riding those two as much as we did, it kept us away from the normal aches and pains of starting a program of which I think this is part of.

“It’s not atypical for a first-year coach to have a seven or eight or 10-game losing streak or win eight games in a season. The byproduct of building a program is that you’ll go through times like that.”

That’s probably not what Virginia fans want to hear right now. After winning a share of the ACC regular-season championship last season and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, they figured their team’s growing pains were over.

Tonight, there could be a few more. Virginia (11-11, 1-8 ACC) has the unenviable task of hosting third-ranked North Carolina.

The Tar Heels (22-2, 7-2) are coming off an emotional, come-from-behind, double-overtime win over Clemson on Sunday.

The good news for Virginia is that the game concluded less than 48 hours ago.

When you’ve lost nine out of your last 10 games, there is probably never a good time to face a perennial powerhouse - especially one that is undefeated on the road this season - but UVa may be catching UNC at a good time. In addition to the short turnaround, the Tar Heels may be without starting point guard Ty Lawson, who has missed the last three games with a sprained ankle.

“He’s a talented player,” said Virginia senior Sean Singletary, “but they have much more to their team than just him. It’s not like you’re just playing one-on-one out there.

“They have a lot of great players - like Tyler [Hansbrough] and Wayne [Ellington].”

Leitao was impressed with UNC’s 15-point comeback. The Tar Heels trailed Clemson by 11 with just three minutes remaining.

“They showed a

tremendous amount of heart,” Leitao said. “They’ve showed another gear to what already is an extremely talented team in every aspect. It becomes a monumental task.”

On Monday, UNC coach Roy Williams talked about how proud he was of his team’s win - especially coming off a gut-wrenching loss to Duke on its home floor the game before.

“That was a wild one for us - to say the least,” Williams said. “To come out and to have to face so much adversity early and keep plugging and keep plugging and keep plugging … to come back like that it couldn’t feel any better for the youngsters.

“I just loved our toughness down the stretch.”

Toughness isn’t a quality Virginia has shown much of lately. Having gone 24 days since its last win versus Boston College, Leitao admitted his team may also have some confidence issues.

“At Northwestern, I coached a four-win team and that was as big a challenge as you could ever have in your lifetime,” Leitao said. “I don’t think this rivals that, but at the same point in time it’s not an easy thing for anyone to go through - players or coaches.

“A lot of these guys, just a few short months ago, were operating at the highest level of confidence because we were winning … that’s the perplexing thing about it.”

Dunks

UNC leads the series, 121-48, including a 10-point win in Chapel Hill last season. This will be the Tar Heels’ first trip to John Paul Jones Arena....Williams on Lawson’s injury: “I don’t know that there’s a timetable. We just have to wait until he feels better with it. We just have to wait until it stops hurting him.”… Junior guard Marcus Ginyard is also nursing a bad toe and ankle. “He’s got two bad wheels,” Williams said. “It was bothering him quite a bit [against Clemson].”… Leitao still had no definitive answer as to when Lars Mikalauskas (shoulder) or Tunji Soroye (back) would play again. “We’re at the point now where both of them are trying the best they can,” Leitao said, “but it’s been very difficult for them to get through consecutive practices. It’s disheartening, but as bad as I feel about it, I think in the minds of both of those guys they feel awful.”


 

Cavaliers taking on ailing Tar Heels
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com
February 12, 2008

Scattershooting around the ACC, while wondering if Virginia can mount a last stand against high-scoring North Carolina tonight at JPJ ...

You may have forgotten, but Tar Heels’ coach Roy Williams probably hasn’t, that Virginia has won six of the last seven games against UNC in Charlottesville. This will be the Tarheels’ first trip to JPJ, and they’ve packed a 9-0 road record with them for the trip.

Virginia has suffered through a dreadful ACC season, slipping to 1-8 in last Saturday’s loss at Wake Forest. The last time a Wahoo team started 1-8 in the league was Terry Holland’s 1984-85 team, the year after UVa’s last appearance in the Final Four.

However, if the Cavaliers fall tonight, it will be the first time since 1976-77 that Virginia was 1-9 during an ACC campaign. Wahoo fans will remember that 2-10 team that still made it to the ACC tournament championship game.

Carolina will hobble into the game without starting point guard Ty Lawson, who missed the past two games with an ankle injury. Marcus Ginyard, who moved over to the point for the Clemson game, is hurting, too. Ginyard, who was suffering from turf toe on one foot, hurt his opposite ankle during Sunday night’s double-overtime win over the Tigers.

“I don’t know there is a timetable (on Lawson),” UNC’s Williams said during Monday’s ACC Teleconference. “We just have to wait until he starts feeling better. He hasn’t been hurt very often. At the same time it still hurts and we’re going to have to wait until it stops hurting.”

On Ginyard: “he’s got two bad wheels,” Williams said. “He missed a defensive assignment, so Marcus must really be hurting because he never does that. We took x-rays [Monday] morning but I guess it’s OK because I haven’t heard anything back.”

Asked if Ginyard can’t answer the bell, would senior Quintin Thomas be matched up against Singletary, Williams wasn’t ready to answer. He explained that because of the lateness of Sunday night’s game, that he and his coaches would pull an all-nighter Monday night in Charlottesville to study film of the Cavaliers and make a game plan.

Carolina bussed to town last night.

“This is going to be a crash course trying to find out about Virginia,” Williams said. “I still have the greatest respect for Sean Singletary.”

Big man on campus

While all of UVa’s big men are injured and riding the pines, Carolina will bring the ACC’s premiere big man to town for the game, junior center Tyler Hansbrough.

The Tar Heel center has been on a tear of late, including the Clemson game in which he scored 39 points and had 13 rebounds. But the most memorable play from the game was Hansbrough defending Tiger David Potter, slapping the ball free at midcourt, then racing and diving for the loose ball. Potter fouled the big man, who made both free throws to put Carolina up 98-93 with a minute-and-a-half left.

All that left Williams spellbound.

“My favorite football player of all-time was Earl Campbell,” Williams said. “Someone asked Bum Phillips (Campbell’s coach in the NFL) if Campbell was in a class by himself. Bum said he didn’t know if [Campbell] was in a class by himself but it sure didn’t take long to call the roll. And that’s Tyler Hansbrough.

“I don’t know how much longer I’m going to get to coach him,” Williams said. “I’d like to coach that big sucker about 13 more years. When he leaves I’m going to consider I’m the luckiest guy in the world to have coached him.”

From the past

Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg, who was a graduate assistant at Virginia under Terry Holland in the 1980s, often quotes Holland and did so this week when talking about the use of a proverbial sixth man.

“Holland used to say, ‘Are you bringing in a guy who’s going to keep it status quo, or a guy who is going to change the game?’” Greenberg noted.

“It’s a great asset to have someone who can change the tempo of the game. If you have that, it’s a huge asset.”

Stat of the Week

0-53: That’s Clemson’s all-time record in games played in Chapel Hill. The Tigers had shared the record of 0-52 with Brown on trips to Princeton heading into Sunday’s double-overtime game at the Dean Dome, but lost. Brown snapped its 52-game streak at Princeton five years ago.

A sidebar to Clemson’s streak is that none of the prior 52 games in Chapel Hill went into overtime. The Tigers did come closer twice though, suffering one-point defeats at UNC in 1974 and 1936.

Quote of the Week

Maryland coach Gary Williams on being humbled by his feat of obtaining 600 career coaching wins:

“It’s been good. I did a radio show on ESPN (last Friday) night. Doug Gottlieb was the host. He goes, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to call you, but [Bob] Knight retired, the LSU coach was let go and he said you’re like fourth.’ It keeps everything in perspective.”

Quote of the Week II

Greenberg, tongue-in-cheek: “Our reward for last week (losses to N.C. State and Miami) was to get Carolina this week. I just hope Hansbrough doesn’t hurt any of our guys.”

Tiger rags

Asked whether he was disturbed over the personal foul discrepancy in the double-overtime loss to UNC on Sunday night, Clemson coach Oliver Purnell didn’t bite.

There were 31 fouls called on the Tigers and 14 on Carolina, which could easily be explained by Clemson’s pressure defense and the Tar Heels’ emphasis on getting the ball inside to big man Tyler Hansbrough.

Carolina made 31 of 36 free throw attempts to Clemson, which made only 1 of 7.

“My first thought is we weren’t physical enough and didn’t get it inside enough, but let me look at the tape,” Purnell said, leaving food for thought.

In the paint

Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio said after Saturday night’s win over Virginia that he and his coaches guessed that the Cavaliers might start junior big man Lars Mikalauskas, because the 6-foot-8 bruiser had looked good in warm-ups.

Mikalauskas and teammate Tunji Soroye have missed most of the season due to injuries, leaving one to wonder if UVa coach Dave Leitao might seek medical redshirts for both or either big man.

Leitao said the injuries have been monitored, but there is no timetable for their recoveries.

“That’s the most frustrating thing,” Leitao said. “You can’t say it’s going to be better if you rest it for a month or two weeks. It’s very difficult for them to go through consecutive practices, banging bodies with a level of consistency.”

Soroye suffers from knee and back problems, while Mikalauskas has a bad shoulder that can only be repaired with surgery.

“What has happened recently is they’ve tried to gut it out and that’s probably why you have seen Lars looking better in warm-ups or having his uniform on,” Leitao said. It’s like being in the abyss for those two guys, not here, but not there either.”

When pressed about possible redshirts, Leitao was a bit elusive.

“If one has to have that conversation, it’s because it’s a debilitating injury. We’re in an abyss, in that [injuries] are not allowing them to play, but not shutting them down. It’s not like a kid that goes down with a knee, which is more black and white. This is not a black and white issue.”

Free throws ...

...UVa has lost eight straight ACC road games dating back to last season. ...Remember when Georgia Tech couldn’t buy a road win? The Jackets have won three straight ACC road games heading into Clemson on Thursday night. ...10 ACC games have gone into overtime thus far, and 24 of the league’s first 54 contests have been decided by three points or less, or in OT. ...Maryland is hot. Once standing at 6-6, the Terps are churning toward an NCAA bid, having won four in a row and 10 of their last 12. ...Speaking of the Terps, they’ve shot 50 percent or better in five straight ACC games. ...Maryland may be hot, but Boston College is not. Don’t look now, but the Eagles have lost six straight and eight of their last 10 contests, perhaps good news for win-hungry Virginia, which travels to Chestnut Hills for a Sunday game. ...Georgia Tech’s Anthony Morrow has made at least one 3-pointer in 31 consecutive games. ...Virginia (0-5) and Wake Forest (0-4) are the only ACC teams that haven’t won a road game in league contests. ...Four of Clemson’s six losses have been by three points or less. ...Who’s the ACC’s best bomber? Miami’s Jack McClinton makes a strong case, leading the league in 3-point percentage (.435).

 

VIRGINIA NOTES
Tuesday, Feb 12, 2008 - 12:07 AM Updated: 01:27 AM

UNC enters U.Va. game after double-OT affair
Forgive fifth-ranked North Carolina if it looks tired tonight at John Paul Jones Arena. The Tar Heels (7-2 ACC, 22-2) will take on Virginia (1-8, 11-11) less than 48 hours after the end of their double-overtime win over Clemson in Chapel Hill.

"We got two guys that played 47 minutes and one that played 45," UNC coach Roy Williams said yesterday.

At least Carolina isn't dealing with the disappointment of a loss to the Tigers, who led for most of regulation Sunday night.

"There's no question it's a lot easier," Williams said. "You've got a little better bounce in your step, even if you didn't play as well as you wanted to play and it did take two overtimes and you do feel worn out and it is an extra day of rest that your opponent has and you're traveling. You magnify all those things if you lose."

Williams may not know until game time if Marcus Ginyard can play tonight. Ginyard, a 6-5 junior from Alexandria, sprained an ankle against Clemson. He has started every game on the wing this season, but the former Bishop O'Connell star also has been backing up Quentin Thomas at the point.

Thomas was pressed into a starting role when Ty Lawson suffered a severe ankle sprain early this month. Carolina's No. 2 point guard, Bobby Frasor, is out with a season-ending knee injury.

U.Va. signee expected to make McDonald's squad
The official announcement won't come until next Tuesday, but Sylven Landesberg, who signed with U.Va. in November, is expected to be among the high school stars named to the McDonald's All-America basketball team.

A 6-5 guard, Landesberg is the all-time leading scorer at Holy Cross High in Queens, N.Y. Not since Majestic Mapp in 1999 has a McDonald's All-American entered the U.Va. men's program. Another McDonald's All-American who played at Virginia, Willie Dersch, is a Holy Cross graduate.

Landesberg is averaging about 28 points, 12 rebounds and 3.5 assists this season.

Praise for Pettinella, despite struggles at line
That center Ryan Pettinella has flaws in his game is apparent to anyone who has watched the 6-9, 249-pound senior attempt to make a free throw. But Virginia coach Dave Leitao remains a fan of Pettinella, who had 12 points, the most he has scored against an ACC opponent, and a career-high 11 rebounds Saturday in a loss at Wake Forest.

"He's got energy," Leitao said. "He's not going to go down in history as the most skilled guy, but he's proven -- not just to guys on the team, but anybody -- that when you play with energy, good things can happen."

Pettinella started the Cavaliers' first eight games this season, then missed the next three with a shin injury. He returned to the starting lineup against Wake.

After the Wake game, Pettinella admitted that he's frustrated by his struggles at the line. At Pennsylvania, where he played his first two seasons, he made 63.6 percent of his free throws as a freshman and 42.5 percent as a sophomore. At U.Va., he shot 24.3 percent last season and, after going 0 for 5 against Wake, is at 21.7 percent this season.

Men's lacrosse senior will miss season opener
Senior attackman Ben Rubeor didn't play three days ago against Georgetown in the U.Va. lacrosse team's final scrimmage, and he'll miss Sunday's season opener at Drexel.

Rubeor, who dislocated his right kneecap twice late last season, recently reinjured it. A first-team All-American in 2007, Rubeor wants to play this season, U.Va. coach Dom Starsia said yesterday, and "we're going to give him every chance to do that. We're just going to have to wait and see."

For now, Rubeor is resting and rehabbing his knee, with the goal of returning soon to practice.

"I think down the road he's going to have to have surgery," Starsia said. "The question is whether he can come back and play with confidence in a meaningful way this season."

Rubeor was healthy throughout fall practice, and he finished first in the team's conditioning test when practice opened last month.

-- Jeff White

 

Injured starters remain in 'abyss'
No timetable for return of Mikalauskas and Soroye.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

As he watched Virginia during pre-game warmups Saturday, Wake Forest basketball coach Dino Gaudio had an inkling that the Cavaliers might make a lineup change.

"We thought they might start [Lauris] Mikalauskas because I watched him in warmups and he looked good," Gaudio said.

Not only did Mikalauskas not start, but he didn't play. A starter in 24 games over his first two seasons, Mikalauskas, a 6-foot-8, 246-pound junior, has not played in a game since Dec. 7.

Another former starter, 6-11, 252-pound senior Tunji Soroye, has not been on the floor since Jan. 3 and has played in only two games all season, for a total of eight minutes.

Soroye has not donned a uniform for weeks. Mikalauskas has dressed for the past two games but there is no indication that he will be available when the Cavaliers (11-11, 1-8 ACC) entertain fifth-ranked North Carolina (22-2, 7-2) at 8 tonight.

"What has happened recently is, they're trying to gut it out and they're trying to practice, and I think that's why you see Lauris looking better in warmups or even putting his uniform on," third-year coach Dave Leitao said.

"It's disheartening and as bad as I feel about it, I think, in the minds of both of those guys, they feel awful. It's kind of like being in the abyss. They're not here and they're not there."

Mikalauskas has a shoulder injury that required him to play with a harness in the first nine games. Soroye, who underwent preseason knee surgery, now has a bad back. So does 6-6, 245-pound sophomore Will Harris, who has not played in four of the past six games.

A fourth player, freshman guard Sammy Zeglinski, already has been declared out for the season following two ankle operations.

"The strange thing about every injury, except for Sammy's, is that they had a start but they don't have an end," Leitao said on the weekly ACC coaches' teleconference. "It's not like, if you sprain an ankle, you're out two or three weeks. Or, if you have an ACL, you're out for the year.

"There is no timetable for the rest of those guys. You can't tell them anything that makes any sense."

Virginia has said it will make a hardship appeal in an effort to get an extra season of eligibility for Zeglinski, who played in eight games. Soroye and Mikalauskas have the grounds for hardship appeals, although Soroye's return would give the Cavaliers a 14th scholarship player for 2008-2009, one over the NCAA limit.

"The problem is, if one has to have that [hardship] conversation, it's because it's a debilitating injury," Leitao said, "but again we're in the abyss where they're not able to play but we're not able to shut them down."

Mikalauskas frequently gets overlooked in discussions of UVa's personnel, but no active Cavaliers' player has finished a season with a higher rebounding average (4.5) than Mikalauskas had as a freshman.

In 2006, when Virginia upset North Carolina at University Hall, Mikalauskas had 10 points and five rebounds and was hailed for his defensive work against then-UNC freshman Tyler Hansbrough,

Virginia basically played with one post player, fifth-year senior Ryan Pettinella, in an 80-64 loss Saturday at Wake Forest. Pettinella had 12 points and 11 rebounds, but he also went 0-for-5 from the free-throw line and had a sixth miss wiped out by a lane violation.

"He's not going to go down in history as the most-skilled guy," Leitao said Saturday. "We talked about it five or six weeks ago, that his time is ticking [and] he can't waste a day. You don't get a freshman year back, you don't get a junior year back, you think you can do this forever."

There are a few freshmen and sophomores on UVa's team who would like to have this season back. Based largely on the uneven play of Leitao's first two recruiting classes, the Cavaliers have lost six games in a row and nine of their last 10.

"It's not an easy thing for anybody to go through," Leitao said, "especially since a lot of these guys, just a few short months ago, were operating at the highest level of confidence because we were winning.

"When I first got here, I was blessed with two of the best players that the ACC had in Sean [Singletary] and J.R. [Reynolds]. In kind of riding those two as much as we rode them, it kept us away from the normal aches and pains of starting a program."
 

UNC's Williams more concerned about health than fatigue
By JACK DALY : The Herald-Sun
jdaly@heraldsun.com
Feb 12, 2008

CHAPEL HILL -- Here's an abridged list of what North Carolina is up against as it tries to win at Virginia tonight:

* Point guard Ty Lawson has been all but ruled out of his third straight game with a sprained left ankle. The sophomore didn't practice on Monday and doesn't seem to be on the verge of making a return.

"I don't know that there is a timetable," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "We've just got to wait until he starts feeling better with it. The kid's not been hurt very often, and kids that haven't been hurt think that things have to be perfect before they come back. That could be part of Tywon's deal, but at the same time, it still hurts. So we're just going to have to wait until it stops hurting."

* Junior forward Marcus Ginyard will be a game-time decision with a sprained right ankle. That's in addition to his sprained left toe.

"So he's got two bad wheels," Williams said.

Ginyard didn't play in either overtime in UNC's double-overtime win against Clemson on Sunday and didn't practice Monday. X-rays on the ankle, which he hurt in the first half, were negative.

Ginyard never asked to come out of Sunday's game, but Williams noticed something was amiss when he missed a defensive assignment.

"I said, 'My gosh, he must really be hurting because Marcus never does that,' " Williams said.

* Tyler Hansbrough played 47 minutes in the victory over Clemson, as did Wayne Ellington. No. 3 point guard Quentin Thomas was on the court for 45 minutes.

After expending all that energy, all three will be counted on to play heavy minutes less than 48 hours later as the No. 5 Tar Heels (22-2, 7-2) face Virginia (11-11, 1-8) at the John Paul Jones Arena at 8 p.m. (Raycom).

Hansbrough talked after the Clemson game about how zapped he was, but Williams said Monday that he hoped to nip any talk of fatigue in the bud.

"They are 18, 19, 20 and 21 years old, and you oughta be able to bounce back within a 48-hour period for sure," Williams said.

* If Ginyard can't play, UNC will have its No. 1 (Lawson), No. 2 (Bobby Frasor, who's out for the season with a torn ACL) and No. 4 (Ginyard) point guard in street clothes. (Lawson might still wear warmups -- he's been in uniform for all three games he's missed this season.)

Who does that leave as capable of running the point if Thomas needs a breather or gets in foul trouble?

Good question. Reserve guard Marc Campbell might be an option, but he's only played 20 minutes this season.

"I don't have a contingency plan, because I've never had to find out who your fifth point guard is," Williams said.
 

Tar Heels will have quick turnaround
UNC, coming off big win over Clemson, to play at Virginia tonight
By Bill Cole
JOURNAL REPORTER

North Carolina will have scant time to recover from a draining Sunday night game before taking the court again today for another ACC game.

UNC will play struggling Virginia in Charlottesville at 8 p.m. and will make its first visit to John Paul Jones Arena, now in its second year of use.

UNC had only yesterday to rest and to prepare for Virginia after needing two overtimes to subdue Clemson 103-93 in Chapel Hill. But Coach Roy Williams said that fatigue is not an option at this time of the season.

Two UNC starters played 47 minutes of a possible 50 against Clemson, and another played 45. Williams’ only concession was to shorten practice yesterday before the team traveled by bus last night to Charlottesville.

“We’ll remind them that they’re 18, 19, 20 and 21 years old and you ought to be able to bounce back in a 48-hour period for sure,” Williams said. “Mentally, I think we need to put that game behind us and be able to start focusing on Virginia.”

UNC is 22-2 overall and 7-2 in the ACC. Virginia is 11-11 and 1-8, and a six-game losing streak has sent the Cavaliers to the bottom of the conference standings.

Williams will be dealing with another injury while trying to keep fresh players on the floor. Marcus Ginyard, a junior forward, suffered at least a slightly sprained right ankle against Clemson and played only 24 minutes.

Ginyard was already playing in pain because of an injury to the big toe on his left foot. X-rays yesterday morning at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill revealed no bone damage to the ankle.

“He’s got two bad wheels,” Williams said. “It was bothering him quite a bit, and that’s the reason I didn’t go back with him (against Clemson). He missed a defensive assignment one time when he was supposed to set one of our traps. I said, ‘My gosh, he must really be hurting,’ because Marcus never does that.”

Williams expects point guard Ty Lawson to miss a third consecutive game because of a sprained left ankle suffered Feb. 3 against Florida State.

Lawson did not try to participate in warm-ups before Sunday’s game, although he was in uniform. He sat on the bench the entire game. Williams said he cannot project when Lawson might return.

“I don’t know that there is a timetable,” Williams said. “I think we’ve got to wait until he starts feeling better with it.

“The kid’s not been hurt very often. And kids that haven’t been hurt (before) think that sometimes things have to be perfect before they come back. That could be part of Tywon’s deal.

“But at the same time, it still hurts. So we’re just going to have to wait until it stops hurting.”

Quentin Thomas will start in his place again if Lawson doesn’t play. If Ginyard is hobbled by his injuries, Thomas might have to defend Sean Singletary, one of the ACC’s best point guards, by himself.

Singletary has scored in double figures in 44 consecutive games. He is the conference’s third-leading scorer with an average of 18.6 points and its second-leading assist man with an average of 5.9, despite playing some of the season with a painful hip injury.

Singletary is only the fifth player in ACC history to score 1,500 points, hand out 500 assists and grab 400 rebounds in a career. He is about all that Virginia has had to call on since the conference season started.

Virginia’s two best big men are sidelined with injuries. Lars Mikalauskas, a strong 6-8, 246-pound forward, has missed the past 13 games because of a shoulder injury.

Tunji Soroye, a 6-11 senior center, has played only eight minutes all season because of a back injury.

The absences of the big men have contributed to Virginia’s losing nine of its past 10 games and eight of its past nine ACC games. Five losses of its 11 total have been by two points or fewer or have come in overtimes.

Coach Dave Leitao said he is disheartened to see Mikalauskas and Soroye sit with the training staff, unable to pinpoint a time when they might return. Leitao added that his team’s confidence is dwindling but is not gone.

“At Northeastern, I coached a four-win team, and that was as big a challenge as you can ever have in your lifetime, from a coach’s standpoint and a player’s standpoint,” Leitao said. “I don’t think that this rivals that.

“But … it’s not an easy thing for anybody to go through, especially when a lot of these guys a few short months ago were operating at the highest level of confidence because we were winning. We had a seven-game winning streak against very good competition, and that’s the perplexing thing about it.”

 

Cavs' Singletary to test Heels' backcourt
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TODAYWHO: North Carolina at Virginia
WHEN: 8 p.m.
TV: WRAL, WCTI
RADIO: WCHL-1360, WRDU-106.1

CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina coach Roy Williams said he's never had to determine a fifth-string point guard.
That might change when the No. 5 Tar Heels (22-2, 7-2 ACC) play at Virginia (11-11, 1-8) tonight.

Not only is sophomore starter Ty Lawson expected to miss his third straight game with a sprained left ankle, but Marcus Ginyard -- the starting small forward who has been serving as back-up to senior Quentin Thomas -- sprained his right ankle during Sunday's first half against Clemson.

The junior also has a sprained left big toe, so "he's got two bad wheels," Williams said.

As a result, Ginyard did not participate in UNC's limited practice Monday, and his status for tonight remains a game-time decision. With junior ballhandler Bobby Frasor sidelined for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, that could leave UNC extremely thin while facing speedy Cavaliers senior Sean Singletary, one of the top point guards in the league (18.6 ppg, 5.9 apg).

"I don't have a contingency plan because I've never had to find out who our fifth point guard is," Williams said before practice Monday.

Thomas has played 35 and 45 minutes in his past two starts (and 36 minutes at Florida State, when Lawson got hurt). So if Ginyard can't go full speed, the Tar Heels may be able to get by by allowing shooting guard Wayne Ellington to bring the ball up the court or inserting UNC-Greensboro transfer Marc Campbell for short stints.

What they need most, though, is to get Lawson (13.6 ppg, 5.7 apg) back. Williams, however, said there is no timetable for his return.

"I think we've just got to wait to see how he starts feeling better with it,'' Williams said. "The kid's not been hurt very often, and sometimes kids who haven't been hurt think things have to be perfect before they come back, and that could be part of Tywon's deal. But at the same time, it still hurts. So we're just going to have to wait till it stops hurting."

 

No. 5 Tar Heels charge into Charlottesville
Cavs face challenge in trying to halt losing streak against 22-2 North Carolina; Hansbrough leads ACC in points, rebounds
Paul Montana, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor
 

Few predicted in November that Virginia men's basketball would be where it is at this point in the season.

At 1-8 in the ACC and 11-11 overall, Virginia sits firmly in last in the ACC, and with its most recent loss Saturday to Wake Forest, joined Georgia Tech as one of two teams to fall to a .500 overall record.

Before the season started, Virginia was picked by the ACC media to finish fifth and by ESPN.com to finish ninth in the conference. Few gave the Cavaliers a chance at a repeat performance of last year's ACC-title run; just as few, however, could have predicted that the team would be two games back of the rest of the conference in mid-February.

Three overtime losses and numerous blown second-half leads later, however, and Virginia has found itself in just that spot. Furthermore, the Cavaliers face the prospect of playing three of their four remaining home games against the conference's top-three teams -- North Carolina, Duke and Maryland -- down the closing stretch of the season.

"You could have never told me that our season was going to be like this," senior guard Sean Singletary said. "But, this is the hand we're dealt, so we've got to get out of it some way."

Virginia starts its grueling home schedule tonight when it takes on No. 5 North Carolina. The Tar Heels are coming off an emotional double-overtime comeback victory against Clemson Sunday, which had shades of Virginia's late 15-0 run to beat Clemson on the road last season. Down 11 with just over three minutes remaining, the Tar Heels outscored the Tigers 14-3 in the final minutes to knot the score at 82 and send the game to the first overtime. After the two teams battled to an 8-8 standstill in the first extra period, North Carolina outlasted Clemson in the second and escaped with the 103-93 win.

Junior forward Tyler Hansbrough, who ended with an ACC season-high 39 points against Clemson, will be a daunting challenge for a Virginia frontcourt that has been riddled with injuries. The senior is averaging a double-double with 22.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game and tops in the ACC in both categories, putting him as the firm frontrunner for the ACC Player of the Year and in contention for National Player of the Year as well.

In its loss to Wake Forest Saturday, Virginia had a new lineup to start the game that featured more size, as 6-foot-9 senior center Ryan Pettinella, 6-foot-8 sophomore forward Jamil Tucker, and 6-foot-4 freshman guard Jeff Jones all got an unexpected start. With the Tar Heels coming to town tonight, Virginia may look to its bigger players once again to battle the hard-working Hansbrough on the block.

"We're not trying to shake things up," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. "What we're doing is giving guys opportunities based on practice, and that was the decision based on practice."

At point guard Virginia will have a sizeable advantage because Singletary will likely not have to contend with Tar Heel sophomore Ty Lawson, arguably the league's fastest point guard. Lawson suffered an ankle sprain Feb. 3 in a win against Florida State, and was not available in the team's Feb. 6 loss against Duke or Sunday's win against Clemson. According to The Associated Press, North Carolina coach Roy Williams said after Sunday's game that Lawson will likely sit again in tonight's contest.

North Carolina has also been without junior backup point guard Bobby Fraser, who is out for the season with a knee injury. Senior guard Quentin Thomas and junior guard Marcus Ginyard have been handling the point guard reins in the absence of Lawson and Fraser, though Ginyard is also suffering from a sprained right ankle and a toe injury.

Virginia's chances of receiving an at-large NCAA Tournament bid is next to none, and even the prospect of an NIT bid is looking increasingly unlikely. The Cavaliers, however, do not plan on putting the rest of the season to waste.

"We can look forward to the ACC Tournament -- hopefully we can do something in that," Singletary said. "We're going to play a couple ranked teams coming up, so there's still room to do a couple of things."

 

Turnaround to test worn-out Heels
Hansbrough's sapped; Lawson, Ginyard to be game-time decisions
KEN TYSIAC
ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com

CHAPEL HILL --A can of Gatorade sat next to Tyler Hansbrough's left elbow Sunday night as he explained the effect of scoring 39 points in 47 minutes.

"I'm extremely tired right now," he said. "I can't really lie. I love to play basketball, but my body's pretty worn out."

Hansbrough's exhausting effort helped North Carolina overcome a 15-point, second-half deficit to defeat Clemson 103-93 in double overtime at the Smith Center. His reward was a trip on a bus scheduled to depart for Virginia after practice Monday.

Forty-seven hours after the win against Clemson ended, North Carolina will tip off with a wounded, worn-out team on the road against the Cavaliers (11-11, 1-8 ACC) at 8 p.m. today.

Starting point guard Ty Lawson might miss his third consecutive game with a sprained left ankle. He's listed as a game-time decision, and coach Roy Williams said he doesn't have a timetable for Lawson's return.

"We've just got to wait until he starts feeling better with it," Williams said. "The kid's not been hurt very often, and sometimes kids that haven't been hurt think that sometimes things have to be perfect before they come back.

"That could be part of Tywon's deal, but at the same time, it still hurts. We're just going to have to wait until it stops hurting."

Williams said starting wing and reserve point guard Marcus Ginyard also is struggling with "two bad wheels." He is listed as a game-time decision with turf toe on his left foot and a sprained ankle on his right leg.

Couple those injuries with the season-ending torn knee ligament suffered by Bobby Frasor on Dec. 27, and North Carolina could be forced to figure out who its No. 5 point guard is if Ginyard can't play tonight.

Williams said he has no contingency plan because during his entire career he's never had to use a No. 5 point guard. As the injuries have mounted, preseason No. 1 North Carolina (22-2, 7-2) has fallen to No. 5 in The Associated Press poll.

If the Tar Heels hadn't rallied to win Sunday, they might have dropped further and made the short preparation time even more difficult.

"There's no question it's a lot easier (because of the win)," Williams said. "You've got a little bit of bounce in your step even if you didn't play as well as you wanted to play."

Still, Hansbrough and Wayne Ellington played 47 minutes Sunday and point guard Quentin Thomas played 45. Their bounce might return by tipoff tonight.

It was gone Sunday night as a dehydrated Hansbrough talked.

"I'm trying to keep some fluids in me," he said. "My stomach has been hurting a little bit. My body is extremely tired."

 

Virginia's Long rising quickly; Titans' defensive dilemma
By Adam Schefter | NFL Network

OAHU, Hawaii –- In a way, top-rated draft prospects are a lot like stocks, with their values rising and dropping daily.

But just over two months before the 2008 NFL Draft, the value of Virginia defensive end Chris Long is undeniably growing.

Three well-connected NFL sources in Hawaii for Sunday's Pro Bowl each said, independent of the other, that there is mounting evidence to think Long will be the No. 1 overall pick in April's draft.

Until now, the names most prominently mentioned as the potential No. 1 pick have been LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan and Arkansas running back Darren McFadden.

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But now, there is growing buzz around Long, who had been regarded as a sure-fire top-5 pick.

The Dolphins are scheduled to pick in the top slot, and the widespread consensus is that Miami football operations chief Bill Parcells believes there is less risk with Long than any other potential No. 1 overall pick.

Long has the talent, the character and the genes to allow the Dolphins to rest easier about investing around $35 million worth of guaranteed money in him.

Should Long go No. 1, as some now are predicting he will, it will be similar to events in other seasons. Every year there is a player or two mentioned as the potential No. 1 pick, and then another player seemingly comes out of nowhere to lay claim to the top position.

Last year it was LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell who climbed past Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn to become the top pick.

In 2006, defensive end Mario Williams unseated USC running back Reggie Bush and Texas quarterback Vince Young in the days leading up to the draft.

And in 2005, it was quarterback Alex Smith who bypassed California quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the weeks before the draft.

The No. 1 overall pick regularly turns out to be a player few forecasted it to be in December and January. This year, that player is looking more and more like Long, the son of Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long.

The younger Long uses his hands well, gets tremendous leverage and has a non-stop motor. That could carry him all the way to the top of the draft, and to Miami.