
Cavaliers turn up heat in second half
for win
By ANDREW JOYNER
Daily Progress staff writer
Nearly an hour after his team rallied from a 15-point deficit to defeat No. 3
Duke 87-84 on Thursday night, Virginia senior swingman Adam Hall was sprawled
out on one of the leather sofas inside the UVa locker room. Hall, with an IV
poked into him and in obvious pain, grasped at the words to describe what had
just happened in his final regular-season home game at University Hall.
“I really was not aware of the deficit. I just wanted to go out there and play
hard,” said Hall, who finished with 21 points, including 10 during
Virginia’s pivotal 21-1 stretch in a seven-and-a-half minutes.
Hall and his teammates certainly responded as if they were unaware of the 76-61
deficit they faced with 7:40 remaining in the game. With their NCAA hopes
flickering, the Cavaliers (17-9, 7-8 ACC) played a span of basketball that has
eluded them recently, as they had lost seven of their last nine games. One could
argue that it was the type of play that had eluded the Cavaliers all season.
“We never lost faith in each other. Everyone else said what they wanted to
say, but as a team, we didn’t lose faith,” said junior guard Roger Mason
Jr., who finished with a team-high 22 points and made 6 of 8 free throws in the
final minute to seal the win. “We haven’t lived up to it [our own
expectations] and we haven’t played the way we can, but in that stretch we
did.”
Added freshman forward Jason Clark: “We knew it wasn’t over because it’s
never over until there is no time left on the clock.”
Clark was instrumental in the comeback effort as he and Travis Watson, both
playing with four fouls, combined for a defensive effort that held Duke center
Carlos Boozer, who had a career-high 33 points in the game, scoreless in the
last 8:46.
“We just kept putting fresh players on him and wore him down,” Clark said.
Virginia’s effort in the final eight minutes even drew the unlikely praise of
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“It is difficult to single out one play when you see character being displayed
over a period of time. It wasn’t one kid’s character. It was the character
of the team. They should be applauded for that,” said Krzyzewski, whose team
was limited to just 3 of 18 3-point shots on the evening. “We missed some
shots, but they were terrific.”
The UVa players also seemed to be inspired by some rare outbursts from coach
Pete Gillen, one of which earned him his first technical while at Virginia with
2:38 remaining in the first half.
“I was fighting for our players. … I deserved it. I was upset,” said
Gillen, who had to be restrained by UVa junior center Travis Watson. “I
didn’t want to get bounced but if I got bounced so be it.”
It was clear after the game that UVa’s players appreciated the gesture from
their coach.
“That shows the team that we were into the game. I think we responded to
it,” Mason said.
Added Watson: “He was frustrated. That showed us how much he cares about us. I
had to hold him back because he was about to go out there on the floor, I
think.”
The win clinched at least the fifth seed for Virginia in next week’s ACC
tournament. Virginia could still collect the fourth seed if it were to win at
Maryland on Sunday and Wake were to fall to N.C. State today. If that happened,
Virginia and Wake Forest would both finish with 8-8 records, but Virginia would
win the tiebreaker by virtue of the wins over Duke and Maryland.
“This is one step for us right now. Nobody cares about us right now whether we
win or lose. Duke didn’t care tonight and Maryland won’t care on Sunday,”
Mason said. “We have to take whatever momentum we have right now and take it
to Maryland.”
Glading’s switch a success
By JOHN GALINSKY
Daily Progress staff writer
Billy Glading is the best player on the Virginia men’s lacrosse team. Best
basketball player, that is.
When the Cavaliers get together for hoops games in the winter, “Billy
absolutely dominates,” said UVa coach Dom Starsia. “He’s a great
basketball player.”
Which should come as little surprise. After all, basketball runs in his blood. His father played hoops at Boston College and his grandfather played the sport at Cornell and Navy. Growing up in Bethesda, Md., basketball was Glading’s game, not lacrosse.
“I’ve been playing basketball for as long as I can remember,” said
Glading, a junior midfielder for the fifth-ranked Cavaliers, who face No. 2
Syracuse today at Klockner Stadium. “I didn’t start with lacrosse until
seventh grade. I remember being pretty bad and wanting to quit. My parents
wouldn’t let me quit. It turned out well that I stuck with it.”
Already athletic and competitive, thanks to his basketball background, Glading
quickly developed stick skills to match. He became a two-time All-American at
Gonzaga High School and now is the most versatile midfielder on Virginia’s
team, in Starsia’s opinion.
Solid on defense, Glading also showed he can be a threat on offense with a
career-high four goals during UVa’s 20-5 opening victory over Drexel last
Sunday.
“He’s got great quickness, great eyes, great feet,” Starsia said.
“He’s always been a good defensive player and he’s become a much better
player on the offensive end. If he can continue to finish plays, he gives us
another weapon out there.”
Though he was a latecomer to lacrosse, at least compared to many of his
teammates, Glading says there are many similarities between basketball and
lacrosse that made it a smooth transition.
“I’m a point guard in basketball, and the idea is the same as a
midfielder,” Glading said. “You’re driving to the hoop and looking to feed
the open man if someone slides to you. Defensively, you want to have quick feet
and keep your man in front of you. There’s a lot more correlation than you
would think.”
Still, Glading admits, it has taken him awhile to become as confident as a
midfielder as he was as a point guard. During his senior basketball season,
Glading led Gonzaga to three victories over rival DeMatha, which had two stars
in current Boston Celtics guard Joe Forte and Kentucky guard Keith Bogans.
Glading won one of those games with a last-second 3-pointer, then won another
with free throws in the final seconds.
By the end of the season, Gonzaga was ranked 25th in the nation by USA Today and
Glading was generating interest from college basketball programs, including
Georgetown. But he already had committed to Virginia for lacrosse as a junior,
and he did not waver from that decision.
“I still thought [lacrosse] was the sport I could do best in college,” he
said.
Success didn’t come quickly at UVa. Glading played little as a freshman, then
began his sophomore season on the first midfield unit. He got off to a good
start, scoring seven goals in the first six games, but he suffered a sprained
ankle against Johns Hopkins and missed the next four games. He finished the
season with nine goals and four assists.
Starsia expected more production from Glading this season, especially after
watching him tear up his teammates in basketball over the winter.
“I told him that’s what we need from you in lacrosse,” Starsia said. “In
basketball, he has that assertive, aggressive mentality. But in our sport, he
was not being selfish enough. I said you can’t let the game happen around you.
You have to make something happen at every moment.”
Glading took the advice to heart, though he said transferring his aggressive
approach to lacrosse did not come naturally.
“I’ve always felt confident on a basketball court. I feel in my element,
like I know what I’m doing,” Glading said. “I didn’t feel that way on a
lacrosse field, I guess because I hadn’t been playing as long. It was a
confidence issue.
“But I really feel like that’s all starting to change now. I feel
comfortable on the field with the guys I’m playing with. I’m pretty
confident in my abilities. I think I’m going to be more assertive.”
Glading attacked the cage against Drexel, scoring twice in the first quarter and
again 24 seconds before halftime. In the fourth quarter, he sliced through a
double team — much like a point guard splitting a trap — and scored a
short-handed goal.
It was just what Starsia wanted to see, and it was a good sign going into
today’s showdown with Syracuse, which has beaten Virginia each of the past
five regular seasons. Glading didn’t back down from DeMatha, and he doesn’t
plan on playing timidly against the Orangemen.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” he said. “We went up there last year
and didn’t play our best lacrosse [in a 13-7 loss]. This year I think
there’s a much better feeling with the team. We’re anxious to get out there
and make up for that.”
Hall gave needed spark to underdogs
By JERRY RATCLIFFE
Daily Progress sports editor
Scattershooting around the ACC, while noting some items overlooked in the
late-night madness of Virginia’s upset over third-ranked Duke on Thursday ...
What an incredible effort by the Cavaliers in their comeback against the heavily
favored Blue Devils, who were picked to win by 14 points. That’s just about
what Duke’s working margin was when the University Hall roof caved in on the
Devils with eight minutes to go.
When UVa outscored visiting Duke 21-1 from that point on, it was one of the most
incredible stretches of basketball ever witnessed by this columnist in more than
20 years of covering ACC hoops. The Blue Devils were overwhelmed by Virginia’s
effort as if they were sinking in quicksand with no vine in sight.
Who will ever forget senior Adam Hall standing atop press row, slapping fives
with fans as the court was flooded with orange-clad Wahoo fans. While I knew
that UVa missed Hall during his 10-game absence due to a foot injury, I will be
the first to admit that I underestimated just how much the Cavs missed him.
With Hall, Virginia is a clearly a different team. Not only is his defensive
capabilities and athleticism missed but his confidence, leadership and ability
to spark
runs with his steals and eye-popping dunks. Virginia football coach Al Groh,
watching the game, observed that Hall gives the Cavs a grit that they
desperately needed.
Hall scored 12 of UVa’s points during what we will refer to for years to come
as “The Run,” sending the sellout crowd into a frenzy with a huge 3-pointer,
followed by a resounding slam-bam-jam after freshman Keith Jenifer came up with
a major rebound. The back-to-back baskets cut Duke’s lead to 77-76 with 3:17
to go, setting up Jenifer’s runner in the lane two minutes later that gave
Virginia its first lead of the game.
Every Virginia fan and player had to be fired up when coach Pete Gillen was
called for his first technical foul as a Cavalier coach and was willing to be
ejected from the game in order to get the foul whistles evened out in the game.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said he knew that UVa’s fans would not let the team
down and they didn’t. The fans were awesome, a definite factor in the game.
Fans should remember that they are one reason that home-court advantage is a
major factor in college basketball. Players and coaches from around the league
have pointed out the past two years that Virginia is one of the toughest places
to play in the entire country and fans are a key. Just think how UVa could
thrive in the future if crowds were as active every game as they were Thursday
night (that goes for football, too).
Virginia is 27-4 at home over the past two seasons, which is a tribute to its
fan base and support.
Speaking of numbers, UVa’s win over the Dookies gave the Cavaliers a huge
boost going into the weekend as far as the RPI goes. Virginia jumped from 52 in
the nation to 43 overnight, while its strength of schedule also jumped about 12
spots.
The Wahoos became the first ACC team to beat Duke on their home court since
North Carolina beat the Devils at the Dean Smith Center in 1997 and 1998.
What was amazing was UVa’s ability to shut down Duke center Carlos Boozer down
the stretch, a key to making “The Run.” Boozer, who had scored a career-high
33 points up until that point, did nothing during the final eight minutes.
Afterward, Boozer said, “It seemed like there were one-and-a-half guys on
me.”
True. UVa used Jason Clark and whoever else was available to shut down the big
guy, who has now scored 59 points in two outings against the Hoos this season.
Travis Watson, J.C. Mathis, or anyone else available double-teamed Boozer.
Now, where does Virginia go from here? The consensus opinion is that the Wahoos
need to win one more game, either against Maryland on Sunday or in the first
round of the ACC tournament, where they will face today’s loser of the N.C.
State-Wake Forest game.
The Cavs could end most of the suspense if they finish off the Terps, but even
if they lose, they will be 7-9 in ACC play.
There have been seven ACC teams to finish 7-9 in league play since 1992 and four
of them were given berths to the NCAA tournament: Wake Forest in 1992 (7-9,
17-12); Clemson in ’96 (7-9, 18-11); Virginia in ’97 (7-9, 18-13); and
Clemson in ’98 (7-9, 18-14).
Bobby Cremins’ Georgia Tech team was stiffed in ’94 for a 7-9/16-13 record,
while Dave Odom’s Deacs were also overlooked in ’99 and 2000, leaving a
bitter taste in Winston-Salem, particularly in 2000 when the Deacs went 22-14
overall. Those were the two years where the ACC was given only three bids to the
NCAA.
The Cavaliers have a choice: either put their fate in their own hands or leave
it up to a committee that might not understand some of the close losses without
Hall and other circumstances, such as the cancellation of the Michigan State
game, which had to hurt. Never leave things up to politics.
U.Va. seniors and freshmen
contributed to win over Duke
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The seniors
rose to the occasion.
Adam Hall and Chris Williams, honored Thursday night for four years of
contributions to the Virginia program, did their part to help produce perhaps
the biggest victory of that four-year span, the Cavaliers' badly needed 87-84
upset of Duke.
Hall had 21 points, second only to Roger Mason Jr.'s 22, and generated the
type of electricity no other Cavalier can. Williams, AWOL during much of
Virginia's recent nine-game slide, resurfaced when needed most.
But also indispensable to the Virginia cause was the play of freshmen Keith
Jenifer and Jason Clark. Jenifer made what might have been the most important,
and gutsy, shot of the night when he canned a runner in the lane with 1:13 left
to give Virginia a 78-77 lead.
``How many freshmen would have the guts to drive the lane in that situation
against one of the best teams in the country?'' coach Pete Gillen said. ``Jenifer
is one of those tough competitors from Baltimore, which is a great city with
great basketball tradition.''
Clark is from Virginia Beach, which is a little shy on basketball tradition.
But Clark grabbed the rebound that led to Jenifer's basket, battled Duke's
Carlos Boozer down the stretch and grabbed another key rebound earlier that led
to a Hall 3-pointer.
Just a few minutes earlier, Boozer was having his way inside -- scoring on
layups and dunks and threatening to foul out Virginia's entire front line -- as
Duke built a 15-point lead.
Watson picked up his fourth foul in the first half. Clark drew his less than
two minutes into the second.
But the 6-foot-7, 220-pound Clark played 11 second-half minutes and spent
many of them fronting the 280-pound Boozer, who didn't score in the final 8:46.
Williams and Watson also helped sag inside on Boozer.
``It would have been nice to get him the ball, but I thought they played him
tougher, too,'' Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
Duke led 76-61 with 8:01 to play. Then Watson made a pair of free throws and
Hall a layup. Mike Dunleavy hit a free throw to make it 77-65 with 6:53 left,
but Duke didn't score again until just 27.8 seconds remained, ending a 17-0
Virginia run.
Hall scored nine points in the run. A 25 percent shooter from 3-point range,
Hall hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to cut the lead to 77-74. His next
basket was more characteristic of his career. He drove along the baseline,
sailed past the Duke defense and dunked.
Then came Jenifer's runner. He finished with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting. He
had six assists and two turnovers in 31 minutes.
``The last couple of games, people have been sagging off of me, so I have to
keep them honest, and I had to take a couple of shots tonight,'' he said.
After Jenifer's shot fell, Virginia made 9 of 10 free throws in the final
50.6 seconds.
Boozer finished with 33 points, but Jason Williams made just 4 of 13 shots,
and was 1 of 7 from 3-point range. Mike Dunleavy was 6 for 17, and missed all
five attempts from behind the arc.
``We should've won this game,'' Dunleavy said. ``It shouldn't have been
close. But we let them hang around. Then we gave them too much confidence and
they drew energy from the crowd.''
And, on senior night, from a pair of freshmen.
By ED MILLER, The
Virginian-Pilot
© March 2, 2002
| Gillen, staff premeditate technical |
| Senior Adam Hall scores a season-high 21 points, 12 in the final 7:16 in the come-from-behind victory. |
| By
DOUG DOUGHTY THE ROANOKE TIMES |
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Only the officiating crew from the Virginia-Duke men's basketball game knows how close UVa coach Pete Gillen came to watching the second half on television. If not for a bear hug from burly center Travis Watson, Gillen might have been tossed. As it was, Gillen received a technical foul for the first time in 134 games, dating back to his final season at Providence College in 1997-98. "I've been with him eight years as an assistant and this is the second one he's ever gotten," said UVa assistant Tommy Herrion after the Cavaliers' 87-84 upset victory over third-ranked Duke. After seven losses in nine games, Gillen knew that Thursday might be the night - for the technical, that is. "The discussion was held before the game," Herrion said. "He was adamant about getting some respect. He was very clear that he was making a stand last night, whether it helped or hurt. "He went into it with the mind that, after winning 300 and something games, he deserved the respect he got in the second half." Gillen had been fuming at the officials for several minutes, insisting that the Blue Devils were going over the backs of their UVa counterparts, when Duke was awarded possession after a ball went out of bounds off the Cavaliers' Adam Hall. Gillen, feeling that Hall had been pushed from behind, gave a clawing motion and was hit with a "T" by referee Frank Scagliotta. A second technical would have meant an immediate ejection. "I was going to get a second one [before being restrained]," Gillen said. "I calmed down. I didn't want to get bounced just to get bounced. I wanted to coach the game. I'm getting paid to coach, not to stay in the locker room. "I deserved the technical, but I was upset and we had contingency plans if I got thrown. Sometimes you've got to fight for the players. I tell them to fight; I've got to fight. If I get thrown, I get thrown. I'm not going to make it a habit, obviously, [but] I'd do it again." At the point of the technical, with 2:04 remaining in the half, the Cavaliers trailed 40-30. Two free throws by Carlos Boozer, followed by a Boozer layup, made it 44-30 with 1:55 to go before halftime. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said UVa's 8-0 spurt before the half may have been more critical than a later 21-1 run, but the Blue Devils came back to take a 76-61 lead with less than eight minutes left and seemed to be in command. In Gillen's four seasons, the Cavaliers have overcome a greater second-half deficit on only one occasion, when they rallied from 16 points back to beat Virginia Tech 69-61 this past November, but that was with more than 17 minutes remaining. Moreover, this was against the third-ranked team in the country, a team that had won 13 of the previous 14 meetings between the teams. The Blue Devils were favored by 14 points and no Gillen-coached UVa team had won as more than an eight-point underdog. UVa was a seven-point underdog under similar conditions last year, when the Cavaliers knocked off then-No.3 Duke 91-89 on a follow shot by Hall with one second left. Hall was a major figure again Thursday night, when he was recognized in pregame ceremonies with fellow seniors Chris Williams and Jason Dowling. Hall had a season-high 21 points, including 12 in the final 7:16, and held ACC scoring leader Jason Williams to 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field. Williams had five points in the final 22.3 seconds but missed a free throw with 12.1 seconds left that could have tied the score. "I love defense and he's a big challenge," said Hall, who had an ice pack on his right foot and an IV hooked up to his right arm as he conducted a postgame interview while lying on a couch. Boozer finished with a career-high 33 points for the Blue Devils and looked as if he might win the game by himself, only to disappear from the Duke offense. Boozer did not have a field-goal attempt in the final 8 1/2 minutes. Strangely, UVa post players Watson and Jason Clark both had four fouls and eventually fouled out, Watson with 2:56 remaining and Clark with 27.8 on the clock. "It would be nice to get [Boozer] the ball," Krzyzewski said. "I thought they played him tougher, though." Duke had seven turnovers in the final 6 1/2 minutes - another factor in the UVa comeback - and Williams had eight for the game. But, whatever he said to his team behind closed doors, Krzyzewski was magnanimous by the time he met with the press. The loss for the Blue Devils (25-3, 12-3 ACC) left Maryland as the regular-season ACC champion for the first time since 1980. Virginia (17-9, 7-8) clinched the fifth seed for the ACC Tournament but must win at least 1-2 more games to make the NCAA Tournament. "We knew they would be ready to play and we also knew their fans wouldn't let them down," Krzyzewski said. "Don't try and lump them with some other people. They're not lumpable. They've got their own character. They've got their own identity." |
Brooks, London share views on UVa flier
By DOUG
DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Fridays
The Virginia men's basketball team has taken flak over the past month but one of the cheapest shots came courtesy of Sports Illustrated college basketball writer Seth Davis in his Hoop Thoughts column that appears on cnnsi.com.
"It's been a long time since I've seen a team melt down the way Virginia has," Davis wrote. "I can't put my finger on the exact reason why Virginia went south, but I can tell you what one ACC assistant told me last week: 'They have some low-character kids.' "
Davis did not reveal his source, although there is considerable suspicion he was talking to Jimmy Patsos, the Maryland assistant who reportedly cursed at UVa guard Keith Jenifer last month, as did Terrapins' head coach Gary Williams. Whoever the assistant was, I doubt he's been around the UVa players as much as the media have.
Some of the UVa players aren't great interviews, but you want to tell me that Chris Williams is a "low-character kid" or that Roger Mason Jr. is "a low-character kid?" There is no more stand-up guy in the ACC than Roger Mason and to suggest that UVa has some "low-character kids" without identifying any of them is an indictment of all of them.
"Low-character kids?" UVa assistant Tommy Herion asked Friday in response to Davis' notes column. "Did he print that?
"Trust me, we've got great kids. In this day and age, we've got great kids. Sometimes, they're not great players, [but] we've got great kids. Better than most. I know that for a fact."
OK, they've got great kids
I don't know if Patsos was the coach responsible for the unattributed quote, but I can say I've observed him for 10 years on the Maryland bench and always thought he was a punk. Maybe I'm guilty of the same mud-slinging as Davis and his unidentifed source, but at least I'm putting my name on it.
As for Davis, I can't imagine he'll be too well-received the next time he shows his face in Charlottesville.
"He was here for two, three days and we took care of him," Herrion said. "It's fine. Actually, right now all that stuff is helping us. All that negativity is helping us. We have the third-leading freshman scorer in the conference, we've got the leading freshman assist man and the leading freshman shot-blocker, so they must have a little character."
ONE OF THE REASONS I'd like to see an end to the big flap over the recruiting flier sent by Virginia to its football recruits is purely cosmetic.
When I originally used the word, I spelled it "flyer." The sports copy desk apparently consulted The Associated Press style book and changed it to "flier." Somehow, that doesn't look right to me. It looks like the name of a baseball trading-card company.
In any event, while researching another story, I had the opportunity to ask two of the state's top prospects about the flier, including Hylton linebacker and UVa signee Ahmad Brooks, generally considered the state's No. 1 prospect.
DOUGHTY: What about the pro experience of Groh and his staff? Was it a big thing or not a big thing?
BROOKS: It was kind of big in my perspective because coach Groh coached for the Jets, plus he coached nine Pro Bowl players. That really got my attention. Just the fact he coached in the NFL ... that's a big plus.
DOUGHTY: Apparently, they sent out a flier that said where all of those guys had coached. Did you ever get that?
BROOKS: A what?
DOUGHTY: A flier. You know, a sheet of paper with how many years they had been in the NFL.
BROOKS: No. I don't remember that.
LONDON, A LINEBACKER from Northside High School in Roanoke, said he had received the flier. UVa gave its assistants credit for 56 years of pro experience, in some cases including time spent in NFL training camps as interns.
"We found out about that early in the process," said London, the son of ex-North Carolina State defensive back Tommy London. "That was another thing that turned us off about UVa. We researched that and found out that coach [Al] Groh was like the only NFL coach, really."
Actually, offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave had been a coordinator with the Carolina Panthers as recently as the 2000 season.
"That's right," London said. "That's two of them. Of course, I got the flier and they talked about it whenever we were up there. I caught on to that early."
London ultimately committed and signed with UCLA, picking the Bruins over Virginia Tech. Virginia was on his list early and he went to several games in Charlottesville but did not visit UVa officially.
London said he grew up as more of a Virginia fan than a Tech fan growing up "just because they were ACC," he said. "They were on TV more. We went up to Tech games because they used to play N.C. State and Miami and I used to love those teams. So, I'd actually go up there and root for N.C. State and Miami."
UNLIKE QUARTERBACK Marcus Vick, who decided to go to Tech after offensive coordinator Rickey Bustle left for Louisiana-Lafayette, London was a Bustle fan.
"As the recruiting process came on, coach Bustle started to recruit me and that's when I started to love it because coach Bustle ... he was awesome," London said. "I couldn't believe that about Vick because I thought just the opposite.
"I thought coach Bustle was great, but I never played under him. Maybe Marcus was just talking to Mike. Maybe Mike had stories for him. But, as far as a recruiter, coach Bustle was on the money."
FOR THE READERS who wondered just what happened that caused two UVa fans to be ejected following the playing of the National Anthem on Thursday night, here's the story.
Midway through the anthem, one fan bellowed, "[Bleep] Duke." Next to him, one of his buddies yelled, "And, Bin Laden, too."
The two students quickly were apprehended by UVa student-aid representative Joe Hall, showing better quickness than he ever displayed as a pass-rushing defensive lineman in the early 1990s. (Of course, he was 50 pounds lighter then.)
Column contributor Dave Trumbower wanted to know why the second student was ejected. "If you ask me, they should have upgraded his seat," Trumbower said.
Hall shows his worth to Virginia
CHARLOTTESVILLE - For Adam Hall, exhilaration gave way to exhaustion when the celebration finally subsided at University Hall late Thursday. As midnight approached, Hall sat slumped on a couch in Virginia's locker room, an IV in his arm.
He'd played 37 minutes in U.Va.'s 87-84 upset of third-ranked Duke, turning in a magnificent performance in what might have been his final game at U-Hall. The 6-5 senior's 21 points - a season high - four rebounds and three steals helped en- sure that Virginia (7-8, 17-9) will be seeded no worse than fifth in next weekend's ACC tournament.
"Our team's a different team when Adam Hall's in the game," said coach Pete Gillen, whose Cavaliers snapped a three-game losing streak.
When Hall traded his uniform for street clothes after injuring his right foot Jan. 12, Virginia was 10-2 and ranked No.7. By the time he returned Feb. 20, after missing 10 games and all but five minutes of another one, U.Va. had dropped to No.22 and was no longer a lock to make the NCAA tournament.
"We've missed him a lot," said junior guard Roger Mason Jr., who led U.Va. with 22 points Thursday night. "Besides his points, we just missed him and his presence on the court."
Hall supplies passion and energy in huge quantities, and he put his stamp on the victory over the Blue Devils, whose record of five consecutive ACC regular-season titles ended. Virginia erased a 15-point second-half deficit, and in its 17-0 run late in the game, Hall went 4 for 4 from the line, buried a 3-pointer and threw down one of his trademark dunks.
A two-time member of the ACC's all-defensive team, Hall did more than score. He helped hound All-America guard Jason Williams into a subpar night. Williams missed 9 of 13 shots from the floor and turned the ball over eight times.
"I think we're a completely different team with Adam on the floor," Mason said. "Tonight, he was the reason why we won, along with Keith."
Freshman point guard Keith Jenifer scored a career-high 10 points, the final two coming on a runner with 1:12 left that gave the Cavaliers their first lead, 78-77.
"We were thinking of calling time out, but we let him play, and he had the guts to take it," Gillen said. "Not many freshmen on national television against the No.3 team in the country are going to take a shot. But he's got a big heart."
For the first time in Gillen's four seasons at Virginia, he was slapped with a technical foul. With 2:04 left in the first half, Frank Scagliotta whistled Gillen, who was irate over what he considered one-sided officiating. Gillen, in fact, came perilously close to picking up a second technical and getting ejected.
"We were upset with some things that were going on," he said. "I didn't want to get bounced just to get bounced. I wanted to coach the game. I'm getting paid to coach, not to be in the locker room. But if I got bounced, so be it. You got to fight for your players. If I tell them to fight, I got to fight."
Junior center Carlos Boozer, who finished with a career-high 33 points, made both technical foul shots, then scored inside to stretch Duke's lead to 44-30. But the Cavaliers, feeding off Gillen's fury, closed the half with an 8-0 run to pull to 44-38.
"Coach Gillen showed that he was behind us, by that, and I think we responded," Mason said.
U.Va. has been on the losing end of two numbing comebacks at U-Hall this season, falling to Maryland on Jan. 31 and to Georgia Tech last weekend. Against the Yellow Jackets, Mason, an exceptional free-throw shooter, missed the front end of a one-and-one with 57.6 seconds left and the Cavs up by six.
Against Duke, Mason sank two free throws with 50.6 seconds left and two more at the :27.1 mark. He missed a pair with 4 seconds left, but Duke guard Chris Duhon's desperation 50-footer didn't come close as time expired.
"I wanted a chance to redeem myself, because I felt like I let my team down," Mason said. "I just wanted the opportunity to make some important free throws, and I'm glad the opportunity came."
Virginia closes the regular season tomorrow night against second-ranked Maryland (14-1, 24-3) in the final game at Cole Field House. If the Cavaliers beat the Terrapins, they can stop worrying about an at-large bid to the NCAA tourney. If they lose, they'll probably need to win at least one game in the ACC tourney to have a shot at returning to the NCAAs.
Cavaliers Give, and Go
By Josh Barr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 2, 2002; Page D06
CHARLOTTESVILLE, March 1 -- Good enough to be ranked fourth in the nation. Good enough to beat No. 3 Duke, even after trailing by 15 points with less than eight minutes remaining. Good enough to come within a few minutes of beating another of the nation's elite teams, No. 2 Maryland.
These are the Virginia Cavaliers who seem as if they should be considered postseason contenders.
On other nights, though, Virginia was bad enough to lose a nine-point lead -- at home -- in the final 3 1/2 minutes against Maryland. Bad enough to lose a six-point lead in the final minute -- at home -- against Georgia Tech. Bad enough to lose seven of nine games before Thursday's 87-84 victory over Duke, leaving their postseason prospects up in the air entering Sunday's regular season finale at Maryland.
These are the Virginia Cavaliers who seem like massive underachievers and need to visit a psychologist.
"From here on out, I'd like to think we're the team that beat Duke," said guard Roger Mason Jr., who is Virginia's leading scorer (18.9 points per game). "That's the way we have to play to have a chance. Leave the stuff that happened in the past in the past and start being the team we can be from here on out."
If only it were that easy. After making the NCAA tournament last season for the first time under Coach Pete Gillen, the Cavaliers were expected to continue moving toward the top of the ACC. They began the season ranked 11th nationally and by late December had worked their way to No. 4 in both of the national polls.
Mason and Travis Watson gave Virginia a scoring presence on the perimeter and inside. A talented freshman class proved it could play against top competition. An NCAA tournament spot was a given. How far the Cavaliers could dance into March was the question.
But on Jan. 31, leading Maryland 83-74 with 3 minutes 22 seconds remaining, Virginia disintegrated and lost 91-87. Without the players knowing it at the time, the season had taken a dramatic turn for the worst.
"It's hard for anybody to deal with [losing] a game you think you've won," said Maryland Coach Gary Williams, who speaks from experience.
Last season, the Terrapins went into a nosedive after losing a 10-point lead in the final minute of regulation during a loss to Duke. Maryland lost five of six games, including a Valentine's Day loss at home to Florida State, before resurrecting its season and making a run to the Final Four.
Virginia, which had lost to Duke in the game prior to the Maryland debacle, dropped five of its following seven games, culminating in the last-minute loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday. In that game, the Cavaliers missed four free throws -- two on the front end of one-and-ones -- down the stretch.
"I don't know if we ever completely got over" the loss to Maryland, Gillen said. "That was a big blow to our confidence -- even in the games we won, which isn't many."
For Virginia (17-9, 7-8 ACC), the drop in confidence was a significant blow. The Cavaliers often struggle in half-court situations and are at their best when the game seems chaotic. When Virginia's players become even slightly apprehensive about taking chances, opponents had gained an advantage.
Before the victory over Duke, Gillen clearly was exasperated. He had been critical of officials and of his players. Gillen said he accepted responsibility for the team's poor performances but, after the loss to Georgia Tech, pointed a finger at his players' inability to run a play correctly and said that was why Watson, not Mason, was on the line for two free throws late in the loss to Georgia Tech.
"I'll take the blame," Gillen said this week. "But we want our guys to run what we call."
Gillen said his team had missed forward Adam Hall, who sat out 10 games and barely played in another because of a foot injury. The Cavaliers were 6-5 in those games. Hall returned last week and played in losses to Florida State and Georgia Tech.
Before Thursday's game, Gillen decided to try one more motivational ploy. He normally has a different priest speak to the team before every game. On Thursday, though, he surprised the players by also bringing in a man who survived cancer in his leg and now has lung cancer.
Whether that had an impact is unknown: The Cavaliers trailed by 14 points in the first half, and Gillen was so enraged by the officiating that he picked up his first technical foul at Virginia. The Cavaliers trailed by 76-61 with seven minutes remaining before somehow pulling out the victory and reviving its NCAA tournament hopes.
"We got to a limit," Mason said. "We had heard all the bad stuff everybody had said about us. We knew if we were going to go where we want to go, we had to win."
Virginia probably needs one more victory to ensure a return to the NCAA tournament. A victory at Maryland almost certainly would do the trick, although it remains to be seen which version of the Cavaliers will travel to College Park.
"You don't know what team is going to show up," Maryland forward Byron Mouton said. "They might be aggressive like the team that showed up against Duke. Or they might be the team that showed up against Clemson."
U.Va. goes from life support to life
Winning for only the third time in 10 games, Virginia (17-9,
7-8) clinched no worse than fifth place in the final ACC standings. The
Cavaliers' victory also clinched the regular-season championship for Maryland,
which has a two-game lead over the Blue Devils (25-3, 12-3).
Virginia fell behind 76-61 on Mike Dunleavy's layup just past the 8-minute mark,
but the Cavaliers didn't fade. With Travis Watson and Adam Hall accounting for
13 of the points, Virginia scored 17 of the game's next 18 points and took the
lead on Keith Jenifer's runner with 1:12 remaining.
Dunleavy missed a short jumper on the other end and Roger Mason Jr. bumped
Virginia's lead to three with a pair of free throws at 50.6 seconds. Dunleavy
then threw the ball away and Hall went 2-of-2 from the line, making it 82-77.
Jason Williams ended Duke's drought with a pair of free throws, but Mason
matched him on the other end. Williams' 3-point play made it a two-point game,
but Hall went 1-of-2, putting the Cavs ahead 85-82.
Williams then missed a runner, but got his rebound and scored while being fouled
with 12.1 seconds left. But he missed the free throw, leaving Virginia ahead by
one. Mason put the lead back to three and Williams lost the ball trying to force
it upcourt, essentially sealing the upset.
The victory came a year and two weeks after a 91-89 thriller over the Blue
Devils. And it came five days after the Cavaliers blew a six-point lead in the
final 57 seconds against Georgia Tech. Unlike in that collapse, where it missed
its final four shots from the line, Virginia was 9-of-12 in the final 50.6
seconds.
Virginia was on the verge of getting blown out in the first half when Duke took
a 40-27 lead on two Carlos Boozer free throws with 2:58 remaining. After Roger
Mason Jr. answered with a 3-pointer, Virginia coach Pete Gillen was hit with a
technical foul for protesting a non-call under the basket.
Boozer's two free throws and layup on the possession gave the Blue Devils their
biggest lead of the half at 44-30. But the Cavaliers outscored Duke 8-0 over the
last 1:46, getting 3-pointers from Chris Williams and Mason and a follow by
Jason Clark with two seconds remaining to trail 44-38 at the break.
Virginia did a good job of limiting Jason Williams' looks, holding him to 1-of-8
shooting and forcing four turnovers. But Boozer scored 21 points in the opening
half on 7-of-8 shooting.
Like he did a month earlier in Durham, Boozer got Virginia's post players in
foul trouble. Aside from Watson, Clark picked up three personals in seven
minutes first-half minutes.
David Teel
Published March 1 2002