3/14/02 - Mercifully, It Ends

Rest in peace, Virginia, if you can.
When South Carolina threw the last shovel of dirt on the Cavaliers in the NIT’s opening round Wednesday night, it was almost like a mercy killing. Somebody had to put the Cavaliers out of their misery, why not a sympathetic guy like Dave Odom, who spoke a few kind words in the postmortem.
While the Cavaliers insisted that they wanted to beat Odom’s Gamecocks, wanted to finish this thing in the Garden a few weeks from now, they didn’t produce a convincing argument. Instead, they reverted back to the same old things that got them here in the first place: poor defense, some bad decisions at the most crucial points of the game and a general lack of passion to win.
That’s why, after suffering through 10 losses in their last 13 games, this season can be put to rest. Well, sort of.
Critics won’t soon forget this landslide of monumental proportions. Once ranked No. 4 in all the land, the Cavaliers plummeted into a nosedive that even a daredevil the likes of Chuck Yeager would have a hard time escaping.
As much as UVa’s players would like to take the ashes of this season and scatter them over the earth, they won’t soon forget. It will not be a peaceful postseason for the players, no matter how bright the future may appear on paper. They will be haunted by the thoughts of the ones that got away: Maryland, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Missouri, South Carolina.
While the NIT offered up somewhat of an opportunity for redemption, a new season, if you will, the new season was simply a microcosm of the old one.
“We made some big turnovers in the second half and didn’t defend like we needed to,” said UVa coach Pete Gillen, who could have Xeroxed that quote and passed it out after most of his team’s setbacks.
South Carolina was the seventh straight opponent that shot better than 50 percent against the defenseless Cavs.
Odom, who walked the sidelines at University Hall as a Virginia assistant and as an opposing coach at Wake Forest, had empathy for what Gillen had battled through.
“They had him unfairly in the Top 10 early and the pressure mounted,” Odom capsulated.
As bad as the one coach felt for the other, Odom saw the blood in the water when Virginia center Travis Watson picked up his third foul with just a few ticks less than 13 and a half minutes remained. Watson, who had shredded the Gamecocks’ defense for most of his game-high 26 points up to that moment, remained in the game even though he had picked up three personals in about six minutes.
“The key to the game was four fouls on Chris Williams (who had picked up his fourth prior to Watson’s third) and four fouls on Travis Watson midway through the second half,” said Odom. “As soon as I saw that third foul go up [on Watson], I wanted the ball inside a couple of times to take a crack or two to see if we could get a fourth.”
While UVa still had its chances up until the bitter end, the Cavaliers’ chances of winning were severely diminished when Watson took a seat for the next 10 or so minutes.
So be it. No sooner had the last rites been read on this season that UVa players and coaches began talking about the future.
Gillen took over the microphone at courtside, thanked the fans for showing up and promised them that his team would be better next season.
“We could have done better but now the season is done,” said Watson, who declined to reveal his personal message to teammates in the lockerroom after the close to the 17-12 campaign. But he did tell them to get ready for next year, when, at least on paper, it appears the Cavaliers could be as good as anyone in the ACC due to an influx of new talent and the league suffering heavy losses off its current rosters.
“We’ll have new players coming in, plus we’ll have a point guard,” said Watson. “You have to learn that this is a stepping stone. We made a lot of mistakes this season, some correctable, some not.”
While the Cavaliers were somewhat handcuffed by having to throw an unprepared freshman into the point guard spot when veteran Majestic Mapp was unexpectedly sidelined with knee complications, UVa’s problems went well beyond Keith Jenifer’s development.
“We can’t put that on a 19-year-old point guard,” said Roger Mason Jr., who saw his 39-game double figures scoring streak end in the loss. “We still could have overcome some things but we didn’t finish them.”
And this team never will.
Rest in peace, Virginia.

By ANDREW JOYNER
Daily Progress staff writer

On Tuesday night in its first round NIT contest against South Carolina, the Virginia men’s basketball team showed the brilliance and ultimate failings that made it the team it was this season.
The Cavaliers, behind 17 first-half points by Travis Watson, snared a 33-27 halftime lead only to see that advantage dissolve into a 74-67 victory by the Gamecocks and coach Dave Odom.
“We’re disappointed. ... We made some key turnovers in the second half and didn’t defend when we needed to,” said Virginia coach Pete Gillen, uttering similar phrases he’s been forced to use several times this season. “We had fire in spurts, but we didn’t have the fire we needed the whole night. South Carolina is a good team, but this is a game we could have won at home.”
The loss was the 10th in their last 13 games for the Cavaliers, who finished their season 17-12. The defeat was also the 12th postseason setback in a row for the Cavaliers. The last time Virginia prevailed in a postseason contest was 67-58 victory over Kansas in the 1995 NCAA midwest region semifinal.
South Carolina (19-14), which now advances to face UNLV in the second round of the NIT either next Monday or Tuesday, was led by a career-high tying 24 points by 6-foot-9 forward Roland Howell who entered the game averaging just a shade over nine points a game. Guards Aaron Lucas and Jamel Bradley added 16 and 14, respectively, for the Gamecocks. South Carolina shot 52.7 percent against the Cavaliers, who allowed an opponent to shoot over 50 percent for the seventh straight game. Virginia shot 51.7 percent itself in the loss, the third straight game in which it did so and still lost.
Watson was the only Virginia player in double-digits with 26 points and 13 rebounds. The team’s leading scorer and the ACC’s third-leading scorer this season, Roger Mason Jr., had just eight points including zero in the opening half. It was the first time this season Mason failed to score in the first 20 minutes and his eight points ended a stretch of 39 straight games in double digits. Chris Williams and Adam Hall, playing their final games in UVa uniforms, each finished with eight.
“It’s tough to win when Chris Williams and Roger Mason each score eight,” said Gillen, who has coached in seven of those losses in the 12-game postseason stretch.
While ultimately Gillen’s assessment of the need for stronger contributions from Mason and Williams is valid, it seemed on this night that Virginia’s fate, as it has in other games this season, rested with Watson.
Watson was dominant in the first half as he hit eight of his 10 shots from the field and netted 17 points. The South Carolina interior duo of Howell and 6-10 Tony Kitchings seemed a step slow each time Watson made a move in the post. It was something that Odom noticed as well and irked the former Wake coach and former UVa assistant.
“We did not play anywhere close to our defensive level in the first half,” said Odom, whose team allowed Virginia to shoot 59.3 percent in the opening half. “Travis Watson had his way with us in the first half every way to Sunday. He creates as tough a defensive assignment as there is. I was very upset with our post guys at halftime. I think they got the message.”
They might have got the message but Watson certainly helped.
After picking up no fouls in the first half, Watson collected four in the first seven minutes and 10 seconds in the second half and was forced to the bench with 12:50 left in the game and Virginia holding a 47-44 lead.
“That’s usually the beginning of our demise, when Travis gets into foul trouble. When he’s got to come out of the game and you have to play young guys who aren’t as experienced as he is, it’s tough,” Gillen said.
Coinciding with Watson’s departure, the Gamecocks scored 16 of the game’s next 21 points and opened a 60-52 lead with 6:10 remaining on a 3-pointer by Bradley.
Mason, usually Virginia’s clear go-to-guy down the stretch, was not able to pick up the slack once Watson went out as he was constantly dogged by Lucas and also seemed to have trouble finding his shot.
“I didn’t want to force any shots. I didn’t feel that I was getting good looks and I didn’t want to jack it up,” said Mason, who was 3 of 9 from the floor and attempted the second fewest amount of shots in any game this season. “In the first half, my teammates were playing well and I didn’t need to score, but unfortunately we didn’t win.”
The Cavaliers managed to cut that advantage to three twice the rest of the way, including on a 3-pointer by Hall with 39.3 seconds remaining, but could not get closer.
At the end of the game, as the 4,983 fans filed out of U-Hall, Gillen addressed the crowd from a courtside microphone and thanked them for the support and “promised that we’ll be even better next year.”
The future was perhaps the only thing that could keep Gillen’s mind off what had been a frustrating season. His team began the year 9-0 and No. 4 in the nation but lost 10 of its last 13 games, including this one in the first round of tournament that few would have thought the Cavaliers would have been playing in ten weeks ago.
“It’s been very frustrating. We’re 17-12 but it ended on a bad tick certainly. We’ve lost to good teams,” Gillen said. “We’re obviously not playing well but again we’re losing to good teams. ... I’m proud of the fact we had 17 wins and beat Duke but I’m disappointed and frustrated we didn’t win more. It wasn’t because a lack of effort but we just could not overcome our deficiencies.”
Added Mason: “It really hits you when the season is over. We’ve had some diversity. Things happened and, boom, we’re in the NIT. ... We’re not relieved the season is over, we wanted to win the NIT. This is the worst feeling. I’m so disappointed. Right now it hurts.”

Cavaliers ought to be embarrassed by their finish
The Virginian-Pilot
© March 14, 2002

U.Va. closes season with a whimper
By DOUG DOUGHTY, LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE, The Virginian-Pilot
© March 14, 2002

In a game that was a microcosm of the last six weeks, Virginia squandered a nine-point lead in the second half Wednesday night and lost to South Carolina 74-67 in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

It was the 10th loss in the last 13 games for the Cavaliers, who were 14-2 and ranked No. 7 in the country on Jan. 25. It was also Virginia's 12th consecutive postseason defeat.

``We just stopped playing defense,'' said Gillen, who could have been referring to any of U.Va.'s last seven games. ``We also went through long stretches when we couldn't score and maybe that affected our defense.''

The Cavaliers' defense is predicated on trapping and forcing turnovers. But when the Gamecocks started to break U.Va.'s press, it turned into a parade of South Carolina layups and dunks.

After shooting 43.3 percent in the first half, the Gamecocks (19-14) shot 60.7 percent in the second half to finish at 51.7. They became the seventh straight team to shoot 50 percent or better against the Cavaliers.

Virginia has bettered 50 percent in three of those games, including 52.7 on Wednesday night, but lost two of them.

The Cavaliers (17-12) started slowly, falling behind 15-8, but rallied and took a 33-27 halftime lead behind 16 points and eight rebounds from junior center Travis Watson.

``In the first half, Travis Watson had his way with us,'' said South Carolina coach Dave Odom, a former Virginia assistant who was the head coach at Wake Forest from 1989-2001. ``That was as difficult a defensive assignment as our post guys have had.''

Moreover, Watson did not have a foul, but things started to go downhill after Roger Mason Jr. hit a 3-pointer for the Cavaliers to start the second half.

Jamel Bradley responded with a 3-pointer for the Gamecocks to cut U.Va.'s nine-point lead to 36-30. Then, after Chris Williams air-balled an open 3-pointer for the Cavaliers, Watson was called for a foul after bumping a South Carolina player out of bounds.

It was the first of four fouls in the first 7:10 of the second half for Watson. He sat nearly five minutes, during which South Carolina turned a 45-44 deficit into a 57-52 lead.

``That's usually the beginning of our demise when he gets in foul trouble,'' Gillen said.

``As soon as I saw that third foul go up on Watson, we wanted to go inside and take a couple of cracks at getting the fourth one and, to be honest with you, I think he helped us out on that foul,'' Odom said. ``He was a little more aggressive than he should have been at that point.''

``The dude (Rolando Howell) elbowed me,'' Watson said. ``He was hooking in the post and we got tangled up. I lost my balance and (the official) called a foul. It definitely wasn't a foul. We were just going hard, both of us. If anything, it should have been an offensive foul.''

Watson re-entered the game with 7:12 remaining and scored 10 of the Cavaliers' final 16 points, including a three-point play and a 3-pointer, his second 3-pointer in as many attempts. He finished 2 for 2 on 3-pointers, but the rest of the team was only 4 of 17 from behind the arc.

Watson finished with 26 points. The Cavaliers did not have another double-figure scorer. Mason, scoreless in the first half, finished with eight points and saw his string of double-figure scoring efforts ended at 39.

By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, March 14, 2002; Page D07

CHARLOTTESVILLE, March 13 -- Virginia's disappointing season ended with a thud in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament tonight. South Carolina took charge about midway through the second half and held on for a 74-67 win at University Hall.

The Cavaliers (17-12) cut the deficit to 64-61 with 1 minute 49 seconds remaining on a three-point play by junior guard Roger Mason Jr., who failed to score in double figures for the first time in 40 games. However, Virginia could get no closer.

The Cavaliers led by six points at halftime and entered the final eight minutes tied at 52. But with Mason struggling through perhaps his least productive game of the season and center Travis Watson and forward Chris Williams saddled with four fouls, Virginia could not keep up with the Gamecocks (19-14).

"With both [Watson and Williams] out of the lineup, Virginia is operating almost with two arms behind their back," said South Carolina Coach Dave Odom, whose team advanced to face UNLV next week.

The Cavaliers failed to tighten defensively down the stretch as South Carolina, with four scorers in double figures, became the seventh consecutive Virginia opponent to shoot at least 50 percent from the field.

"We're just not consistent," said Cavaliers Coach Pete Gillen, who has not won a postseason game in four seasons at Virginia. "I think we had the fire in spurts. I don't think we had the fire the whole game. Maybe we got frustrated when we weren't scoring and that affected our defense."

The frustration the Cavaliers felt was part of what enveloped the team as it closed the season with 10 losses in the final 13 games. Virginia, which was ranked in the top 10 for three months, has lost its past 12 postseason games.

"It's the worst feeling," said Mason, who attempted fewer than 10 field goals for the second time all season. "I'm so disappointed. All summer, I'll be thinking about this season. . . . I'm still really shocked at how everything has worked out."

Watson had 26 points and 13 rebounds in 33 minutes, but he was the only Cavalier to score in double figures. Virginia's other three veterans -- Mason, Williams and senior Adam Hall -- each scored eight points.

"Travis Watson had his way with us," said Odom, who coached in the ACC for 22 seasons, including a seven-year stint as a Virginia assistant coach.

Watson scored 17 of his points in the first half, when he was able to play all but one minute because he avoided committing any fouls. However, he committed four fouls in the first 7:10 of the second half and spent crucial minutes on the bench next to Williams, who picked up his fourth foul 2 1/2 minutes into the second half.

South Carolina answered Watson with 24 points from sophomore power forward Rolando Howell, who tied a career high. Senior guards Aaron Lucas and Jamel Bradley, a third-team all-Southeastern Conference selection, combined for 30 points.

CHARLOTTESVILLE - A season that started with such promise ended last night with yet anotherdispiriting loss for Virginia in the final game for four-year starters Adam Hall and Chris Williams.

U.Va. blew a nine-point second-half lead and fell 74-67 to South Carolina in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament before 4,983 fans at University Hall. The Cavaliers would rather have been in the NCAA tournament - their late-season woes cost them that opportunity - and at times they seemed to play that way.

"I think we had the fire in spurts," fourth-year coach Pete Gillen said. "I don't think we had the fire the whole game, the passion."

The parallels between this loss and the Cavaliers' season were impossible to miss. Virginia collapsed in the final 7:33 against South Carolina, largely because of its poor defense, just as it fell apart late in the season. U.Va., unbeaten and ranked No. 4 nationally in December, lost 10 of its final 13 games.

South Carolina (19-14) advanced to meet UNLV (21-10) in next week's second round at Columbia, S.C. Virginia (17-12) heads into the off-sea- son trying to figure out how a dream year turned into a nightmare.

After the final horn sounded, Gillen grabbed the microphone and thanked the fans for their support. "I promise we'll be even better next year," he said.

That may not be a difficult promise to keep. In the final days of this season, the Cavaliers looked out of sync and out of confidence. USC was the seventh straight opponent to shoot at least 50 percent from the floor against Virginia.

"I'm still really shocked at how everything's worked out," said junior guard Roger Mason Jr.

Mason, the ACC's third-leading scorer, finished with eight points, ending a string of 39 games in double figures. Williams, the team's second-leading scorer, had only eight, too.

"You can win without them, but we need them to get a little bit more," Gillen said.

Center Travis Watson bounced back from a subpar showing in the ACC tournament to score 17 points in the first half, after which U.Va. led 33-27.

"I was very, very upset with our post guys at halftime," said Gamecocks coach Dave Odom, a former U.Va. assistant. "I think they got the message."

Watson found it more difficult to get the ball after intermission. He also found himself, as he had repeatedly late in the season, in serious foul trouble. The 6-8, 255-pound junior had no fouls at the break but picked up four in the first 7:10 of the second half.

"That's usually the beginning of our demise, when he gets in foul trouble," Gillen said.

Virginia led 45-44 when Watson went to the bench with his fourth foul. When he returned more than five minutes later, Virginia trailed 57-52. Williams airballed a 3-point attempt on the Cavs' next possession and then, after a steal by teammate Adam Hall, threw the ball away.

"I thought we had the game won at that point," Odom said.

Watson made 11 of 13 shots from the floor and totaled 26 points and 13 rebounds - his 17th double-double of the season - but was the only Cavalier to score more than eight. Still, Virginia shot 52.7 percent from the floor, which should have been enough for it to pull out a win. But the Cavs again proved incapable to shutting down their opponent.

USC, which had turned over the ball eight times in the first half, shredded the Cavaliers' full-court press in the second half. The result? Easy shots and a soaring field-goal percentage. USC shot 60.7 percent in the second half and finished at 51.7.

"We just stopped defending in the second half," Gillen said.

Gamecocks forward Rolando Howell, who came in averaging 9.1 points, matched his career high with 24. Guard Aaron Lucas, whose defense helped hold Mason in check, added 16, including 14 in the second half.