Virginia headed west for NIT
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
March 13, 2006

Historically, there has been no rhyme or reason to the pairings in the National Invitation Tournament.
Although the once prestigious tournament is now under new management - it was purchased within the last year by the NCAA - the puzzling pairings seem here to stay.

Virginia can attest to that.

The Cavaliers, who many people expected to receive an opening round home game after finishing seventh in the 12-team ACC - and winning a game in the league tournament - play at Stanford on Tuesday night at 9:30 p.m. EST.

Virginia (15-14) is the No. 8 seed in the tournament.

Stanford (15-13) is the No. 7 seed.

"As I said the other day, when you continue to keep playing, I think that's a great thing at this time of year," said Virginia coach Dave Leitao, "especially for this group because they've worked extremely hard all year long. This is a reward and will give us great preparation for the following season."

If Virginia wins, it would play at second-seeded Missouri State on Friday in the Round of 32. The winner of that game would face the BYU-Houston winner on March 20.

Ironically, Virginia will play host to Stanford in a regular season game at the new John Paul Jones Arena next season.

The most puzzling aspect of the selections was the confusion that took place afterward.

While the pairings were supposed to be announced at 9 p.m., nobody at Virginia had received official word until about two hours later.

The semifinals and finals are scheduled for March 28 and 30 at New York City's Madison Square Garden.

Virginia lost in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament to North Carolina, 79-67, on Saturday.

The Cavs will be making their fifth trip to the NIT in the last eight years.
 

Men's Lacrosse Wins Tight Contest Over Princeton 7-6
Cavaliers rally from early three-goal deficit

Princeton, N.J. - Ben Rubeor and Drew Thompson scored back-to-back goals midway through the fourth quarter to break a 5-all tie and lift the second-ranked Virginia Cavaliers to a 7-6 win over fifth-ranked Princeton before a crowd of 5412 at Princeton Stadium Sunday afternoon.

Virginia remains undefeated at 6-0, while Princeton suffers its first loss to fall to 2-1 this season.

"It was a big win early in the season, versus a quality team, on the road and in the rain," said Virginia head coach Dom Starsia. " I thought we started out very slowly and played with a lack of poise, but we started to get better with about 10 minutes to go before halftime. We were taking better shots and even though we were down 4-2 at halftime I was happy with how we were playing. The play of their goalie (Alex Hewit) was the story of the first half."

Hewit recorded 12 saves in the first half to keep the high-powered Virginia offense in check. The Tigers scored on three of their first four shots to build a 3-1 lead after 11 minutes. Pete Striebel scored his first goal of the season seven minutes and five seconds into the second quarter as the Tigers' lead grew to 4-1. Following that goal the Cavaliers held Princeton scoreless for nearly 26 minutes.

Matt Ward flicked a loose ball past Hewit just over six minutes before halftime to cut UVa's deficit to 4-2. Neither team was able to find the back of the net the rest of the way as Princeton's 4-2 lead held up at the break.

"I told our team at halftime that when you run into a hot goalie you've got to keep shooting," said Starsia.

The Cavaliers heeded the head coach's advice and outscored Princeton 3-0 in the third quarter to take a 5-4 lead heading into the final 15 minutes. Thompson scored the first of his two goals and was followed by Kyle Dixon and a man-down goal from Ward in the quarter. Goalie Kip Turner preserved UVa's lead by stuffing Tripp Shriner in front with 14 seconds left in the quarter.

Zach Goldberg tied the score early in the fourth quarter with a low bouncer from the right side that got past Turner to end Princeton's scoring drought after 25:42.

Rubeor broke the tie at the 7:31 mark with a nifty change of direction shot that beat Hewit. "I try not to make up my mind before my dodge," he said, "and I tried to use him (Princeton defenseman) a little bit as a screen. We knew we had to keep taking the right shots and eventually they'd fall."

Thompson added his second of the game 45 seconds later by beating Hewit stickside high with a hard rip.

Sophomore Rob Schneider made things interesting with his first goal of the season with 2:27 remaining on the clock to cut Virginia's lead to 7-6.

Princeton had an excellent chance to tie the game when Virginia was penalized for having too many men on the field with 1:27 to play. The Tigers were unable to capitalize, however, and lost possession 20 seconds later when Shriner dropped a pass out of bounds.

Virginia called two timeouts, and Thompson, Danny Glading and Ward were able to play keepaway and run out the clock.

Charlie Glazer won eight of 12 faceoffs, including all three in the third quarter, to consistently give Virginia possession. He also finished with a game-high seven ground balls.

The Cavaliers owned decided advantages in ground balls (42-31) and shots (44-30).

Thompson led the way with two goals and an assist, while Ward tallied twice for his fourth multigoal game of the season.

Hewit was spectacular in goal for Princeton, finishing with 20 saves.

Virginia returns home to host Mount St. Marys Tuesday night at 7 pm at Klöckner Stadium.

 

U.Va. drops No. 1 Ga. Tech
Doolittle helps Cavs halt Yellow Jackets' 16-game win streak
From Staff Reports Mar 13, 2006

ATLANTA - Sean Doolittle allowed two runs on six hits whle striking out seven in six innings, and added two hits and an RBI as Virginia knocked off top-ranked Georgia Tech 6-3 yesterday in the finale of a three-game ACC series.

The Cavaliers jumped on top 4-0 in the second inning, with Brian Seabury and Tim Henry each doubling home runs and Greg Miclat and Doolittle adding RBI singles.

The Yellow Jackets got back within 4-3, but Brandon Guyer singled home Doolittle and came around to score on a Patrick Wingfield hit in the ninth.

The victory was the 100th of Cavaliers' coach Brian O'Connor's career, and snapped Georgia Tech's nation-leading winning streak at 16 games.

 

Cavaliers, Monarchshead west for openers; Rams see season end
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Mar 13, 2006

The 40 men's basketball teams in the National Invitation Tournament include two from this state: Virginia and Old Dominion.

The NIT announced its field last night, and the Cavaliers (15-14) were among the last teams selected. In each of the NIT's four brackets, teams are seeded 1 to 10. U.Va. is a No. 8 seed and must travel across the country to play tomorrow night at Stanford (15-13), a No. 7 seed.

ESPN will televise the 9:30 p.m. game, an NIT spokesperson said last night.

That first-year coach Dave Leitao's team would have to head west on such short notice surprised U.Va. officials, who didn't learn of the matchup until the tournament draw was posted on the NIT's Web site around 9:30 last night.

Virginia and Stanford haven't met since Dec. 22, 1994, when the Cardinal won 64-60 at University Hall. Stanford leads the series 3-1.

U.Va. is one of the 16 teams that must play in the NIT's opening round. The other 24, including ODU, have byes into the first round. If the Cavaliers beat Stanford, they would play Friday at Missouri State (20-8), a No. 2 seed.

ODU (21-9), a No. 5 seed, plays at 9 or 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at Colorado (20-9), a No. 4 seed.

The Monarchs, who advanced to the NCAA tournament as Colonial Athletic Association champions last season, lost in the CAA quarterfinals this year.

Virginia Commonwealth University, which competed in the NIT last year, was not invited this time. The Rams (19-10) finished sixth in the Colonial and then lost to Hofstra in the CAA quarterfinals.

VCU made the NIT a year ago with a 19-12 record but had reached the CAA championship game. This season, the Rams finished with an RPI of 81, which made them the highest-rated team that didn't get a postseason invitation.

"We are disappointed that we did not receive an NIT bid," VCU coach Jeff Capel said. "We are proud of what we accomplished this year and wish that the season was not finished. We are most disappointed that our three seniors will not have an opportunity to play again in a VCU uniform."

The Rams' seniors are Nick George, Alexander Harper and Julian Capel.

Six ACC teams are headed to the NIT. Of the group, Virginia got by far the worst draw. Maryland is a No. 1 seed, Florida State a No. 2, Miami a No. 3, Clemson a No. 4 and Wake Forest a No. 5. None of those five has to play in the opening round.

Miami (16-15), which lost to Virginia in the teams' regular-season meeting, will play host to a first-round game.

For U.Va., this will be its fifth trip to the NIT in the past seven seasons. The Wahoos returned to Charlottesville on Saturday from Greensboro, N.C., where, as the ACC tournament's seventh-seeded team, they beat 10th-seeded Virginia Tech in the first round and then lost to second-seeded North Carolina in the quarterfinals.

 

UVa heads West for NIT 1st round
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

Virginia will get a head start on an upcoming men's basketball series with Stanford when it visits the Cardinal in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament on Tuesday -- the Cavs' 12th trip to the event and ninth since 1978.

Stanford (15-13) is a seventh seed and Virginia (15-14) is an eighth seed in a 40-team field. The plays at second-seeded Missouri State on Friday.

The Cavaliers would need to win three road games in order to make the semifinals at Madison Square Garden, meaning that the March 5 game with Maryland, billed as the "Last Ball in U-Hall," definitely will be the last men's game at University Hall.

There is a possibility the UVa women (18-11) could be selected to host a women's NIT game, but those pairings will not be made until the NCAA women's brackets are revealed tonight.

Stanford, scheduled to visit UVa next year in the Cavaliers' first season in the John Paul Jones Arena, lost to Arizona in the quarterfinal round of the Pac-10 tournament.

The Cardinal was 11-7 in the Pac-10 during the regular season but enters the NIT with six losses in its last nine games.

Matt Haryasz, a 6-foot-11, 230-pound senior, leads Stanford in scoring (16.5) and rebounding (8.7). Senior guard Chris Hernandez scores 14.1 points per game and has a team-high 69 3-point field goals.

Virginia is the only one of the six ACC teams in the field not to receive a first-round bye. Maryland, Miami, Florida State and Clemson all open up the tournament at home.

Wake Forest was given a No. 5 seed and plays at Minnesota in the first round.
 

Committee speaks, few listen
Aaron McFarling

How'd you like to be Craig Littlepage?

That's a fun job, NCAA tournament selection committee chairman. The respect level ranks right up there with third-string apprentice to a gas station attendant.

No matter how long you spend in that war room, hashing out the field, you know about eight schools are going to want to rip your lips off the minute you come out.

He even caught some flak from CBS on Sunday. Did you see him at the end of the interview?

Littlepage: Finally, guys, I'd just like to congratulate the 65 teams that made ...

Jim Nantz: (interrupting) Yeah, whatever Craig. Your bracket reeks.

Good stuff. But when you get right down to it, the man did his job, the job every prestigious member of an institute of higher learning should aspire to do: Provide the masses with something to gamble on.

Before we get to the picks, let's take a look at some of the highlights of Selection Sunday.

n Dave Leitao had a better day than his athletic director. The first-year UVa coach got his team -- which was picked to finish last in the ACC -- into the NIT.

Shockingly, the first-round matchup is with Stanford and not one of the 27 other ACC teams in the field.

n As expected, top-seeded Duke will save on gas money by staying in Greensboro for the first two rounds. Good thing for the Blue Devils, too, considering Boston College pushed them to the limit in Sunday's ACC title game.

If fatigue wasn't a factor for J.J. Redick and the gang before, it might be now.

n Tough week to be a North Carolina fan. Not only did you have to hawk your ticket to the ACC Tournament final, but you don't get to stay in Greensboro for the NCAAs.

The No. 3 seeding is nice, but a potential second-round matchup with Michigan State in Dayton, Ohio, seems pretty daunting for this young team.

n CBS needs to do something about the whole delayed-reaction thing.

When you can mow your lawn in the time it takes between the moment the pick is unveiled and the moment the bubble team goes into leaping-and-high-fiving mode, you lose a little of the drama.

n Is anybody else out there rooting for all four Missouri Valley Conference teams to lose in the first round? Their inclusion was not a surprise, but there's a strange anti-MVC vibe going on here, and it's kind of hard to explain.

I'm all for pulling for the little guy, but at what point are they no longer little? Perhaps it's when you get the same amount of teams in the tournament as the ACC and you're profiled in every major publication, including Modern Bride.

Ah, well. We'll find out early if the MVC is legit. Considering the matchups (Southern Illinois vs. West Virginia; Bradley vs. Kansas; Northern Iowa vs. Georgetown; and Wichita State vs. Seton Hall), the conference has a chance to make a real statement in the opening round.

And that statement, of course, will be, "Man, who knew we were so overrated?"

n Speaking of overrated, Syracuse guard Gerry McNamara is overrated.

Exceedingly overrated. On the overrated scale, he ranks above Gerardo in his "Rico Suave" prime in overratedness.

There. Let the cussing begin.

No, really, props to McNamara and Syracuse for going from iffy to spiffy in one week. A second-round matchup with LSU should end the run, though.

n Upset specials: No. 10 Alabama over No. 7 Marquette, No. 10 Seton Hall over No. 7 Wichita State, No. 11 San Diego State over No. 6 Indiana.

n Final Four: Duke, Connecticut, Boston College, Kansas.

n Champion: UConn. Fewest weaknesses, and an early exit from the Big East tournament will prove to be a blessing in dis- ...

Jim Nantz: (interrupting) Yeah, whatever, Aaron. Your picks reek.
 

Expansion still a hard sell
Despite revenue gains, BC run, many prefer old formats
David Bracken, Staff Writer

Midway through the first round of the ACC Tournament on Thursday, Clemson supporter Jim Young noticed a general lack of intensity inside the Greensboro Coliseum.
"It's like you've got four play-in games," said Young, referring to the old nine-team ACC Tournament format where the two worst teams played Thursday night. "There's not a lot of excitement."

Of all the benefits of expansion touted by ACC officials over the past two years, a reduction in fan excitement has not been one of them.

But as a more muscular ACC arrived in Greensboro this week, the conference faced scrutiny from die-hard ACC basketball fans who remain divided about whether bigger is better.

The conference's expansion from nine to 12 has been widely viewed as a boon to the ACC's bottom line and to its football reputation. By adding three traditional football powers -- Virginia Tech and Miami in 2004 and Boston College this season -- the conference tapped into more television and bowl money and made a move toward being viewed as an elite football conference.

North Carolina's share of ACC revenue in 2004-05 increased by more than $1 million over the previous year to about $11.3 million, according to the school's athletics department. The increased revenue came primarily from more lucrative football television contracts that the conference signed in 2004 after announcing its expansion plans.

By expanding to 12 teams, the ACC was able to hold a football championship game for the first time this past season in Jacksonville, Fla. Jeff Elliott, director of finance and administration for the conference, said the title game brought in about $5 million not including money earned from selling the television rights to the game.

Elliott said expansion has exceeded the conference's financial expectations.

Most fans who attended the tournament in Greensboro understand the financial realities of big-time college sports, but that doesn't mean any change that brings in more money is embraced.

One of the biggest gripes heard this weekend is that teams no longer play home-and-home series each year with longtime rivals.

Young, the Clemson fan, noted that his school played North Carolina once this year, in Chapel Hill, where the Tigers have never won.

Kelly Adams, a Duke fan, and Ray Fields, an N.C. State fan, attended their 30th straight ACC Tournament together this year. Both were miffed that Duke and N.C. State only played once this year in Durham. Virginia fans are quick to point out they haven't seen Duke play in Charlottesville in two seasons.

Under the current system, each school is assigned two primary partners which they are guaranteed to play twice each year. A three-year rotation determines when a home-and-home occurs with the other nine schools.

Adams argues that bringing in schools primarily known for their football prowess has diluted the league, since a team will not necessarily play all the conference's elite basketball programs twice each season.

On Saturday, Boston College fans in Greensboro said their team's presence in the semifinals was proof that expansion has not lowered the level of play. Colleen Cote, 18, a BC freshman from Atlanta, said joining the conference has raised the intensity level among Eagles fans.

When Duke played at Boston College earlier this season, fans camped out for tickets for the first time. Cote said she and her friends have even begun braving the Boston winters and tailgating before home basketball games -- a tradition previously reserved for football.

Other fans say it's simply too early to judge expansion's impact on basketball.

"In the short term, we all have to pay the price and suck it up," said Chris Watson, a 2004 Virginia graduate who attended the tournament with fellow UVa grad Tom Vu.

 

UVa travels to Stanford for NIT first round
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
March 13, 2006

The National Invitation Tournament decided to seed its teams for the first time this season in hopes of making it more like the NCAA Tournament.
Already, there are some complaints.

Virginia received an invitation to the NIT on Sunday night but got an eight seed, the lowest of the six ACC teams in the tournament. The Cavaliers (15-14) will travel to play seventh-seeded Stanford (15-13) on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. EST.

The winner plays Friday at second-seeded Missouri State, which, like the top two seeds in each of the four brackets, received a first-round bye.

The Cavaliers' seeding rattled many posters on Virginia's fan Web site, TheSabre.com, Sunday night, mostly because of where other ACC teams ended up. Miami and Clemson, two teams that finished with the same 7-9 ACC record as UVa, received three and four seeds, respectively.

Wake Forest, which stumbled to a 3-13 ACC mark and a last-place regular season finish before pulling off upsets of Florida State and N.C. State in last weekend's ACC Tournament, received a five seed.

The Cavaliers won their only meetings this season against Miami and Wake Forest. Both games were at University Hall. They were 1-1 against Clemson.

Regardless, UVa head coach Dave Leitao seemed pleased just to be in the NIT.

"As I said the other day, if you can continue to keep playing, I think it's a great thing at this time of year," Leitao said in a recorded statement. "Especially for this group, because we worked extremely hard all year long and this is a good reward.

"And because we're young, I think it's also great preparation for the following season."

Virginia's end-of-season slide could explain its seeding. In a nine-day span, the Cavaliers lost road games to Clemson and North Carolina by a combined 71 points before dropping their home finale to Maryland 71-70. UVa went 1-1 at the ACC Tournament, beating Virginia Tech before losing to North Carolina.

Clemson, which won four of its last six, and Wake Forest, which won three of its last four, finished the regular season on hot streaks. Miami, however, lost seven of its last nine.

Maryland earned one of the tournament's top seeds and Florida State, considered to be one of the biggest NCAA Tournament snubs, got a two seed.

Virginia has a 1-3 record all-time against Stanford. The schools played once each season from 1992-95, with the Cardinal winning the most recent game 64-60 at University Hall.

Strangely, Stanford is one of the teams on Virginia's home schedule next season when it opens up the new John Paul Jones Arena.

The Cardinal finished tied with Arizona for fourth place in the Pac-10 this season. They are the only Pac-10 team invited to the NIT.

UVa has a 15-9 record in the tournament in 11 previous appearances. The Cavaliers last made the NIT in the 2003-04 season, beating George Washington in the first round before losing to Villanova in the second round.

Virginia won the NIT championship in 1980 and 1992.

While at DePaul, Leitao took the Blue Devils to the NIT twice in three years, getting to the second round last year.