Shorthanded 'Hoos Fall to Duke
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 03/01/2010
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- UVa's best basketball player was in uniform but did not play Sunday night. Sylven Landesberg sat on the bench, his right thigh aching, and watched helplessly as the inevitable unfolded in front of him at John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia is not a great offensive team with Landesberg, one of the ACC's best scorers. Without him? Against fifth-ranked Duke?

"I knew it was going to be challenging," first-year coach Tony Bennett said, and it was that and more for a team that's sinking in the ACC standings.

On the Cavaliers' first possession, one of their most accurate shooters, junior guard Jeff Jones, got an open look from the right corner. His 3-point attempt bounced off the rim, the first of 35 misses for Virginia in a 67-49 loss.

The defeat was the seventh straight for the Wahoos (5-9, 14-13), whose fans are understandably discouraged. Many years ago, the coach who sat on the other bench Sunday night endured major rebuilding in Durham, N.C., and he believes better days are coming for UVa's program.

Bennett has "won a lot more than I did early on," Mike Krzyzewski said. "Tony is classy, smart, and he is perfect for Virginia. He is just a really good coach and a good man. He wants to build a program. So whatever decisions he is making -- I am not following them on a day-to-day basis -- just knowing him, I know that the decisions he is making are not just short-term, they are long-term. They are principled decisions, value-based decisions. Because that is the only way to build a program, on that type of a foundation.

"He will do that ... It is not easy, but as long as he has the team effort of everyone here, it will work out -- because it is a great school and it has some really good tradition, and he is terrific. So I do not see how it won't work out; it just won't work out overnight."

Against Coach K's Blue Devils, UVa made 16 field goals and shot 32 percent from the floor -- both season lows. The 49 points matched the Cavaliers' season low, and about 20 percent of their scoring came in the final 2:48, with the outcome long since decided.

If not for Jerome Meyinsse, Virginia's margin of defeat would have been greater. For the second straight game, with teammate Mike Scott again all but invisible, the 6-9 senior from Baton Rouge, La., posted a career high in scoring.

"Jerome carried us tonight," Scott said. "I couldn't do nothing."

Meyinsse, who had 13 points at Miami last Tuesday, scored 21 against Duke (12-2, 25-4). He hit 6 of 8 shots from the floor and 9 for 11 from the line and fearlessly took on bigger Blue Devils inside.

"Once I found out that Sylven was out, I just tried to be more aggressive on the offensive end, because we had to make up about 18, 19 points," Meyinsse said.

"I'm trying to play every game like it's my last. Fight as hard as I can. I don't want my career to end, but when it does end, I'm going to try to go out fighting."

Also encouraging for Bennett was the play of freshman point guard Jontel Evans and sophomore center Assane Sene, neither of whom started. Evans contributed 5 points, 3 steals, 1 assist and 1 blocked shot in 24 minutes. Sene played 27 and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

The 7-0 Sene also had two blocks and an assist.

"Those guys like Assane and Jerome and Jontel, they really battled," Bennett said. "They laid it out there ... If I have to try and find something positive about this, I would say it was those three."

With Landesberg out, the 'Hoos lost more than points. The 6-6 swingman leads the team in assists and is second in rebounds.

"We really need him in the game," Sene said. "We lost Sylven [and] Mike too, because Mike didn't play well tonight.

"Without both of them, it's really hard for us to win. But we've just got to keep working hard."

As recently as Friday night, Bennett had expressed confidence that Landesberg would play against Duke. But Landesberg's thigh -- he suffered a deep bruise late in the first half at Miami -- has responded slowly to treatment.

Landesberg, the ACC rookie of the year as a freshman in 2008-09, was able to finish the game in Coral Gables, but he didn't practice Friday or Saturday.

Still, he wanted to play against the Devils. Before the game Sunday night, Bennett said, the coaching staff put Landesberg "in the back gym and tried to make him cut hard. He couldn't even move. I said, 'OK, I'm going to give you one chance. Give me a full-blast layup, let me see what you can do.'"

Landesberg couldn't do much.

"He labored," Bennett said. "He couldn't [move well], and I'm trying to think long-term. I don't want him to irritate and aggravate that. Hopefully Wednesday [at Boston College] he'll be better and able to play. He was dying to play. He knows we need him. That's obvious when you watch us, but he couldn't really go. If we'd have thrown him out there, it would have been bad for him, and he couldn't have kept up."

For the season, Scott (12.3 ppg) remains Virginia's No. 2 scorer, but the 6-8 junior has faded into the shadows recently. Coming off an 0-for-7 effort at Miami, Scott went 0 for 6 from the floor versus Duke and, for the second consecutive game, failed to score.

"I can't buy a basket," Scott said. "There's a lid up there. I don't know what it is."

Scott played only 12 minutes Sunday night, during which he had 1 rebound and 2 turnovers.

"I don't know what to tell you," Bennett said. "I thought Rome battled his butt off and he gave us some stuff. I didn't see it from Mike in this game, and we struggled. In a game like this, for us to even make it competitive, we needed a number of guys [to step up]."

Scott "got some good looks," Bennett said. "He just wasn't himself the last couple games. Against a team like Duke, you just gotta be so locked in, the entire game. He just didn't look like himself, and that was my decision to say, 'You know what? Rome is battling his guts out there, and so is Assane,' and that's why I went with [those two players inside]."

On the perimeter, Evans supplied an unexpected spark. He'd played only 3 minutes at Miami, where Bennett chose to tighten the rotation.

"It's tough trying to be ready to play when you don't play a lot of minutes like that," Evans said. "But the coaching staff always says, 'Be ready,' and today I was just ready. I had a feeling my number was going to be called, and I just wanted to go out there and try my best."

Bennett loved what he saw from the 5-11 Evans, especially at the defensive end.

"Tenacious kid," Bennett said. "He's very tough. He knows in the offseason he's gotta go to work and try and tighten up that shot a little bit. If he can add that and continue to get better feel, I think that will help his game a lot."

Meyinsse was the only player to score in double figures for UVa. For Duke, junior forward Kyle Singler had 21 points, and senior guard Jon Scheyer added 20 points and 5 steals.

"He's a great player," Evans said of Scheyer, an ACC-player-of-the-year candidate. "Very intelligent. He doesn't get rushed."

Two regular-season games remain for UVa, which visits BC on Wednesday night and then hosts Maryland on Saturday afternoon. The Cavaliers will then play at least one game in the ACC tournament.

Virginia is not as talented as many other teams, Sene said, but "we've just got to keep playing hard."

Evans echoed those comments.

"Like Coach Bennett said, if we lose the rest of these games or win the rest of the games, we're still a family, and we've got to stick together and finish this season out," Evans said.

"I know [the losing is] getting to guys a little bit, but everybody's still staying focused. There will be better days. Just look forward to the future. That's all I can say."

Bennett said: "It's a challenge, but like I've said, I understand the big picture, and that's what I'm working towards, and we'll keep going ahead."

 

Postgame Quotes
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 02/28/2010

Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett

On Sylven Landesberg not playing due to injury…
“Sylven was kneed in the thigh pretty severely in the Miami game. He’s been doing a lot of treatment. Today at the shoot around, he wasn’t moving around very well. Before the game, he really wanted to play. We watched him, put him in the back gym, and tried to make him cut hard, but he couldn’t even move. He labored. Thinking long-term, I don’t want him to aggravate it. He was dying to play and he knows we need him, but he just couldn’t go.”

On the loss…
“In a game like this, for us to make it competitive, we needed a number of guys to contribute. I thought we shot quickly to relieve pressure, and I thought some guys were a little nervous. It was frustrating not to have a few of those shots go in. We are not playing well, there’s no doubt about it. All I know is that we need to keep working hard, try to get guys healthy, and try to find some positives from the efforts of guys like Assane [Sene] and Jontel [Evans].”

On Virginia’s offense…
“There were some pretty good looks that just rattled in and out. I was worried about [Duke’s] pressure, but I thought we handled their pressure ok. When you’re not making shots and your top scorer is out, that becomes a problem. Besides Jerome [Meyinsse], no one was lighting it up, really. We just have to keep battling and trying to find ways to win.”

On the team’s effort…
“Assane, Jerome, and Jontel, those guys really battled. They laid it out there. I liked their effort. If there is something positive to take out of this loss, it was the effort of those three.”

On whether the team’s fast start has affected the team’s expectations…
“I would hope not. That’s the disappointing part, that we got off to a great start, and now it has slipped away. That’s the hard thing. At that point when we were 5-2, I was very thankful for our record but knew we had a long way to go, and I still see that. It is disappointing. I wish we were finishing stronger. But we play Wednesday, and we have a couple of practices to prepare for that.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Virginia Freshman Guard Jontel Evans

On seeing more playing time
“It is tough to get ready to play when you usually do not play a lot of minutes. The coaching staff always tells us to be ready. Today I had a feeling my number would get called, and I just wanted to go out there and try my best.”

On playing without Sylven Landesberg
“We had the mindset that we could still win. We stayed positive. One player was down, but we still had to fight. We still thought we could win this game.”

On guarding Duke Guard Jon Scheyer
“It was a great opportunity. He is a great player and is very intelligent. He does not get rushed, and it was a great opportunity to play against him."

On finishing the season
“Like Coach Bennett said, whether we win or lose these last two games, we are still a family. We will stick together to close the season out.”

On improving for next season
“I feel like I can be an impact player depending on the type of off-season I have. The coaches always tell me to work hard on my shot during the summer, and I am ready to take the next step.”

Virginia Sophomore Center Assane Sene

On playing without Sylven Landesberg
“He did not play today, and it seemed like we really needed him. It was really hard for us, but we have to keep working hard. We have to play hard every time we are on the court.”

On rebounding from the losing streak
“We have to keep responding, and the way to do that is hit them back. We have to show them that we are still the same team we were when we were winning. We are having a tough time right now, but the only solution is to work hard.”

On playing Duke
“They are all good players. When you play against players like them you have to play hard and give everything you’ve got. That is what I was trying to do. I tried to help my team win.”

Senior Forward Jerome Meyinsse

On leading the team in scoring
“I was just trying to be aggressive. Every time I got the ball I tried to attack the rim and finish strong.”

On more playing time as a senior
“It is a great feeling. It shows that my four years of hard work have paid off. I get better every game, and it has been a great experience.”

On approaching the end of his career at UVa
“I try to play every game like it is my last. I fight as hard as I can. I do not want my career to end, but when it does I am going to go out fighting.”

On struggling team play
“We are having some breakdowns on defense by allowing too much penetration, and on the offensive end I think we are not knocking down open shots. We practice those shots but can not seem to hit them at game time.”

On the upcoming matchup with Boston College
“We are going to have to defend their flex offense, which we have had trouble with in the past. If we can do that and score on offense, we have a good chance at being successful.”
-----
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski

Opening remarks…
“I thought our team played very well defensively throughout. [Virginia] obviously missed one of the best players in the conference with Landesberg not playing. Sometimes when that happens, you have to be careful that you do not just assume you will win because it is going to be easy. [Virginia] has kids that can really shoot the ball – they have not been shooting it well, but they have during the season. So I thought defensively we did a nice job against them and kind of a workman-like performance, and won. We are pleased with the win.”

Empathizing with Tony Bennett’s position in his first season at Virginia…
“Well he has won a lot more than I did early on. Tony is classy, smart, and he is perfect for Virginia. He is just a really good coach and a good man. He wants to build a program. So whatever decisions he is making – I am not following them on a day-to-day basis – just knowing him, I know that the decisions he is making are not just short-term, they are long-term. They are principled decisions, value-based decisions. Because that is the only way to build a program, is on that type of a foundation. He will do that. His kids could not hit a lot tonight and then his best kid is out, but in this losing streak they have had, they could have won two or three of them. It is not easy, but as long as he has the team effort of everyone here, it will work out - because it is a great school and it has some really good tradition, and he is terrific. So I do not see how it won’t work out, it just won’t work out overnight.”

On Jon Scheyer’s diving effort in the second half…
“That was a huge play. I am glad you pointed that out. And you need that – he is probably the kid who has played the best for us all year. You get excited when you see your guys making those plays. We were able to play some guys a few more minutes than we have, and that was good. I thought the Plumlees put together another good game in a row, Andre [Dawkins] defensively was good and he hit a couple buckets. We have to keep building, trying to get better as the regular season comes to a close.”

On the possible No. 1 seed and whether Duke is under the radar at the national level…
“[The No. 1 seed] is not even on the radar. It is not talked about for one second – we have Maryland and North Carolina coming up. I think over the years, after we have had some success, we are not talked about when we are good, it is only when we lose. It is not that we are under the radar, it is just that the radar only shows up when we get our butts kicked. I am not a paranoid person, but I have just learned that over the past decade, that that happens. People know who we are – we are not a great team, we are a very good team that has won a lot of games. Maybe that is why we do not get that type of recognition. We are not going to just go out on the court and [have the other team say], ‘wow, they are going to kill us.’ We have to work together to make it happen, and that is why I like my team so much, because they have done that all year long.”

On being a teacher…
“I am more interested in the full body of work. If my student really gets it at the end, I will give him an ‘A.’ I believe that – some people get it right away – I do not want to get too philosophical here, but if I am a teacher [I just want my kid to] get it at the end. Someone who only gets it at the end might have had to work a heck of a lot harder than someone who got it at the beginning and did not have to show up for class.”

On resting players in between games…
“I rest my guys in practice. Playing time in games is really irrelevant. It is what you do in between games. Our practices this week were, team-wise, no more than 50 minutes and then we had some individual work for some of the guys afterward. Every practice we had this week was under an hour. That is how you take care of your guys. Guys want to play – our guys are not tired. That is what I have learned over the years.”

On talking about winning the regular season…
“Yes, we talk about the regular season. Absolutely, that is what we should be talking about. We did not talk about it until we got eight wins and we thought were qualified for the NCAA tournament with eight and twenty and our strength of schedule. We just take it in order. So we have a chance to win a regular season championship and we should go for that. So that is on our plate, definitely. The game [at Maryland] on Wednesday will be a big time game.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Duke Senior Guard Jon Scheyer

On attacking loose balls…
“That’s just a play that I would make at any point in the game, whether it’s a 20-point game or a 2-point game. That’s just something that Coach [Krzyzewski] has always talked about. Playing a loose ball is just as big as scoring a bucket. That type of play is a play that I love to make.”

On Duke’s dominance throughout the game…
“It was a good effort, obviously. They were missing [Sylven] Landesberg; they weren’t at their best. But for us, I thought we did a good job. Our defense was pretty good. We gave them some open looks, though, and they’re a team that is capable of hitting those. Overall, we did a good job, though.”

Senior Forward Lance Thomas

On the upcoming week where Duke will face Maryland and North Carolina…
“It’s going to be hectic. We have a crazy week ahead of us, but we’re ready for it. We’ve worked to get to this point and we want to finish it off right.”

Junior Guard Nolan Smith

On how Duke matches up against other top teams such as Kentucky and Kansas…
“Those teams are definitely very good, but we feel like we can play with anybody in the country. We defend; we rebound with anyone in the country. Athletically, we definitely feel like we can play with anybody, we have a very confident group.

On Duke’s upcoming matchup with Maryland…
“We’re definitely ready for it, we’re a very confident group. If we keep playing like we’ve been playing, with defensive rebounding, our offense is going to come from that. We’re ready for the test…There’s a lot at stake in this game, coming up, and I’m ready. The team’s ready.”


 

No. 5 Duke crushes U.Va.
By Michael Phillips
Published: March 1, 2010
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CHARLOTTESVILLE -- During the day yesterday, the theme was opportunity.

Virginia's top scorer, Sylven Landesberg, was unlikely to play because of an injury, and the team's other scoring threat, Mike Scott, had been ice-cold from the field.

Coach Tony Bennett presented it as an opportunity for the other players to step up. Assane Sene felt the same way - as did his brother, who texted him from Senegal, telling him in French that this was his night to break out. So did Jeff Jones, who had the opportunity to step into Landesberg's spot and produce for the team, and Scott, who was looking to get out of his shooting funk.

By the end of the night, things hadn't worked out as planned, and the usual offensive woes led Virginia to its seventh-straight loss, this one a 67-49 rout by Duke.

Landesberg hadn't practiced all week as he battled a sore right thigh from a collision in Tuesday's game against Miami. Right before the game, he was taken to the practice court underneath John Paul Jones arena. In the windowless room, away from the sold-out crowd, he tried to make a go of it, but couldn't overcome the pain.

It opened the door for Jones, who was paired against Duke's Kyle Singler, which was a mismatch from the start. Singler scored 21 points, while Jones did not score on three attempts from the field.

"I thought that boy, this will be an opportunity for him to step up and get some points," Bennett said. "But he just didn't get many good looks. That happens - it was a tough night. Besides Jerome, nobody was lighting it up, really."

Jerome Meyinsse led the team with 21 points; no other 'Hoos reached double-digits. After digging a 20-4 hole in the game's opening minutes, U.Va. was never able to recover.

"It's frustrating, you know, we didn't shoot well in the first half," Meyinsse said. "It was an uphill battle in the second half and we just couldnt recover."

After the team's loss to Virginia Tech, the start of its offensive slide, coach Tony Bennett lamented the fact that the team only had two scorers - Scott and Landesberg - and that a third option would help take pressure off them. Instead, Scott has regressed, going 0-for-13 in his last two games.

"I just can't buy a basket," he said. "I don't know what it is."

Scott finished with 12 minutes of playing time, removed in favor of Assane Sene, who Bennett said showed a high level of hustle in the loss. Magatte Sene, a former hoops player himself, texted his brother before watching the game via satellite.

"He said this is going to be your game, you've just got to show what you can do," Assane said. "Especially since you're playing against a big guy."

Duke's Brian Zoubek was indeed held in check, finishing with no points and four fouls. The Blue Devils brought multiple threats, though, including guard Jon Scheyer, a potential player of the year in the conference.

He was guarded by Evans, the freshman who was also on board with the day's theme.

"He's a great player, very intelligent," Evans said. "It was just a great opportunity to play against him."

The Cavs fall to 14-13, with a 5-9 mark in ACC play, tied with Boston College for ninth - the two teams meet Wednesday night.

Landesberg is looking to return by then, and U.Va.'s coach knows that he's going to be a crucial part of the team's success in the season's final weeks - as his absence demonstrated last night.

"When you're not making shots and you've got your top scorer out, that becomes a problem," Bennett said.

Without leading man, no Hollywood ending for Virginia
By Paul Woody
Published: March 1, 2010
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CHARLOTTESVILLE The low point of the Duke-Virginia men's basketball game wasn't that the Cavaliers made just 32 percent of their field goal attempts in the first half.

It wasn't that the Cavaliers had one field goal in the first 11 minutes of the second half. And it wasn't even that Virginia lost 67-49.

No surprise there.

No, the low point last night came during one of the many fan participation contests during a timeout.

Two Virginia students competed to see who could name the most celebrity pictures that flashed on the scoreboard in a 30-second time span.

And when a picture of Cary Grant came onto the screen, competitor No. 1 said, "Some old man."

Some old man?

Cary Grant?

The man who defined debonair almost before debonair had a definition?

Cary Grant, star of such Alfred Hitchcock classics as "North by Northwest" and "Notorious", as well as "Charade", "The Philadelphia Story", and such lighter fare as "Bringing Up Baby" is just "some old man"?

Oh, the humanity.

As for the game, it had less drama than "North by Northwest" and far less intrigue than "Notorious" or even "Bringing Up Baby."

Virginia played without its best player, Sylven Landesberg, who sat out with a thigh injury. Duke was at full strength.

U.Va. never was in the game.

At one point early this season, Virginia and Duke had the same record. The paths of the two teams have diverged significantly. Duke is close to winning the ACC regular-season title.

Virginia is sinking.

"We played some teams at home, we were playing better," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said of the Cavaliers' encouraging start. "I didn't think we were in Duke's caliber. That's the program you aspire to be like. That's the measuring stick. Obviously, we didn't measure up."

Duke is good. The Blue Devils are ranked fifth in The Associated Press poll and in the con versation for a top seed in the NCAA tournament.

"Not a great team," said Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski. "We're a very good team that has won a lot of games."

The danger in a game such as last night's is that a team as accomplished as Duke (12-2 ACC, 25-4) could have seen Landesberg on the sideline, assumed it was in for an easy time and taken the night off.

Instead, the Blue Devils limited Virginia to one field goal in the Cavaliers' first 12 shots and built a 20-4 advantage before the midway point of the first half.

Typical of how the Blue Devils conduct their business was a play by Jon Scheyer with 12:28 left in the second half.

Duke led by 17 and the game was all but over.

The Cavaliers lost control of the ball, and it rolled to center court. Scheyer, perhaps Duke's best player and certainly the team's leader, was in pursuit.

Scheyer dove to get the ball, rolled over, tossed it to a teammate, who passed it ahead to backup forward Mason Plumlee, finished the play.

"I play the same way no matter what the score is," Scheyer said. "That's a play I love to make and a play coach talks about making."

It isn't that Virginia lacks players who will do the same. Cavalier guards Sammy Zeglinski and Jontel Evans would burrow under the court to get a loose ball.

Last night, Cavaliers senior center Jerome Meyinsse played as if he single-handedly meant to keep Virginia in the game. He had a career-high 21 points -- 6 of 8 from the field, 9 of 11 from the foul line -- and added seven rebounds

But neither Meyinsse's points nor Assane Sene's 10 rebounds, a game high, came close to being enough.

What has become obvious in this stretch of seven straight Virginia losses is that Bennett and the Cavaliers have hit a wall. They are several outstanding recruiting classes from being competitive with the best teams in the ACC.

"It's a building process," Bennett said.

You don't have to be able to recognize Cary Grant to see that.

Landesberg out; UVa routed
UVa's leading scorer, Sylven Landesberg, is unable to play because of a deep thigh bruise.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Until Sunday night, there was no injury or other hardship to which Virginia's string of double-digit losses could be traced.

At least the Cavaliers had an excuse Sunday night, not that an able-bodied Sylven Landesberg would have lifted UVa past fifth-ranked Duke.

The Cavaliers have struggled offensively with Landesberg and they were even worse without him, shooting a season-low 31.7 percent from the field in a 67-49 loss at John Paul Jones Arena.

It was the seventh straight defeat for the Cavaliers, whose last five losses have been by double figures.

Leading scorer Landesberg was in uniform but did not see action as the result of a deep thigh bruise sustained Tuesday night in a 74-62 loss at Miami, where he scored 27 points.

"He was going to try [Saturday] to practice and couldn't," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said.

"It really restricted him. He's been doing a ton of treatment but today, at the shootaround, it wasn't moving very good.

"He really wanted to play. We put him in the back gym and tried to make him cut hard and he couldn't even move. I said, 'OK, give me a full-blast layup. Let me see what you can do.' He labored."

On top of the injury to Landesberg, Virginia (14-13, 5-9 ACC) got nothing out of second-leading scorer Mike Scott.

Scott. who was 0-for-7 from the field at Miami, missed all six of his field-goal attempts Sunday and was scoreless for the second game in a row.

"I can't buy a basket," Scott said. "It's almost like there's a lid on it."

The Cavaliers opened the game 1-for-12 from the field and trailed 20-4 with 11:26 remaining in the first half. Virginia was able to play the Blue Devils on even terms until halftime, when Duke led 35-21, but the Cavaliers then went 1-for-13 from the field to open the second half.

"I'll look at the tape," Bennett said.

"I think there was probably a couple of quick ones, but, honestly, there were some pretty good looks."

Junior Jeff Jones got the start in Landesberg's place, missed a 3-point shot from the wing on Virginia's first possession and finished 0-for-3 in 20 minutes.

"I thought, 'Boy, this will be an opportunity for him to step up,' " Bennett said.

"It was a tough night, but that happens. Besides Jerome [Meyinsse], nobody was lighting up."

Meyinsse, a 6-foot-9 senior who had not scored more than 10 points in a game until this year, contributed a career-high 21 points and seven rebounds.

Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer had 21 and 20 points, respectively, for Duke (25-4, 12-2).

"I'm trying to play every game like it's my last," said Meyinsse, who was coming off a 13-point, seven-rebound performance at Miami. "I don't want my career to end but, when it does end, I want to go out fighting."

Meyinsse made six of eight shots from the floor, compared to a 10-for-43 performance by his teammates.

He also made nine of 11 shots from the free-throw line, where he is shooting 73.7 percent after hitting 55.3 percent going into the year.

Virginia didn't have a second double-figure scorer, but 7-foot sophomore center Assane Sene had a season-high 10 rebounds.

Meyinsse played 30 minutes before coming to the bench with 2:57 left, when he immediately started icing his right thumb, injured earlier in the half.

Sene played 27 minutes and Scott played 12 minutes, including three minutes in the second half.

"I don't know what to tell you," Bennett said when asked about Scott. "I thought 'Rome battled his butt off. I didn't see it from Mike in this game. To make it competitive, we needed a number of guys [to produce]."

Bennett chuckled at the notion of trying to beat Duke with his two leading scorers not contributing a single point.

He said, "I joked with somebody, 'We're such an offensive juggernaut; it shouldn't be a problem.' "

Minus Landesberg, Virginia crushed by Duke 67-49
By Dave Fairbank | 247-4637
March 1, 2010

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Virginia brought a butter knife to a gunfight and suffered a predictable fate.

With leading scorer Sylven Landesberg sidelined by a thigh injury, the Cavaliers' misery deepened Sunday in a 67-49 loss to fifth-ranked Duke.

The Cavaliers (14-13, 5-9 ACC) lost their seventh consecutive game and the fifth by double figures in games that were barely competitive.

"We're not playing well, there's no question about it," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. "But all I know is to keep working hard and try to get guys healthy and try to find some positives in some of the efforts of Assane (Sene) and Jontel (Evans) and some of the other guys."

Evans and Sene and Jerome Meyinsse weren't nearly enough against the Blue Devils, who quieted an announced sellout crowd at John Paul Jones Arena almost from the start.

Duke (25-4, 12-2 ACC) jumped out to a 20-4 lead as Virginia missed 11 of its first 12 shots from the field. The Cavaliers never threatened, and a much-anticipated matchup had the buzz of a November date versus Rider.

Kyle Singler led the Blue Devils with 21 points and Jon Scheyer added 20 in an effort that was more efficiently workmanlike than spectacular.

Meyinsse scored a career-high 21 points and was active and aggressive. Sene grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked a pair of shots, while Evans provided a defensive spark and some energy.

But the missing link was Landesberg, who averages 17.4 points per game and is the Cavaliers' sole consistent offensive performer.

"It was tough without Sylven," Evans said. "Our offense is kind of based around him. He's the guy that makes tough shots for us, big shots for us. It's tough tonight playing without him, but like I said before, we just had to stick together, come out with the same mindset that we could win."

Landesberg was kneed in the right thigh in last Tuesday's 74-62 loss at Miami. He completed the game, scoring 27 points in 36 minutes, but afterward the thigh was swollen and painful.

He was unable to practice the rest of the week, and in Sunday's pregame shootaround, he didn't exhibit the quickness and athletic ability required to compete.

"I'm trying to think long-term," Bennett said. "I don't want him to irritate and aggravate that. So, hopefully, Wednesday he'll be better and able to play. But he was dying to play.

"He knows we need him. That's obvious when you watch us, but that was the decision. He couldn't really go. If we had thrown him out there, it would have been bad for him and he couldn't have kept up."

Virginia hasn't been able to keep up recently. The Cavaliers shot 31.4 percent Sunday and have shot less than 38 percent in every game during the losing streak.

Forward Mike Scott personifies their offensive struggles. The junior forward is the team's second-leading scorer at 12.4 points per game, but Sunday was the second consecutive game in which he went scoreless.

"He just didn't have it," said Bennett, who played Scott only three minutes of the second half.

Virginia's 49 points tied a season-low, and Sunday was the third time this season the Cavaliers failed to crack 50. It's the first time since 1984-85 — before the 3-point line was introduced — that Virginia has scored fewer than 50 points three times in the same season.

"Everybody's still staying focused," Evans said. "I said before, there'll be better days. Just look forward to the future."

Losing skid continues to seven games
Cavaliers drop disheartening loss to top-ranked Blue Devils at home after poor performance behind arc
jack Bird, Cavalier Daily Sports Editor
Men's Basketball / Sports
March 1, 2010 0

The three-point line keyed the Blue Devils’ win against the Cavaliers at John Paul Jones Arena last night. Duke worked its way to a 67-49 victory thanks to seven makes on 18 attempts from behind the arc. Meanwhile, Virginia, which has dropped its last seven games and remains in eighth in the ACC after the loss, could only manage a pitiful 31.4 percent from the field and 2-for-12 from three-point range.

“We’re not playing well, there is no question about it,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “In a game like this, for us to even make it competitive, we needed a number of guys [to play well].”

The Cavaliers (14-13, 5-9 ACC) did not, however, get the contributions needed, as junior forward Mike Scott was held scoreless, and sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski went just 2-for-9 from the field.

“I thought some guys were a little nervous,” Bennett said. “It was just frustrating we couldn’t get some of those to go in.”
Most detrimental to Virginia’s effort, though, was the absence of leading scorer sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg, who could only watch from the bench while he nursed a bruise to his thigh suffered during Virginia’s last game against Miami.
“I’m trying to think long-term,” Bennett said. “I don’t want him to irritate and aggravate that. Hopefully, Wednesday he’ll be better and able to play. He was dying to play … [But] he couldn’t really go.”

The only bright spot for the orange and blue was a career performance from senior center Jerome Meyinsse.

“Once I found out that [Landesberg] was out,” Meyinsse said, “I just tried to be more aggressive on the offensive end because we had to make up about 18 or 19 points.”

Meyinsse found more than that, finishing with 21 points to go along with seven rebounds and a block. During his 30 minutes on the court, the center efficiently finished six of his eight attempts and took advantage of trips to the charity stripe by making 9-of-11.

But his efforts did little to stem the beat-down Duke handed his team last night. Right out of the gates, the Blue Devils (25-4, 12-2 ACC) took an early lead as Virginia only managed one field goal in its first 12 attempts. During a game that was never close, both teams found opportunities to give their reserve players reps. Meanwhile, much of Virginia’s fan base — with its seventh straight loss seemingly inevitable — trudged out of the stadium with 5:11 remaining when Duke achieved its largest lead of the game, 63-36.

Down 27 points and with no clear answer on either end of the court, freshman forward Tristan Spurlock made his way into the game.

“He is a work in progress. I just have to keep watching him,” Bennett said regarding Spurlock’s diminutive playing time, adding “that’s a decision I’ve made up to this point.”

When all was said and done, however, Spurlock had notched five points and two steals.

“He has a nice frame and he does some good things and you can see his ability in the open court,” Bennett said.

Virginia now has two games left before the ACC Tournament. With some players hurt, the Cavaliers hope to regain the spark they played with early on in conference play.

“Just trying to get a win [is all we are thinking about right now],” Scott said. “Doing anything we need to get a basket, a stop — just a win.”

Things fall apart
Andrew Seidman, Cavalier Daily Sports Editor
Sports
March 1, 2010 0

Athletic Director Craig Littlepage before Virginia’s home game against Wake Forest Feb. 6: “We’re gonna win the regular season in the ACC.”

Was it an outrageous jingoistic plea for support from the student body? Maybe. Was it a justified remark, considering Virginia then was tied for first place in the ACC with — guess who, Duke — with a 5-2 conference record? Perhaps.

But I don’t need to remind you that since the Curse of Littlepage, the Cavaliers have proceeded to lose seven straight games. I think the best explanation for this slide off the mountain top was provided 91 years ago by W.B. Yeats in “The Second Coming.”

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world …

Did rising expectations, as evidenced by Littlepage’s pre-game speech, affect the team’s psyche and precipitate anarchy in Charlottesville?

“I would hope not — that’s the disappointing part, we got off to a good start,” coach Tony Bennett said. “We played some teams at home — we were playing better — and then now that it has slipped, that’s the hard thing.”

To his credit, Bennett has tried to keep his team on an even-keel throughout the season.

At Virginia’s preseason Media Day, Bennett was asked if he thought the program was in a ‘transition year.’ Here’s what he had to say:

“Do I wanna win? Absolutely. Our focus first [is] on qualitative versus quantitative — we have to be so geared on doing things the right way and building, have a vision for the long haul — that’s what I want. So if there’s short term success, great … But I’m realistic — there’s some ground to cover, and we got work to do.”

At 5-2, Bennett did not declare himself leader of the Free World or pronounce Virginia as ACC champions. He understood his team’s limitations and vulnerabilities, always sure to mention its microscopic margin of error.

“The kids have responded, still very early, but the fact that they’ve responded and bounced back from a tough loss, both times — and just have battled — it’s good, it’s a good place to be in,” Bennett said after the Feb. 3 59-47 victory against N.C. State that, for many people, was a sign of a potential NCAA tournament berth. “But by no means does that mean we’ve arrived. I just want them to keep improving.”

That last part hasn’t quite panned out. But the point is that you were misguided if you thought Bennett was the Messiah, that Virginia would stay atop the ACC standings forever or that it would inevitably reach the Big Dance. So though few would have predicted a seven-game losing streak following Virginia’s season sweep of the second-worst team in the conference, you also would have been naïve to assume that an eight-game win streak that featured only one road game and included a victory against the New Jersey Institute of Technology — or, as it’s more commonly known, the-team-that-before-this-season-hadn’t-won-a-game-since-2006 — proved the team was bent on glory.

What was the ‘center’ that held Virginia together through its first 20 games? Bennett has always emphasized the need for Virginia’s defense to keep it in the game, but even the son of legendary defensive genius Dick Bennett has acknowledged that the team must knock down open looks to be competitive. It’s a telling statistic that Virginia has not eclipsed the 40 percent shooting mark since that game against the Wolfpack, which, in case you were wondering, came around the same time dinosaurs hit the deck.

It also does not help that Mike Scott has officially become an endangered species. Zero points during his last two games do not scream “post presence.” And when Sylven Landesberg is out because of injury — well, you get the idea.

Even a healthy Landesberg wouldn’t have made a difference in this game. As entertaining — you know, in a sadistic way — as it was to watch Jeff Jones attempt to guard preseason ACC Player of the Year Kyle Singler, who scored 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting, dropping triples and slipping through holes in the defense at will, Landesberg isn’t known exactly for his tenacious defense, either.

Duke also has been effective in limiting its opponent’s best players to poor shooting games: It held Clemson’s Trevor Booker to 4-of-11, Wake Forest’s Ish Smith to 3-of-12, Virginia Tech’s Malcolm Delaney to 5-of-19, Connecticut’s Jerome Dyson to 6-of-19 and North Carolina’s … Oh, I forgot, the Tar Heels are lacking in the “good player” department.

But the best evidence that Landesberg’s presence would have had little effect on the outcome? He played in each of Virginia’s six previous losing efforts, three of which the Cavaliers lost by an average margin of 20.3 points.

But it won’t do any good to go on ad infinitum about Virginia’s woes. Yesterday night’s game against the Blue Devils crystallized Virginia’s current problems but also provided a model for what Bennett envisions for the future. Watching film of this game, Bennett will see a Duke squad that spaces the floor with deadly three-point range, goes four-deep in the post including the brothers Plumlee — who Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has called “a gift from the Polish gods” (they hail from Warsaw, Indiana) — and seemingly plays with general foreknowledge of where each individual player is going on the court, not unlike those weird spheres that emerge from characters’ chests in “Donnie Darko.”

“I didn’t think we were in Duke’s caliber,” Bennett said. “That’s a program you aspire to be like eventually — to have that kind of program, that’s the measuring stick.”

But Bennett has hope with the young Jontel Evans, who continues to impress even though he was stripped of his starting job. His three steals, in addition to Jerome Meyinsse’s career night, were the highlight of the game for the Cavaliers. Bennett has a highly touted incoming recruiting class, headed by 6-foot-9, 212-pound power forward James Johnson. And I’ll bet my life savings that Landesberg will come back for at least one more year. Though the sophomore was named to the Naismith Award Midseason list, he has unfinished business at Virginia, and his stock will likely rise next year as the team progresses.

Indeed, though things may have fallen apart for the Cavaliers, a new day is on the horizon. Yeats envisions the closing of a 2,000-year cycle but also a new beginning. Who Virginia’s half-lion, half-man will be remains to be seen, but Bennett has begun to forge a new future for Virginia basketball.

Before the season began, he shared a bit of wisdom he inherited from his father.

“My dad said, ‘I’ve gotta recruit a group of guys I can lose with before I can win,’” Bennett said. “The point was, you’re going to go through some adversity through this building process, and you’d better have the kind of players that, whether it’s going really good or not really good, they’re just going to stay together. Because eventually, when they get mature, some good things are gonna happen.”

For now, it’s Duke, 67, Virginia, 49. In the words of Thom Yorke, everything’s in its right place.

Short-handed Cavs blown out
March 1, 2010 12:36 am
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.

CHARLOTTESVILLE
--The task was hard enough without an extra dose of adversity.

The Virginia Cavaliers were set to host No. 5 Duke in an Atlantic Coast Conference contest.

But just before tip-off, the Cavaliers announced that star sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg wouldn't play because of a thigh bruise he suffered in a loss to Miami.

Virginia was riding a six-game losing streak even with the services of the ACC's fifth-leading scorer.

Without him, the Blue Devils cruised to a 65-49 victory in front of a crowd of 13,363 in John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia first-year head coach Tony Bennett said Landesberg wanted to play despite not practicing all week.

"We tried to make him cut hard [in pre-game warm-ups]. He couldn't move," Bennett said. "I said: 'I'm going to give you one chance to give me a full-blast lay-up.' He labored."

As a result, Landesberg and his 17.4 points per game sat on the bench the entire contest dressed in his warm-up suit.

It could be said that the Cavaliers were without their second-leading scorer, too.

That's because junior forward Mike Scott (12.8 points per game) was held scoreless for the second straight contest. Scott has missed 13 straight shots over the past two games. He had just one rebound in 12 minutes against Duke (25-4, 12-2).

Scott said he "can't buy a basket" because there's "a lid" on the hoop. Bennett said he chose to play Jerome Meyinsse (21 points and seven rebounds) and Assane Sene (10 rebounds in 27 minutes) more because Scott wasn't focused.

"He just wasn't himself the last couple of games," Bennett said. "Against a team like Duke, you've got to be locked in."

Meyinsse's point total represented a career high. Still, the Cavaliers tied their lowest offensive output of the season.

They never led. They trailed 20-4 early in the first half and by as many as 27 points in the second half.

The Cavaliers' starters accounted for 27 points, six from players other than Meyinsse.

"This showed that we really need [Landesberg]," Sene said. "We played without Sylven, and Mike didn't play well. Without both of them, it's really hard to win. We don't have talent like a lot of other teams."

For the Blue Devils, that didn't make head coach Mike Krzyzewski any less proud of his team's effort.

Duke held Virginia to 31 percent shooting from the floor. Guard Jeff Jones, who started in place of Landesberg, was held scoreless on three shot attempts.

"They obviously missed one of the best players in the conference, with Landesberg not playing," Krzyzewski said. "Sometimes when that happens, you have to be careful that you don't just assume you're going to win, that it's going to be easy. They've got kids who can really shoot the ball--not lately, but they have this season. That's why I like our defensive performance."

Duke was paced by 21 points from junior forward Kyle Singler. Senior guard Jon Scheyer added 20.

Bennett said Landesberg will continue to be evaluated this week, and he may play in Virginia's trip to Boston College on Wednesday.

Without Sylven Landesberg, Virginia isn't much of a challenge for Duke
By Zach Berman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 1, 2010; D01

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- There was a moment of confusion in John Paul Jones Arena before Virginia's game against No. 5 Duke on Sunday. For the first time this season, Sylven Landesberg was not in the starting lineup. Virginia's star is always the last name called, the final part of a pregame routine meant to excite the home crowd.

On Sunday, it confused the crowd before casting an ominous cloud over the Cavaliers' 67-49 loss to the Blue Devils. Although Landesberg was in uniform, he remained sidelined with a bruised right thigh suffered Tuesday against Miami.

"He knows we need him," Virginia Coach Tony Bennett said. "That's obvious when you watch us."

It was Virginia's seventh consecutive loss, and the sixth in a row by double digits. It was Duke's eighth consecutive win, setting up a marquee matchup against Maryland on Wednesday at Comcast Center.

"Obviously, it's a game you love to be in," said Duke guard Jon Scheyer, who scored 20 points. "Obviously, it's a high-level game, their senior night. I don't need to say they're going to be ready to play."

Certainly, Maryland will present more of a challenge than Virginia. At full strength, a game against Duke is difficult enough for the Cavaliers. Take out Landesberg -- perhaps the only player on Virginia's roster who would receive regular minutes for Duke -- and a victory became nearly impossible.

Landesberg averages 17.4 points per game, which is more than a quarter of Virginia's team season average. The Cavaliers are offensively challenged even with Landesberg in the lineup, as evidenced by collectively shooting below 40 percent from the field in each of the past six games. But without Landesberg, every possession became even more of a struggle.

Landesberg wanted to play, Bennett said, but was physically unable to make the cuts needed. He did not practice leading up to Sunday's game. Although he warmed up on his own informally before the game, he did not participate in formal warm-ups. He remained on Virginia's practice court, and Bennett wanted to see him cut hard.

"He couldn't even move," Bennett said. "He labored. He couldn't. I'm trying to think long term. I didn't want him to irritate or aggravate that."

The offensive woes accumulated when Virginia's No. 2 scorer, Mike Scott, scored as many point as the injured Landesberg. Scott has now gone two games without a point, totaling a combined 13 missed field goals.

"I just can't buy a basket," Scott said. "It's like a lid up there. I don't know what it is."

Bennett tried finding positives in the effort of unexpected contributors. Senior forward Jerome Meyinsse scored a career-high 21 points. Sophomore center Assane Sene gathered 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Jontel Evans swiped three steals and played aggressive defense on Scheyer, whose matchup against Maryland's Greivis Vasquez on Wednesday could produce the ACC player of the year.

Perhaps the lasting message from Bennett was providing his team a blueprint for the way Bennett hopes his team will play. Duke (25-4, 12-2 ACC) played tough on defense, efficient on offense and remained composed throughout the entirety of the game.

"That's a program you aspire to be like," Bennett said. "That's the measuring stick."

Bennett has been the first to acknowledge the current struggles are part of a rebuilding effort, except his first season in Charlottesville has regressed. His players suffer from a lack of confidence, and Bennett and the players continue identifying the same problems, but struggle to find solutions.

Two games remain in the Cavaliers' regular season: Wednesday at Boston College and Saturday against Maryland in the home finale. Bennett remains hopeful, but unsure, that Landesberg will be available.

With or without Landesberg, Virginia (14-13, 5-9) added another chapter to its end-of-season downspin on Sunday -- and given the remaining schedule, there might not be another victory this season.

"We're not playing well, there's no question about it," Bennett said. "All I know is to keep working hard and try to get guys healthy."

Duke overwhelms Virginia
By Whitey Reid
Published: February 28, 2010
Updated: February 28, 2010
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vote
nowBuzz up!

For all 40 minutes of Sunday night’s game against Duke, Virginia sophomore Sylven Landesberg — suffering from a badly bruised right thigh, sat next to Brad Soucie — the school’s director of basketball operations.

Landesberg’s warm-up top never came off. Neither did the frustrated look on his face.

This spelled bad news for Virginia.

Without Landesberg in the game, UVa didn’t have a prayer against fifth-ranked Duke, losing its seventh straight, 67-49, in front of a crowd of 13,663 at the John Paul Jones Arena.

“We lost Sylven and were without Mike [Scott], too, because Mike didn’t play well tonight,” said Virginia freshman Assane Sene. “Without both of them, it was really hard for us to win.”

Landesberg sustained the injury in the loss at Miami on Tuesday night and couldn’t practice all week. Before Sunday’s game, Bennett asked Landesberg to show him a hard layup, and he couldn’t do it. That’s when Bennett made the decision to keep his leading scorer on the bench.

“He was dying to play,” Bennett said. “He knows we need him and that’s obvious when you watch us.

“But he couldn’t really go. If we had thrown him out there, it would have been bad for him, and he couldn’t have kept up.”

Duke (25-4, 12-2), which won its eighth straight, received 21 points from Kyle Singler and 20 from Jon Scheyer.

With Landesberg out, Virginia badly needed Scott to step up. However, Scott, who was coming off a dreadful 0-7 showing against Miami, laid another egg, going 0-6 with just one rebound in a season-low 12 minutes of action.

“I don’t what to tell you,” said Bennett, when asked about Scott’s funk. “I didn’t see it from Mike in this game.

“In a game like this, for us to even make it competitive, we needed a number of guys [to perform].”

Said Scott: “I just can’t buy a basket. It’s like there’s a lid up there. I don’t know what it is.”

Virginia (14-13, 5-9) didn’t notch its first basket of the game until almost five minutes in when Jerome Meyinsse scored on a jump hook.

Meyinsse, who scored a career-high 21 points, was one of the few bright spots.

Despite missing 12 of their first 14 shots, UVa trailed by just a 14-point margin at the break.

However, the Wahoos started the second half the same way they did the first. They went 5 minutes and 7 seconds without a field goal. By the time, Mustapha Farrakhan scored on a put-back basket off a Jontel Evans miss, the game was out of hand.

Evans, one of the few players who didn’t seem to back down against Duke, had three steals on the night. The freshman said that the team was optimistic about its chances, even after they learned they would be without Landesberg.

“The mindset was that we still could win,” Evans said. “It was still positive. One player was down — one of our best players on the team — but we still had to fight.”

Bennett had no regrets about not playing Landesberg.

“I’m trying to think long-term,” he said. “I don’t want him to irritate and aggravate that. Hopefully, Wednesday [at Boston College] he’ll be better and be able to play.”

Evans said the team is trying to stay united.

“Like coach Bennett said, if we lose the rest of these games or win them, we’re still a family and we have to stick together and finish the season out,” he said. “There will be better days. Just look forward to the future. That’s all I can say.”

Dunks

During a timeout, the Virginia men’s tennis team was honored for its recent ITA Indoor Championship. The title was the squad’s third straight. The team, however, will be without star Sanam Singh for its upcoming match against Texas. Singh, according to coach Brian Boland, is playing in the Davis Cup for his native India.
 

Cavs flop without top scorers
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: February 28, 2010
Updated: February 28, 2010
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nowBuzz up!

Good thing Tony Bennett has his eyes focused on the big picture. Otherwise he might want to jump off one of those bridges that former Virginia coach Pete Gillen used to joke about after a loss.
Bennett may have felt like it prior to Sunday night’s home game against fifth-ranked and ACC measuring stick Duke, especially when the Virginia coach realized that his best player couldn’t answer the bell, then sat in horror as his second-best player couldn’t throw a beach ball into the ocean.
Not exactly the recommended way to stop a losing streak.
Another loss
The Cavaliers’ star player Sylven Landesberg, who suffered a thigh bruise in a loss at Miami earlier in the week, couldn’t play because of the injury. He wanted to play and tried to loosen up the stiff muscle before pre-game warm-ups, but just couldn’t go.
Long before his team took the floor to face a menacing Duke team, Bennett had to know the chances of his team dropping its seventh game in a row was looming. When post player Mike Scott couldn’t make a shot (he has now gone 0 for 13 over the last two games), the Cavaliers were helpless if not hapless.
“Somebody said we were such an offensive juggernaut that we can manufacture points,” Bennett joked about his team’s predicament, making reference to the Cavaliers’ inept offensive performances during the losing streak. “I knew it was going to be challenging.”
Meyinsse shines
The Virginia coach figured someone would have to step up and play a great game, that his team would have to shoot well, and be great defensively in order to have a chance.
He got none of that in a 67-49 loss that dropped the Cavaliers to 14-13 overall and 5-9 in the conference.
Well, almost. At least senior Jerome Meyinsse showed up big, scoring a career-high 21 points. The rest of the team scored 28.
The Cavs shot a paltry 31.4 percent against the ACC’s top defensive team and again, failed to play the defense that helped vault Virginia to a 5-2 start early in the league campaign.
In those better times, Bennett didn’t fool himself even though his team was flirting with the league lead along with the much more talented Blue Devils.
“I didn’t think we were in Duke’s caliber,” Bennett said Sunday night. “That’s a program you aspire to be like eventually. At 5-2, I was thankful for our record, but knew we had a long way to go.
“I understand the big picture and that’s what I’m working toward,” said Bennett, who understands rebuilding Virginia basketball is a process.
He’s not the only one.
Mike Krzyzewski understands what Bennett is going through. The Duke mentor, who recently coached his 1,000th game with the Blue Devils, remembers a tough start his first three years at that school after Duke had gone to three straight NCAA tournaments.
“Well, [Bennett’s] won a lot more than I did early on,” Krzyzewski said after his league-leading Devils improved to 12-2 and 25-4 overall.
If anyone understands the building process, it’s Krzyzewski, who chased big-time recruits and missed, before finally landing some and turning Duke around and built one of the nation’s premiere programs.
“Tony’s classy, smart,” Coach K said. “He’s perfect for Virginia. He’s just a really good coach and a good man. He wants to build a program.”
While the Duke coach noted he doesn’t follow decisions by UVa’s new coaching staff on a daily basis, he knows what’s going on from afar.
“Just knowing [Bennett], the decisions they’re making are not short term but long term. They’re principled and value-based decisions because that’s the only way to build a program is on that type of foundation,” Krzyzewski said. “And, he’ll do that. It’s not easy. As long as he has a team effort of everyone here it will work out because it’s a great school and has a really great tradition.
“I don’t see how it won’t work out ... it just won’t work out over night,” Krzyzewski said.
That’s what Bennett’s eye is on ... the future.
He’s rebuilt a program before and is using the same blueprint to get the job done. Like Krzyzewski said, it won’t happen overnight. While Wahoo fans, who have yearned for a consistent winner for 15 years, would like to see it happen quicker, Bennett is in no hurry.
There’s no shortcuts when it comes to winning.
Even Krzyzewski, who seems destined to become the winningest coach in major college basketball history, knows that’s true.

Fitting Finale for Wright at JPJ
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 02/28/2010
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- With 28.1 seconds left, after Monica Wright scored her final point at John Paul Jones Arena, the horn sounded, and fans rose to their feet.

Into the game came Jayna Hartig, and out went Wright, and they hugged as applause filled the arena. Wright then hugged UVa coach Debbie Ryan before working her way down the bench, embracing assistants, teammates and support staffers.

"If you were to paint a picture of a basketball player," Ryan told reporters later, "this is the person that you would paint. You would paint Monica Wright, because she just has all the right stuff on both sides of the ledger."

The ACC and NCAA women's basketball tournaments await Wright, so her college career isn't over. But she'll never again play for the Wahoos at JPJ, the scene of so many spectacular performances by the program's all-time leading scorer (2,474 points and counting).

The 6,264 fans who showed up Sunday afternoon saw another gem from Wright. In the regular-season finale for both teams, the 5-11 senior from Woodbridge totaled a game-high 27 points and added 10 rebounds, 2 blocked shots and 2 steals as No. 21 UVa rallied to thump Virginia Tech 55-46.

"I thought Virginia played like a team that wanted to get a last home victory for Monica Wright," Hokies coach Beth Dunkenberger said.

The win also locked up the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye in the ACC tournament for the Cavaliers (9-5, 21-8). Tech fell to 4-10, 15-14.

When the game ended, the Cavaliers stayed on the court. Wright was exhausted -- she'd needed an IV at halftime -- but her big day wasn't over yet.

A video celebrating her storied career was shown, bringing many of her teammates to tears, and then a banner high above was unfurled, marking the retirement of Wright's No. 22 jersey.

Wright didn't break down -- "I'm not a big drama person," she said later -- when she took the mike. She calmly thanked God, her coaches, her parents and her teammates, among others, and also saluted the UVa fans.

"To everybody, thank you for a great four years," she said.

Already in the rafters were the names of former UVa greats Dawn Staley, Cathy Grimes, Donna Holt and Wendy Palmer, who's now one of Ryan's assistants.

On Jan. 11, at JPJ, Wright had passed Staley to come Virginia's career scoring leader. But UVa lost 61-60 to ACC rival Maryland that night, and Wright was in no mood afterward to celebrate her accomplishment.

That wasn't lost on her teammates.

"I kept reminding the team that we owed Moni one, since she broke the scoring record and we came out and lost," said guard Paulisha Kellum, a redshirt junior who entered UVa with Wright in 2006.

The 'Hoos got Wright her Hollywood ending this time, though they looked sluggish early. Given that Ryan's team had played late Friday night at Duke, the slow start wasn't surprising.

The Hokies went into halftime up 25-20, but that deficit didn't worry the Cavaliers. UVa took its first lead with 15:26 left, on a three-point play by sophomore forward Chelsea Shine, and never trailed thereafter.

Wright made 6 of 8 shots from the floor in the second half, and she didn't have mixed emotions after this one.

"It's a lot more satisfying [to be honored after a win]," she said. "I feel so much better. It's not bittersweet."

The victory was the Cavaliers' eighth straight over the Hokies. Unless the teams meet in the ACC tourney, which starts Thursday in Greensboro, N.C., Virginia Tech never again will have to face Wright. And that's fine with Dunkenberger.

"Let's have a big party and welcome her to the WNBA," she said with a smile.

Freshman guard Lexie Gerson had 11 points and 4 steals for Virginia, and Shine contributed a game-high 12 rebounds, 8 points and 2 blocks.

In the end, though, the day belonged to Wright.

"It's an honor to have my name in the rafters forever," she said, "as long as UVa exists."

She's not the only one who feels blessed.

"I'm honored every day to walk into JPJ and know I have a player like Monica Wright on my team," Ryan told the crowd. "She gives and gives and gives and never says no."

Wright powers UVa past Tech
By Jay Jenkins
Published: February 28, 2010
Updated: February 28, 2010
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On a day that saw her jersey number unveiled in the rafters and an IV poked into her arm at halftime, Virginia star Monica Wright closed out her career inside John Paul Jones Arena making sure she played one less game.
As odd as it sounds, that is a positive thing for Wright and the teammates that she put on her back.
A 27-point effort by the All-American guard gave 21st-ranked Virginia a 55-46 victory over rival Virginia Tech, clinching a first-day bye in the ACC tournament.
With the Wright-fueled win, the Cavaliers (21-8, 9-5 ACC)
secured a third-place finish in the league standings and will await the winner of Thursday’s first-round contest between sixth-seeded North Carolina State and 11th-seeded Clemson. The Cavaliers’ contest Friday at the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum is slated to start at 8:30 p.m.
“We were definitely focused on this win,” said Wright, who scored 18 after the intermission. “We had everything to play for because of our seeding in the ACC tournament.
“I have to give the credit to the coaches for doing that.”
As was the case when Wright broke the Virginia all-time scoring record against Maryland, a victory did not look likely early on. The Cavaliers lost to Maryland, but Wright fixed that would-be dilemma by making her first four field goals in the second half.
With that and a three-point play from Chelsea Shine with 15:26 left in the game, at 33-31, UVa took a lead that it would not relinquish.
The effort from Wright’s teammates was with the ultimate goal in mind — sending her off the right way in front of 6,264 fans.
“I kept reminding the team that we owed Moni one,” guard Paulisha Kellum said, “since she broke the scoring record and we came out and lost [to Maryland.],”
Virginia Tech (15-14, 4-10), the 10th seed in the ACC tourney, knew that it would be an emotional day with Wright being honored for a career that now includes 2,474 career points.
“Before we even stepped on the court, I thought this was a Virginia team that is really going to turn up the heat and be aggressive in an attempt to help Monica win that game,” Virginia Tech coach Beth Dunkenberger said.
“They were the aggressor and they got us on our heels. We had some spurts when we attacked and looked good but unfortunately it just wasn’t enough.
“Virginia played like a team that wanted to get a last home victory for Monica Wright.”
In the first half, Wright battled tired legs from cramps that emerged at Duke on Friday night.
It helped the Hokies take a 25-20 first-half lead and kept Virginia from having the advantage in the first half.
“Some of that was Virginia Tech. Some of that was us,” Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. “I felt like we were dragging. I felt like we were in Durham [N.C.], actually. We really just to tried to get to the break.
“I just didn’t feel like we were matching their energy and that is a big no-no in basketball.”
It did not help that Wright missed seven of her 10 shots from the field and three free throws, something she had not done since playing Samford on Dec. 28.
All that, however, was forgotten when Wright flipped the switch in the second half and led Virginia to yet another win just minutes before she was honored at home for the final time.
“I’m honored to be up there with Wendy [Palmer] and Dawn [Staley], Cathy [Grimes] and Donna [Holt],” Wright said. “Their numbers are actually retired, so I hope one day I’ll be on the list with them.
“It’s an honor to have my name in the rafters forever, for as long as UVa exists.”
 

Cavaliers pay debt to senior Wright
Virginia rallies in the second half for the win in Monica Wright's last regular-season home game.
By Katrina Waugh
981-3127

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- There were no tears from Monica Wright on senior night, not even after the game when the Cavaliers retired her jersey.

Wright's stoicism might have been due to dehydration or simply that she feels like there is still work to do, but Virginia's all-time leading scorer offered a different explanation.

"I'm a gangster," Wright joked.

Wright scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the No. 21 Cavaliers to a 55-46 win over Virginia Tech in her final home game at John Paul Jones Arena on Sunday, sealing a No. 3 seed for Virginia in the ACC women's tournament.

The Cavaliers (21-8, 9-5) have a first-round bye and will play the winner of Thursday's game between No. 6 North Carolina State and No. 11 Clemson in a quarterfinal at 8 p.m. Friday.

Virginia Tech (15-14, 4-10) earned the 10th seed and will play No. 7 Boston College in the opening round Thursday at the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum.

Shanel Harrison led the Hokies with 15 points and six rebounds. But Tech's two leading scorers, Utahya Drye and Lindsay Biggs, combined for 12 points.

Biggs hit just two of 13 shots and scored five points. Drye scored seven points and pulled down six rebounds but turned the ball over five times.

Drye also drew the unhappy duty of guarding Wright for most of the game.

"She threw down 27 on us -- again," said Virginia Tech coach Beth Dunkenberger, recalling the Cavaliers' 70-56 win at Tech on Jan. 18. "But then, she throws down 27 on everybody."

Wright, who leads the ACC in scoring with 23 points a game, became Virginia's all-time leading scorer back in January in a 61-60 loss to Maryland. The disappointment of losing, Wright said at the time, overwhelmed the feeling of accomplishment.

"This is much better," she said.

Virginia guard Paulisha Kellum said that was the Cavaliers' plan.

"I kept reminding this team that we owed Moni one," Kellum said. "She got the scoring record and we came out and lost. We owed her one."

They took their time repaying the debt.

Virginia hit just seven of 26 shots in the first half, at one point going 9:12 without a field goal.

The Hokies didn't shoot much better, hitting nine of 29 shots. All seven of Drye's points came in the first half and Nikki Davis scored six of her nine as Tech took a 25-20 lead into the break.

That's when Wright -- who, coach Debbie Ryan said, was exhausted after the Cavs' loss at Duke on Friday -- took in some IV fluids and the Cavaliers got an injection of defensive intensity.

Virginia outscored Tech 21-7 in the first nine minutes of the second half, taking a nine-point lead when Wright drove the lane for a layup and then hit her free throw to complete a three-point play.

The Hokies' shooting percentage dipped to 25.9 percent in the second half, while the Cavaliers' defense allowed them to get some buckets in transition and improve their shooting to 43.5 percent in the final 20 minutes.

"They were the aggressor; they got us back on our heels," Dunkenberger said.

"They did change some things up on defense, which is something they did not do the last time. When you change into that zone you get some mismatches with your 6-foot-4 [center Brittany Gordon] on some smaller people, but when you slow down to try to find those mismatches, that's when the 6-4 gets three people on her."

No. 1 Cavaliers complete sweep
From staff reports
Published: February 28, 2010
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After a month full of shovels, Virginia’s baseball team finally broke out the brooms.
The Cavaliers jumped on Rhode Island early and completed a three-game sweep of the Rams on Sunday by hanging on for an 8-5 victory at Davenport Field.
Virginia, ranked No. 1 in the country, improved to 6-1 on the season after outscoring the Rams 43-7 over the weekend.
“Anytime you can win a series or sweep, it’s a great weekend,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “I thought we swung the bats very well this weekend and we pitched well.
“We did the things that we needed to do to be successful, and that’s what is important.”
Virginia, which won 22-2 on Saturday, wasted little time taking the lead, scoring five in the first inning as John Hicks capped the frame with a three-run double.
“That was big to get the first five runs in the first inning,” O’Connor said. “It made a statement that we were ready to play again.”
The Cavaliers later went up 8-0 after plating two runs in the third and another in the fifth, but Rhode Island (0-6) attempted to answer.
O’Connor took some blame for that.
Starting pitcher Cody Winiarski, making just his second start for UVa, had been masterful through five innings, but the skipper wanted to see if the right-handed junior could work deeper into the game.
The Rams proved that was not the case, scoring three in the sixth inning off Winiarski (1-0) before he escaped the frame.
For the game, Winiarski fanned seven batters as he located his fastball and mixed in off-speed pitches, O’Connor said.
“I thought he pitched really well,” O’Connor added. “The first five were shutout innings and I made the decision to try and extend him into the sixth inning to see what he had. He gave up the runs, but it is probably my fault that I didn’t take him out after five innings because he was at 80 pitches and it was the most pitches that he had thrown.
“I wanted to test him to see what he had left and obviously it wasn’t enough. I learned something from that, but I feel like the first five innings that he threw were very, very good.”
Leading 8-5 in the ninth, Virginia closer Kevin Arico was summoned and delivered, notching his third save of the season. He struck out two of the four batters he faced.
Phil Gosselin, Dan Grovatt and Keith Werman finished with two hits for UVa.
The Cavaliers are slated to host James Madison on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

No. 1 Virginia Baseball Finishes Off Sweep of Rhode Island
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 02/28/2010

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The No. 1-ranked Virginia baseball team finished off a three-game series sweep of Rhode Island with an 8-5 victory Sunday at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers (6-1) scored five runs in the first inning and coasted to their fifth straight win.
Phil Gosselin (Jr., West Chester, Pa.) went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI to lead the Cavaliers' offense. He finished the week 9-for-17 with six RBI. Keith Werman (So., Vienna, Va.) added a pair of hits as he went 6-for-7 in the series. John Hicks (So., Sandy Hook, Va.) also had a three-run double to key the Cavaliers' big first inning.
Cody Winiarski (Jr., Franksville, Va.) worked 5.0 innings in his first home start at Virginia. He allowed three earned runs, seven hits and one walk while striking out seven as he earned his first win as a Cavalier (1-0). Kevin Arico (Jr., Flemington, N.J.) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to notch his third save of the season. UVa's pitchers fanned 13 Sunday and finished with 36 strikeouts in the series.
Rhode Island starter Dan Rossignol (0-1) worked 2.1 innings, allowing seven runs (three earned), five hits and four walks while fanning one in taking the loss. Oliver Palmer went 3-for-5 with two RBI as he fell a triple shy of the cycle for the Rams (0-6).
After going scoreless in the first inning of the first two games of the series, Virginia started fast with five runs in the opening inning Sunday. Gosselin led off with a single and then stole second. Danny Hultzen (So., Bethesda, Md.) singled to left to move Gosselin to third and Dan Grovatt (Jr., Tabernacle, N.J.) walked to load the bases. After Proscia scored Gosselin with a sacrifice fly and Tyler Cannon (Sr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) struck out, Jarrett Parker (Jr., Stafford, Va.) reached when shortstop Mike LeBel dropped his pop fly, which loaded the bases.
Hicks then ripped a double into the right-field corner to clear the bases and give the Cavaliers a 4-0 lead. Franco Valdes (Sr., Miami, Fla.) followed with a double just inside first base and down the right-field line to score Hicks with the fifth run of the inning.
In the third, UVa added a pair of runs on a two-run double from Gosselin, scoring Werman and Valdes. The Cavaliers also scored a run in the fifth. Pinch hitter Chris Taylor (Fr., Virginia Beach, Va.) led off with a walk and moved to third one out later on a Werman double. Taylor scored on a Gosselin sacrifice fly to center field.
Rhode Island broke its scoring drought with three runs in the sixth inning. Rob DeVeney and Palmer hit back-to-back doubles to start the inning and tally the Rams' first run. LeBel followed with a two-run blast into the left-field bleachers to cut the lead to 8-3. After Winiarski issued his first walk of the game, Whit Mayberry (Fr., Alexandria, Va.) came on in relief to retire the side in order.
In the eighth inning, Palmer hit the first pitch from Tyler Wilson (Jr., Midlothian, Va.) over the wall in left-center, cutting the UVa lead to 8-4. Two outs later, Tom Coulombe walked and scored from first on a Milan Adams single to left-center.
Virginia continues its nine-game homestand at 4 p.m. Tuesday when it plays host to James Madison.

Women’s Tennis Downs Maryland and Old Dominion
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 02/28/2010

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 25 Virginia women’s tennis team extended its win streak to five matches with a doubleheader sweep Sunday at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. The Cavaliers (8-2, 2-0 ACC) downed both Maryland and No. 66 Old Dominion by 7-0 scores.

Virginia improved to 2-0 in the ACC with the win over the Terrapins (2-5, 0-3) in the opener. The Cavaliers swept the doubles point with wins by Emily Fraser (Rye, N.Y.) and Jennifer Stevens (Miami, Fla.) at No. 1, Erin Vierra (Norwell, Mass.) and Lindsey Hardenbergh (Fairfax Station, Va.) at No. 2 and Hana Tomljanovic (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Maria Fuccillo (Rockville, Md.) at No. 3.

In singles, Virginia got straight set wins from Hardenbergh at No. 1, Fraser at No. 2, Stevens at No. 3, Tomljanovic at No. 4, and Fuccillo at No. 5. Katie Gater (Dunblane, Scotland) added a three-set win at No. 6 to complete the sweep.

Against the Monarchs (9-5), the Cavaliers once again swept the doubles, using the same three teams. In singles, the highlight came at No. 1 where No. 38 ranked Hardenbergh upset No. 15 Nadine Fahoum 6-2, 7-5 for the highest ranked win of her career. Fraser, Stevens, Tomljanovic, Fuccillo and Gater all won their second match of the day in straight sets against Old Dominion to complete the sweep.

Virginia returns to action on Saturday, March 6 as they visit VCU.

No. 25 Virginia 7, Maryland 0

Doubles:
1. Fraser/Stevens (UVa) def. MacKeller/Miller (Md) 8-6
2. #53 Hardenbergh/Vierra (UVa) def. Brand/Hansbrough (Md) 9-7
3. Tomljanovic/Fuccillo (UVa) def. Huschke/Krutiyenko (Md) 8-2

Singles:
1. #38 Lindsey Hardenbergh (UVa) def. Maggie MacKeever (Md) 6-2, 6-3
2. Emily Fraser (UVa) def. Lisa Miller (Md) 6-3, 6-2
3. Jennifer Stevens (UVa) def. Julia Huschke (Md) 6-2, 6-3
4. Hana Tomljanovic (UVa) def. Jordan Hansbrough (Md) 6-3, 6-4
5. Maria Fuccillo (UVa) def. Lexi Brand (Md) 6-3, 6-4
6. Katie Gater (UVa) def. Oksana Krutiyenko (Md) 4-6, 6-1, 7-5

Order of Finish:
Doubles: 3,1,2
Singles: 1,3,2,5,4,6

No. 25 Virginia 7, No. 66 Old Dominion 0

Doubles:
1. Fraser/Stevens (UVa) def. Fahoum/Dobrowolska (ODU) 8-5
2. #53 Hardenbergh/Vierra (UVa) def. Ivanova/Dementyeva (ODU) 8-1
3. Tomljanovic/Fuccillo (UVa) def. Citic/Pires (ODU) 8-2

Singles:
1. #38 Lindsey Hardenbergh (UVa) def. #15 Nadine Fahoum (ODU) 6-2, 7-5
2. Emily Fraser (UVa) def. Joanna Dobrowolska (ODU) 7-6, 6-3
3. Jennifer Stevens (UVa) def. Irina Dementyeva (ODU) 6-3, 7-6
4. Hana Tomljanovic (UVa) def. Diana Ivanova (ODU) 6-1, 6-0
5. Maria Fuccillo (UVa) def. Juliana Pires (ODU) 6-4, 6-2
6. Katie Gater (UVa) def. Marija Citic (ODU) 6-3, 6-2

Order of Finish:
Doubles: 3,2,1
Singles: 4,6,5,2,1,3





 

Nichols completes its Manhattan Cup mission
Team effort lifts Vikings over Crusaders
By Keith McShea
NEWS SPORTS REPORTER
Updated: March 01, 2010, 1:26 am / 0 comments

The Manhattan Cup mission for the Nichols boys basketball team is complete, thanks to a complete effort from a complete team.

The Vikings used tenacious defense to spark its offense and got significant contributions from its entire rotation as it beat Canisius, 73-50, Sunday evening before an estimated 1,500 at Canisius College's Koessler Center.

It is the school's second Monsignor Martin Association playoff championship, both coming in the last four years.

For four-year varsity players like Will Regan and Ron Canestro and three-year starter Andy MacKinnon, the victory fulfilled expectations those players have played under since winning the 2007 title. Nichols lost the 2008 final to St. Joe's and last year to Canisius.

"It's great, because I've been in this game four years, won it my freshman year and we lost the last two," said Regan. "They've all been hard-fought battles against good teams. This year was no different. In the Monsignor Martin it's hard to win a game, let alone win [the league] like we did. Thank God we were able to battle them and beat them like we did."

Regan scored 22 points and earned tournament MVP honors while sophomore Stan Wier had 16 points and was named to the all-tournament team. Canestro had eight points and several assists and steals, MacKinnon (six points) handled Canisius' defensive pressure at the point all day and senior Conner Vandegriff had 11 points. Nichols is not known to have one of the deepest benches in Western New York, but it got tremendous contributions from reserves Evan Grenda, Dieter Clauss and Ramsey Gayles as the top-ranked large school beat the No. 2 Crusaders (21-6).

"It's a huge lift, a huge weight off the shoulders and I feel really good for those seniors who get to enjoy this," said Nichols coach Greg Plumb. "The lift that those guys gave us off the bench was what we needed. For [Grenda] to do it on this kind of stage is terrific and talks about his courage."

Nichols won the game with a 19-6 second quarter in which it concentrated on stopping Canisius leading scorer and all-tournament team pick Blair Helton (21 points). Several players, including Grenda and Clauss, played in-your-jersey defense on Helton, who went scoreless in the quarter. Contested shots by Helton or misses by teammates turned into transition opportunities for a Nichols team which loves to run.

"We just couldn't get in any type of rhythm whatsoever," said Canisius coach Kyle Husband. "Blair left it all out there. He's been so good for us. We need to make shots from other guys as well. We just didn't make shots.

"We said we had to beat them in transition points and they killed us in transition points. They're good at that, and they've been good at that. They've got great players and a great team."

Nichols finished the second quarter with a 15-2 run in which more than half of its points came from the bench. Senior Grenda had two big three-pointers while senior Gayles, the eighth man in Nichols' rotation, scored on a putback.

"Being a senior, it could have been my last game," said Grenda. "It felt great being able to contribute like that on such a star-studded team."

The final basket of the quarter was typical of how Nichols took over the game.

Helton missed a three from the left side with a leaping Grenda in his face, Canestro grabbed the rebound and outleted for a fast break. Regan got the ball back in the lane and let go of a jumper that beat the buzzer for Nichols' 17-point halftime lead.

Nichols built on its lead in the third quarter, which included some outstanding passing plays in transition. Wier finished off a MacKinnon pass — which came directly after a Regan outlet — with a three-point play. Vandegriff scored on a give-and-go with Regan. Clauss contributed a tip-in in the final seconds of the third quarter to put Nichols up, 50-30, heading to the fourth.

The other members of the all-tournament team were Canisius junior Aaron Nevins (10 points), Bishop Timon-St. Jude senior Mike Scarcello and St. Mary's senior Joe Barnhardt.

Nichols has other goals, and those start with a trip to Long Island on Saturday. Nichols will face the Long Island diocese champion in the Catholic state Class A semifinals, the first of two steps that would lead Nichols to the state Federation final four in Glens Falls (March 26-28).

"That's what we want to do and that's what we're capable of doing," Regan said of a Catholic state championship. "That's what our goal is and if we don't get there it's because we've underachieved."
 

Brew Tech's hopes fade away in fourth
By Wesley Lyle • February 28, 2010
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BIRMINGHAM -- K.T. Harrell tugged on his jersey, a look of disbelief on his face.

As the Brewbaker Tech senior and University of Virginia signee walked down the court, hugged a few teammates and shook hands with opponents, reality set in.
Brew Tech's season was over.
While Ramsay gathered at midcourt Saturday to celebrate a 58-50 win in the AHSAA Class 4A championship game, Brew Tech quietly grouped together for one final huddle and slowly walked off the court at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center.
"We feel like we could have done better," Harrell said. "It hurts right now, because we know how close we were to winning. Ramsay played a heck of a game and they deserved to win.
"I feel blessed to have been a part of this team and this season. Even though we lost, God is good and he has a plan for us."
The loss marked the end of the best season in Brew Tech's seven-year history. The Rams (23-6) reached the regional tournament for the first time last season and won the regional for the first time this year. Wednesday's 65-54 semifinal win over Columbia set up the first appearance in the championship game.
"I'm really proud of all we've accomplished," said senior Giovanni Smith, who has played with Brew Tech since his freshman season. "We've never been this far before and it's an honor to be a part of the team that got here."
The title is the first for Ramsay since winning the 5A championship in 2006. The loss was Brew Tech's first against a 4A team this season.
"This is really tough for our guys and my heart goes out to them," Brew Tech coach Chauncey Shines said. "We went through a lot to get here and we wanted this badly. It just wasn't in the cards.
"Ramsay did what they needed to do to win. They applied pressure and we needed to do a better job handling it."
Brew Tech led 43-37 at the start of the fourth quarter when Ramsay (24-8) turned up the pressure. Brew Tech, which turned the ball over 21 times, committed seven turnovers in the fourth that led to 10 points for Ramsay.
Ramsay outscored Brew Tech 21-7 in the final quarter.
"We blew up at the wrong time," Harrell said. "We had the lead at the end of the third quarter, but we didn't come out with the intensity or defensive pressure that we needed in the fourth quarter."
Ramsay opened the final quarter with a 9-0 run, turning Brew Tech's six-point lead into a three-point deficit. When Smith drained a 3-pointer to tie the game 46-46 with less than four minutes to play, Brew Tech seemed on the verge of making a final run to close it out.
It never happened.
"When I hit that 3 to tie it, we thought we were about to go up from there," Smith said. "We really wanted to win this. We thought we had it won. But we started turning the ball over at the wrong time."
Tournament MVP Ralph Floyd led Ramsay with 21 points.
Harrell led Brew Tech with 17 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Smith added 13 points and C.J. Bendolph and Kelton Cash each had 10 points. Cash is the only underclassman in the group.
"This was the best senior class a coach could ask for," Shines said. "I told them last year that we would get here and play in the title game. They worked to get here and they wanted to win. We had a good run, it just didn't work out the way we wanted."