Cavs squeak past Arizona
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
November 18, 2007

TUCSON, Ariz. - Ever since Dave Leitao took over as coach at Virginia, he has talked about the need to take incremental steps in order to build an upper-echelon program that has “staying power.”
On Saturday night in the Arizona desert, Leitao’s program took one of those steps.

And it was a big one.

All you had to do was check out the mosh pit that took place in the middle of Lute & Bobbi Olson Court.

As the final buzzer sounded, Virginia star Sean Singletary leaped high into the air and was swarmed by his teammates. In unison, they yelled out “Virginia!” and pointed at their jerseys - to the dismay of a stunned sell-out crowd.

UVa, behind 24 points and eight assists from Singletary, upset No. 17 Arizona, 75-72, in front of 14,602 fans at the McKale Center.

“It goes [down] as a statement,” said Leitao, whose suit was drenched in sweat as he spoke to a group of reporters in a hallway. “You’re playing a ranked team that doesn’t lose too much in this building, so [the win] has to be right near the top.”

Arizona is the highest-ranked opponent that Virginia has beaten on the road in the Dave Leitao era.

“What we’ve tried to do here is establish a program that has a solid foundation - defending and rebounding and getting out and playing free,” Leitao said. “We happen to have a team that can make a lot of shots. If we can continue to grow and learn as a group, then our program will continue to get better.”

The contest was the final of a four-game series that began in 2004. Virginia, which shot a blistering 51 percent from the field, took three out of the four.

Singletary, who was playing with the flu and didn’t have one of his best all-around games (he had five turnovers), came up huge in crunch time.

“He looked dizzied and dazed,” Leitao said, “but he didn’t let that deter him.”

With the score tied at 69 and less than 1 minute, 30 seconds to play, the senior co-captain drove hard to the baseline and pump-faked Arizona guard Daniel Dillon. Dillon left his feet and Singletary was able to draw the foul and hit two from the line for a two-point lead.

“I knew they were being overly aggressive,” Singletary said, “so I got the guy in the air and just got to the line.”

After Arizona freshman Jerryd Bayless missed a jumper, Singletary answered with a jumper off a pick-and-roll from just inside the 3-point line to put Virginia up 73-69 with 40 seconds to play.

“I saw the big man wasn’t hedging hard enough,” Singletary said, “so I showed him a dribble move and he fell, and I was just wide open.”

Virginia, however, would have never been in position to win the game if not for the contributions from several players - a stark contrast from last season when it relied solely on Singletary and the since-graduated J.R. Reynolds.

Freshman guard Jeff Jones (15 points) set the tone early, knocking down four straight 3-pointers that propelled Virginia to an early 18-13 lead.

Junior forward Mamadi Diane played one of the best defensive games of his career in holding Arizona star Chase Budinger to just 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting.

Then there were the Cavaliers Blue Collar Boys - Ryan Pettinella and Lars Mikalauskas. The big men gave Virginia a much-needed inside presence and provided their usual hustle plays. Mikalauskas’ steal from Arizona’s Jordan Hill with less than a minute to play set up Singletary’s go-ahead basket.

Senior co-captain Adrian Joseph only had four points and three rebounds but was able to steal an Arizona inbounds pass with 20 seconds left. Joseph went to the line and calmly drained two free throws for a 75-72 lead.

The Wildcats had three shots at the basket as time dwindled down, but none found the mark.

Arizona had taken the lead, 67-66, on two Budinger free throws with a little more than 5 minutes left, but scored only five points the rest of the way.

“I told the guys it was going to take some stops,” Leitao said. “We took a helluva punch from them and didn’t fold, which had been a little bit of a concern for us coming into the start of the season.

“I’m just very, very proud of the way our guys stuck together.”

The win felt extremely good to Singletary, who had stirred up a pregame controversy with some statements that he allegedly made after Virginia’s 93-90 win over Arizona last season.

Singletary said the Wildcats were definitely playing with a chip on their shoulder.

“I’ve never been beat up so hard - ever,” Singletary said. “I feel like they got away with a couple fouls, but that’s all part of the game.

“They took [the comments] to heart, but I never called them soft. I don’t know where they got that, but I have the utmost respect for the program. Lute Olson has done a great job with that program.”

Unfortunately for Arizona, Olson was not on hand. The Hall of Fame coach took a personal leave of absence on Nov. 4, and the Wildcats, who squeaked out a win over Northern Arizona in their season opener, have not looked very good without him.

“We lost the game in the first half with 13 turnovers and a lack of defense,” said Arizona interim coach Kevin O’Neil. “We talked all game about limiting turnovers, and we didn’t do a good job.

“[But] Virginia played hard. They played well. They’re going to win a lot of games this year.”

Added Bayless, who led the Wildcats with 21 points: “Virginia is a top-25 team in my opinion. They have a great point guard and are a very talented team.”

Dunks
Virginia hosts Drexel on Tuesday night, then takes on Penn in the Philadelphia Classic on Friday. … UVa freshman Sam Zeglinski, who has battled sprains to both ankles throughout the early portion of the season, did not go through pregame warm-ups or dress for the game. He had a walking cast on his right foot after re-spraining his ankle during practice on Thursday. “I’m hoping to play against [Drexel],” Zeglinski said. … Former NBA All-Star Larry Johnson was in attendance to watch Virginia freshman Mustapha Farrakhan. Johnson said Farrakhan was his nephew.

 

UA gets clipped at home
Steve Rivera
Tucson Citizen
Nov. 18, 2007 12:00 AM

TUCSON - Not since 1978 had the Arizona men's basketball team lost in November at McKale Center. It happened Saturday night, as Virginia won 75-72.

No. 17 Arizona (1-1) gets a chance to regroup quickly. It plays Missouri-Kansas City on Monday at McKale Center.

The earliest in a season that UA had lost at home since was Dec. 1, 2001, when Kansas won 105-97. UA lost 84-82 to Arizona State on Nov. 24, 1978. advertisement

Virginia's Sean Singletary gave Virginia the lead at 71-69 with two free throws with 1:22 left. After a UA miss, Singletary hit a 15-footer to make it 73-69 before UA's Jerryd Bayless hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 73-72 with 25.6 seconds left.

After a quick UA timeout, Virginia failed to inbound the ball, turning it over to UA. But in UA's attempt to inbound the ball, Bayless couldn't handle the lob pass at halfcourt, eventually throwing the ball away in a desperate attempt to get it to a teammate. Virginia's Adrian Joseph intercepted the ball. Joseph quickly was fouled. He hit two free throws to make it 75-72 with 20.5 seconds left.

UA then failed on three attempts to score.

Bayless led UA with 21 points. Chase Budinger added 15. Singletary led the Cavaliers with 24.

Down 42-31 at halftime, Arizona took its first lead of the second half at 49-48 with 14:11 left when Jawann McClellan found an open Budinger for a fast-break dunk. Bayless followed with a three-pointer to give UA its biggest lead of the half at 52-48.

But Virginia regained the lead two minutes later at 55-54 on Calvin Baker's 15-foot jumper.

Arizona again rallied by holding Virginia scoreless for nearly six minutes, going from a 66-59 deficit to a 67-66 lead with 5:12 left.

In the first half, Virginia hit 9 of 13 three-point shots and caused 13 Arizona turnovers to take a 42-31 halftime lead.

Virginia's Jeff Jones led the Cavaliers with 12 points in the half, hitting four of five three-pointers.

Singletary wasn't much of a factor from the floor in the half, although he did have 10 points (five from the free-throw line).

Arizona got down 9-3 early and later 15-6. UA couldn't stop Jones from hitting from long distance. With 11:30 left in the half, Jones had four three-pointers, helping Virginia to an 18-13 lead.

UA stayed close behind Budinger, who had seven quick points, including a big three-pointer with 11:22 left to make it 15-13.

But it was Bayless who helped UA take its first lead.

He hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 18-16 and then picked up a loose ball on Virginia's next possession and raced the length of the court for a layup.

He was also fouled on the play. He gave UA's first lead after a free throw, 19-18 with 10:56 left.

Arizona hit seven of eight shots to get back in it. But it wasn't enough for Arizona to stay ahead in the half.
 

Cats falter down stretch
Arizona succumbs in rare November defeat at McKale
By Bruce Pascoe
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.18.2007
 

The rear-view dissection of the last two minutes was easy.
In losing its first November home game in 29 years, 75-72 to Virginia, Arizona struggled through a late Jordan Hill turnover, Jerryd Bayless' errant handling of an inbounds pass and a failed final possession.
But the real trouble spot for UA interim coach Kevin O'Neill was when the Wildcats fell behind in the first half on a barrage of mostly easy Virginia three-point shots, trailing 15-6 early and 42-31 at halftime. Arizona virtually handed the Cavaliers several of their nine three-point shots with 13 turnovers, then failed to extend out defensively on those attempts.
"I don't understand 13 turnovers and giving up nine threes, when our game plan was no three-point shots written on the board about four times," O'Neill said. "We've got to respond to a game plan, which we will, and we've got to put ourselves in a position where we take away other teams' strengths. We didn't do that tonight."
Assistant coach Josh Pastner, who helped O'Neill assemble the game plan, said the three-pointers were a definite point of emphasis.
"The most important one," he said.
Virginia entered the game shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc, then hit 69 percent from long range in the first half and 57 percent overall.
So while the UA managed to work its way back into the game by committing only four second-half turnovers, and getting 11 points and three assists from Bayless after halftime, the turnovers kept haunting them.
"We can't do that," Bayless said. "It's a problem."
So by the time the UA trailed by just a point with 20 seconds left, Bayless was the one under pressure. He touched an inbounds pass from Jawann McClellan before the half-court line, then reached over behind the line to save it — and threw it straight to Virginia's Adrian Joseph.
"I messed up and that determined the game," Bayless said.
McClellan then fouled Joseph, who hit two free throws for what turned out to be the final score.
While Arizona had a final chance to tie the game after Joseph's free throws, that effort failed, too. After an easy three-point attempt did not materialize, McClellan drove inside for the first of three misses.
"We weren't able to get the shot we were looking for," McClellan said.
O'Neill said the play was designed to get a quick three-pointer and, if that wasn't available, have the Wildcats drive inside for two and foul immediately.
"But we waited too long," O'Neill said.
The loss dropped Arizona to 1-1 entering a home game with Missouri-Kansas City on Monday. Virginia improved to 3-0.
It was the UA's second straight loss to an Atlantic Coast Conference team at home, following a 92-64 setback to North Carolina at McKale Center last season.
It was also the UA's fifth home loss in its last seven games at McKale, dating to last season.
Bayless had 21 points for Arizona, while Chase Budinger added 15 and Jordan Hill had 14.
For Virginia, Sean Singletary scored 24 points, while Jeff Jones scored 15 and Jamil Tucker 12.
The game was tied at 69 entering the final two minutes, but Hill lost control of the ball. Virginia ended up scoring a pair of Singletary free throws on the ensuing possession when the senior guard drew a foul from the UA's Daniel Dillon.
With 1:09 left, Bayless threw up an errant jumper, giving the Cavaliers the ball again in the final minute. But after Singletary hit a 12-footer to give Virginia a 73-69 lead with 38 seconds remaining, Bayless returned 11 seconds later with a quick three-pointer to pull the Wildcats within 73-72.
The teams entered the final four minutes within a basket of each other. Virginia took a 66-59 lead with 8:22 left, but Arizona scored eight straight points to take a 67-66 lead when Budinger made two free throws with 5:12 to play.
After holding leads of up to three points midway through the second half, the Wildcats gave up a 9-0 Virginia run. Singletary scored four points during the run, while Jones added his fifth three-pointer of the night.
Arizona quickly worked its way back into the game after halftime, when it trailed by 11. The Wildcats made 5 of 8 shots from the field in the first five minutes to cut the Virginia lead to 48-44.
The Wildcats then went ahead 49-48 with 14:11 left when McClellan stole the ball at midcourt, then raced down and dished just before the basket to Budinger, who dunked.
In the first half, Arizona fueled Virginia's barrage of three-pointers with 13 turnovers, slumping to a 42-31 halftime deficit.
The Cavaliers, who came back from a 19-point first-half deficit to beat the Wildcats 93-90 last season in Charlottesville, this time used 9-of-13 three-point shooting to take charge of the first half.
Jones, a freshman guard, led the way for Virginia by hitting 4 of 5 three-pointers. Singletary had 10 points for Virginia in the half but shot only 2 of 10 from the field.
Jones made four of his five three pointers over the first 11:30, giving Virginia a 15-6 lead on his third long-range shot. The Cavaliers also had early three-pointers from Singletary and Mamadi Diane, scoring all of their first 18 points on three-pointers.
Arizona went on a 13-3 run to take a brief 19-18 lead when Bayless converted a three-point play with 10:56 left. But Virginia dominated down the stretch, going on a 9-0 run at the end of the half while Budinger sat out with two fouls.
O'Neill opted to go with a smaller lineup for the first time in exhibition or regular-season games, starting guard Daniel Dillon in place of forward Jamelle Horne.
He also played guard Nic Wise extensively off the bench in the first half, sometimes in combination with Bayless and Dillon, with McClellan and Hill taking the post spots late in the half and Budinger in foul trouble.
The game was the first in a three-game, five-day stretch for the Wildcats. They will return to the Jayhawk Invitational round-robin games this week, hosting Missouri-Kansas City.
 

Singletary's play in 'attack mode' a key to Cavaliers' win
By Patrick Finley
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.18.2007

Sean Singletary did not feel quite right Saturday, weakened from battling the flu and an army of UA defenders.
"I've never been 'D'd up so hard — ever," he said.
It did not seem to matter. Singletary finished with 24 points, including his team's two biggest baskets of the night.
With 1:22 left, Singletary goaded UA guard Daniel Dillon into the air, then leaned in to draw the foul. Singletary made the two free throws for a 71-69 lead.
Singletary scored the next basket, but only after Jordan Hill slipped while switching on a pick and roll.
"I could care (less) if Singletary had the flu," UA interim coach Kevin O'Neill said. "He played great."
Singletary was 6 of 19 from the field, but drilled all 11 free throws and added eight assists.
"He just went into attack mode," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said.
Last year, the Virginia senior was quoted as saying that the Wildcats "weren't tough and wouldn't fight," and that, "I'm not sure they want to play physical."
After Saturday night?
"They took that to heart," Singletary said.
Leitao called Singletary one of the gutsiest players he's ever coached.
"He looked dizzy and dazed," Leitao said, "but he didn't let that deter him."
Lineup change
Dillon made only his second career start Saturday night.
He played in place of forward Jamelle Horne, Tuesday night's starter.
Dillon played 37 minutes, eclipsing his career high by 14 minutes.
"I started Daniel because I thought we needed a little stability," O'Neill said.
O'Neill added that, despite starting one of the team's best defenders, the Wildcats could not stop the Cavaliers in the first half.
"I've told our guys that if someone has the ball 2 feet behind the line, it's like a layup," O'Neill said. "This is not the NBA. We need to take their airspace and get in their face."
Dillon has appeared in 85 games in his UA career. He scored a career-high nine points in 23 minutes — at the time a career best — against Oregon State on Feb. 11, 2006. Only six times last year did Dillon play more in an entire game than he did by halftime Saturday.
Because the UA used a smaller lineup, Horne did not play.
"He didn't play well at all in the first game," O'Neill said.
O'Neill added that Horne will play Monday against University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Rim shots
● Two years after losing at McKale Center by 30, the Cavaliers came away with one of the best wins of Leitao's career.
"If not the top, right there at 1, 2 or 3," he said.
Singletary called the win "maybe the biggest game we ever won on the road as a program."
● UA guard Laval Lucas-Perry made his college debut Saturday, and it was an ugly one.
Lucas-Perry missed both of the shots he took, one an airball while driving into the lane, and another an ill-advised three-pointer on the last possession of the first half.
● Virginia freshman Jeff Jones made five three-pointers on seven attempts in his first-ever college road game.
 

Virginia defeats No. 17 Arizona 75-72
By ANDREW BAGNATO
AP Sports Writer

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Sean Singletary scored 24 points to lead Virginia to a 75-72 victory over No. 17 Arizona on Saturday night.

Singletary, a three-year captain, made two free throws with 1:22 remaining to break a 69-69 tie, then hit a 15-foot jumper to put the Cavaliers up 73-69 with 39 seconds to go.

Virginia (3-0) knocked off a ranked opponent on the road for the second straight season. The Cavaliers lost to Arizona 81-51 on the same floor two years ago in coach Dave Leitao's third game.

Jeff Jones hit five 3-pointers to score 15 points for the Cavaliers, who were 12-for-21 (57.1 percent) from beyond the arc.

Jerryd Bayless led Arizona with 21 points in his second college game.

Virginia led 73-69 when Bayless hit a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left. After a timeout, Virginia's Mamadi Diane failed to inbound the ball in five seconds, turning the ball over to Arizona.

But Bayless turned the ball over on the next possession, and senior Adrian Joseph hit a pair of free throws to put the Cavaliers up 75-72. Arizona (1-1) had the ball with 20 seconds to go but failed to attempt a 3-pointer that could have tied the game.

It was Arizona's second game under interim coach Kevin O'Neill, who replaced Lute Olson when the Hall of Famer went on a personal leave of absence.

Trailing 46-36 early in the second half, Arizona went on a 16-2 run, fueled by two dunks by Budinger. The second finished a fast break that began when Jawann McClellan stole the ball, and it gave the Wildcats a 49-48 lead, their first since midway through the first half.

Arizona was coming off a shaky 76-69 victory over Northern Arizona, and the Wildcats had trouble adjusting to a tougher opponent.

Early on, the Wildcats left Virginia's snipers alone behind the arc, and the Cavaliers responded with a flurry of 3-pointers. Virginia jumped out to a 15-6 lead after six minutes, and all the points came on 3-pointers.

Jones hit four 3-pointers in the first 8 minutes. The freshman had missed the two 3-pointers he attempted in his first two college games.

Virginia shot 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) from beyond the arc in the first half.

The Wildcats had more turnovers (13) than buckets (11) at intermission.

Arizona went on a 15-6 run to take a 19-18 lead midway through the first half. But Virginia outscored Arizona 24-12 the rest of the way to take a 42-31 lead into the half. Arizona didn't score in the final 3:20 of the half.


 

Hoos Prevail In Arizona
By Sabre Staff
TheSabre.com
Nov 18, 2007

Guard Sean Singletary scored 24 points. He made 11 of 11 free throws.

Battling the flu, poor shooting, and a physical defensive approach from Arizona, Sean Singletary delivered when it mattered most and the Virginia basketball team rode a balanced effort to an impressive early season win at No. 17 Arizona. Singletary scored four of the last six points as the visiting Cavaliers won 75-72.

Singletary finished with 24 points (the 29th time in his career he's scored more than 20 points), 8 assists, 5 turnovers, and 1 steal. He has scored in double figures for 25 straight games, the longest active streak in the ACC. Singletary's climb up several of the school's career charts continued as well: he is now 15th on the career scoring list with 1,492 points (surpassing Othell Wilson's 1,469 and Donald Hand's 1,486 points), 7th on the career assists list with 407 (passing Cory Alexander's 401), and 9th on the career free throws made list with 407 (eclipsing J.R. Reynolds' 402).

"I've had the flu for a few days, but I had every intention of playing tonight," he said. "I couldn't do it without my teammates and this was a great win for us."

UVa coach Dave Leitao said the performance was another in a long line of heart-driven outings from the star guard.

"You know, he was gassed five minutes in to the game and I was trying to be judicious with subbing him out. He looked dizzied and dazed, but he didn't let that deter him," Leitao said. "That's as big-time of an effort from a guy that has as big-time a heart as I've ever been around."

Never was that more clear than the final 2:02. In that span, Singletary scored four points, forced a turnover by stripping the ball free on an Arizona post feed, and had a defensive rebound.

Singletary, who is averaging 22 points and 7.3 assists through three games, struggled with his shooting touch (6 of 19), particularly in the first half when he went 2 of 10 from the floor. As conventional basketball wisdom would suggest, however, struggling shooters get to the free throw line to score and that's what Singletary did. He made 11 of 11 freebies in this contest, including a stretch of five straight late in the first half that seemed to help him settle down a little bit offensively.

UVa's senior point guard also had two important free throws in the final two minutes to give his team a final lead that it didn't relinquish. Moments after creating a steal on defense, Singletary caught the ball on the left wing and gave a shot fake before driving to the left baseline. He used a step-back move to get space and got the defender in the air with a head-and-shoulders fake before absorbing the contact on a jumper. He made both free throws to give Virginia a 71-69 lead with 1:22 to play.

Singletary followed that up with a defensive rebound on the other end before hitting another big shot on the Hoos' next possession. On that play, Laurynas Mikalauskas set an on-ball screen at the top of the key with Singletary moving left. Arizona's Jordan Hill, defending Mikalauskas on the play, tried to hedge to force Singletary away from the lane area, but slipped and fell. Singletary calmly knocked down the wide-open look from 16 feet for the 73-69 lead.

From there, UVa survived some tense moments late - Jerryd Bayless (team-high 21 points) hit a 3-pointer to draw Zona within one point and the teams traded turnovers on inbounds plays - before Adrian Joseph swished two free throws to reach the final 75-72 margin.

Freshman Jeff Jones had it going from 3-point land where he made 5 of 8 shots.

"It's very difficult to come in here and win," Leitao said. "We were able to do that with some timely offense, we shot the ball well, and I thought we executed O.K. But then in the last five, six, seven minutes of the game, we really started to make a difference on the defensive end."

While Singletary's production despite struggling steals much of the thunder, Virginia got a balanced effort from its deep roster.

Six other players scored with Jeff Jones (15) and Jamil Tucker (12) joining Singletary in double figures. Jones hit five 3-pointers to log all of his points, while Tucker finished 5 of 7 from the floor (2 of 3 on treys) to set his career high in scoring. Ryan Pettinella and Mikalauskas combined for a formidable showing at the center slot. Pettinella did not score, but had 4 rebounds and 1 steal as well as taking two charges; Mikalauskas had 6 points (3-of-4 shooting), 6 rebounds, and 1 steal as well as one charge taken.

Mamadi Diane, meanwhile, scored 9 points on 3-of-4 shooting (including a 3-pointer that gave UVa a 69-67 lead) to go with 3 blocks and 1 assist. Two of those blocks came in the second half on Wildcat star Chase Budinger. Diane had the assignment of dealing with Budinger for most of the night and he made life difficult for the forward. Budinger still finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists but most of his offensive work came under a stiff challenge from the Cavaliers' Diane-led defense.

"That was definitely one of our points of emphasis the last couple of days in practice, being able to stop him being that he's their best player and all," Diane said. "Coach gave me the assignment by putting me on him. I just wanted to get stops on him."

"I've got to commend him. He was feeling bad because he didn't call a timeout on the inbounds play towards the end, but we wouldn't have been in that position had he not guarded Budinger the way he did," Leitao said. "He did a terrific job."



 

Big game certain to pack stadium
By Barney Breen-Portnoy / bbreen-portnoy@dailyprogress.com | 978-7277
November 18, 2007

The stakes could not be higher when the University of Virginia football team hosts Virginia Tech Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium.
With a win over the Hokies, the Cavaliers would win the ACC Coastal Division and earn a berth in the conference title game Dec. 1 in Jacksonville.

A victory would also give Virginia its second 10-win season in school history.

Many longtime Virginia fans believe that Saturday’s showdown is the most significant ever played between the two archrivals.

“It’s the most meaningful because it’s for the championship,” said Steven Thomas of Buckingham County, who has been attending games at Scott Stadium since the late 1960s. “I don’t think both teams have ever had so much on the line when they’ve played each other.”

For that reason, Scott Stadium could be packed well over its official capacity of 61,500 on Saturday.

According to Corbin Hunt, Virginia’s associate athletic director of ticket sales and operations, Saturday’s game is sold out on a season ticket basis.

Virginia has around 40,000 season-ticket holders. Virginia Tech sold out its entire guest allotment of 4,300.

Several hundred remaining tickets were made available to the Virginia Athletics Foundation and sold to members at the V-Club level and higher.

“With both teams playing for a spot in the conference championship game, which has never happened before, I’d venture to guess that there is as much excitement for this game as any other we’ve ever had,” Corbin said.

Charlottesville native and fourth-year UVa student Kipps Birckhead agrees with that sentiment.

“This is the first time that the Tech game will matter about something more than just pride,” he said.

Virginia Tech has dominated the series between the two schools in recent years, winning seven of its last eight meetings with the Cavaliers.

But many Virginia fans think that this is the year the Cavaliers, who have won nine of their last 10 games, will put a halt to that trend.

“I think there is a lot of excitement because fans actually think that Virginia can win this game, unlike two years ago when no one did,” Birckhead said.

Virginia Tech last visited Scott Stadium in 2005. The Hokies were ranked No. 7 in country at the time and routed Virginia 52-14. There were 63,344 fans at that game. The all-time attendance record - 63,701 - had been set a year earlier when Virginia hosted No. 18 Miami and lost 31-21.

With demand for tickets so high, scalpers should be doing brisk business outside the stadium on Saturday.

As of yesterday, tickets for the game were available at stubhub.com for anywhere between $100 and $600 each.

UVa prohibits scalping or resale on university property but that rule is rarely, if ever, enforced, numerous fans said.

The Virginia athletics department does run an online ticket marketplace where season-ticket holders can sell their tickets for face value.

One concern that many Virginia fans have is the number of Virginia Tech fans who will inevitably obtain tickets for the game.

Brad Christianson, a Virginia Tech fan who has lived in Charlottesville for about six years, said he does not have a ticket to the game but would consider paying $100 to $200 for one.

Some Hokies fans will get into the stadium with guest tickets sold or given to them by UVa students.

“You ever heard of Benedict Arnold?” Birckhead, a history major, said. “Students who sell their tickets to Hokies are traitors.”

Sewell compares well with noted predecessors
After 20 starts, the UVa QB already has stats similar to players such as Shawn Moore and Aaron Brooks.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

As he nears the completion of his redshirt sophomore season, Jameel Sewell rarely hears himself compared to the elite quarterbacks who have come through Virginia's football program.

Sewell is nowhere the finished product that quarterbacks like Shawn Moore, Aaron Brooks and Matt Schaub became, but neither were they at a comparable stage.

Brooks out of football after an eight-year National Football League career, did not start a game at Virginia until he was a redshirt junior.

Brooks started 23 games at Virginia; Sewell could have 23 career starts by the end of this season

"To make another comparison, Shawn Moore, as a redshirt sophomore, wasn't very good the first half of the season," said George Welsh, the Cavaliers' head coach from 1982-2000. "We were 2-4 after the first six games [in 1988] but then everything fell into place and we won our last five."

The Cavaliers have experienced some growing pains with Sewell, but they have managed to win nine of 10 games since the opener, when Sewell was 11-of-23 for 87 yards and was intercepted twice in a 23-3 loss at Wyoming.

"I watched him at Wyoming; I was a guest coach at that game," said Moore, who is co-dean of students at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C. "I was there for that game and I was also at the Maryland game [Oct. 20]. I thought it was two different players.

"In the Wyoming game, a couple of receivers dropped passes early and I don't know if it rattled his confidence, but he just struggled from the very start of the game till the end of it. I don't think that playing the freshman, [Peter] Lalich, had anything to do with Sewell coming into his own. He's just matured."

Moore had his own Wyoming in the fall of 1988.

"I can remember it like it was yesterday," said Moore, a phenomenal quarterback at Martinsville High School. "It was the Georgia Tech game, 1988. Worst game I've ever played in my life. I can remember George saying a couple of cuss words to me as I was coming off the field.

"He also said to [All-ACC lineman] Ray Roberts, 'Go talk to him.' Ray came over to me and I told him, 'Get the hell away from me.' Ray said, 'Well, that's the last time I do that.'"

Moore completed 6 of 15 passes that day and was picked off twice in a 17-16 UVa win.

"It was after an interception," Moore said, "and I came over to the bench and told myself, 'This is just too damn hard. I can't do it.' Then, a couple of weeks later, the Wake Forest game happened."

Moore was 14-of-22 for 315 yards, and he passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third in a 34-14 UVa victory.

"After the Wake game, I felt like, 'I'm a complete player,' " Moore said. "It takes time."

The next year, Moore played on a Virginia team that shared the ACC title -- a UVa first -- and won 10 games for the only time in school history. In 1990, he was the ACC player of the year and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting.

Nobody is predicting the same kind of storybook career for Sewell, but he has passed for 200 yards or more in four consecutive games. Scott Secules in 1987 and Schaub in 2003 are the only former UVa quarterbacks to have accomplished that feat.

Secules never started a game until his redshirt junior season, and while Schaub started games in parts of four seasons, he split time as a redshirt sophomore and briefly lost his job as a redshirt junior.

Schaub is Virginia's all-time passing leader, while Moore holds the school record for total offense.

Brooks might have threatened both marks if he had played more, but he was beaten out by fifth-year senior Tim Sherman in 1996.

"If I had it to do over, I would have played [Brooks] right away because he had so much talent," Welsh said. "Brooks was one of those kids who had to play a lot to be effective. I don't think that goes for everybody. College quarterbacks don't have to play a lot to be effective.

"I didn't think Michael Vick was that good a quarterback when we played [Virginia Tech] in the middle of his freshman season, except that he was lightning fast and scared the hell out of us. Tech had a great defense, but the last half of that [1999] season, he really came on."

Brooks, who was listed at 6-4 and 198 pounds, rushed for 547 yards in his career. Sewell (6-3, 226) has rushed for 428 yards and has led the Cavaliers in rushing four times, including twice this year.

"I think Brooks was a little more clever as a runner," Welsh said. "Sewell might be a little faster. We encouraged [Brooks] to run more, but he said, 'I want to be a pocket passer.' "

Brooks, who played most of his career with all-time UVa rushing leader Thomas Jones in the same backfield, never had more than 11 rushing attempts until his final game, when he carried 14 times for 88 yards in the 1998 Peach Bowl. Sewell has had individual games with 16 carries in each of the past two seasons.

"He's still a young kid," Moore said. "He hasn't had that many starts, but he's gone through this entire year with criticism, ups and downs, inconsistencies. All that means is, next year he's going to be a lot better player."

Sewell can take that from a player who's been there.

"I was at the same stage," Moore said. "Believe me."