Watson's absence costly

UVa fails to score during 10 straight possessions in the first half after Travis Watson picks up his third foul and is forced to the bench.

By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

   EAST LANSING, Mich. - About the time that Travis Watson picked up his third foul Wednesday night, the best Virginia could hope for was a postponement.

    Watson played only three minutes in the first half and 22nd-ranked UVa never fully recovered in an 82-75 loss to No. 21 Michigan State in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge at the Breslin Center.

    Virginia (3-2) got off to a quick start behind junior-college transfer Devin Smith, who hit three 3-pointers as the Cavaliers went ahead 19-16, but Watson was forced to the bench after picking up his third foul with 9:31 to go before halftime.

    UVa failed to score on its next 10 possessions and Michigan State (3-2) went on a 17-0 run that it turned into a 36-25 halftime lead. The Spartans quickly increased their lead to 15 by scoring the first two baskets of the second half and were up 59-41 with 9 1/2 minutes left.

    The Cavaliers staged a mini-comeback, cutting the deficit to 59-50 behind Smith and Todd Billet, who scored 37 of Virginia's 50 second-half points. Billet had 10 points in the last 1:07.

    "We were trying to see if Billet could set a North American scoring record in the last five minutes and he almost did," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said.

    Billet finished with 28 points, including 26 in the second half, and Smith added 24. Chris Hill was the high scorer for the Spartans with 22 points, including five 3-pointers, two coming on back-to-back second-half possessions after UVa had cut the deficit to nine.

    Watson, who had scored his first field goal with 17:26 remaining in the first half, did not get another until there was 7:02 left in the game. He played most of the second half before picking up his fourth foul with 3:40 on the clock.

    "Travis Watson getting three fouls was a big blow to us," UVa coach Pete Gillen said. "He's a great player, but he's got to stay out of foul trouble. The first one was kind of ticky-tack, but on the second one he hit a guy and the third one was a charge. He's a great player. We need him to make better decisions."

    It was the Cavaliers' third straight game against a Top 25 opponent away from home, a first in UVa history during the regular season. Virginia earlier had beaten No.15 Kentucky 75-61 before losing to No.19 Indiana in the Maui Invitational.

    "I don't know of any team in the country that has played three teams in order like that," Gillen said. "I think [Michigan State's] record here over the last five years is 71-5, now 72-5, and there's a reason for that. It's a tough place to play."

    In an unintended twist of fate, Virginia and Michigan State were paired for the second straight year after the teams' 2001 meeting was halted and never continued as the result of unsafe conditions at the Richmond Coliseum.

    That game was called with 15:04 remaining and the Cavaliers leading 31-28 because 70-degree temperatures had caused ice under the playing floor to melt.

    There was no chance of that happening in East Lansing, where a Tuesday morning reading of 18 degrees below zero was the lowest in the past 133 years.

    The Spartans, ranked ninth by The Associated Press before the season, were coming off consecutive losses to Villanova and Oklahoma State in the Great Alaska Shootout.

    Michigan State has lost three underclassmen to the NBA since 2001, when it made the second of back-to-back Final Four appearances. The Spartans won the NCAA title in 2000, when current senior Adam Ballinger was a freshman.

    Among the casualties was point guard Marcus Taylor, the Spartans' leading scorer last year as a freshman. Jason Richardson and Zach Randolph turned pro after their first season at Michigan State in 2000-01.

Cavs Are Victims of a 'Mugging'
No. 22 Virginia Is Bullied by Physical Spartans : Michigan St. 82, Virginia 75
By Josh Barr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 5, 2002; Page D06


EAST LANSING, Mich., Dec. 4 -- After a solid start to the season, 22nd-ranked Virginia now has two weeks to mull over a two-game losing streak and try to find answers for its offensive struggles.

With center Travis Watson in foul trouble and shooting guard Todd Billet enduring another rough first half, the Cavaliers fell behind by double figures and never recovered, losing to No. 21 Michigan State, 82-75, in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge before 14,759 at Breslin Center.

Junior college transfer Devin Smith scored a season-high 24 points and Billet -- coming off the bench for the first time this season as punishment for being late to a recent practice -- scored 26 of his 28 points in the second half, but it was not enough to help the Cavaliers avoid their second consecutive loss. With final exams coming up, Virginia does not play again until Dec. 17 against East Tennessee State, giving the Cavaliers (3-2) plenty of time to review their offensive woes.

Only a desperate rally, in which Virginia scored 34 points in the final 10 minutes, made the final score close. Regardless, the Cavaliers were one of four ACC teams (North Carolina, Maryland, Georgia Tech) to lose in the challenge. For the fourth straight year, ACC teams won five of the nine challenge games.

"We couldn't score," Virginia Coach Pete Gillen said. "The game was physical. They were grabbing us, holding us, mugging us. . . . You've got to adjust to the game. We didn't adjust to the physicality of the game."

Gillen briefly mentioned his team's inability to execute offensively, but that surely was a key to the game. With projected starting point guard Majestic Mapp out indefinitely after undergoing knee surgery, the Cavaliers have few options other than sophomore Keith Jenifer at point guard.

Jenifer, who often is wildly inconsistent, struggled tonight. He made just 1 of 6 shots and had four turnovers before fouling out in the final minute. It did not help that Watson, who entered the game averaging a team-leading 16 points, picked up two fouls in the first 3 1/2 minutes, went to the bench, returned and soon picked up his third foul.

"He made some fouls that were not smart fouls," Gillen said, noting that he does not think Watson receives enough "respect" from referees, inferring that he is called for fouls other top players get away with. "We need him to make better decisions so he doesn't get in foul trouble."

With Watson out of the game, Michigan State went on a 17-0 run and took control. Virginia was out of sorts on offense, forcing bad shots, making turnovers and failing to get offensive rebounds as the Spartans took a 33-19 lead. The Cavaliers never caught up. Watson went more than 30 minutes without scoring until a basket inside cut the deficit to 59-50 with seven minutes left, the closest Virginia had been since the first half.

Just when it seemed the Cavaliers might make a run, their defense came up short. Michigan State ran the shot clock under 10 and Chris Hill got open for a three-pointer from near the top of the key. After Nick Vander Laan scored for Virginia -- he was fouled on the play but missed the free throw -- but Hill sank another three-pointer without a defender in sight, this one from the left corner, and it was 65-52.

Virginia's night was best summed up a few minutes later. Cavaliers freshman Derrick Byars, going in for an uncontested dunk after a Michigan State turnover, lost control of the ball and never got off a shot.

Virginia drew somewhat close in the late going, with Billet scoring 14 points in the final 5 1/2 minutes. However, Michigan State made 17 of 20 free throws in the final three-plus minutes. The Spartans (3-2), picked in a preseason media poll to finish first in the Big Ten, ended a two-game losing streak and won for the 61st time in their past 63 games here.

"We were trying to see if Billet could set a North American scoring record in the final five minutes," Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo said jokingly. "And he almost did."