Playing after 9 p.m. for the second-straight Wednesday, the No. 22 Cavaliers lost its second-straight game, dropping a 82-75 decision to No. 21 Michigan State in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge.

The not-quite-ready-for-prime-time allusion was not plucked from the air but rather offered by Virginia coach Pete Gillen.

"It was very aggressive and physical game and unfortunately our team didn't respond," said Gillen, whose team fell to No. 10 Indiana last Wednesday in the Maui Invitational final. "We weren't ready on Dec. 4 to play this kind of physical game. … We were looking around. We weren't ready for it."

While the Cavaliers' frontline is, at least on paper, bigger and just as deep as the Spartans', what the Cavs were not ready for was the 17-0 run that the Spartans went on midway through the first half. It was a spurt in which the Cavaliers never fully recovered, despite 26 second-half points from Todd Billet that made the game respectable in the second half.

"We got frustrated and discouraged. That hurt us," Gillen said. "They got on a roll."

Virginia senior forward Travis Watson departed the game with his third foul just about the same time the Spartans began their run and it's easy to correlate Virginia's woes to his absence. Yet, the players left on the floor proved incapable of scoring a basket through an eight-minute stretch while committing six turnovers over the same span.

If Watson's foul-prone tendency is bothersome, than the Cavaliers' inability to run a consistent and productive offense could be labeled worrisome.

"I thought that we were doing pretty well early in the game but then we just couldn't score and couldn't adjust. We couldn't execute our offense," Gillen said.

Sophomore Devin Smith, who finished with 24 points, was the able Cavalier that was capable of punching back against the Michigan State barrage as he accumulated 13 first-half points. Billet managed just two first-half points and Watson, UVa's other main scoring threat, was of course saddled on the bench.

"We were just out of sync. We needed to run our offense and run our plays more," Smith said.

Virginia's offense did seem to reach its proper gear in the second half as they doubled their first-half output (50-25) and scored 34 points in the final 10 minutes of the game, after scoring just 41 in the first 30 minutes.

"As the game goes on a defense does not stay as sharp and if you can stay true to your cuts and your screens, eventually you will get some good looks," said Billet, who did not start the game because Gillen said he was late for a practice earlier in the week.

Billet's 28 points came courtesy of six 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes but Gillen said he'd prefer for Billet to find his shooting touch a little earlier.

"He hasn't shot real well in the first half of games. He's played well in some second halves but has not played and shot well in the first half. He's still a little rusty," Gillen said of Billet, who sat out last season after transferring from Rutgers.

Virginia now takes a near two-week respite for exams before facing East Tennessee State on Dec. 17 at University Hall.

"This has been a tough stretch. Playing Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan State, I'm not sure anybody has played a stretch like that," Gillen said. "It's a good learning curve for our team. … Hopefully, we learn from this."

Pete Gillen was given a painful reminder on Wednesday night that Virginia's chances of winning a basketball game with power forward Travis Watson on the bench are slim to none.

Plagued by foul trouble already this season, Watson is faced with a dilemma. Play less aggressive and diminish his presence on the floor or play full speed ahead and risk attracting the shrill of an official's whistle.

Ah! There's the rub.

Gillen doesn't think his star post player is getting star treatment when it comes to officiating. Whether it be sunny and 85 degrees in Maui or a frigid, minus-18 degrees in snowy East Lansing, Mich., Watson hasn't gotten a break when it comes to getting called for fouls.

Where's the love, man?

"I'm very partial but I think [Watson's] one of the top power forwards in the country," said Gillen. "In each of the games, he got some touch, ridiculous fouls that changed the way the games were played."

Gillen's statement came upon Virginia's return from Hawaii, where the Cavaliers defeated Chaminade, upset Kentucky and lost to Indiana. But his thoughts rang true again after UVa's 82-75 loss to Michigan State on Wednesday.

In that game, Watson picked up his three fouls early and played only three minutes in the

first half. He managed to play the entire second half but was forced to play more tentative than he preferred in a game that demanded the most hand-to-hand combat of any contest the Cavs have played in quite some time.

"The first one was ticky-tack," said Watson.

That one came less than three minutes into the game. The second one came one minute later and Gillen immediately pulled Watson and sat him out. The big man re-entered the game later in the half but was called for a third foul on a regular post move with 9:31 to play in the first half.

"The second one, I fouled him," Watson confessed. "The third one, the dude flopped. That was just a standard post move."

So, as Watson sat out almost the entire first half, the host Spartans pulled away to a 36-25 lead at the break, a lead they would never come close to surrendering. Even with a barrage of jumpers from bonusphere, the best Virginia could do was get within seven.

In what Gillen termed "a tremendously physically aggressive game," a "typical Big Ten, halfcourt, slug you, crack you game," Watson was called for a foul if he breathed. Meanwhile, UVa point guard Keith Jenifer must have thought he was in Central Park.

"Jenifer was getting mugged," complained Gillen. "If it's physical, you've got to play physical and we didn't adjust."

Gillen is frustrated that his big man doesn't get the same respect as great players from more visible programs, the Dukes, Carolinas, UCLAs of the world.

"We don't want any favors, but don't give him a ticky-tack foul when other great players in the country don't get the same type of disrespect," said Gillen.

Michigan State freshman center Paul Davis said the Spartans' plan was that when Watson was on defense, to try to get him in foul trouble.

"We did that and it really helped us out," said Davis.

Aloysius Anagonye said he felt Virginia played just as physical as Michigan State did and believed Watson has to play that way in order to be successful.

"I think Watson is just like me," said Anagonye. "He's a physical player and if you're going to play physical, then you're prone to fouling. That third foul on him was big for us."

Watson said that he's trying to deal with the frustration of sitting on the bench but said that it makes it even more difficult to come back into the flow of the game and find his rhythm.

"It's definitely frustrating but at the same time, I'm not on my home court and a lot of times you're not going to get calls on the road," said Watson. "It's just frustrating that a game can be changed by a whistle."

Mines is also very good after the catch and will be dangerous in the red zone for Virginia. His teammate, tight end/defensive end Duane Brown, committed to Virginia Tech about 24 hours after Mines.

Brown, a 6-5, 250-pounder, likes the immediate playing time available in Blacksburg and loved everything on his official visit. Both Mines and Brown were expecting to pick the same school, but it just wasn't to be.

Speaking of tight ends, the Cavaliers could be getting good news as early as next week on their top tight end target - State College (Pa.) State College area stud Jonathan Stupar. Stupar, a 6-5, 245-pound pass-catching tight end who could play in the slot as well, decided to take his last official visit this upcoming weekend at N.C. State. That means a decision will likely follow and could happen as early as next week.

Virginia is considered to be one of the front-runners for Stupar along with Florida State. Stupar was originally going to wait until Jan. 10 and take a West Coast trip to UCLA, but the recruiting process has begun to wear on him and his basketball season is underway.

Virginia Beach wide receiver Shannon Lane was recently snubbed by the Tennessee Volunteers and learned a valuable lesson that others in Virginia will certainly take note of.

The Volunteers has scheduled an official visit with Lane for their home game against Miami and then bumped him down to Nov. 29 when they played Kentucky. Lane was excited about the trip and expected to commit to the Vols if he liked things.

However, during the week leading up to his trip he didn't hear from the Vols at all and no tickets were sent for his trip. He was contacted after the weekend by Tennessee and was told that he wasn't one of their top five wideouts and they wanted to push his visit back further. Apparently, Lane is no longer considering the Volunteers and is becoming very wary of the recruiting process now.

He visits Virginia this weekend and might commit if he likes what he sees. Lane has Virginia Tech set for Dec. 13, but I don't think he's taking anything for granted anymore. He's already been to Boston College and it looks like he'll pick from the trio by Christmas. Lane could be a standout wide receiver or cornerback in college.

Plantation, Fla. linebacker H.B. Blades cancelled his official visit set for last weekend with Southern Cal because he doesn't want to play that far away from home and wants a defense that fits him. Right now Virginia seems to be that defense for the 6- 0, 230-pounder although he'll visit Pitt this weekend. Blades lists UVa as his leader over the Panthers and wants to decide by Christmas if possible - despite a scheduled visit with Kansas State for Jan. 10.

Getting a tailback isn't crucial for the Cavaliers this year, but they are still involved with some top prospects and might land one of them. Georgia running backs Micah Andrews (5-11, 193 pounds) and Thomas Flowers (5-10, 183 pounds) are both interested and will take official visits in January and Moorestown, N.J., tailback Albert Young is still set to visit the Hoos on Jan. 17. Virginia doesn't lead for any of them, but they could end up reeling one in depending on what happens with other schools.

UVa fans can finally scratch Nassau (N.Y.) County Community College offensive lineman Robert Jenkins off the Cavaliers commitment list. Jenkins, who was placed at Nassau County CC more than a year ago by Virginia, will no longer be attending UVa. Jenkins didn't have the best academic semester this past fall and both sides have decided to move in different directions. The same could happen with Fork Union Military Academy defensive tackle Robert Armstrong. The 6-3, 300-pounder recently left FUMA and wants to enroll someplace in January, but UVa still wants him to enroll in August and apparently haven't guaranteed him admission yet. The Armstrong family wants to avoid the same scene as Jenkins, but keep this in mind.

There are two sides to every story and the Jenkins situation was reportedly created and aggravated by the player himself with poor academics. If Armstrong isn't guaranteed admissions by UVa by Dec. 31, he could de-commit and enroll at Maryland, Ohio State, Pitt, Tennessee, Michigan or someplace else.

One final note on UVa players and academics situations. It has been reported that Hargave Military linebacker Ahmad Brooks has achieved the test score he needed to meet NCAA eligibility standards and is expected to enroll in January. Although neither Hargrave head coach Robert Prunty nor Brooks could confirm that he had received his test scores back yet, I'm also hearing that Brooks is sure to be at UVa in January and will be a participant during spring practice.

That head start and his developmental year at Hargrave will be all he needs to be an instant starter and impact player for the Cavs next year as a true freshman.

Virginia fans may want to revise their cheers Saturday when No. 7 Washington State plays at UCLA because the outcome of that game almost certainly will determine the bowl destination of the Cavaliers.

UVa would like to play in the Continental Tire Bowl, held Dec. 28 in Charlotte, N.C., but it appears that will only happen if Washington State (9-2) wins Saturday and claims the Pac-10 Conference championship.

In that case, Southern Cal and Iowa almost surely will receive the two at-large bids to the Bowl Championship Series, Notre Dame will play in the Gator Bowl and the Continental Tire will get the West Virginia-Virginia matchup that it wants.

However, if the Bruins (7-4) win, then Southern Cal gets the automatic BCS berth as Pac-10 champion and, more than likely, Notre Dame will be invited to the BCS as an at-large team and head to the Orange Bowl. That would put West Virginia in the Gator Bowl and the Continental Tire would turn to Plan B - a Virginia Tech-Georgia Tech matchup.

Under that scenario, the Cavaliers would go to the Dec. 30 Seattle Bowl - a much less preferable option than the Continental Tire, given the logistics.

"It's frustrating to our fans that they feel like they're kind of getting pushed around," UVa athletic director Craig Littlepage said earlier this week. "They want to be enthusiastic. They want to support the team. They want to buy tickets to a bowl. But the team's performance has not gotten the respect of the bowl people that it deserves."

Virginia is in this position because the Gator, Peach and Tangerine bowls picked ACC teams that lost to the Cavaliers and finished behind them in the conference standings.

The Continental Tire remains an attractive alternative because of its relative proximity to most UVa fans. But the Cavaliers now find themselves in the odd position of caring about a Pac-10 game that will be televised nationally at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

The Cougars were ranked as high as No. 3 three weeks ago, but beating UCLA won't be easy. Washington State's star quarterback, Jason Gesser, is questionable after injuring his right leg during a 29-26 triple-overtime loss to Washington on Nov. 23. He has a sprained ankle, a pulled calf muscle and a bruised knee.

The Bruins will be playing at home and may be playing for coach Bob Toledo's job. However, they are 2-3 at home, while Washington State is 3-1 on the road.

The BCS bids will be awarded on Sunday, so nothing is likely to become official until then, but the Cavaliers should know where they are going by Saturday night.

"The part I'm most disturbed by is our team has had a wonderful year," Littlepage said. "We're certainly in a situation where we should be preparing for our opponent and knowing our destination by now.

"Instead, we have to sit and wait. That's regrettable and this team deserves better, in my opinion."