He wasn't kidding.

The Cavaliers struggled for the second-straight game and again had to hold off a challenge in the final minutes before escaping with a 72-65 win over Gardner-Webb on Thursday night at University Hall.

Freshman Derrick Byars, who scored 14 second-half points Tuesday, rescued his team for the second time in as many games as he scored a career-high 20 points. Junior center Nick Vander Laan added 17 as those two reserves sparked the Cavaliers (5-2) after their five starters combined for just 24 points.

"When I want to be right, I'm never right and when I want to be wrong, I'm right," said Gillen of his prophesizing abilities. "It was certainly a war out there."

The starters' performances included a career-tying low two points from senior forward Travis Watson. Watson, averaging a team second-best 14.3 points per game, was scoreless in the first half and made a jumper to begin the second half to account for his lone points. Watson later left the game with 16:35 left after injuring his right ankle and did not return. Gillen said that Watson will have X-rays on the ankle today but is likely doubtful for Saturday's game at Rutgers.

In addition, Todd Billet and Devin Smith, the team's other two leading scorers, combined for just seven points.

"When you're best player scores two points and gets injured and Todd Billet and Devin Smith combine for seven points, you've got to take it and run," Gillen said. "Our bench has helped us win this year. … Tonight it was Nick Vander Laan and Derrick Byars. It wasn't pretty."

Pretty certainly would not be the word to describe the contest as the teams combined to make just 49 of the 128 shots they took. Virginia shot 39.7 percent while Gardner-Webb (1-6), which is in just is third season at the Division I level, shot 36.9 percent.

Mark Behrendorff scored 18 points for the Runnin' Bulldogs, who have now lost at Tennessee by two and at Virginia by seven.

"It is a growing process, moving up to the Division I level. We cannot emulate what we see in games. We can't emulate that kind of speed and quickness," said Gardner-Webb coach Rick Scruggs.

Virginia played inconsistently again in the first half but managed to open 36-21 lead after two Vander Laan free throws with 1:02 left before intermission. It appeared that Virginia would enter the half with that advantage before Gardner-Webb's Eli Strait converted a rare four-point play with just 0.7 seconds remaining.

"I think that was the key to the game. We were up 15 and they get that four-point play. If we go into halftime up 15 and have a little spurt to open the second half, I think we pull away," Gillen said.

Instead, the opposite happened.

The Runnin' Bulldogs chipped away at the lead and when Behrendorff connected on a 3-pointer with 9:55 remaining, UVa held just a 49-46 lead. The Cavaliers would push the lead back to double digits and seemed to have averted danger when Byars and Clark, his coming via an alley-oop from Keith Jenifer, had back-to-back dunks that made it 63-53 with 4:28 left.

After Clark's jam, the sparse U-Hall crowd of 6,522 responded with positive noise for the first time all night after booing the Cavaliers on several occasions.

"We were a little low for most of the game. I just wanted to give us a little spark," Byars said.

Added Clark: "It wasn't a great crowd in here tonight to get us pumped up but we can't use that as an excuse."

Clark's dunk is usually the kind of play used to kill an upset attempt yet this time it only started another Gardner-Webb rally.

The Runnin' Bulldogs managed to cut the lead back to four twice in the final minute before Virginia had to convert five of its final six free throws and get a steal and another dunk by Clark in order to record the win.

"We should have blown these guys out. … Our players weren't in sync," Gillen said. "It's a credit to Nick Vander Laan, Derrick Byars and Jason Clark that we had enough character to win."

Scrubbing his hand through his fiery red hair and taking a deep breath, Gillen attempted to explain his basketball team's latest brush with Murphy. Virginia's 72-65 win over a feisty Gardner-Webb team, which played much better than its 1-6 record, left Gillen groping for answers to why his team isn't performing up to expectations.

When a team's top three scorers - Todd Billet, Travis Watson and Devin Smith - combine for nine points, any win should be considered a good one.

But not Thursday night.

"We should have blown these guys out," said Gillen.

The Cavaliers were on the verge of doing so a couple of times but couldn't put the Runnin' Bulldogs of the Atlantic Sun Conference out of business. Instead, Virginia had to rely on point guard Keith Jenifer to knock down four pressure-packed free throws with under a minute to play to finally lock up its fifth win in seven games.

When Gillen said after Tuesday night's escape against East Tennessee State that any win his team might get would have to be ugly and close, he wasn't kidding.

Senior forward Travis Watson just hasn't been Travis Watson of late. Even before he rolled his ankle early in the second half, the projected first-team All-ACC player was on his way to playing one of his worst games with two points and five boards.

Sharpshooters Smith and Billet, normally zone busters supreme, couldn't have thrown a beach ball into the ocean last night. Together, they were 2 of 15 from the field, 1 of 10 from beyond the arch.

While unheralded Nick Vander Laan and blossoming freshman Derrick Byars rode to the rescue with the help of Jason Clark off the bench, it will not be a night to remember except for perhaps Gardner-Webb coach Rick Scruggs.

"I wanted to see how Virginia would respond when we got it down to four," said Scruggs. "If we had taken the lead, I was going to get someone to pull the fire alarm and get out of here."

He never got the chance thanks to Jenifer's clutch free throw shooting and an ensuing dunk by Clark with 27 seconds to play.

Gillen said his three stars were totally out of sync. Watson has spent so

much time focusing on exams that he has gotten a little out of shape and has played with his mind elsewhere. Smith and Billet, said the coach, didn't have their legs under their jumpers.

If those guys are tired after two games in three days, how are they going to feel at Rutgers on Saturday night? Watson, who left the arena on crutches, will likely have more than a week to think about it because Gillen doesn't expect him to be available for the weekend.

Bottom line, this Cavalier team just hasn't gotten it together since beating Kentucky in balmy Maui three weeks ago. If Virginia plays like this, with or without Watson, then Rutgers is going to have a Saturday stroll in the park.

Byars, who led the team with a career-high 20 points on his father's birthday, believes better times are ahead.

"It's tough right now, knowing we should be blowing teams like this out," said the freshman. "We're still a group of new guys trying to find some chemistry and learn each other's games."

Fans are getting a little critical, wondering if Jenifer is the right guy to lead this team at the point, wondering if the team wouldn't be more effective with Watson back in his old home down low in the post, wondering why Virginia isn't blowing teams like this out the way it has for the past few seasons.

"We're used to beating teams like this by 15 or 20 points," said Clark. "Maybe we just don't get ourselves motivated. We have to play our game for 40 minutes."

Meanwhile, the Gardner-Webb's, ETSU's and Chaminade's of the world are giving the Cavs their best shot.

"You don't know how close we are to nippin' one of these big guys," said Scruggs, whose team has played well against Tennessee and Clemson, and not so well against Georgia Tech.

Virginia was more lucky than good last night but with Murphy's Law lingering in the background, no one knows how much longer that luck - Irish or otherwise - will hold out.

Not to worry.

The bowl doesn't require the participating teams' presence until Christmas Day, but both Virginia and West Virginia will pack up and head to Charlotte on Saturday, a week before the Dec. 28 game.

"We didn't want it to be like a normal road game," said UVa coach Al Groh.

Groh and West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez each decided to reward their teams with a week-long trip. Both teams plan to arrive Saturday night, then attend the Bears-Panthers game Sunday at Ericsson Stadium, also the site of the bowl game.

The Cavaliers will practice and entertain themselves Monday and Tuesday before the bowl takes over hospitality.

"I'll bring the radio," linebacker Merrill Robertson told receiver Billy McMullen in the locker room Tuesday night. "You bring the PlayStation."

On Christmas Day, Virginia will hold an afternoon practice, then throw a team party in the hotel that evening. Religious services also will be held in the hotel.

"Santa Claus might even be there Christmas night," Groh said.

Unlike a normal trip for a road game, the Cavaliers are bringing everyone on the roster.

"I feel that what was accomplished this year, everyone was a part of it," Groh said. "Even before we knew which game we were going to, we said we're taking everybody. We're not going to cut the herd for any purpose."

Dual priorities. UVa's coaches have spent the week operating on two fronts – preparing for the bowl game, and recruiting.

Groh and many of his assistants hit the road after practice Wednesday and planned to spend parts of Thursday and Friday chasing after high school players. The Cavaliers reeled in at least one major commitment from Texas offensive lineman Ian-Yates Cunningham.

"These players have done a terrific job this year and they've accomplished something they can be very proud of," Groh said. "But our team is not near where we are wanting to be, so the recruiting is just as vital as it was last year."

Snubbed. Many Cavaliers said they were miffed when the Gator, Peach and Tangerine bowls bypassed them in favor of other ACC teams, but they seem to be over it now.

"We're happy with where we're going and who we're playing," said junior quarterback Matt Schaub. "We would have been happy wherever we went, but this is great. It's going to be a sold-out crowd. It's not far away. I think it's going to be a great game."

Said freshman linebacker Darryl Blackstock: "I wouldn't say we have a chip on our shoulder about it. We're happy going to Charlotte and we'd play our hardest no matter where we went."

Rodriguez was critical of the Big East Conference and the bowl-selection process after Notre Dame took West Virginia's spot in the Gator Bowl. But he also said it was water under the bridge.

"To be honest with you, it was one of those deals where I said what I felt and then it was over with," he said. "We're not dwelling on it or whining about it. … It's really a non-issue from here on out."

Terp factor. West Virginia is a 5½-point favorite, but based solely on each team's result against Maryland, maybe Virginia should be favored by 66.

The Mountaineers lost at home to the Terrapins, 48-17, on Oct. 5, while the Cavaliers thumped Maryland, 48-13, at Scott Stadium on Nov. 23.

West Virginia has won six of seven games since that ugly defeat, however, with the only subsequent loss coming to No. 1 Miami.

"We really played poorly [against Maryland]," Rodriguez said. "It wasn't because our guys didn't want it or lost focus. Some bad things happened early and I think we lost a little bit of our football composure. We talked at length after the game about playing every play and not being affected by the previous play. We learned to deal with adversity from that point on."

The only other common opponent on the teams' schedules was Virginia Tech. The Mountaineers beat the Hokies, 21-18, on Nov. 20, and Virginia fell 10 days later, 21-9. Both games were in Blacksburg.

New Castle, Pa., defensive end Allen Billyk, who had narrowed his choices to Boston College and UVa, committed to the Cavaliers while meeting with the Cav staff Thursday night.

Billyk, a 6-4, 265-pounder, liked BC's 4-3 defense, but had a good relationship with his UVa recruiting coach - Danny Rocco.

Billyk had the pleasure of playing against basketball phenom LeBron James this past Sunday, the reason he took an in-week visit to see BC. He met with Boston College head coach Tom O'Brien on Wednesday evening and with the UVa coaches on Thursday night.

Billyk had visits set with Michigan and Stanford for January, but he had said that he wanted to end the process as soon as possible - apparently that meant

Thursday when he committed to UVa.

Such is an example of the up-and-down nature of recruiting as the Cavaliers had been reminded on Wednesday. The day started on a bad note for the UVa staff as Pittsburgh (Pa.) Woodland Hills safety Ryan Mundy committed to the Michigan Wolverines over Virginia and Pitt.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder had visited Charlottesville this past weekend and came away very impressed, but it wasn't enough to overcome his dream of playing in Ann Arbor and being re-united with ex-Woodland Hills defensive back (and quarterback) Steve Breaston.

The day got a bit worse as word came that two of UVa's top targets in Georgia, Alpharetta (Ga.) Milton wide receiver Sean Bailey and Mableton (Ga.) Pebblebrook running back Thomas Flowers were both set to commit to Georgia. The Cavs were a longshot for Bailey who had offers from nearly 50 schools and grew up dreaming of playing for either his home-state Dawgs or for Bobby Bowden at Florida State.

However, the Virginia staff thought they had a pretty good shot at Flowers, who decided to be a cornerback at Georgia rather than a running back at Virginia, Florida, Auburn or the many other schools he had offers from.

As bad as the first part of the day had been, Lewisville (Texas) Hebron offensive lineman Ian-Yates Cunningham made up for it with his commitment to Virginia in the afternoon. Cunningham, a 6-foot-5, 300-pounder, chose Virginia over Georgia Tech and Nebraska after hinting that the Yellow Jackets had the lead. He closes out a terrific offensive line class for the Cavaliers, joining center Jordy Lipsey (Florida), guards Marshall Ausberry (Virginia) and Gordie Sammis (New Jersey) and tackle Eddie Pinigis (Virginia). Cunningham can play either tackle or guard.

Norfolk Lake Taylor wide receiver Terrell Golden committed this week, choosing to head to the Big Ten and Penn State over Virginia Tech. After losing out on the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder, the Hokies are still looking for a wideout in this class. Fork Union athlete Josh Hyman could fit the bill with his size (6-foot-1, 180 pounds) and speed (4.5 in the 40), but he has academic issues and it's not certain he'll be a Hokie in the end. Syracuse is still involved with Hyman.

Camden (N.J.) Woodrow Wilson defensive end Claude "Turk" McBride is now listing the Cavaliers as a possible visit destination. The 6-4, 235-pounder is ranked as one of the Top 10 defensive ends in the country and is being recruited by UVa defensive coordinator Al Golden.

Golden has been successful in the past with New Jersey defensive linemen from his days at Boston College, but McBride has to be considered a long shot of sorts. He has already been to Ohio State and Tennessee and has Michigan and Miami set for January as well. If he decides to take a fifth visit, it's between the Cavs and North Carolina.

Tri Productions is coming out with a Cavs Future Stars video with highlights, commentary and stats on all the 2003 Virginia signees. For more information on the video, go to http://www.triproductions.com/virginia/ or call 1-866-771-3986.

Hampton Bethel defensive end Chris Ellis was supposed to take his official visit to Virginia Tech this past weekend, but the weather didn't cooperate. Ellis, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound defensive end coveted by both Tech and UVa as well as Tennessee, Maryland and N.C. State, has rescheduled his visit for Jan. 24.

That's very good news for the Hokies in a battle that has become dead even.

Ellis, who had favored Virginia Tech up until the month of November, will now be taking his official visit with Phoebus studs Phillip Brown (defensive back) and Xavier Adibi (linebacker). The trio was all supposed to trip to Blacksburg on Dec. 13 originally, but the weather and playoffs killed that idea. Now the Hokies get all three on campus as planned, a week after Brown and Ellis take their official visits to Virginia.

Plantation, Fla., linebacker H.B. Blades, a 6-0, 230-pounder with excellent speed and coverage ability, committed to the Pitt Panthers earlier this week. He was scheduled to visit Virginia on Jan. 17 but decided not to wait after a great official visit to Pittsburgh. That leaves the Cavaliers scrambling a bit for linebackers and makes players like Jermaine Dias (6-2, 215-pound New Jersey linebacker), Vincent Redd (6-7, 240-pound Tennessee 'backer) and Emmanuel Awofadeju (6-5, 220-pounder from Georgia who can play linebacker or defensive end) all the more important.

Both Dias and Awofadeju are expected to visit Virginia on Jan. 17 while Redd already took his trip. UVa doesn't lead for any of them, but they are right in the hunt with all three. In fact, none of them have come out and named a solid leader. The Cavaliers want two linebackers in this class if they can get them.

As mentioned last week on these pages, the Cavs are playing the waiting game at wideout with Fairfax Robinson athlete Chase Anastasio. However, since Anastasio can play so many different positions (wideout, cornerback, safety), the Hoos still might take another wideout if they strike out elsewhere and have the room.

Roselle, N.J., athlete Jesse Holley is the top choice at 6-4 and 190 pounds. The two-sport star likes Virginia and Ohio State and visits the Buckeyes on Jan. 10. He also has a trip set with North Carolina on Jan. 17, the same date that Anastasio visits Virginia. Anastasio has already been to Notre Dame and Ohio State but came back from each visit with the Hoos as his leader. He could commit before he takes his visit.