UVa holds off pesky Pack
Cavs open ACC play with a 'W'
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7247
December 4, 2006

The Virginia men’s basketball team can now make a claim that it hadn’t been able to make in 11 years: It’s 1-0 in the ACC.

On Sunday afternoon, in front of a sold-out crowd at John Paul Jones Arena, the Cavaliers - who hadn’t won a conference opener since the 1994-95 season - defeated N.C. State, 67-62.

It was not a thing of beauty.

“You have to put this game under the category of ‘any win is a good win,’ particularly in this league,” said UVa coach Dave Leitao, who notched his 100th career

victory. “We were nowhere near playing our best.”

Virginia, which now has 13 days off before its next game against Hampton on Dec. 16, was led by J.R. Reynolds and Will Harris, who had 14 points apiece.

Brandon Costner led N.C. State (5-1, 0-1) with 17 points.

“This was a tough environment to play in and we played hard,” said N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe. “When you’re on the road, you try and put yourself in a position to win, and then you’ve got to make plays. And that’s what [Virginia] did.”

Virginia (5-1, 1-0), which was coming off its first loss of the season at Purdue on Wednesday, shot just 37 percent and had trouble defending a pesky N.C. State for much of the game.

The Cavaliers trailed by as many as six in the first half before taking a one-point lead heading into the break.

Virginia got a huge boost from junior big man Ryan Pettinella, who scored six of his seven points in the first half.

On one sequence, he hustled back on defense and broke up a pass, then scored a bucket on the other end.

“He saved us with his energy, running up and down the court,” Leitao said. “That deflection and getting back on ‘D’ when everyone else was jogging was huge for him and us and the crowd. His post-ups and baskets energized us when we didn’t have any. It gave us a big lift.”

Especially since Reynolds picked right up where he left off against Purdue - ice cold. After having his 28-game double-figures streak broken against the Boilermakers, Reynolds went 0 for 6 in the first half.

However, he got hot at just the right time and went on to score 13 of Virginia’s final 20 points.

His biggest bucket came with 1:40 remaining. With N.C. State’s Courtney Fells draped all over him, he drilled a 3-pointer to put Virginia up 62-61.

“Obviously when we went to him, he made some big shots to give us the lead,” Leitao said. “That’s the kind of swagger and bravado that good teams and good players have. I think we need to find in the next few weeks our guys to acquire that.”

The Wolfpack’s Ben McCauley made one of two free throws to tie the game before Sean Singletary answered with a jumper for a 64-62 lead.

With 51 seconds left, Costner missed a 3-pointer. Then, after Reynolds made a free throw, Costner took another triple that was off the mark - thanks in part to some good defense by Jason Cain, who came flying out at him.

For the second straight game, Cain didn’t do much on the offensive end, but he finished with 10 rebounds. For the game, Virginia out-rebounded N.C. State, 47-31.

“I told our team that we can be the best rebounding team in this league if we commit ourselves to it,” Leitao said.

Mamadi Diane, who had shot 65 percent from the field in the team’s first five games, was just 2 of 12. However, he had seven rebounds and played solid defense on Gavin Grant.

“In times gone by, I always attached how well he played to how many points he got,” Leitao said. “Obviously he didn’t shoot the ball well today, but he guarded Grant pretty well and played a really good floor game.”

Singletary also played a good all-around game, collecting 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists. He said the team was never discouraged by its bricklaying, which included shooting just 6 of 25 from 3-point range.

“Even though our shots weren’t going down, we were helping out on defense, rebounding and communicating,” Singletary said, “and that’s all part of basketball.”

Singletary was not surprised that Reynolds was able to turn it on late.

“It shows that he’s real resilient, has a lot of character and is a great shooter,” Singletary said. “If you keep shooting, you’re going to make them.”

For the last several weeks, Leitao had been emphasizing the importance of getting off to a strong start in the conference, especially since Virginia doesn’t play another league game until Jan. 10. Last year Virginia lost its first ACC game at Georgia Tech.

“It’s definitely important to start at the top and not the bottom,” Reynolds said.

Added Leitao: “We can say we’re in first place tonight, which may or may not last throughout the season, but for where we are as a program right now, that’s not a bad thing.”

Dunks

Virginia’s last win in an ACC season opener before Sunday was over Florida State on Jan. 4, 1995. … UVa is now 20-34 all-time in league openers. … Singletary extended his consecutive free throws made streak to 29. He is now 41 of 42 (97.6 percent) this year. … Harris became the first freshman to lead the team in scoring since Mamadi Diane had 17 against Liberty last season.

 

Reynolds responds for Cavs
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
December 4, 2006

One of the signs of a great coach is that he knows what buttons to push to get everything possible out of his players. One of the signs of a great player is that he responds to the challenge.

When Virginia coach Dave Leitao pushed guard J.R. Reynolds in Sunday’s ACC opener against N.C. State, Reynolds pushed back. Thirteen of Reynolds’ 14 points came in the final 7:12 of the game, providing the Cavaliers with enough offensive spark to outlast the visiting Wolfpack, 67-62, and ending 11 years of futility in ACC openers.

Hitting a rough patch

For the senior from Roanoke, those seven-plus minutes came as a relief after a miserable offensive night in Wednesday’s loss at Purdue. In that game, Reynolds had struggled mightily, hitting only 3 of 11 field goal attempts (1 of 7 from beyond the arc), and watched the ACC’s longest active double-figures streak come to an end at 28 games.

After missing his first shots Sunday and finishing the first half with but a mere free throw, it was fairly evident that Virginia would likely not win this game unless J.R. played like the real J.R.

Letting him have it

Saddled with three fouls less than two minutes into the second half, Leitao gave Reynolds a seat on the bench, fearing a fourth personal would render his shooter useless down the homestretch.

So, Reynolds sat ... and sat, and sat some more, until just under the 9-minute mark.

Sometime during those minutes, Leitao didn’t hold in much in his unique way of motivating players.

“J.R. struggled with me, struggled with his game, struggled with his offense the whole way,” Leitao said after watching his team improve to 5-1. “I was into him pretty good, and based on the Purdue game and practices, [Reynolds] is trying to find his rhythm, so sometimes I don’t do that so nicely.”

What kind of sweet nothings did Leitao relate to J.R. while he was pulling bench time? Something like ‘Get your head into the game?’

“It was probably more explicit than that,” Reynolds said, wearing a big grin on his face.

Call it Reynolds’ Revenge - or whatever you want to label this win over the Wolfpack - but the senior got the last laugh.

When Reynolds did return to the game, he was the old J.R.

Flipping the switch

He drilled a 3-pointer near the UVa bench to end his drought at the 7:12 mark and knotted a see-saw battle at 48-all. On his way back up the floor, he made sure that Leitao got the message.

“As he ran by, he stared at me,” Leitao said. “That’s the kind of response I want. I want guys, that if I’m on ’em in essence, to come back at me with their play, and I credit him for doing that.”

And that’s not all.

Reynolds admitted he said something to his coach during the moment.

“Yeah,” Reynolds chuckled.

A sportswriter asked if he could repeat it.

“Nah,” Reynolds came back.

Sometimes things are better left unsaid.

Freshman teammate Will Harris, who played great in relief of Reynolds, enjoyed the give-and-take from the starter and the coach, as did all the Cavaliers.

“Coach likes when we’re pushed and we push back,” said Harris, who added 14 points in 17 minutes. “Coach looks for toughness. J.R. was pushed today and he pushed back, so he won. J.R. was just trying to let Coach know that, ‘I’m a player.’”

And what a player.

In a difficult second half that featured 16 lead changes, Reynolds’ points were precious nuggets. After State responded to his first trey with a 3 of its own to retake the lead at 51-48, Reynolds responded.

He hit a baseline jumper, then moments later, faked a jumper and instead dumped a pass down inside to Harris for a 52-51 lead. He added two free throws at the 5:08 mark to keep UVa ahead 54-53 and expanded the lead to 56-53 with a driving layup with 4:18 to go.

None of his points were as crucial as his second 3-pointer that put the Cavs ahead, 62-61, with 1:40 showing. On that one, State’s Courtney Fells had left Reynolds open on the left corner and the senior, somewhat stunned to find himself unguarded in such a situation, buried the shot from Bonusphere.

He and backcourt mate Sean Singletary finished off the Wolfpack from there.

“Reynolds’ 3 in the corner ... that was probably the biggest [play of the game],” said Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe. “That really did it for us right there.”

Reynolds expected to be on the receiving end of some of his coach’s noted wrath. He acknowledged, that because he’s a senior and has been through so many battles, that he’s expected to lead the team.

During the temporary slump, he didn’t lose his confidence. Reynolds has what every gunner needs, a shooter’s mentality. If you miss 20 in a row, there’s a strong faith that the next one’s going in, and the next and so on.

“I knew my shot would fall,” he said. “My shots had been rattling in and out. It wasn’t like I was shooting up air balls and bricks. I just kept telling myself that ‘I know I’m a good player and I know I can make shots.’ When the first one fell, I kind of felt good.”

Leitao had installed a series of baseline screens for Reynolds, and once the guard rediscovered his rhythm, he knew he was back. Well-rested from the sit-down, he was fresh for the stretch run.

“Certainly, that helped a great deal because [Reynolds] was running off two, three, four screens in one sequence,” pointed out Lowe. “He wouldn’t have been able to do that if he had been playing the whole amount of minutes, but he did a great job. He came back in and he did what he’s capable of doing. He made shots, he made us work and he made the shot that he really needed.”

And he’ll probably never let Leitao forget it, either.

 

Cavs not hanging their heads after tough exit
By Drew Hansen / dhansen@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
December 4, 2006

ST. LOUIS - Any high school English teacher will inform you the last chapter of a book doesn’t tell you the whole story.

The same is essentially true of the Virginia men’s soccer team.

The Cavaliers played their worst game of the season at the worst possible time. Two defensive breakdowns against UCLA put Virginia in a two-goal hole - something UVa had not dealt with all season. The team subsequently slid into panic mode, lost its cool and gave up two more scores to see its season end in the semifinal round of the College Cup at Hermann Stadium at the Saint Louis University campus.

While the blowout loss was disappointing, the season was still a success for the program.

“I wouldn’t say I’m really that frustrated,” said Virginia goalkeeper Ryan Burke after Saturday’s 4-0 loss to the Bruins. “This

was a great season and I learned a lot about people in general, and this team has just been my family for the past four months. I couldn’t have asked for anything more from anyone.

“It is unfortunate that we didn’t get a chance to win the championship this year, but we got to the Final Four. We played well all season. We did everything we possibly could. We just came out in the semifinal match and didn’t play well.”

Burke’s remarks certainly go a long way to describe the 2006 campaign. Coach George Gelnovatch and many of the Virginia players were quick to express the family atmosphere and great team chemistry that carried the team to a 17-4-1 record and its first berth in the College Cup since 1997.

“I told them [Friday] night, no matter what happens, in my 11 years as head coach here I’ve never felt closer to a group of guys,” Gelnovatch said. “This has been a real team.

“It’s a double-edged sword really, because when you lose, when you’re so close to your guys like this, it’s very tough. On the other hand, when you lose and you’re that close of a family, it makes it a little bit easier too.”

Senior forward Adam Cristman, who finished the season with a career-high 10 goals and 25 points, also said he wasn’t discouraged with losing at the College Cup.

“I’m not really frustrated, I’m more upset,” said Cristman, who was invited to the Major League Soccer combine. “It’s been a great four years. It’s been an incredible way to end my senior year.”

Both Cristman and Burke will be gone next year, along with senior starter Ian Holder and reserves Lee Sandwina, Will Hall, Drew Harrison and Kyle Rudzinski. But the team should return a talented nucleus that includes leading scorer Yannick Reyering and playmaking midfielder Nico Colaluca.

Of great concern for Gelnovatch will be finding new leaders for a team that was led admirably by its seniors - especially Burke and Cristman.

“Those two guys are not only first-class guys but great leaders,” Gelnovatch said. “The nice part is we have some young guys that hopefully learned a little bit about leadership and what it means to be a team and can pick up the reins.”

A lot of that leadership was forged after a 4-1 loss to Clemson in the 2005 ACC Tournament. The blowout loss became a rallying cry for the Cavaliers to play with a team-first purpose through the 2006 campaign.

Gelnovatch admitted he put his players through many team-building exercises, and the positive results certainly paid off for the Cavaliers.

Burke believes the loss to the Bruins can be a similar point of motivation to the 2007 Cavaliers. Putting that in motion, however, will be left to the guys returning to the team next year.

“I hope this is something that they will use in the future,” said the four-year starter who finished his career as Virginia’s all-time leader in shutouts, saves and games played in goal. “I will say that this has happened to me before. We were in the Round of Eight two years ago, my sophomore season and we got played off the field by Duke - lost 3-0. So this has happened before, and just because something happens to you doesn’t mean necessarily you’re going to learn from it.

“I’m sure it will be something they talk about in the locker room and really continue to harp on as they go into the spring and then obviously next season.”

Note

Virginia defender Bakary Soumare was the Cavaliers’ lone representative on the all-tournament team.

 

Bench time gets Reynolds back in game for a Cavs win
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© December 4, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE - J.R. Reynolds buried the shot, and then shot Virginia coach Dave Leitao a look.

The intended message?

"Just to let him know, 'I'm here,' " Reynolds said.

Reynolds seemed somewhere else for much of Virginia's 67-62 ACC-opening win over N.C. State Sunday afternoon. After going 0 for 6 in the first half, the Cavaliers' shooting guard spent nearly 10 minutes of the second half parked on the bench near his none-too-pleased 6-foot-7-inch coach.

It wasn't just that Reynolds picked up his third foul with 18:43 left. Leitao didn't like Reynolds' body language, his lack of energy.

"I was in him pretty good, " Leitao said.

Reynolds shot just 3 for 11 in Virginia's loss to Purdue Wednesday night and had been struggling with his shot in practice since, making him Leitao's pet project over the previous few days.

"I was imploring him to find his rhythm," the coach said. "And sometimes I don't do that so nicely."

Reynolds found it, shortly after re-entering the game with 8:51 left and Virginia up 45-44. With 7:12 to go, he canned a 3-pointer in front of the Virginia bench that tied the game at 48.

He turned and stared at Leitao as he ran down the court.

The coach didn't take offense. Far from it.

"That's the kind of response I want," he said. "I want guys, if I'm on them, to come back at me by their play."

Whatever his motivation, Reynolds missed just one shot the rest of the way, going 4 for 5 from the floor and scoring 13 of Virginia's final 22 points. He finished with 14.

His biggest shot came with 1:41 left, when he hit a 3-pointer from the corner over the Wolfpack's Courtney Fells, who made the mistake of taking a step back and giving Reynolds the glimmer of an opening he needed.

"I knew once he backed up, it was going in," Reynolds said.

The shot gave Virginia a 62-61 lead. The Cavaliers (5-1, 1-0 ACC) didn't trail again, and won their ACC opener for the first time since 1995.

They did it despite shooting 31.4 percent in the first half and 37.9 percent for the game. But the Cavaliers cleaned up their mess, grabbing 18 offensive rebounds to N.C. State's four.

"You have to put this game in the category of 'Any win is a good win,' " Leitao said. "We were nowhere near playing at our best in terms of playing at the pace we want to play offensively."

Reynolds wasn't the only one struggling. The rims at the new John Paul Jones Arena are miked, and for much of the first half, the predominant sound was the metallic clang of Virginia jump shots missing their mark.

Virginia finally got a boost off the bench from 6-5 freshman Will Harris, who scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half, many of them with Reynolds on the bench. Harris also grabbed six rebounds in 17 minutes.

With just a six-man rotation, N.C. State (5-1, 0-1) wasn't in a position to contest many offensive rebounds, sometimes conceding them in order to get back on defense to try to slow down the quicker and deeper Cavaliers.

Most of the game was played at the Wolfpack's preferred pace, which was deliberate. With Engin Atsur out with pulled hamstring, Gavin Grant, a 6-7 forward, filled in at point guard. He played 40 minutes and three other starters played 38.

N.C. State posted up Virginia's smaller guards and used 6-8 Brandon Costner to stretch the Cavaliers' defense. Costner shot 7 of 13, and 3 of 8 from 3-point range, to finish with 17 points. But he missed a straight-on 3-pointer with 51 seconds left and N.C. State trailing by two.

N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe praised the grittiness of his team, and said he'd call the same play again.

"That's what you ask for," he said. "You get on the road, you try to put yourself in a position to win."
 

Cavs get hot in second half
Behind shooting guard J.R. Reynolds' late surge, Virginia wins a sloppy ACC opener over North Carolina State.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
December 4, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- His game-tying 3-pointer barely dropped through the net when J.R. Reynolds turned toward the bench and stared at his coach, Dave Leitao. Reynolds' unspoken message: I am still your senior shooting guard, your reliable scoring threat - regardless of what three measly halves might say.

After Reynolds had a dismal first half Sunday, perhaps while still reeling from a poor showing at Purdue, his 3-pointer with 7:12 remaining started a run in which he scored 13 of Virginia's final 22 points in the Cavaliers' 67-62 win over North Carolina State at John Paul Jones Arena.

Reynolds shot 0-of-6 and scored one point in an unsightly first half; the teams combined to shoot 33 percent. Virginia led just 27-26 at halftime, despite the patchwork Wolfpack relying on six players. He got his third foul with 18:43 left in the second half, and Leitao sat him until 8:51 remained in the game.

State's lead grew to as much as six with Reynolds on the bench. When he reentered, he said, "I knew that sooner or later, they were gonna fall for me."

The shots fell sooner. He buried his first, the 3-pointer, knotting the game at 48. Then he stared down Leitao, asserting his presence.

"That's the kind of swagger or bravado that good teams or good players have," Leitao said. "That's the kind of response that I want."

Said point guard Sean Singletary: "You expect that out of J.R."

But neither team took more than a three-point lead after Reynolds' 3. Then he made another one, in front of Virginia's bench with 1:40 left, to give the Cavaliers a 62-61 advantage. "That really did it for us right there," N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe said.

The Wolfpack (5-1, 0-1 ACC) was officially cooked when, with seven seconds left, Brandon Costner missed an open 3 that would have tied the game at 65.

Reynolds hit four of his final five shots, including the two 3-pointers, and finished with 14 points. Virginia (5-1, 1-0) might have lost its 12th consecutive ACC opener, if not for Reynolds' reversal of fortune. In a 61-59 loss Wednesday at Purdue, he shot 3-of-11 and scored seven points.

The past few days in practice, Reynolds searched for the shooting touch that let him score in double figures for 28 consecutive games before Purdue. Maybe N.C. State guard Courtney Fells figured Reynolds still was looking for that touch. On Reynolds' second 3, he was shocked to see Fells back away from him and leave him with an open shot.

"Oh, well," Reynolds said. "I guess he backed off because I wasn't making shots earlier." Earlier, Virginia stayed in the game because of center Ryan Pettinella's energy and forward Will Harris' scoring burst. Harris, a freshman, scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half.

Nine of those 12 came in a four-minute span when Reynolds was out.

"Today, I played with a different amount of confidence than I normally do," Harris said.

As a small forward, Harris is challenging himself to expand his post game, though he works mostly with perimeter players during practice. Leitao said Harris' progress is inconsistent, though he certainly was steady on Sunday.

"This shows us," Harris said, "that we have lot more weapons than we thought we had."

THIS AND THAT

Freshman swingman Solomon Tat (groin) did not dress. He hasn't played since the season opener. ... Center Tunji Soroye started his first game of the season but played just 11 minutes. He missed the first four games after undergoing surgery to relieve groin-area discomfort and returned against Purdue. ... The announced crowd of 15,219 was a sellout - Virginia's first since the season opener.
 

Cavs' experience trumps Wolfpack
Costner can't match late UVa production
KEN TYSIAC
ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Virginia senior J.R. Reynolds and junior Sean Singletary have made big shots in the closing minutes.

Redshirt freshman Brandon Costner, who tried to answer for N.C. State on Sunday, had never attempted a shot in college as important as his two 3-point attempts in the final minute.

Costner missed twice from the top of the key during the final 50 seconds, and N.C. State missed an opportunity as 25th-ranked Virginia won 67-62 in the ACC opener at John Paul Jones Arena.

N.C. State led by two when Reynolds saw Courtney Fells playing off him. Reynolds, who scored 13 of his 14 points in the final 7 minutes, 13 seconds, swished a 3-pointer for a 62-61 lead with 1:40 remaining.

"I knew once (Fells) backed up that it was going in," Reynolds said.

Ben McCauley made the first of a one-and-one to tie the score, but Singletary, a first-team All-ACC player last season, hit a 16-footer over Gavin Grant. On N.C. State's next possession, Costner was surprised how open he was as he tried to give the Wolfpack the lead.

He led all scorers with 17 points and had made three 3-pointers.

"I'm really not looking at it as a pressure shot," Costner said. "I've done it 100 times before. It's just another basketball game. I can't be afraid to take the shot."

Shooting it 100 times in high school or AAU isn't shooting it in the ACC opener. N.C. State (5-1) had played well, leading by six early in the second half even though starting point guard Engin Atsur was out injured.

Grant took Atsur's place and controlled the pace, scoring 15 and handing out a game-high eight assists. Grant used his 7-inch height advantage to score over Singletary in the post, and Costner used his perimeter skills to give Virginia's forwards fits.

But after Reynolds got hot, Costner couldn't make the shot he needed. He missed the open 3-point attempt with 48 seconds remaining. He then asked coach Sidney Lowe during a timeout whether he should shoot again with N.C. State trailing by three.

"Absolutely," Lowe said he replied.

This time, Jason Cain prevented Costner from getting a good look. The Cavaliers (5-1) survived when Costner missed.

"I think if I had to do it again, I'd run it again for Brandon," Lowe said. "And I think he'll make it."

Observations

• Virginia's 15,219-seat John Paul Jones Arena has luxury boxes, video screens on the scoreboard and a club area for key boosters. Maryland, North Carolina, N.C. State and Wake Forest also have nice facilities, and Duke has one of the nation's most beloved arenas. So Virginia is just keeping up with the Joneses.

• N.C. State's players were tired in the second half. The Wolfpack had just five healthy players who were recruited with scholarships. The fatigue showed up on the boards as Virginia outrebounded N.C. State 47-31.

• N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe does an excellent job getting the shot he wants when he calls timeout to set up a play. Predecessor Herb Sendek did a great job scouting opponents' tendencies, but he seldom set up a good play during a timeout.

• The Wolfpack limited Virginia and speedy point guard Sean Singletary to two fast-break points, but it had to give up on a lot of rebounds to get back on defense.

 

J.R. to the rescue
J.R. Reynolds scores 13 of his 14 points during the final 7:12 as the Cavs come from behind to beat N.C. State.
Doug Doughty

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- History would have indicated that Virginia would have trouble Sunday in its ACC men's basketball opener against North Carolina State.

At least this time, the Cavaliers didn't lose.

The Wolfpack, a 10-point underdog that was picked to finish last in the ACC before the season, led much of the way before Virginia rallied for a 67-62 victory at John Paul Jones Arena.

Senior guard J.R. Reynolds from Roanoke scored 13 of his 14 points over the final 7:12 as the Cavaliers (5-1, 1-0) won their ACC opener for the first time since the 1994-95 season.

"That's a long time," junior point guard Sean Singletary said. "I knew we hadn't won one since I'd been here."

Virginia is 16-3 at home in Dave Leitao's two seasons as head coach, including 4-0 at its new arena, but the Cavaliers found themselves trailing 34-28 when Leitao called a timeout with 16:35 remaining.

In an earlier dead-ball situation, Leitao had inserted freshman Will Harris and now it was Harris who got the Cavaliers back in the game. He scored seven points during a 3:58 stretch, including a bucket that gave them the lead at 39-38.

"I didn't want to lose," said Harris, a 6-foot-6, 230-pounder who has shown the ability to score inside or outside. "I dislike losing a lot ... a lot ... a lot."

Harris failed to score Wednesday night, when he played a season-low nine minutes in a 61-59 loss at Purdue.

"I took it pretty tough," Harris said. "I spoke to the assistant coaches and Coach Leitao and they told me not to worry about it and that things would get better."

The trip to West Lafayette, Ind., also did not go well for Reynolds, who had scored in double figures in 28 games before he was held to seven at Purdue. He went 3-for-11 from the field and was 1-for-7 on 3-pointers.

It was more of the same in the first half Sunday, when Reynolds missed all six of his shots from the field.

"I was on him pretty good," Leitao said. "Based on the Purdue game, he was trying to find his rhythm and I was trying to implore him to find his rhythm. Sometimes I don't do that so nicely."

When Reynolds picked up his third foul on a charge with 18:43 remaining, Leitao substituted for him.

Out for nearly 10 minutes, Reynolds returned, and in a 1:55 span, made a 3-pointer, another jump shot, two free throws and a layup. He also assisted on a jumper by Harris as UVa reversed a 48-45 deficit and went ahead 56-53.

"They were able to rest some guys so that they could come back in and be fresh," said N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe, who gave substantative minutes to only six players.

"Certainly, that helps a great deal because [Reynolds] was running off two, three, four screens in one sequence. He wouldn't have been able to do that if he had been playing the whole amount of minutes.

"He came back in and he did what he's capable of doing. He made shots, he made us work and he made the shot that he really needed."

For all of Reynolds' heroics, including a 3-pointers with 1:40 left, the Cavaliers did not take the lead for good until Singletary made a 16-footer to make it 64-62 with 1:03 remaining.

Redshirt freshman Brandon Costner missed two 3-pointers for the Wolfpack (5-1, 0-1) in the final 51 seconds but was a handful for Virginia for most of the afternoon.

The combination of Costner's ability to step outside at 6-8, 230 pounds and point guard Gavin Grant's success in posting up at 6-7, 212 almost proved to be Virginia's undoing.

Leitao had hoped that the Cavaliers would be able to take advantage of Grant with their quickness, "but they won that battle because they got back on defense so well," he said. "They conceded a lot of offensive rebounds."

Virginia outrebounded the Wolfpack 47-31, including 23-9 in the second half, and had 18 offensive rebounds. Lowe wouldn't blame fatigue, but four of State's starters played 38 minutes or more.

"You have to put this game in the category of, any win is a good win, particularly in this league," Leitao said.

"It's a credit to Sidney for him to be able to do what he's been able to do in a short period of time with limited bodies."

 

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Warning: The following column contains explicit dialogue between a star player and a coach.
Aaron McFarling

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Warning: The following column contains explicit dialogue between a star player and a coach.

Sort of.

We think.

OK, the following column contains vague references to explicit dialogue between a star player and a coach. Not that we didn't try to find out what that dialogue was. We did.

"Did you say something to your coach after that 3-pointer?" we asked Virginia senior J.R. Reynolds after his team defeated N.C. State 67-62 on Sunday.

"Yeah."

"Can you repeat what you said?"

"No."

Fair enough. But at least he could tell us why he turned to the bench and shouted something at Dave Leitao. Surely, he'd let us in on what Leitao had told him earlier to get him so fired up.

"I don't know," a smiling Reynolds said. "I can't ... I don't know."

C'mon, J.R. Was it something like, "Get your head in the game?"

"It was probably more explicit than that."

Fine. None of our business. But here's what we know for sure: Dave Leitao loved it. He loved every bit of it. The stare down as Reynolds headed up court, the word (or words) the shooting guard uttered, the look of determination in his player's eyes.

"That's the kind of response that I want," Leitao said after admitting that sometimes he's not the nicest guy when he challenges his players in the huddle. "I want guys, in essence, to come back at me with their play."

What Reynolds came back with was 13 points in the final 7:12. What he came back with were two deep 3-pointers from the left corner -- one that tied the score, the other that gave Virginia the lead for good. What he came back with was a soft 17-footer curling off a screen, a driving layup from the wing, a 3-for-4 performance from the free-throw line in the final minutes.

What he came back with was the starring role in an ACC victory.

Some day later this season, we might look back at that final 7:12 as a pivotal stretch in UVa's season. Not because the Cavs won -- they should win at home against a rebuilding N.C. State team that was so depth-shy it played four players for at least 38 minutes each.

No, this may be huge because it may signal that Leitao has found the switch, the motivational lever that can lift his senior from Roanoke out of the quagmire.

Any shooter is going to have slumps. But Reynolds had some ugly, protracted funks in his first two seasons under Pete Gillen. Last year Reynolds started slow, but he finished the season with 24 straight games scoring in double-figures.

Watching Reynolds in the first half Sunday, it seemed he may have been heading for another rough patch. When the horn sounded to end the first half, Reynolds was 0-for-6 and had one point. Coupled with the Purdue game -- a UVa loss, not coincidentally -- Reynolds was 3 for his past 19 from the field.

"They were rattling in and out," Reynolds said. "It wasn't like I was shooting up airballs and bricks. It was shots that were going in and out."

Maybe so, but a miss is a miss. And when Reynolds is missing, the Cavaliers are in trouble.

As the Cavs shot 31 percent in the first half, you could sense dread in the sold-out arena. The scoreboard implored the crowd to "Make some noise."

Sure, the fans seemed to say. Just as soon as this team makes some shots.

But then Reynolds and Leitao had their little talk. And when Reynolds reentered the game with 8:51 remaining and UVa still in a tight one, he had no doubts.

"I knew the next shot I was going to take was going in," he said.

Reynolds let it fly from deep in the corner, watched it splash and then turned his head to the left.

And that's when a player and a coach bonded. Determined eye meeting determined eye, Reynolds opened his mouth and spoke the following words ...

"I don't remember," he explained, grinning.

Aww, #&%*^%$#. It was worth a try.
 

Cavs sitting pretty
U.Va. begins ACC play by beating N.C. State
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Dec 4, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- For the first time since January 1995, the University of Virginia men's basketball team is 1-0 in ACC play.

For much of yesterday's game at John Paul Jones Arena, the 25th-ranked Cavaliers looked fully capable of losing their ACC opener for the 12th straight season. But U.Va. rallied behind senior guard J.R. Reynolds, who scored 13 of his 14 points in the final 7:10, and edged N.C. State 67-62 before a sellout crowd of 15,219.

"We get to say that we're in first place right now," said Dave Leitao, Virginia's second-year coach. "Which may or may not last throughout the season, but for where we're at as a program right now, that's not a bad thing."

U.Va. (1-0, 5-1) survived its awful shooting: 24 percent from 3-point range, 37.9 percent from the floor and 61.1 percent from the line. Of the Cavaliers who attempted at least four shots, only reserve forward Will Harris (5 for 6) and reserve center Ryan Pettinella (3 for 4) made at least half of their attempts.

"You have to put this game under the category of 'any win is a good win,' particularly in this league," Leitao said.

With starting point guard Engin Atsur sidelined with a hamstring injury, the Wolfpack's first-year coach, Sidney Lowe, had only six healthy scholarship players. Still, State (0-1, 5-1) led 61-59 with 1:45 left.

Reynolds' trey put Virginia ahead 62-61, but Ben McCauley hit 1 of 2 free throws at the 1:25 mark to make it 62-62. U.Va. finally took the lead for good with 1:02 remaining after junior guard Sean Singletary used a Jason Cain pick to free himself for a 16-foot jumper.

After a missed 3-point attempt by State forward Brandon Costner (game-high 17 points), Reynolds made 1 of 2 foul shots with 19.1 seconds left for a 65-62 lead. After another long-range miss by Costner -- the 6-10 Cain leaped high to challenge the shot Singletary grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He calmly made both ends of a one-and-one with 5.9 seconds left, allowing the home fans to exhale.

"When you're on the road, you try to put yourselves in a position to win, and then you've got to make plays," Lowe said. "And that's what [the Cavs] did. They made big plays."

Virginia's dominance on the backboards proved decisive. U.Va. outrebounded the Wolfpack 47-31 and parlayed 18 offensive boards into 15 second-chance points.

Pettinella, a transfer from Penn, pulled down only one rebound, but the 6-9, 238-pound junior contributed seven points -- his high as a Cavalier -- and had a key deflection in his 22 hard-charging minutes.

"He saved us with his energy, running up and down the court," Leitao said.

Harris bailed out Virginia, too, totaling 14 points and six rebounds in only 17 minutes. The 6-6, 230-pound freshman hit a 3-pointer but was especially effective in the low post.

"I see myself as a basketball player," Harris said. "I know that I can play on the perimeter, but I also know that I can play on the inside, too. Whatever the game calls for, then that's what I'm going to be able to do."

U.Va. fans have come to expect stellar play from Reynolds, who was a third-team all-ACC pick last season. But he'd scored only seven points in a loss at Purdue last week, snapping his streak of 28 games in double figures, and he didn't find his touch in the first half yesterday.

Reynolds, 0 for 6 before intermission, went to the bench with his third foul with 18:43 left. Leitao finally re-inserted him at the 8:51 mark, and Reynolds didn't squander the opportunity. His first field goal of the game -- a 3-pointer with 7:10 left -- made it 48-48, and he added six more points in the next 3 minutes.

"I knew my shot was going to fall," Reynolds said.

 

Coach, player find method of communication
BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Dec 4, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE J.R. Reynolds is the senior who comes billed as a scorer, and Dave Leitao is the second-year coach who comes to the gym with a drill sergeant's swagger stick (well, so to speak), and it's fair to say they don't always see eye-to-eye.

It's not that they don't get on with each other. It's not that Reynolds is a diva or a hardhead and Leitao a beast. It's just that one is a veteran who's established a comfort zone for himself, and the other is a coach who arrived at Virginia to shape up a droopy basketball program.

And sometimes they have their moments.

They had one during the second half of yesterday's 67-62 win over N.C. State. Reynolds was on the bench at the time - an 0-for-6 mess before intermission who'd spent nearly 10 minutes cooling his trigger finger after drawing his third foul. Before sending player back onto the floor, coach had a few words of wisdom to impart.

"I forget what he said," Reynolds would testify later.

Something about getting his head in the game, maybe? "It was probably more explicit than that."

Shrewd button-pusher, that Leitao. Ears burning and stroke returning, Reynolds nailed a 3-pointer with his next attempt and another with his last - the swish from the left baseline that put U.Va. on top 62-61 and established momentum for the closing stretch.

Reynolds came up big then, too, with a key offensive rebound and free throw for 65-62 and the cushion for any thrusts the Pack had to offer.

"They made big plays," said State coach Sidney Lowe. "Reynolds' 3 from the corner was probably the biggest one. That probably did it for us right there."

Five days ago, Reynolds had faltered in a 61-59 loss at Purdue - missing eight of 11 shots and finishing with seven points and out of double figures for the first time in 29 starts. When the chill extended into yesterday, he received a heavy dose of constructive criticism.

"I was in him pretty good," Leitao said. "He's trying to find his rhythm, and I'm trying to implore him to find his rhythm, and sometimes I don't do that so nicely."

The bristly approach is not limited to one 6-2 off-guard from Roanoke, who, by the way, wound up with 14 points, five rebounds and three assists.

"He shares the anger," Cavs playmaker Sean Singletary said of Leitao. "He challenges you. He expects results."

A scary guy? "Not at all," Reynolds said.

A pussycat? "I wouldn't call him that."

Coach, then. A tough coach with expectations and his own way of communicating them.

"I'm a senior, so I've got to step up and lead this team," Reynolds said. "I think that's when he gets mad - when I'm not out there leading the team."

And this team - still a rebuilding job in progress, still scratching out an identity - needs him.

Needs him badly.

Needs his shot-making. Needs his maturity. Needs his savvy.

As if on cue - and with a little prodding - the Cavs got all three yesterday when it mattered most. That's a credit to Reynolds ("It shows he's real resilient," said Singletary) and a credit to Leitao, who doesn't play with a stacked deck and must draw all he can from the aces in his backcourt.

Reynolds delivered on this occasion. Got the message. Sent one as well. Soon as he hit that first 3 off the bench, he shot his coach a glare and spat out a few choice words - showing, Leitao said, "the kind of swagger and bravado good players have."

In that moment, they saw eye-to-eye.

And both kind of liked it.

 

Depth-shy Pack falls to Cavaliers
Missing Atsur, N.C. State gets first loss
Chip Alexander, Staff Writer

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. - N.C. State point guard Engin Atsur sat glumly on the bench Sunday before the Wolfpack's ACC opener at Virginia, his arms crossed, leaning forward on his knees.
Without Atsur, a senior who has a pulled left hamstring, the Pack's chances of winning seemed just as gloomy. And, in fact, the Wolfpack did not win, as the 25th-ranked Cavaliers scored the last five points for a 67-62 victory in the first ACC game played in John Paul Jones Arena.

But the Pack did not walk away from its first loss of the season downcast. Disappointed, yes, but hardly downcast.

State's Sidney Lowe, after his first loss as the Wolfpack's coach, appeared anything but crushed.

"I'm extremely proud of our guys," he said. "That was a tough environment to play in.

"We put ourselves in a position to win. That's what you ask for on the road."

With the Cavs leading 64-62 after a jumper by junior guard Sean Singletary, State's Brandon Costner had an open 3-point look from the top of key. The redshirt freshman had scored 17 points, but his shot was short with 51 seconds left, as was another 3-point attempt with seven seconds to play and the Cavaliers up by three points.

"We fought hard," said State's Gavin Grant, who again handled the point-guard duties with Atsur out. "There are no moral victories, but we're kind of proud of the way we played on the road -- young team, starting three sophomores, missing [Atsur]. A bounce here or there and we could be the ones celebrating."

A few favorable bounces or maybe a few more defensive stops. Certainly a few more defensive rebounds. And, of course, a few more bodies.

With the game in the balance, the Cavs (5-1) simply were deeper, fresher and quicker, and able to make more plays than the Pack (5-1). And especially Virginia senior guard J.R. Reynolds.

Reynolds, after a miserable first half and sitting out a big chunk of second half with three fouls, scored 13 of his 14 points in the final 7:12. His 3-pointer from the left corner gave the Cavs a 62-61 lead with 1:40 to play, and his offensive rebound after a Singletary miss and then a free throw with 19.1 seconds left pushed Virginia ahead 65-62.

"They made big plays," Lowe said. "Reynolds' 3 in the corner -- that was probably the biggest one. That really did it for us."

State's Courtney Fells did all he could to defend Reynolds, but the Cavs set some solid, staggered screens and Fells often couldn't find his way through the maze.

The Pack made good use of a 1-2-2 zone in a 74-67 win Monday over Michigan in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. But State went with its man-to-man all but one possession against the Cavs, who offer matchup problems with the likes of Singletary and Reynolds.

"I don't think our man-to-man defense was bad," Lowe said. "I think it was actually OK. More important was the offensive rebounds."

The Cavaliers collected 18 that they converted into 15 points, closing with a big 47-31 edge on the boards. Virginia had a 23-9 rebounding advantage in the second half, crashing the boards for 10 of its offensive rebounds.

Was Wolfpack fatigue a factor, with the five starters logging so many minutes? Were the Cavs' fresher legs the difference?

"I could say that, but I don't want to take away from [the Cavs'] efforts," Lowe said. "Just say they went after it hard."

After shooting 31.4 percent in the opening half, the Cavaliers, who had lost 11 straight ACC openers, were much smoother over the final 20 minutes. Virginia coach Dave Leitao used 10 players in the game. Nine scored, with Will Harris -- a 6-foot-6 freshman who had 10 points in the past three games -- contributing 14.

"You have to put this game in the category of any-win-is-a-good-win, particularly in this league," Leitao said. "We were nowhere near playing at our best in terms of playing at the pace we wanted."

The Pack did control the tempo much of the game, which had 18 lead changes. State led 24-20 with six minutes left in the first half, only to score on one of its last 11 possessions of the period. The Pack and Cavs then traded baskets and the lead in the second half.

When Grant, who had 15 points and eight assists, hit center Ben McCauley with a perfect lob for a layup, State led 61-59 with 2:02 to play. Reynolds followed with the big 3, but a free throw by McCauley tied the score 62-62 with 1:25 to go.

It was winning time -- or losing time. This time, the Pack lost.

Costner, who sat out nearly all of his freshman year with a leg injury, shrugged off any suggestion of him facing his first "pressure" shots in college.

"I've probably shot those 100 times before," he said. "You can't be afraid to take them.

"We're disappointed because we feel we should have won. We feel we can play with anyone. No excuses. We felt we should have won but we just didn't get it done this time."