Virginia rolls to stop slide
By Jeff White
Published: December 18, 2008

Nothing came easily for the University of Virginia men's basketball team in its first six games. Three were losses, and the Cavaliers' average margin of victory in the other three was only 4.7 points.

Last night, however, Virginia made sure there would be no late-game suspense. Coming off a 15-day break for final exams, U.Va. whipped Longwood 90-61 before a crowd of 8,543 at John Paul Jones Arena.

Freshman swingman Sylven Landesberg scored 20 points, with eight coming at the line, to help the Cavaliers emphatically snap a three-game losing streak. Virginia (4-3) shot 51.6 percent from the floor and held Longwood (5-6) to 38.5-percent accuracy.

"And now, the key is building on that," said fourth-year coach Dave Leitao, whose team hosts Auburn (5-4) on Saturday afternoon. At Cassell Coliseum last weekend, Longwood trailed Virginia Tech by 16 points at halftime. But the Lancers battled back, pulling to 56-50 with less than 8 minutes left before losing 79-57. So when his team fell behind 15-2 last night, Longwood coach Mike Gillian didn't panic.

"We've been in that hole and dug our way out of it a few times this year," Gillian said.

But Virginia never let up, and Longwood never seriously threatened. A 8-0 run pulled the Lancers to 36-27 late in the first half, but the Cavaliers answered with six straight points and took a 15-point lead into intermission. By the 15:00 mark of the second half, the Wahoos' lead was 25.

"It was definitely a confidence-booster, especially with the long break in between games," said redshirt freshman point guard Sammy Zeglinski, who hit three 3-pointers and handed out four assists. "We were coming off three losses, and it was good to get this one right here."

Zeglinski and junior guard Calvin Baker finished with 14 points each, and sophomore forward Mike Scott added eight on 4-for-5 shooting from the floor. Sophomore guard Jeff Jones also shot well, coming off the bench to make 3 of 4 field goal attempts, including his only 3-pointer. He came into the game shooting 27.8 percent from the floor.

"I just want to be efficient out there," Jones said. "I know my shooting percentage is down right now, and I want to get it up."

In his first start of the season, 6-9 junior Jamil Tucker produced the first double-double of his career, scoring 11 points and grabbing a career-best 10 rebounds before leaving with an ankle injury with 8:45 left.

Four other Cavaliers had at least five boards on a night when Longwood, whose tallest starter is 6-6, was outrebounded 49-23. Landesberg pulled down nine, and Scott and Baker had six apiece. Assane Sene, in his first appearance at John Paul Jones Arena, had five rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench. The 7-0 freshman from Senegal also contributed six points, two blocked shots and one assist.

"I had a little bit of a presence," Sene said, "but I think the presence that I have in practice is not the same I showed today. I know I can show more than that."
 

UVa frosh continues success at foul line
The Cavs breeze home as Sylven Landesberg improves his free-throw accuracy to 78.2 percent.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- One look at Virginia's season statistics should convince opponents of the wisdom of keeping Sylven Landesberg off the free-throw line.

That's not as easy as it might seem.

Landesberg, who has made more than twice as many free throws as any teammate has attempted, went 8-for-8 from the line Wednesday night in the Cavaliers' 90-61 victory over Longwood.

Landesberg led all scorers with 20 points as Virginia improved its record to 4-3 in its first game of the season decided by more than 10 points.

"I think we did a good job of guarding him, but he's a good player," said coach Mike Gillian, whose Lancers fell to 5-6. "He's going to find ways to do what he does and one of them is to get to the foul line.

"You talk about it and try to understand how to stop it. But, until you actually do it, he's a hard guy to match up with."

To compound the problem, Landesberg is shooting 78.2 percent from the line. He has attempted 55 free throws, converting 43, and no other UVa player has shot more than 21 (Calvin Baker).

Landesberg, a 6-foot-6, 205-pound freshman, scored 2,149 points in his three seasons on the varsity at Holy Cross High School in Flushing, N.Y., but UVa coach Leitao doesn't remember him living at the line.

"I didn't specifically see a guy who was going to get a ton of free throws," Leitao said. "In high school, he was able to get into the paint and use his size, and so he probably didn't get fouled as much because he was over the top of people.

"Now, he's learned quickly that he can't shoot over the top of as many guys. So, he uses his body pretty well. As long as he continues to do that and makes free throws, then obviously it's a positive weapon."

It was a successful formula for Bryant Stith, a three-time first-team All-ACC selection (1990-92) who remains the Cavaliers' all-time leading scorer (2,516 points). Stith, a 6-foot-5, 208-pounder, was a 78.9-percent free-throw shooter who had a staggering 875 free-throw attempts during his career.

Leitao said he doesn't go into games with a set number of times he would like Landesberg to get to the line. Landesberg doesn't think about it either.

"I attack the rim a lot," he said, "so, if I'm playing my game, I'm going to get to the line a lot. But, it's not like I have a number in mind."

Nor does he shoot an astounding number of free throws in order to hone his stroke in practice.

"It's all a confidence thing," he said. "You don't have to have perfect form. It's all in your head. If you believe you're going to make the shot, then you're going to make it."

Landesberg has played better all-around games than he did Wednesday, when he was charged with six of UVa's 17 turnovers, but the Cavaliers had more margin for error after jumping to a 9-0 lead that they increased to 22 points, 31-9, with 8:26 remaining in the first half.

Longwood trimmed the deficit to 36-27 on a Martiz Washington 3-pointer with 1:40 remaining, but questionable clock management cut into the Lancers' momentum.

Instead of holding for a last shot, Longwood missed four shots in the last 55 seconds and UVa turned three defensive rebounds into a 6-0 run over the final 38 seconds.

UVa outscored Longwood 20-4 over a six-minute period that stretched into the second half.

"Coming off a long break, as we did, I thought we made more good plays than we have in a while," said Leitao, whose team had been taking exams and had not played in 15 days.

The Cavaliers got 14 points each from guards Calvin Baker and Sammy Zeglinski, and junior Jamil Tucker had 11 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high three assists in the fourth start of his 67-game career and his first this year.

Seven-foot freshman Assane Sene did not start for the first time in three games but contributed six points, five rebounds and two blocks in his most productive outing to date.

"Everything was so different when the games started," Sene said. "Now, I'm starting to play like I do in practice."

 

Sene steps up for Virginia in rout of Longwood
By Chris Lang
Published: December 18, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Assane Sene hasn’t arrived yet, far from it. But in Virginia’s 90-61 victory over visiting Longwood Wednesday night, Sene gave tantalizing flashes of the talent that has had Cavaliers coach Dave Leitao singing his praises throughout the preseason.

The 7-foot freshman was active defensively, blocking two shots on the same play, and Wednesday, he began to look for his shot, hitting a nifty turnaround shot from the left block in the second half. He finished with six points, five rebounds, two blocks and an assist in 16 minutes, the most productive outing yet for the Senegal native.

He gives Virginia, “activity, length,“ Leitao said. “He’s still got to get bigger, stronger, more seasoned, and all that. I think eventually, as I said before the year started, we’ll be able to rely on him with some post touches. He runs up and down the court better than any other big guy on our team.

“I keep giving him shots because his mind is right, and I think he wants the same thing I want from him.”

Granted, Longwood wasn’t the best competition to judge Sene against. Of the four players 6-7 or taller on the Lancer ros-ter, only Billy Robinson, Jr., plays more than 10 minutes a game. But for a player still getting acclimated to the college game, Wednesday night provided a major boost of confidence.

“I love playing with Assane,” said Virginia freshman Sylven Landesberg, who led the Cavaliers with 20 points. “He’s an energy guy, and he’s just long. When he blocks a shot, it’s a big block, not just a tip. He got his hands on a few of them to-night. That really gives us a lot of momentum.”

Sene missed Virginia’s first three games because there were questions about his eligibility. Once he was cleared through the NCAA, Sene dressed for the Nov. 25 game against Liberty but didn’t play until three nights later at Syracuse.

He didn’t attempt a shot in his first two games. Against Longwood, he found himself in the flow of the offense.

“I want to score to help my team to win,” Sene said. “When we win, the whole team participates. That’s what I’m trying to do. I know I’m not 100 percent there right now, but I know I’m on the way.”

As a whole, UVa’s forwards had a strong night against the smaller Lancers. Jamil Tucker, who made his first start of the season, posted his first career double-double with 11 points and a career-high 10 rebounds before rolling his right ankle in the second half. Mike Scott had eight points on 4 of 5 shooting and added six rebounds and a block. The Cavaliers (4-3) out-rebounded Longwood 49-23.

Virginia jumped on Longwood from the opening tip, scoring the game’s first nine points on its way to a 15-2 lead. The margin ballooned to 31-9 midway through the half. The Cavs hadn’t played since a Dec. 2 loss at Minnesota, their third straight loss after a 3-0 start. Having already lost at home to Liberty, the Cavs weren’t going to let Longwood catch them napping.

“This was like a Super Bowl for us, really,” said Virginia guard Sammy Zeglinski, who had 14 points and four assists. “We really wanted to put our impact on the game early and just really take away any chance they think they had of winning the game.”

Zeglinski survived a scare late in the first half when he came down hard on his surgically repaired right ankle after hit-ting a layup. He bounced back up and left the floor with help from UVa’s athletic training staff. Zeglinski was back on the floor in time for the second half, and he had cleared an important mental hurdle.

“I was actually relieved,” Zeglinski said. “Now I know I can roll it and it’s going to recover. That was the worst I’d rolled it since the surgery, and it doesn’t feel too bad now.”

Zeglinski’s shot was part of a 6-0 run to end the half after Longwood (5-6) had chopped Virginia’s lead to 36-27.

Freshman Antwan Carter led Longwood with a career-high 13 points, marking his second straight game in double figures after failing to reach 10 points in his first nine games. A 6-foot-6, 214 pounder from St. Petersburg, Fla., Carter hit 5 of 7 field goals, including one over the much taller Sene in the second half.

“Antwan’s a freshman. Martiz Washington’s a freshman. Those guys are good players,” Longwood coach Mike Gillian said. “And they’re going to help us. They need to play in games like this to keep getting better.”

DRIBBLES: Calvin Baker had 14 points, six assists and three rebounds for Virginia. … Dana Smith and Ryan Bogan each scored 11 for Longwood. … Gillian said the status of forward Kirk Williams for the rest of the season is still uncertain. He was academically ineligible the first semester and is waiting on final grades to be posted to see if he’s eligible for the second semester. Even if he is, Gillian said there’s a possibility Williams, the team’s leading scorer last year, will redshirt. … UVa freshman John Brandenburg scored his first collegiate basket in the final minute.

 

Virginia rolls over Longwood
By Whitey Reid
Published: December 18, 2008

When Virginia guard Sammy Zeglinski tumbled to the floor late in the first half of Wednesday night’s game against Liberty, the sparse crowd on hand at John Paul Jones Arena held its breath.
Zeglinski appeared to injure the same right ankle that caused him to miss all of his freshman season.
Virginia coach Dave Leitao, however, wasn’t too worried.
“I’ve seen it happen three or four times this year and he’s been able to pop right up,” Leitao said. “I think it scares him sometimes more than anything else, but I think mentally he’s over it and knows he can trust his ankle now.”
These days, Leitao seems to be trusting Zeglinski as much as anybody on his youthful roster.
Zeglinski, a redshirt freshman making his fourth straight start, was once again impressive. The Philadelphia native had 14 points, four assists and a steal to help Virginia snap a three-game losing streak with a 90-61 win over Longwood. It was UVa’s first game following a 15-day hiatus due to winter exams.
“We hadn’t had great rhythm going into the break…we were still trying to establish our rhythm,” Leitao said. “I thought that we made more good plays [tonight] than we have made in a while — practice or games. It’s a point from which we can hopefully build from.”
Virginia freshman Sylven Landesberg had 20 points and nine rebounds (but also committed six turnovers). Calvin Baker chipped in with 14 points for the Wahoos, who host Auburn on Saturday in what will likely be a stiffer test.
Overall, Zeglinski thought Virginia played OK against Longwood, one of just four Division I schools not affiliated with a conference.
“We let them make it a game in the first half,” Zeglinski said, “but at halftime we just focused on keeping our foot on the pedal and just keep attacking and not letting them back in the game.
“We just really wanted to extend the lead.”
UVa (4-3) killed Longwood on the glass, outrebounding the undersized Lancers, 49-23. That was where Landesberg did most of his damage.
Zeglinski, who has now scored in double figures in six of seven games, got really hot midway through the second half. After tallying six points in the first half, he drained three straight jumpers to give Virginia its biggest lead of the game — a 29-point margin at 90-61.
Zeglinski’s last shot, a
3-pointer, came from the right wing, about five feet behind the 3-point line and with Longwood’s Earl Gee II draped all over him.
In the first half, Virginia jumped out to a 15-2 lead. UVa’s defense wasn’t the greatest. Longwood got open looks but missed seven of its first eight shots as Virginia nailed five of its first seven attempts.
Virginia’s largest lead of the stanza came after a Jeff Jones 3-pointer made it
31-9. Longwood (5-6), however, went on an 8-0 run late in the half to trim the margin to nine before Virginia countered with a quick 6-0 spurt just before the break.
“We got within nine points and then took an ill-advised shot,” said Longwood coach Mike Gillian. “[We] were over-anxious there and it turned into points at the other end.
“Instead of weathering the storm and being down by nine, the lead was 15.”
Landesberg, as he has done all season, did a great job of getting to the free-throw line all game long; he went 8 of 8.
“We came out here with a chip on our shoulder today,” Landesberg said, “because we felt like we had something to prove — to ourselves and everybody else.”
Leitao viewed the performance as a step in the right direction.
“There are still some very key things that we have to work on,” he said, “but I thought we did many more good things today than in times past.
“So we’ll take that, move on and try and build some consistency with it.”
Dunks
Jamil Tucker got his first start of the season and posted the first double-double of his career (11 points, 10 rebounds). However, Tucker went down with an ankle injury in the second half and did not return. “I’m a little bit concerned,” Leitao said. “I’m getting an X-ray now. We’ll see what the prognosis is later on tonight or in the morning.” …Freshman John Brandenburg made an appearance for the first time in four games. He scored his first college points on a pretty jump hook in the lane. …Zeglinski said he came down on a Longwood player’s foot when he hurt his ankle. “It was the first time that I rolled it since the surgery,” he said, “but I’m happy with the way it recovered.”

 

Cavs cut out drama in victory
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: December 18, 2008

Wahoo Nation was anxious to see what 15 days of practice without a game would do for their basketball team when Virginia returned to action at home Wednesday night against Longwood.
The Cavaliers entered the two-week break with a three-game losing streak and some not so warm and fuzzy feelings about themselves. They had struggled to beat VMI, South Florida and Radford, then suffered a stinging home defeat to Liberty before losing at Syracuse and Minnesota.
The last thing the Cavs wanted on this grand re-opening was drama.
Coach Dave Leitao, a big believer in making huge improvements through practice, didn’t waste the two weeks. Instead, he put a point of emphasis on playing better team defense, playing more aggressively and competing at a higher level.
That was evident in the Cavs’ 90-61 rout of the visiting Lancers, a 5-5 team that had put up a decent fight at Virginia Tech as recently as last Sunday.
Unlike some of the earlier games this season, Leitao’s squad was able to breathe a little easier at the end of this one. The air was starting to get a little thin in John Paul Jones Arena a few weeks ago, but this time it was different.
Young guys lead the way
This time, freshman sensation Sylven Landesberg didn’t have to do all the work, even though he continued to thrive with a
20-point effort, his seventh straight game in double figures. He had a little help from his friends, such as Jamil Tucker’s first double-double of his career (11 points, 10 rebounds) in his first start of the season.
Sammy Zeglinski, who is looking more and more like the point guard everyone wants him to be, pitched in 14 points (his fifth straight double-figures performance).
And defense?
Leitao could check that off as an improvement, holding Longwood to 61 points (the fewest allowed by UVa this season) and under 40 percent shooting. If anything will put a smile on Leitao’s face, those kind of numbers will, not to mention the wide rebounding margin of 49-23.
“Even when we struggled [this season] we did a good job on the backboards, or at least held our own,” the coach said. “If we can add to that, plus the mindset that we have to help each other more on defense, we can be OK.”
A different strategy
Scouting the Lancers on film, Leitao knew Longwood would challenge his team both mentally and physically, so he focused the Cavaliers on executing some counter measures early in the game, which helped UVa bolt to an early 31-9 lead.
One of the things he really wanted to see was for his players to stay aggressive and part of that derived from more fullcourt pressure against the Lancers from the get-go.
The strategy wasn’t designed exclusively for Longwood, but something Leitao wants to do more of as the season progresses.
With all the bodies on his bench it makes sense to give his team more options while keeping an aggressive mindset. While it’s darned near impossible to pressure ACC opponents wire-to-wire because of the quality of guard play, it can be useful and effective when a team wisely picks its spots.
Leitao praised Tucker for “sharing the ball and getting guys [high percentage] shots out of double teams early,” which the coach said took a weapon away from Longwood and helped Virginia build a lead, something that hasn’t been seen at JPJ this young season.
“Physically and mentally, from an execution standpoint, that was important and set a tone for us,” Leitao said. “Some games it’s going to be press-breaking, or halfcourt offense. Today, it was to be able to do something positive through [getting high percentage shots]and it helped us out a lot.”
Zeglinski, looking more comfortable and gaining confidence at the point, said he’s busting his hump in attempting to be the point guard that Leitao looks to for leadership.
“It’s hard keeping Coach happy for a long period of time,” Zeglinski chuckled about Leitao’s hair trigger temperment. “But I like that he’s on me because it motivates me to play good.”
For all the good things Leitao saw on this night, there are other things he wants to see more of in the coming weeks, perhaps starting Saturday when Auburn comes to town.
One of those things is getting the ball inside more to his frontcourt players, particularly to Mike Scott, whether it’s by dribble penetration, passing, FedEx or UPS — Leitao wants to ball in the paint.
“When you get the ball inside the painted area, good things happen to teams,” the coach said.
There hasn’t been a lot of that around JPJ for a long time either. Until it does, there will most likely be a lot more drama surrounding this basketball team than Leitao cares to see.

 

Cavs’ Littles could come back tonight
By Jay Jenkins
Published: December 18, 2008

When it becomes official remains a mystery.
All signs at this junction, however, point to Lyndra Littles becoming certified by Virginia officials to rejoin the team in the coming days — perhaps hours — adding a key cog to the Cavaliers’ already potent lineup.
Should that certification come by 2 p.m. today, Littles will be in uniform to play tonight as Virginia returns from a lengthy exam break to host Monmouth (4-5).
What that means for the 17th-ranked Cavaliers (7-2) remains an intriguing dilemma.
Virginia women’s basketball coach Debbie Ryan could play the versatile senior at a number of positions.
“I have no idea,” Ryan said after Virginia dispatched East Carolina 80-67 in its last contest on Dec. 6. “I haven’t even thought about it because you can’t. She has to first become eligible and then I will worry about it.
“She has been working with us the entire preseason so it’s not like we don’t know where she fits.”
During the weeks that Littles was sidelined due to a certification issue with the NCAA, Ryan employed the veteran at point guard with the scout team. It allowed the coaching staff to rotate rookie Ariana Moorer and senior Britnee Millner with the first-team unit as the top ball-handling option in the rotation.
Teammates raved about Littles, a natural forward, and her ability to run the offense from the point guard position.
“It looks a lot different,” Moorer joked. “She is a post player. You are not supposed to have post players running the 1, but she is pretty good.”
The players have longed for the return of the team’s second-leading scorer from last year’s team. Littles averaged 16.8 points per game a year ago and has scored 1,392 points in her 96-game career.
“We have talked about it a little bit,” Moorer said. “It is just going to make us so much better, so much tougher. She is a great player and can do everything. We are just looking forward to having her back.”
Ryan admitted that Littles will give the program depth at numerous positions upon her return and wouldn’t rule out anything. Littles, who is 6-foot-1, can stretch a defense, evidenced by her ability to hit 17 3-pointers last year.
“She is a point guard, she is a 3, she is also a 4,” Ryan said. “We will play her just about anywhere now.
“That would be funny to see her at point, wouldn’t it? I might do that. You never know.”
Layups
Monmouth, after a 4-1 start, enters the contest mired in a four-game losing streak. … Virginia junior Monica Wright leads the ACC in scoring, averaging 21.8 points per game. Wright is also tied for second in the league in steals and third in minutes played. … Aisha Mohammed, Virginia’s center, leads the conference in offensive rebounds.