White: Bennett's 'Hoos Get First Signature Win
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 12/30/2009
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- If all goes as planned at UVa, there will be too many wins over top-25 opponents to count during Tony Bennett's tenure as men's basketball coach.
There had to be a first, though, and it came Wednesday night before a fired-up crowd of 9,444 at John Paul Jones Arena.
The opponent was 24th-ranked Alabama-Birmingham, which entered on a 10-game winning streak. The Blazers left on the wrong side of a 72-63 outcome, and when the final horn sounded, Bennett's players celebrated at midcourt with chest bumps and hugs.
"I'm just happy and proud of our guys, because they battled," said Bennett, who came to Virginia last spring after three seasons as Washington State's head coach. "That was an effort win, and I've been waiting to see something like that."
Sophomore swingman Sylven Landesberg said: "It was a tough game the whole game. We didn't get anything handed to us. Everything we got, we earned."
With 12:54 left, UAB (11-2) scored to extend its lead to 50-43, and it appeared that UVa's early-season struggles against teams not considered low-major or mid-major would continue. But the Wahoos (7-4) ran off seven straight points to pull even, and a minute later they went up 53-52 on a trey by junior guard Mustapha Farrrakhan.
The lead was the first for the 'Hoos since the 15:00 mark of the opening half, and they never relinquished it.
In the final nine minutes, numerous heroes stepped forward for UVa:
*Senior center Jerome Meyinsse started the comeback with a turnaround jumper, a shot that's definitely not his trademark.
*First-year guard Jontel Evans hit the first 3-pointer of his college career to pull the Cavaliers to 50-48 and then, in the final minute, made two clutch free throws.
*Farrakhan made the go-ahead trey but, more important, played lockdown defense on UAB star Elijah Millsap, who seems likely to join his brother Paul in the NBA one day.
*Sophomore Sammy Zeglinski was fouled while sinking a trey in front of the UVa bench and added the free throw to complete a four-point play that made it 57-52.
*Junior forward Mike Scott, playing for the first time since Nov. 30, scored 6 points in the final 5:14 and gave the Cavaliers the interior presence they desperately had been seeking.
*Landesberg twice assisted Scott on baskets in the final 2:35 and made two free throws that gave the 'Hoos a 67-61 lead with 49 seconds left.
UAB led 35-30 at halftime after shooting 54.8 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes. The Blazers' accuracy dropped to 39.3 percent in the second half.
"I like it that I think we won it with our defense in the second half," Bennett said. "I'll have to watch the tape, but that always makes me happy."
In an arena whose capacity is nearly 15,000, there were thousands of empty seats. But the fans who showed up made themselves heard, particularly after a controversial foul on Meyinsse with 11:51 to play that also incensed Bennett and his assistants.
"We scheduled this game because we thought the crowd would we bad, with no students here, and that would give us an edge," Blazers coach Mike Davis said. "But they came out of the woodworks tonight and gave the team a lot of energy. It's not a home-court advantage unless you have a good crowd, and they had one here tonight."
Farrakhan said: "It was an awesome atmosphere. Words can't even describe how it felt out there. It was beautiful. Hopefully that can continue. It really helped energize the players."
For the first 20 minutes, the fans were treated to the Elijah Millsap Show. A 6-6, 210-pound guard, Millsap is a junior who transferred to UAB from Louisiana-Lafayette. Working primarily against Landesberg, Millsap tied a JPJ record for an opposing player with 17 first-half points.
"In the first half we couldn't handle him, and he kind of made it look easy, and I thought we made it harder for him [after intermission]," Bennett said.
To say the 'Hoos shut down Millsap would be inaccurate. He scored 10 points in the second half.
"But he had to work for it, and I thought our defense really rallied in the second half," Bennett said.
No. 2 led the charge. At 6-4, 175, he's considerably smaller than Millsap, but Farrakhan is quick and athletic, and he accepted the challenge given him by Bennett.
"We said, 'Hey, look, our four [other] guys are going to play the system. You go out and you have freedom' -- I'm not going to say it was a box-and-one or a pack-and-one -- but it was like, 'You try to make it hard for him to get touches, and other guys will adhere to the rules. You've got to take him out of the game,'" Bennett said. "And I thought he made [Millsap] work."
Farrakhan said: "He's a real good player. He was bigger than me, he's a little bit taller than me, and he was very aggressive ... I was just trying to make it difficult for him, force him into tough shots."
Landesberg, the ACC's rookie of the year in 2008-09, led the Cavaliers with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 block. One of his assists came on a play that, Landesberg said afterward, he would not have made as a freshman.
With Virginia leading 61-59 and the outcome still very much in doubt, Landesberg drove toward the basket, drew two defenders and then fed Scott for a shot clock-beating layup.
"That was just Sylven being a player," said Scott, who'd missed the previous three games with a high-ankle sprain. "I was just at the right place at the right time."
Landesberg said: "Last season I definitely would have never saw that. That pass definitely came from maturing and just being more comfortable with the players."
Scott was able to practice for the first time Sunday, and he estimated he was 85 percent by Wednesday night. He came off the bench to contribute 10 points and 7 rebounds in 23 minutes. Had the 6-8 239-pounder not played, UAB might have run away with this one.
"He's a threat, and I think we're a bit of a different team when you have him for an inside-outside attack," Bennett said. "He has a nice feel. I'm looking forward to him getting stronger and stronger, because there's some things we're doing offensively that I think will really benefit him."
UVa fans have come to expect shining moments from Landesberg and Scott. Evans' play was something of a revelation. The 5-11 point guard from Bethel High in Hampton had been steadily improving, but he elevated his game against the Blazers.
The final box shows Evans with a career-high 9 points (on 3-for-4 shooting), 3 assists and 2 steals. The steals, however, were anything but routine. In each case, Evans darted forward like a cobra to strip the ball from a UAB dribbler.
"When you can have a guy who can heat up the ball to initiate your defense, that makes a difference," Bennett said. "I can't tell you, playing in this system, when you have a guy that can just really light up the ball, what that does for the guys behind him."
Evans said: "It felt like I was in high school again, ripping a guy at halfcourt and then getting two points. I love doing stuff like that. And when I did that, the crowd erupted, and it gave me more confidence as the game went on."
Virginia shot better from beyond the 3-point arc (6 for 13) than UAB did from the free-throw line (5 for 15). Of the Cavaliers who hit treys, only Evans was a surprise to the Blazers' coaching staff. He's not known for his outside shooting -- Evans had attempted only one 3-pointer before Wednesday nigh -- but he took a pass from Farrakhan and calmly drilled a trey from the left corner with the shot clock about to expire.
"We work on that every day in practice, driving and kicking," Evans said. "It was a wide-open shot for me, and I just felt confident and knocked it down."
With 34.6 seconds left, Evans had two wide-open 15-footers. He hit both free throws to make it 69-63 and all but seal the victory for the Wahoos.
Coming in, Evans was 1 for 2 from the line, and he probably would not have been his teammates' -- or his coaches' -- choice to take such pressure shots.
"Jeff Jones was on me all week in practice, calling me Shaq, because I was missing in practice, and that just was running through my mind," Evans said, smiling. "I was like, 'All right, I've got to hit these.' I felt confident and knocked both of them down."
And so the Cavaliers will enter 2010 in high spirits. Their next game is Tuesday night against Texas-Pan American at JPJ.
Bennett, as coaches are wont to do, kept the victory in perspective. He noted that "just because we had a win over a top-25 team doesn't mean, 'Oh, yeah, we're set.' We've got to come back and grind it out in practice and continue to work, but it validates it a little bit and it gives them some hope. These kids haven't had too many of those, so I was very thankful for that, and again, proud to see them hang tough."
 

Postgame Quotes
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 12/30/2009
Virginia head coach Tony Bennett

On the win over a nationally ranked opponent
“[UAB] is a talented team. It’s a prelude to what we’re going to see in the ACC. We had to play well to be in it. We didn’t play perfect by any means, early on they got baskets at the rim and in the paint, but we toughened up as the game went on and it was definitely a team effort. That’s what I liked about it. Sammy [Zeglinski] did a nice job finding people. Mike Scott helped us. I can go down the list and it was a complete team effort. I like it that I think we won it with our defense in the second half, I’ll have to watch the tape, but that always makes me happy.”

On the all-around play of Mustapha Farrakhan
“You can’t be a guy that if your first shot doesn’t go in, you’re a mess. That doesn’t work at this level. We challenged him in the second half and we said our four guys are going to play the system – you go out and you have freedom to try and make, I’m not going to say it was a box-and-one or a pack-and-one but it was like we wanted to make it hard for [Elijah Millsap] to get touches. And I thought he made him work. He’s quick laterally, as is Jontel [Evans], and we just have to make guys make tough shots the whole game. It was too easy for him in the first half. He’s talented.”

On the basket by Mike Scott that gave UVa a four-point lead with 2:35 to play
“We were trying to run a little clock. We got a little hectic and then we tried to slow it down a little bit. We wanted to run a flat ball screen and let Sylven [Landesberg] go one-four low and make a play. He made a terrific play. He made a couple of those. Like I said, when Sylven, that completeness, that’s so attractive when you see him driving and dropping. It was a huge basket for us. Mike made a heck of a post move.”

On his team’s defensive toughness
“I told our guys, just battle and use that energy to play position defense. Playing this system, when you have a guy [Jontel Evans] that can just really light up the ball, what that does for the guys behind him, it makes them set their defense out there a little further. So that initiates it and then the other guys really dig it in and play it. That’s what it will take, of course, against the teams we play.”

On the return of Mike Scott to the line-up
“He’s not full strength and you can see that. I’m sure he’ll feel it tomorrow, he had 23 minutes and he only really had three practices. He had seven rebounds, a big post move. A couple times he got beat down the floor, I think he had a little rust on him. But he’s a threat. I think we’re a different team when we have him coming inside-outside. He has a nice feel. I’m looking forward to him getting stronger and stronger.

On defeating his first top-25 opponent as head coach at Virginia
“It’s good. For our guys. The way I’m trying to do it with them … I’m not letting them take shortcuts. I’m demanding certain things defensively. We try and hold them accountable for staying in the stance. Offensively we’re asking them to make the extra pass and be really team-oriented. It’s not an easy way, but, it’s something that when it’s played well stands up to good competition.”
________________________________________

UAB Head Coach Mike Davis

Opening Statement:
“Virginia did everything they needed to do to win the basketball game and I tip my hat to those guys. They made shots and rebounded when they needed to. We didn’t make our shots when we needed them and that had a lot to do with it.”

On UVa’s defense in the second half:
“They made it tough for us. They contested some shots and took away our driving lanes. In the first half I thought both teams gave up a lot of baskets. We fought hard in the second half but just came up short.”

On Virginia’s 14-2 stretch that included four 3-pointers in the second half:
“We knew they could shoot the basketball and everyone who made a three who we thought could, with the exception of No. 1 (Jontel Evans). They made open shots; they made big shots. I thought we fought hard.”

On his team going 5-for-15 at the line:
“That was bad, but we missed some that really hurt. We needed to cut the lead to two or three and ended up missing them. But that is just a part of the game.”

On Virginia’s Sylven Landesberg:
“When you’re the Rookie of the Year in the ACC, that tells you he is a great player. We knew he could play. I was a little disappointed that we let him catch the ball so easily.

On the crowd:
“We scheduled this game because we thought the crowd would we bad, with no students here, and that would give us an edge. But they came out of the woodwork tonight and gave the team a lot of energy. It’s not a home court advantage unless you have a good crowd and they had one here tonight.”
 

Postgame Notes
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 12/30/2009
VIRGINIA BASKETBALL
Postgame Notes
Virginia 72, #24 UAB 63

Team Notes
• Virginia improves to 5-5 vs. ranked opponents at JPJA (2-1 vs. ranked non-conference opponents)
• The win is the first over a ranked opponent for the Cavaliers under Tony Bennett
• The victory was the Cavaliers’ first win this season by single-digits

Individual Notes
• Sylven Landesberg (19 pts) scored in double figures for the 11th time this season (every game) and the 34th time in his career
• Mike Scott (10 pts) scored in double figures for the sixth time this season and the 26th time in his career
• Mustapha Farrakhan (10 pts) scored in double figures for the fifth time this season and the ninth time in his career
• Jerome Meyinsse had a season-high six points
• Calvin Baker had a season-high six assists
• Mike Scott led Virginia with seven rebounds and has led the team in rebounding in every game he has played this season

Player Career Highs
• Jontel Evans had a career-high nine points

John Paul Jones Arena Records
• Elijah Millsap’s 17 first-half points tied a JPJA opponent record (fourth time an opponent scored 17 first half points)
 

Cavs knock off No. 24 Blazers
Freshman point guard Jontel Evans sparks UVa.
By Doug Doughty
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CHARLOTTESVILLE -- As the style of play started to cross the line from basketball to football Wednesday night, it helped Virginia to have a 1,000-yard rusher on its side.

Freshman point guard Jontel Evans, also a football standout at Hampton's Bethel High School, provided the spark as UVa defeated a ranked opponent for the first time under first-year men's basketball coach Tony Bennett.

The Cavaliers overcame a seven-point second-half deficit to beat 24th-ranked UAB 72-63 in a highly physical affair at John Paul Jones Arena.

The Blazers entered the game as a 2 12-point underdog but had not lost a game since Nov. 13, winning 10 games in a row in building an 11-1 record.

They may have accounted for a Cavaliers' team that had lost three games by five points or fewer, but not for a crowd of 9,444 that was UVa's largest since its opener.

"We scheduled this game when we did because we thought they'd have a bad crowd," UAB coach Mike Davis said. "We figured the students wouldn't be there, but fans came out of the woodwork."

The Cavaliers (7-4) gave them plenty of inspiration, outscoring the Blazers 14-2 during a five-minute, 40-second stretch of the second half.

The barrage included 3-pointers by Evans, Mustapha Farrakhan and Sammy Zeglinski, with Zeglinski turning a one-point lead into a five-point spread when he was fouled and converted a free throw for a four-point play.

"We knew they had guys who could make the '3,' " Davis said. "Everybody who made a '3' was somebody who we thought could hit the '3,' all except that No. 1 [Evans]."

UAB (11-2) led by as many as eight points in the first half and Davis had his eyes on a 10-point lead before Evans stripped the ball from Jamarr Sanders and drove for a layup that trimmed the Blazers' lead to 31-28.

Evans finished with nine points, three assists, two steals and zero turnovers in 23 minutes, including 17 in the second half.

Sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg had a game-high 19 points for Virginia and was joined in double figures by two players who did not start, juniors Farrakhan and Mike Scott.

Scott, who had been sidelined by a high-ankle sprain, was making his first appearance in exactly one month.

The Cavaliers needed his rebounding against a UAB squad that starts four guards but had outrebounded its previous by 14.5 rebounds per game. UAB had a 33-32 rebounding edge over the Cavaliers.

Elijah Millsap, a 6-foot-6, 210-pounder who is the brother of Utah Jazz strongman and ex-NCAA rebounding champ Paul Millsap, finished with game highs of 27 points and 11 rebounds.

Millsap had 17 points by the half as UAB grabbed a 35-30 lead, but Bennett went small and put Farrakhan (6-4, 175) on him.

"We challenged him in the second half," Bennett said. "We said our [other] four guys are going to play the system but we gave him the freedom to go out and make it hard for [Millsap] to get touches. And I thought he made him work."

UAB was able to cut UVa's lead to 61-59 with 3:09 remaining, at which point UVa had gone more than 3 12 minutes without taking a shot from the field, but Landesberg was able to pull defenders his way on a drive to the hoop and then feed Scott for an easy bucket that restored a four-point lead for UVa with 2:35 left.

"He draws a lot of attention," said Scott. "It's a play we work on a lot."

It helped down the stretch that UAB was only 5-of-15 from the free-throw line. UVa had lost 10 of its previous 11 games to ranked opponents, but it was the Cavaliers who were playing more freely at the end.

"We get ranked 24th -- and we haven't been ranked since I've been here -- and now there's all sorts of hoopla," said Davis, who is in his fourth year at UAB after taking Indiana to the Final Four. "We were playing to keep our ranking rather than playing the way that got us ranked in the first place."

Second-half surge lifts Cavs past No. 24 UAB
By Michael Phillips
Published: December 31, 2009
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CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Virginia associate head coach Ritchie McKay teaches his guards two principles -- room and rhythm.

Before a player takes a 3-pointer, he has to have enough room that the shot won't get blocked or tipped, and he has to be in the rhythm.

The Cavs had both for a six-minute stretch last night, pulling off a 72-63 come-from-behind victory against No. 24 Alabama-Birmingham. It was the team's biggest victory of the season, and the crowd was behind U.Va. the whole way.

"It was an awesome atmosphere," guard Mustapha Farrakhan said. "Words can't even describe how it felt out there. It was beautiful. Hopefully, that will continue. It really helped to energize the players."

Farrakhan and Jontel Evans were the ones doing their part to get the crowd going, starting the 14-2 run. Each hit a 3-pointer, and the Blazers' lead was cut to two with 12 minutes remaining. After Evans tied the game, Farrakhan gave the Cavs their first lead since the opening minutes with another 3-pointer.

Evans came up big again during the game's final minute. He drained a pair of free throws to expand the Cavaliers' lead from four to six points.

Evans had struggled from the free-throw line all week in practice. But if he was nervous last night, he concealked it well. He told the team's top player, Sylven Landesberg, "I got this."

"His composure is ridiculous," Landesberg said.

Landesberg, as usual, led the team with 19 points, but played with an extra level of intensity in his first game this season against a ranked opponent.

The crowd followed along, hitting its loudest noise levels of the year during the second-half run occasionally supporting the team, occasionally disparaging the referees, who were allowing a fast-paced, physical game at the time. UAB coach Mike Davis was impressed with the noise.

"We scheduled this game because we thought the crowd would be bad, with no students here, and that would give us an edge," he said. "But they came out of the woodwork and gave the team a lot of energy. It's not a home-court advantage unless you have a good crowd, and they had one here."

The Cavs finished 6-for-13 from behind the arc, a number that would have been higher if it weren't for a 1-for-5 outing from Calvin Baker, who took some ill-advised shots early in the shot clock.

By the final minutes, 10 different Cavs had taken the court, with just two playing single-digit minutes. Assane Sene saw action only in the first half, giving way to a healthy Mike Scott, who was easing his way back from an ankle sprain.

"It was just the adrenaline I was able to play without thinking about it," Scott said. "I'll be 100 percent by the next game."

The whole team seemed to be energized in the final minutes, celebrating the first single-digit victory of the year. U.Va. coach Tony Bennett said the success will pay dividends in the future. He said his team's hard work is paying off, especially after the frustration of a close loss to Auburn on the road.

"That one still bothers me because I feel like we had a chance there," he said. "The only way you have success is to get yourself in those spots, do well, and put that in the memory bank."

Cavs knock off Blazers
By Whitey Reid
Published: December 31, 2009
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Clipboards were slammed. Curse words could be heard all the way across the court from the Virginia bench. UVa coach Tony Bennett, not to mention the fans at John Paul Jones Arena, were irate.

About midway through the second half of Wednesday night’s Virginia-UAB game, Jerome Meyinsse and Will Sherrill had appeared to play excellent defense on UAB’s Kenneth Cooper.

Meyinsse, inexplicably, was called for a foul.

But the play turned out to be one of the best things to happen to Virginia. Cooper missed both free throws, and the sequence seemed to give Virginia a much-needed shot of adrenaline.

“I think the crowd got into it — I was a little excited about that,” Bennett said. “I just told our guys to battle and use that energy to play position defense.”

Virginia did exactly that.

The Cavaliers, thanks to gritty hustle plays, strong defense and timely shooting, notched the biggest win of the Bennett era, a 72-63 victory over UAB in front of a crowd of 9,444.

“I’m just happy and proud of the guys,” Bennett said, “because they battled.

“That was an effort win and I’ve been waiting to see something like that.”

For one of the first times this season, Virginia (7-4) played true Bennett Ball. UVa took good care of the basketball, committing just 12 turnovers and held the Blazers, who had won 10 straight games, to 39 percent shooting in the second half.

“We needed a win like this to see where we’re at,” said Virginia guard Sammy Zeglinski (nine points). “We wanted to beat a good team like that going into the ACC. We have one more game left [against Texas Pan-American next Tuesday], and then it’s for real.”

Added Sylven Landesberg, who scored a team-high 19 points: “It was a huge win. I think early in the year we let go some close losses. We really needed this one and we came out with that mentality and were able to pull it out.”

Virginia trailed 35-30 at the break, then fell down by eight points after UAB’s Jamarr Sanders knocked in a 3-pointer.

But then UVa started to chip into the lead.

Two Landesberg jumpers and a Mike Scott layup off a sweet pass from Jontel Evans cut the lead to two. Scott, playing for the first time in three games, gave Virginia a big lift, notching 10 points and seven boards off the bench.

UVa took its first lead since the early moments when Mustapha Farrakhan (10 points) — shortly after the questionable foul call on Meyinsse — drained a 3-pointer.

Zeglinski said the foul call provided the perfect fuel. “You could kind of feel the momentum shifting our way,” he said. “The crowd really got into and we played pretty well down the stretch defensively.”

Two minutes later, Zeglinski drained a 3 from the corner as he was being fouled for a 4-point play. “I don’t think I got fouled,” Zeglinski said. “I just threw my leg out and it went it.”

It was that kind of night for Virginia.

UVa, thanks to clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch and some wretched charity work by the Blazers — they were just 5 of 15 from the stripe — was able to pull away.

Bennett said he was happy to get a win over a Top-25 team. It was the program’s first since a victory over Clemson last season.

“That’s a prelude,” Bennett said. “We needed that game and [as a prelude] to what we’re going to see in the ACC.

“We had to play well to be in. We didn’t play to be in it. We didn’t play perfect by any means early. They got more baskets in the paint and offensive rebounds, but we toughened up as the game wore on, and it was definitely a team effort. That’s what I liked about it.”

Virginia opens its ACC season on Jan. 9 at N.C. State.

“Just because you have a win over a top 25 team doesn’t mean you’re set,” Bennett said. “You’ve got to come back and grind it out in practice and continue to work.

“But [this] win validates it a little bit and it gives them some hope. These kids haven’t had too many of those, so I was thankful for that.”
 

A statement win for UVa and its coach
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: December 31, 2009
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When Alabama-Birmingham coach Mike Davis put his schedule together, he believed taking a Dec. 30 game at Virginia wouldn’t be a bad deal for his basketball team.

Davis and his 24th-ranked Blazers got a few surprises Wednesday night when the host Cavaliers upset UAB, 72-63, for the first win over a ranked opponent under new coach Tony Bennett.

Davis, who formerly succeeded Bobby Knight at Indiana, said he thought scheduling a game this late in December wouldn’t be a disadvantage for his team, now 11-2.

“We thought the crowd would be pretty bad ... no students here,” Davis said. “But they came out of the woodwork and gave [Virginia] a lot of energy.”

Attendance was listed at 9,444, although the crowd didn’t seem to really be into the action until late in the first half when Davis got yet another surprise when UVa freshman guard Jontel Evans came alive.

Freshman spark

The Cavaliers were down by nine with 3:24 remaining before the break when Sylven Landesberg scored a free throw and a basket. But it was Evans who ignited a Wahoo rally with a dramatic steal and layup to chop UAB’s lead from nine to just three at 31-28 at the 2:14 mark.

“That was a big-time steal at the end of the first half that kind of got [UVa] going,” Davis said. “I thought we would go up by 10 at the half, but instead, I had to put my point guard back into the game because of the pressure [Evans] put on the ball.”

That hurt UAB a little, because guard Aaron Johnson has played a lot of minutes and Davis was trying to rest him as much as possible.

Not on this night, not with a ballhawk like Evans playing suffocating defense.

Instead, Johnson must have been humming “Me and My Shadow,” because of Evans’ sticky play.

While UVa trailed 35-30 at the half, Davis sensed his team wasn’t going to have the easy time his once-beaten team had expected.

That’ll do

Bennett had been waiting on an opportunity like this one. He thought it might come at Auburn a few weeks ago, but the Cavs couldn’t close the deal.

However, a home tilt against a nationally-ranked opponent would work just fine.

It was one of those true team wins that coaches love to talk about. If Bennett was keeping a checklist, he could scratch off almost everyone on the roster on this particular night.

Evans came up big late as well, and we’ll get to that in a minute. But, yet another perhaps somewhat unexpected hero stepped up to make a big contribution to the upset and provide yet another surprise for Davis’ Blazers.

UAB’s beastly Elijah Millsap pretty much had his way with the Wahoos in the first half, scoring 17 points, tying a JPJ opponent record for a first half. Virginia really didn’t have an answer at the time.

Bennett and staff decided to put guard Mustapha Farrakhan on Millsap and see what might happen. Farrakhan, at 6-foot-4, 175 pounds, was giving up a substantial size differential to the 6-foot-6, 210-pound Millsap.

But Bennett made the orders to Farrakhan simple: just sic ’em.

“We challenged [Farrakhan] in the second half,” Bennett said. “We said, ‘Hey, look, our other four guys are going to play the system. I’m not going to say it was a box-and-one or a pack-and-one, but you make it hard for [Millsap] to get touches. You’ve got to take him out of the game.”

Farrakhan had the freedom to do whatever he wanted defensively to try to shut Millsap down, or at least slow him down. With quick feet and good lateral movement, the faster Farrakhan did just that, limiting Millsap’s touches and denying him the ball at every turn.

Millsap became a bit frustrated, took only nine shots in the second half and scored 10 points, mostly on drives to the basket. But, hey, it was a lot better than letting him practically score at will.

“I knew he was a strong driver going to his right hand and I was athletic enough to contest his shot and anticipate his drive,” said Farrakhan, who also in double figures (10 points) for the fifth time this season.

With Millsap being contained by Farrakhan’s defense and most everyone in a Virginia uniform contributing, and the crowd growing louder as the game became more intense, Davis sensed his team was in trouble, particularly the final 10 minutes when he said the Blazers played like they were down 10 with two minutes to go, rather than being within striking distance most of the way.

With 12:57 to play and trailing 50-43, Virginia came on. This time Evans provided offensive spark with a big 3-point basket and a drive to the hoop to knot the game at 50with 10:26 to go, a huge part of a 14-2 UVa run.

“[Evans] made a big shot,” Davis said. “I wouldn’t say it was a dagger, but it was close.”

Landesberg wasn’t a bit surprised that the freshman from Hampton played a huge role.

“He’s able to put so much pressure on the ball and force turnovers,” Landesberg said. “That helps because the opposing point guard can’t get into the offense, can’t do what he wants to do. The 3-pointer was a bonus. For him to come into this environment in this kind of game, well, he got a little taste of what it’s going to be like in the ACC.”

And maybe Virginia got a taste of what it’s like to win an important game.

That’s something Bennett has be thirsting for.
 

Virginia beats No. 24 UAB, 72-63, in men's basketball
By Zach Berman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 31, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Sylven Landesberg waved his arms toward the John Paul Jones Arena crowd on Wednesday, encouraging fans to chant louder in the waning seconds of the first major victory of the Tony Bennett era. Bennett continued barking instructions, coaching until the final buzzer of Virginia's 72-63 victory over No. 24 Alabama-Birmingham.

UAB's name will not resonate much with the general public, but wins over Butler and Cincinnati propelled the Blazers into the top 25. The victory injected confidence into Virginia (7-4), which had not beaten a team in a power conference or in the top 25 before Wednesday.

"We've been knocking on the door of a lot of close losses," sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski said, referencing three last-minute losses to power-conference opponents. "Tonight was a good night to see where we're at talent-wise. They're a very skilled team, have a lot of athletes. So, they were a good test going into the ACC. I think we'll keep getting better, but tonight we showed defensively we can really bear down and make adjustments during the game to get it done."

Zeglinski touched on a point that most pleased Bennett. The Cavaliers trailed through much of the game, including a five-point halftime deficit and seven points as late as seven minutes into the second half. They frequently counted on role players such as freshmen guard Jontel Evans, junior guard Mustapha Farrakhan and senior center Jerome Meyinsse to lead the team back into contention.

The defense elevated its performance, too, holding UAB (11-2) to 39 percent from the field in the second half after allowing the Blazers to connect on 55 percent of their shots in the first half. The difference was Evans, who displays an ability to play on-the-ball defense that is uncanny for a freshman.

"When you can have a guy who can heat up the ball to initiate your defense, that makes a difference," Bennett said. "But we know we had to win it with our defense, and guys made some plays down the stretch, which you have to have."

Those plays came from players throughout the roster, including a three-pointer by Evans when the shot clock was expiring, a four-point play by Zeglinski to give the Cavaliers a five-point lead with just more than seven minutes remaining and a pivotal assist from Landesberg to Mike Scott with 80 seconds remaining to take a 65-61 lead.

"Last season, I never would have saw that," said Landesberg, who scored 19 points and added six rebounds and four assists. "That pass definitely came from maturing and being more comfortable with the players."

One of those players is Scott, who had missed the previous three games with a high-ankle sprain. Scott still is not fully healthy, evidenced by playing only 23 minutes. But he scored 10 points with seven rebounds and proved that the Cavaliers are a more balanced team when he can play in the interior.

His return to the lineup comes at the right time for Virginia, which has just more than one week before it begins conference games on Jan. 9 at North Carolina State. The team's ACC prospects appeared slim before Wednesday, and much improvement remains if the Cavaliers are to even threaten to become a contender. But Wednesday's marquee win was the first of its kind for this year's group and for the Bennett era.

"It's something that just because you have a win over a top 25 team doesn't mean, 'Oh, yeah, we're set,' " Bennett said. "But it validates it a little bit. And it gives them some hope. These kids haven't had too many of those, so I was pretty thankful of that."

UVa coaching update - Doug Doughty | Roanoake Times

A name I’m hearing in connection with Virginia’s new football staff is Chip West, who is the assistant head coach, recruiting coordinator and secondary coach at Old Dominion.

ODU’s website lists West’s recruiting territory as the southeast corner of Virginia that is known by its telephone area code, 757. West played in the Peninsula District at Kecoughtan High School, where he was coached by current Virginia Tech assistant Curt Newsome, and was an All-CIAA wide receiver at Livingstone (N.C.).

Prior to joining the ODU staff, West was an assistant coach for three years at James Madison, where he coached defensive backs. My source says that West might share secondary duties with Anthony Poindexter, the lone holdover from the staff of deposed ex-Virginia coach Al Groh.

West also has worked at West Virginia, Colgate and Fordham.

In other news pertaining to Virginia’s football coaching staff, past and present, I’m told that 2009 UVa defensive line coach Chad Wilt has indicated on Facebook that he will join the staff of new Richmond head coach Latrell Scott.

Wilt would become the fourth 2009 UVa assistant linked to the staff that will fill vacancies created when London went to Virginia. The others are Scott and prospective Spiders coordinators Wayne Lineburg (offense) and Bob Trott (defense).

White: London Lands Blue-Chip "Recruit"
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 12/30/2009
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- As holiday gifts go, this qualifies as an extra-special one for Mike London. Ras-I Dowling has decided to return to UVa for his senior year.
"I thought about it a lot," Dowling said Wednesday morning. "I think it'll be in my best interest to get my degree, work on my game and be at my maximum when it's time for me to go to the NFL."
A 6-2, 200-pound cornerback, Dowling was named to the all-ACC second team as a sophomore and again as a junior. In 2010, he'll anchor a secondary that also returns such players as cornerbacks Chase Minnifield and Dom Joseph and safeties Corey Mosley and Rodney McLeod.
"Obviously that's probably the biggest recruit we'll get this year," said UVa assistant coach Anthony Poindexter, who was an All-America safety for George Welsh in the '90s.
"I'm happy to have him back. I know it was a tough decision for the kid, and it's the same decision I had to make, but obviously our program is going to benefit from him being back, not only on the field, but off the field, too. He's a class act."
Dowling played as a true freshman in 2007, when London was UVa's defensive coordinator. London left in January '08 to become head coach at the University of Richmond. He returned to UVa early this month to replace Al Groh.
"It helps a lot, knowing the coach that's coming in," said Dowling, who's from Chesapeake. "I know what kind of coach he is."
Some mock drafts for 2010 projected Dowling as a first-round pick, but he said his family never pressured him to turn pro early.
"They're going to be behind me 100 percent, so they're very supportive of any decision that I make," he said.
The same is true for Poindexter, the Wahoos' secondary coach this season.
"Dex basically is just like my mom and dad," Dowling said. "Any decision that I make, he's behind me 100 percent. Dex has been there from Day One."
Poindexter knows first-hand the risk a talented player runs by returning to school. In the seventh game of his senior season at UVa, Poindexter suffered extensive ligament damage in his left knee, and he never fully recovered from that catastrophic injury.
Had he left UVa after his junior season, Poindexter probably would have been a first-round draft choice. He plummeted to the seventh round after his senior year and then had a brief NFL career.
Of Dowling's options, Poindexter said, "All I want to do is help him get all the right information so he can make a good, sound decision. After he got the information, he said he wanted to come back, but I would have supported him either way it went."
As a junior, Dowling had three interceptions, broke up a team-high eight passes, forced two fumbles and recovered a fumble. He averaged 4.8 tackles per game and had 2.5 tackles for loss, including a sack. He struggled in the regular-season finale against Virginia Tech, though, and sees several areas in which he can improve.
"It wasn't the season that I wanted it to be. It could have been a lot better," Dowling said. "I have a lot to work on this offseason ... I can get better on my tackling and my reaction time, reacting more to the receivers. My whole game basically. And I can be more of a leader out there."
Dowling, 21, needs to "just keep playing," Poindexter said. "Obviously, the kid's got a lot of upside. He's big, he's tall, he's long.
"There are certain things that, if he keeps maturing as a player, he'll get better at. Basically all he's got to do is hone some things. He's got a lot of God-given gifts you can't teach."

 

No. 18 Wrestling Takes Fifth at Southern Scuffle
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 12/30/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Propelled by eight placewinners, the No. 18 Virginia wrestling team finished in fifth place Wednesday in the Southern Scuffle, hosted by UNC Greensboro at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center in Greensboro, N.C. The Cavaliers recorded 96.5 points, just one point outside of fourth place, held by No. 20 Edinboro. No. 8 Cornell won the event with 164 points and was followed by No. 5 Minnesota (151.5) and No. 13 Indiana (131.5).
Fourth-ranked Chris Henrich (Jr., Lansdale, Pa.) notched UVa's top finish with a runner-up standing at 174 pounds. Henrich (15-2) picked up a 4-0 win over No. 10 Ryan Patrovich of Hofstra in the semifinals before dropping a 6-1 decision to top-ranked Mack Lewnes of Cornell in the championship match.
At 184 pounds, Mike Salopek (R-Fr., North Huntingdon, Pa.) notched a third-place podium finish. Salopek blanked Virginia Tech's Tommy Spellman, 2-0, in the consolation championship. Jon Fausey (Fr., Dalmatia, Pa.), competing unattached, scored an eighth-place finish at 184.
Nick Nelson (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.), competing unattached for UVa, scored an impressive third-place finish at 141 pounds. He finished with seven wins in the tournament, including a 3-2 decision over Ohio's Germane Lindsay to claim the third-place match.
Derek Valenti (So., Newton, N.J.) took seventh at 141 after eking out a 1-0 decision over Penn's Zach Kemmerer in the seventh-place match.
No. 16 Danny Gonsor (So., Cleveland, Ohio), after suffering an upset loss Tuesday, rebounded to take fifth place at 157 pounds. He finished with a pin of Ohio's Clay Tucker in the fifth-place bout. Gonsor's lone loss Wednesday was a narrow 7-5 defeat to No. 4 Matt Moley of Bloomsburg, a defending All-American.
Ross Gitomer (Sr., Flemington, N.J.) placed sixth at 125 pounds. His tournament was highlighted by a 3-2 upset of No. 5 Eric Morrill of Edinboro on Tuesday. He fell into the consolation bracket after dropping a 7-0 decision to top-ranked Troy Nickerson of Cornell, the reigning national champion. Morrill bounced Gitomer in the fifth-place match with a 3-1 win which needed two sudden victory periods.
Matt Snyder (R-Fr., Lewistown, Pa.) nabbed seventh place at 125. He finished strong with a 16-9 victory over UNCG's Eric Chandler in the seventh-place bout.
Virginia starts the 2010 portion of its schedule Jan. 8-9 at the Virginia Duals in Hampton. Brackets for the event will be announced early next week.
Final Team Standings
1. No. 8 Cornell, 164
2. No. 5 Minnesota, 151.5
3. No. 13 Indiana, 131.5
4. No. 20 Edinboro, 97.5
5. No. 18 Virginia, 96.5
6. Ohio, 85.5
7. No. 19 Kent State, 75.5
8. Bloomsburg, 74
9. North Carolina, 68.5
10. Navy, 65.5
 

Starsia's Club to Get Lots of TV Time
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 12/30/2009
Dec. 30, 2009
5:58 p.m.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- There's still snow on the ground, and temperatures will drop well below freezing at night this week.

Which means it's a perfect time to talk lacrosse, right?

ESPN has released its broadcast schedule for the coming season, and Dom Starsia's team will be showcased often in 2010, mostly on ESPNU.

The Cavaliers' regular-season appearances:

*Saturday, March 6 - Syracuse, 4 p.m., ESPN360.com

*Sunday, March 21 - at Towson, noon, ESPNU

*Saturday, March 27 - Johns Hopkins, noon, ESPN2

*Saturday, April 3 - at Maryland, 8 p.m., ESPNU

*Saturday, April 10 - North Carolina in Big City Classic at East Rutherford, N.J., 4 p.m., ESPNU

*Saturday, April 17 - Duke, 8:30 p.m., ESPNU

In the 16-team NCAA tournament, all eight first-round games and every quarterfinal will be shown on ESPNU.

ESPN2 will carry the May 29 semifinals (4 and 6:30 p.m.), and ESPN will broadcast the May 31 championship game (3:30 p.m.).

-- Jeff White

 

White: Wright Continues Climb Up Ladder
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 12/29/2009
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- With her next point, Monica Wright will take sole possession of second place on UVa's all-time scoring list for women's basketball. By the middle of January, if not sooner, the senior from Woodbridge figures to be No. 1.
With 2,058 career points, she's tied for second with former star Heather Burge, and Wright is nearing the school record of 2,135 set by the incomparable Dawn Staley.
Wright pulled even with Burge on Tuesday night, scoring 19 points in the championship game of the Marriott Cavalier Classic at John Paul Jones Arena. The 5-11 guard also tied the school record with 10 steals and added 6 rebounds and 5 assists to help 23rd-ranked Virginia beat Liberty 63-54.
She wasn't perfect -- Wright had 7 of her team's 20 turnovers -- but she was too much for the Lady Flames (7-3). The tournament MVP?
Guess 'Hoo.
"She just played outstanding for us," UVa coach Debbie Ryan said of Wright. "I just thought that with everything that's been going on for her, she did an outstanding job of stepping up tonight and making things happen, just staying focused and in the game the whole time."
Basketball hasn't been Wright's only focus during the holiday break. Her grandmother recently passed away, and Wright has worried more about family than about personal feats.
"It's really a non-issue right now," Wright said Tuesday when asked about the scoring record. "This is not even in my mind right now at all. At all.
"So it's not really going to be a relief. It's a great accomplishment. I'm in the same company as Dawn Staley, Wendy [Palmer], some amazing players, so I'm definitely going to feel honored. But I'm just trying not to pay attention to it, because that's less pressure on me."
Ryan said: "I don't think [the record is] really part of what she's thinking about. She's thinking about making this team better and helping people get better, and I think that's part of her job. She's not going to be good by herself. She knows she needs other people, and she's helping to develop some of these other kids."
Those "kids" include freshmen China Crosby, Simone Egwu and Telia McCall. Crosby, a 5-6 point guard, and Egwu, a 6-3 center, started against Liberty, and both played well.
Crosby came in shooting 11.5 percent from 3-point range, but she was 1 for 2 from beyond the arc Tuesday night, and her trey pushed Virginia's lead to six with 6:17 left. She finished with 9 points, 4 assists and 2 steals, along with 5 turnovers.
"She played a very, very good game tonight," Ryan said. "She really did. She controlled the game, she ran offense, she got through the pressure most of the time. Her turnovers, I think, were mostly trying to feed the ball somewhere as opposed to trying to beat the pressure."
McCall, a 6-1 forward, came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points, on 5-for-6 shooting, in 21 minutes. Nerves can be a problem for McCall, but she showed poise against Liberty.
"When I get in, I just try to play hard," she said.
In the end, the difference between victory and defeat for the Wahoos (9-3) was the play of Wright. In a game marred by 35 personal fouls and 50 turnovers -- 50! -- she delivered when her team needed her most.
Wright passed to Crosby for the 3-pointer that made it 54-48. She went backdoor and scored off a perfect lob pass from Whitny Edwards to make it 56-48, and she assisted on the McCall basket that gave the 'Hoos an 11-point lead with 3:33 left. Then, in the final minute, Wright took two charges.
She led all scorers, and she could have had more points. After collecting Nos. 18 and 19 with 5:08 left, Wright twice missed shots that would have moved her past Burge on UVa's scoring list.
The Cavaliers' next game is Saturday night at Colorado, where Wright's pursuit of Staley will again be a storyline to follow. She's OK with that.
"For most of the season I have been able to ignore it, but just recently, hearing about it and everybody saying stuff, it's kind of reminded me about what's actually going on," Wright said.
"But for the most part, there's so much else we have to focus on, I really don't think about it that much at all. Because we're worried about teams, we're going through scouting reports, we're practicing, there are just other things that are on my mind. So it's not that serious."