2009.02.21
UVa winning streak ends
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Virginia experienced a return of the poor starts that doomed it to a 1-8 start in ACC men's basketball play and lost at North Carolina State 72-67.
The Wolfpack (15-10 overall, 5-7 ACC) jumped to a 24-6 first-half lead that UVa cut to 31-29 before going into halftime down 33-29.
UVa (9-14, 3-9) subsequently fell behind by 17 points in the second half, 52-35, and trailed by 13 points with less than 3 1/2 minutes left. It got as close as 68-67 following a pair of Sylven Landesberg free throws with 8.7 seconds left.
Landesberg had team highs of 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Freshman C.J. Williams, averaging 3.3 points, had a team-high 16 for the Wolfpack.
Wow, UVa was down 24-6! Some fans will say that's just another "bad start" by the UVa team. But the first half is when both teams are the freshest, can play their hardest, their head coache don't worry about running up the score, and depth doesn't matter as much! In other words, talent shows up the most in the first half. Maybe UVa plays better in the second half, but often it's because UVa is down 15 points, and UVa's starters are playing against the other team's second-stringers!
Comment by Nelson — February 21, 2009 @ 7:57 pm
Coach Leitao, did you notice in the VT win, that the lineup that got the team a large lead was Zeglinski, Jones, Landesberg, Soroye, and Scott?
I understand that Sene is the future center, but the guy playing too much remains to be Baker. The 4 guys that have to play together are Zeglinski, Jones, Landesberg, and Scott. Work in Tucker, Diane and Baker as needed and see if you don't get better offensive sync. Baker is obviously one of your fav Cav's, and granted made 2 great plays to cut the lead from 10 to 5, however, he let a simple pass go through his hands late in the second half and got snuffed a few times when he got the ball inside. The other 3 guards can finish inside. As bad as the team is, look how much Jones has helped since you let him out of your "dog house".
Comment by Nita Change — February 22, 2009 @ 8:23 am
Where is the insider post about the Hokies choking another one away? Funny how we hear how great they are win they win but not so much when they lose. Randy, maybe you need to ask Doug to fill in for you since he always puts info out about the Cavs win or lose.
Comment by Greg — February 22, 2009 @ 1:35 pm
Does Randy even know how to make a post?
Comment by Joe — February 23, 2009 @ 8:28 am
I think Randy is still using a typewriter. It's probably the one Brill left him. Doug can Randy borrow your computer?
Comment by Greg — February 23, 2009 @ 8:34 am
Greg,
I can understand how our readers might be confused, but Randy King covers Tech football and Mark Berman covers Hokies' men's basketball.
There hasn't been as much overlap between UVa football and men's basketball seasons, so I cover both of those teams, not that we have the manpower to cover those two teams with a different reporter.
Can't tell you why we don't do the football and basketball blogs together but Berman has his own Tech basketball blog at http://blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/courtside/
Comment by Doug Doughty — February 23, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
Nelson,
I think the starting lineup they've been using has a lot of flaws and contributed to the poor starts in both halves against N.C. State.
Comment by Doug Doughty — February 23, 2009 @ 12:38 pm
Doug,
Thanks for the clarification. My apologies to Randy. We'll give him a hard time come football season. Now off to Berman's blog to give him a hard time!
Comment by Greg — February 23, 2009 @ 1:54 pm