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Don't look
now, Virginia fans, but your team just might win or tie for theAtlantic Coast Conference regular season title.
Some observers might think I'm nuts, but this idea is not crazy at all.
Besides, look at the ACC landscape this morning.
Yeah, you thought resurgent NC State would beat Virginia Tech and North
Carolina, two ranked teams, back to back. Sure you did.
Duke, picked to finish second in the league, still has two games with the
Tar Heels and trips to Maryland and Clemson and might finish a pedestrian
10-6 in the ACC.
And the Hokies, media darlings in recent weeks, have lost two games in a row
in the league to the Wolfpack and Boston College.
UNC certainly has the depth and the talent to win it all, never mind the ACC
regular season title or tournament crown. But Carolina will almost certainly
face a much more formidable challenge in an NCAA tournament Elite Eight game
than presented by the Wolfpack or the Hokies, so Tar Heel nation has ample
reason to be concerned about missing out on Atlanta and the Final Four.
So go ahead the lock me up for this 'Virginia wins or shares the ACC idea'.
It's shaping up as a frenzied second half in the league.
Virginia, which battled back from a 13-point Duke lead and held the Blue
Devils scoreless from the 3:42 mark of the second half to the final horn, is
sitting pretty this morning with five wins in a row.
The Cavaliers, who downed Miami Saturday, are 7-2 overall in the ACC, tied
with Boston College.
The Cavaliers, who rode the J.R. Reynolds/Sean Singletary horse to an
electrifying 68-66 overtime win over the Blue Devils Thursday, have a very
favorable second half ACC schedule.
We'll know a heck of a lot more this week, because the Cavaliers have two
demanding road tests, at Maryland tomorrow and Virginia Tech Saturday.
Granted, Virginia traditionally has not played well on the road in the ACC
and certainly could draw blanks in both games. But if Virginia can get past
this week unscathed, look out.
After that, however, Virginia gets a breather February 13 with Longwood,
followed by three of its last five conference games at home (Florida State,
Feb. 17, Georgia Tech, Feb. 24 and Virginia Tech, March 1).
Virginia's two road games are with Miami and Wake Forest, so the Cavs might
catch a break with their second half conference slate.
Certainly, the Cavaliers cleared a major hurdle by holding off the Blue
Devils at home Thursday in one of the most entertaining ACC games of the
season.
The theme of the night can be summed up in one word: resiliency.
Reynolds, who finished with 25 points and personally refused to let the
Cavaliers lose, battled back from painful cramping to help drop the Blue
Devils to 5-3 in the ACC. (Duke hosted Florida State yesterday afternoon on
Super Bowl Sunday).
And Singletary, who shook off a strong defensive effort by Duke's DeMarcus
Nelson, had 17, including the heartstopping, game-winning basket with one
tick left on the clock in OT.
"The grit the guys showed, towards the end of the game, and to go eight and
a half minutes without them scoring a basket, to play through cramping by
Jason (Cain), Sean (Singletary) and J.R. and still make stops, and get
rebounds, it's something I'm most proud about.
"That's what I want from a program, that's what I want from a team, is that
before we do anything else, before we make a shot, that's we're tough
physically and we're tough mentally on the defensive end. And that's exactly
what they were when it counted and we needed it most," said Virginia coach
Dave Leitao.
The Cavaliers also had strong defensive efforts against Duke's Josh
McRoberts (Cain) and Jon Scheyer (Soloman Tat), holding the Blue Devils to
40 percent field goal shooting in the second half and 0-for-5 in the
overtime session.
Virginia also got superb contributions from players like Mamadi Diane, who
had 14 points in 39 minutes.
Virginia has now rallied from two large deficits against Clemson on the road
and Duke at home.
The Cavaliers basically had to play Duke's game down the stretch, overcoming
Reynolds' cramping and Cain's departure at the 4:14 mark in OT.
Reynolds said his cramping was painful, and praised Singletary's leadership
down the stretch, and the contributions of his teammates.
"It was painful, especially trying to play. I kept cramping up. The team did
a good job, Sean made some huge baskets for us. It's what leadership is all
about. When I went down, he carried the team," said Reynolds.
Singletary responded, "Without J.R's point production and energy and
leadership, we wouldn't have won."
Duke had its magical comeback effort fall short, as Greg Paulus' final heave
was off-target. There was no clock controversy after Singletary's
game-winner with one second left. Reynolds said, "I'm glad they got the time
right."
Reynolds also explained what the country learned about Cavalier basketball
after the nationally televised game, "Virginia's for real. It's no joke."
If the Cavaliers emerge unscathed this week, Reynolds' words will have even
more meaning heading into the ACC stretch run.