article/ Rich Times Dispatch
article/ Rich Times Dispatch
Cavs can get revenge today
Opponent in ACC opener has won four in row vs. U.Va.
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 05, 2003
No team tormented Virginia more in men's basketball last season than N.C. State.
The Wolfpack beat U.Va. in Charlottesville, in Raleigh, N.C., and, finally, in Charlotte, N.C. Virginia's faint hopes of sneaking into the NCAA tournament vanished with that third loss to State, a 92-72 whipping in the ACC tourney's first round.
"We know what happened last year," U.Va. star Travis Watson said, "but we're not going to [dwell] on that, because it's a new team."
And it's a new ACC season for both teams, starting tonight in Raleigh. At 5:30, Virginia (9-2) and N.C. State (7-2) meet at the RBC Center, formerly known as the Entertainment and Sports Arena.
By any name, the building hasn't been hospitable to the Cavaliers, who never have won there. U.Va., in fact, hasn't beaten State in any Raleigh gym since Feb. 19, 1997.
Virginia entered its 2001-02 ACC opener, also against N.C. State, unbeaten and ranked No. 4 nationally. This edition of the Cavaliers is less heralded but might have more long-term potential. Fifth-year coach Pete Gillen has four new players in his rotation - Division I transfers Todd Billet and Nick Vander Laan, junior-college transfer Devin Smith and freshman Derrick Byars - and has had others in and out of the lineup for various reasons.
Nonetheless, the Wahoos have fought through their rough spots admirably, losing only to top-20 teams Indiana and Michigan State, both away from University Hall. U.Va. has won six straight since falling Dec. 4 in East Lansing, Mich., and it played as well Thursday in an 87-65 rout of Wofford as it has all season.
"It was good to get a little momentum rather than back into" ACC play with a close win or a loss, said Gillen, whose club plays four of its next five games on the road.
The Cavaliers' record notwithstanding, they're still a work in progress, as Gillen likes to say. Point guard Majestic Mapp has yet to play this season - he could return tonight or next weekend against North Carolina - and Watson has battled nagging injuries. Sophomore guard Jermaine Harper was suspended for the first five games, and Billet and Vander Laan have struggled at times to readjust to the pace of Division I ball.
"We're still trying to come together," Gillen said. "I think we have room to grow."
Billet, the team's second-leading scorer, agreed.
"Everyone's happy, but at the same time I don't think we've reached our potential or shown this team clicking on all cylinders," Billet said. "A lot of guys have shown spurts of what they can do, and I think when everyone starts putting it together and getting used to each other, it should be a team that keeps improving as the year goes on.
"It seems like every night there's a new way to win, and that's good, because a lot of teams only have one or two, and if he's not playing well, they're going to lose."
Watson, Billet, Smith, Byars and 6-9 sophomore Elton Brown each have paced the Cavs in scoring at least once. Watson led the ACC in rebounding last season, but Smith and Vander Laan each have had at least one game in which they grabbed the most boards of any Cavalier.
"I think we have good balance," Gillen said. "We have one great player in Travis Watson" and numerous good players.
And that might be enough to carry U.Va., which tied for fifth in the ACC last season, to an upper-division finish.
"Now, Duke might still be the cr?me de la cr?me," Gillen said, "but what I see now is great balance."
N.C. State has won four straight over Virginia. That's the Cavaliers' longest current losing streak against an ACC foe.
