After enduring a grueling four-game road trip, the Virginia men's basketball team should be relieved to return to the friendly confines of Charlottesville.
The Cavs' long road has come full circle and they will try to piece things back together against N.C. State at University Hall tomorrow at 7 p.m.
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Like Virginia (15-8, 5-5 ACC), N.C. State (16-6, 5-5) will try to bounce back from a conference loss Wednesday night. The Wolfpack lost to in-state rival North Carolina 70-62, snapping N.C. State's 14-game home winning streak. Both teams will need to correct the mistakes they made Wednesday.
"We've got to get our act together," Virginia Coach Pete Gillen said after the Georgia Tech game. "We wouldn't have beaten anybody in the ACC or any other quality team in any league. Not tonight. They beat us every which way but loose."
In Atlanta the Cavs struggled to score inside against Yellow Jacket center Alvin Jones and failed to hit their outside shots, going just 2-for-19 on three-pointers.
"That was a decision on [Tech's] part to take away the perimeter," Gillen said. "We just couldn't buy an outside shot. To loosen up a zone, you've got to make some shots, because they took away the inside game with the big guy."
Virginia, averaging 47 percent from the field this season, shot just 28 percent Wednesday. Tomorrow night the Cavs should not have the same problems they had in the paint against Georgia Tech. N.C. State, like Virginia, has no starter over 6-foot-8.
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Virginia could use another big game from first-year guard Roger Mason, whose 18-point performance Wednesday was the only positive for the Cavs in an otherwise ugly loss.
"This was one of the worst losses for me," Mason said of the Georgia Tech game. "I wanted to at least come out with 2-2 on the road. Every game now is so important"