The Virginia men's basketball team hopes to strengthen its case for an NCAA Tournament bid and prove there's no place like home when Wake Forest comes to University Hall tonight at 7 p.m.
After losing 71-64 at Florida State Saturday - and getting "outplayed" by the Seminoles, according to Cavalier Coach Pete Gillen - the Cavs (18-9, 8-6 ACC) should be happy to return to U-Hall, where they are 10-1 this season.
"Their only [home] loss was in their Conference opener against Duke," Demon Deacon Coach Dave Odom said. "There have been very few teams that have come out of there feeling good about themselves."
The Cavaliers emerged from Winston-Salem feeling good about themselves with a deceptively narrow 76-67 victory against the Deacons (15-13, 6-9) Jan. 30. Virginia freshman big man Travis Watson led the way with 18 points, while sophomore forward Chris Williams added 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Junior point guard Donald Hand dished out five assists and chipped in 11 points to become the third Cavalier to score in double figures.
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"They did not do anything that surprised us from a technical or strategic standpoint, but we were so loose with the basketball," Odom said of the first matchup. "If I could just wish one element of our game to improve [tonight], it would be our passing and catching and attacking."
Virginia will need another strong performance from Watson against Wake sophomore center Darius Songaila. The 6-foot-9 Lithuania native, who averaged 25.5 points per game in two games last week, is the reigning ACC Player of the Week. In the Cavs' nine-point win in Winston-Salem, Songaila led the Deacs with 17 points.
Songaila's tragic flaw is his inability to stay out of foul trouble. Last year, he set a school record with 116 fouls and fouled out of eight games. This season Songaila has been better, but not significantly so, with 89 fouls and five disqualifications.
Wake needs Songaila to relieve the pressure on junior guard Robert O'Kelley, who scored 16 points against the Cavs Jan. 30. But the preseason All-American has shot only 21 percent from the floor in the last three games. Cavalier sophomore swingman Adam Hall held Clemson's Will Solomon, the ACC's leading scorer, to 13 points Feb. 15 in Charlottesville and may get the chance to try his hand at prolonging O'Kelley's slump.
Odom said he expects his Deacons to have their hands full against Watson and the Cavalier press.
"We've got to find a way to attack Virginia's different presses and at the same time get back and guard their guys," Odom said. Watson "is having a top-five freshman year. He's a terrific player. We can't allow him to get 15 or 18 points. That also makes it harder to guard the guys on the perimeter."
Virginia is hoping to sweep the Demon Deacons for the first time since the 1988-89 season, a year before Odom took the helm at Wake.
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