With the close of the ACC regular season in sight, Virginia men's basketball coach Pete Gillen and his team realize their remaining games take on new significance after a dismal performance against No. 20 Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C. Sunday.
"All of our games are important now," Gillen said. "We need to come together and work on the fundamentals."
Despite problems plaguing the No. 22 Cavaliers (16-7, 6-6 ACC), Florida State, who Virginia faces in Tallahassee, Fla., tonight, appears to be weathering a worse situation.
The Seminoles (10-13, 3-9) are in the midst of a six-game losing streak, including embarrassing losses at Maryland by 21 points, at a vengeful Duke by 31 points, and to lowly North Carolina by 10 points at Chapel Hill. Florida State's encounter with the Cavaliers earlier this season was no better. In the meeting between the teams at U-Hall Jan. 20, the Seminoles managed a brief lead with a little over seven minutes remaining in the first half. But the Cavaliers pulled away for a 92-74 victory, led by Chris Williams' 24 points, three point displays by Roger Mason Jr. and Elton Brown, work on the boards by Travis Watson and an unusual 44-11 free throw ratio.
However, a lot of basketball has been played since then, and the Cavaliers are starting to feel the pressure after the Wake Forest loss.
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Though the Seminoles are in no danger of vaulting to the top of the conference, the Cavaliers are not distinguishing themselves either with a .500 record in the ACC.
"We've just got to stick together," Watson said. "We are better than we have been playing."
When the Cavaliers take the court tonight, an experience-laden Florida State team will test them. Senior guards Monte Cummings (15 points per game) and Delvon Arrington (11 ppg, 6.5 assists per game) will be joined by senior forward Antwuan Dixon and sophomore forward Michael Joiner. In the post, coach Steve Robinson likely will play freshman Anthony Richardson, a McDonalds all-American, or junior fan favorite Nigel Dixon, the starting center against the Cavaliers in the January encounter.
So what weapons will Gillen bring to bear after the inconsistent play the Cavaliers continue to demonstrate even when they win?
Despite losing to Wake Forest, Mason scored 31 points. Mason, averaging 18.7 points per game, will have to squeeze out better performances from his teammates.
"We need to play better defense," Mason said. "We all want to win, so we must play together better."
The Cavalier frontcourt likely will be Watson, who is averaging 13.9 points per game and an ACC-leading 10.5 rebounds per game, senior forward Chris Williams (13.7 points per game), and freshman forward Jason Clark. Freshman guards Keith Jenifer and Jermaine Harper will back up Mason. Senior forward Adam Hall most likely will not play because of a persistent foot injury.
To beat the Seminoles, the Cavaliers need to bring their offensive and defensive abilities to the court at the same time. Poor ball movement, poor shooting combined with porous defense - the Cavaliers shot only 34 percent against Wake Forest while the Demon Deacons shot 58 percent - will result in more double-digit losses like the team experienced Sunday.
With the ACC tournament just two and a half weeks away, the Cavaliers need to improve their basic skills and strategies for winning games if they want to avoid getting knocked out in the first round. Although Florida State is not as formidable an opponent as Duke and Maryland will be in the coming week, the Cavaliers need this win over a weaker conference opponent to use as a springboard for the bigger games.
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