Coming off a disappointing but well-fought loss against the No. 1 team in the country, the Virginia men's basketball team will be right back on the road this weekend when they face Clemson in a critical road contest. The Cavaliers (10-4, 1-2 ACC) will be looking for their first conference road win of the year against a surprisingly strong Tiger (10-2, 0-2 ACC) squad that has been very strong at home this season.
The contest in the newly renovated Littlejohn Coliseum will be a big game early in the season, as both teams come into the game with two conference losses and find themselves at the bottom of the standings. The players seem to recognize the importance of this game, even if it is early on in the conference season.
"Every game in the conference is big," Virginia junior guard Todd Billet said. "The next one coming up is just as big [as the game against Duke]. We need to come out ready to play, because it is a very important game coming up on Saturday."
If the Cavaliers hope to come away from Clemson with a 'W' they will need to focus on stronger defense, which starts with the Tigers' star point guard, Edward Scott. The 6-foot senior out of Slidell, Va. leads Clemson in virtually every offensive statistic, pacing the Tigers with 18.4 points per game, while dishing out 6.5 assists per contest.
More importantly, Scott has done an extremely efficient job running the offense, compiling a 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. Virginia Coach Pete Gillen realizes that the Cavaliers need to come out excited and ready to play, or Scott will burn them much the same way Duke star J.J. Reddick did last Wednesday against the Blue Devils.
"We have to forget the last game and come out and play hard," Gillen said. "I am proud of the way they played on the road, but they need to play like that in our next game as well. Every game is big at this point."
The Tigers feature plenty of additional firepower with which to take down the Cavaliers as sophomores Chey Christie and Sharrod Ford average points in double figures. Christie has put up 11.5 points, while Ford has chipped in with 10.2 points per game. Ford is arguably Clemson's best player at the post, leading the team in rebounds and shooting, grabbing 7.6 rebounds per game and shooting over 65 percent from the field. Senior Ray Henderson and junior Chris Hobbs fill out the rest of the front court. Both are good rebounders and are able to score in the low post. But Virginia sophomore Elton Brown said he knows the Cavaliers have the players to stick with them.
"We have one of the best frontcourts in the country," Brown said. "With Travis, [junior center] Nick [Vander Laan], [sophomore forward] Jason [Clark] and me, we have a lot of scoring and the ability to do damage down low."
Billet (13.2 ppg) and Watson (15.3 ppg) will have to be the ones dishing out the damage on offense, as they lead the Cavaliers in scoring this season. Virginia will also look to get some production from its wing position, as both freshmen Derrick Byars and Devin Smith had off games at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Wednesday.
Sophomore Keith Jenifer (7.1 ppg, 5.5 apg) is arguably the key to the Cavalier offense. He has steadily improved over the course of the season, and is coming off two tremendous games against North Carolina and Duke. Virginia will need him to run the offense effectively if they hope to steal one on the road.
The game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start on Saturday afternoon. The match will be televised by Raycom/Jefferson Pilot Sports.
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