It's tough to find positives in any losing streak, especially the current four-game Virginia skid.
But one could point to the emergence of sophomore forward Elton Brown on the glass and defensive end as an encouraging sign for both the remainder of this season and the future of Virginia basketball.
The 6-foot-10, 270-pounder has been an offensive force throughout the season, averaging 10.3 points this season and 11.8 in ACC play.
Offensively, Brown has developed a crafty arsenal of low-post moves that have allowed him to shine of late. He is averaging 15 points per game in his last three contests, playing a career-high 31 minutes in recent losses to Duke and Wake Forest.
"I don't think anybody in the ACC can stop me when I get it down low," Brown said. "Coach Gillen always tells me, 'You got so much potential, you're only 19, just go out and play.' That's what I'm doing."
Against Wake Forest, he scored in double figures for the third straight game, scoring 14 of his 16 points in the second half and grabbing a season-high nine rebounds.
"I thought Elton was great," Gillen said after the game. "He was outstanding tonight."
Brown began this season with a renewed commitment to playing inside, saying before the season that he was going to be "down low banging." However, he drifted outside early on, taking 17 three-pointers in Virginia's first 12 games.
But the 17 rebounds he has pulled down in losses to Clemson and Wake Forest are the highest in back-to-back games for Brown in two years at Virginia. At Wake Forest, he came up one rebound short of his second career double-double.
"I just want to win," he said "I've always had the potential [to rebound]. Sometimes I try to rely on Travis too much and I can't. Travis is like, 'Elton you need to rebound. I've seen you play hard and rebound, so just go out and do the same thing.'"
The recent surge in rebounding came after Brown went two whole games, against UNC and N.C. State, without getting a single rebound.
After playing a season-low eight minutes in the loss at UNC on Feb. 12, Brown bounced back with 18 points in a home loss to Duke.
"We only had one guy that really showed up and played well tonight and that was Elton Brown," Gillen said after the Duke game. "Elton did an excellent job, especially offensively."
Brown, a Virginia Beach native, is one of the league's youngest sophomores, not turning 20 until September. But that has not slowed him down.
The cousin of Virginia football guard Elton Brown, "E" garnered honorable mention All-ACC Rookie honors last year after being twice named ACC Rookie of the Week. After coming into Virginia ranked by Prepstar as the 33rd best recruit in the country, Brown won Virginia's Sixth Man Award after scoring in double figures 11 times as a freshman.
He started this season off hot, pouring in 22 points in the Cavaliers' second game against Chaminade.
He has scored in double figures in nine of his last 13 games, a span during which he has shot nearly 56 percent from the floor.
But Brown said he is not concerned with his individual statistics.
"A loss is a loss is a loss," he said after the Wake Forest defeat. "In the record book it'll say Wake Forest won and Virginia lost. There's no moral victories. We lost."
Brown still needs to improve his free throw shooting, as he shoots a team-low 52 percent from the line. But if he can sustain his recent play, he has the potential to shine. And that could be a scary thought for the rest of the ACC.
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