Trying to pinpoint what has kept his team from winning as of late, Virginia coach Pete Gillen doesn't have to think for long to realize the two areas the Cavaliers most need to improve.
"We have to defend better," Gillen said. "And, we have to rebound better."
After losing three of their last five games, the task doesn't get much easier for the Cavaliers (10-3, 0-2 ACC) who travel to Atlanta tonight to face a No. 12 Georgia Tech squad (12-2, 0-1) which ranks first in the ACC in field goal percentage.
The Yellow Jackets rank second in the conference in scoring defense and fifth in rebounding margin. The Cavaliers rate last in both categories.
Virginia's field goal defense percentage has dropped sharply since the beginning of the season, when the Cavaliers held their opponents to under 40 percent from the field in their first five games. In the last five contests Virginia's numbers have fallen off, with the Cavaliers allowing their opponent to shoot an average of 52.4 percent.
Junior forward Devin Smith said he is unable to reduce the Cavaliers' defensive woes to one or two clear factors.
"It's a bunch of different things," Smith said. "The game plans change each time. Sometimes we're supposed to double the post, and we don't double the post. Sometimes we have to contain the dribbler and while we help they're kicking it out to the shooters. It comes from different areas."
Although the Cavaliers have improved on their rebounding as of late, pulling down more boards than their opponents in six of their last nine games, they are one of only two ACC teams who have a negative rebounding margin (-3.0).
Virginia also has a history of struggling on the road during the ACC season. In addition to falling to N.C. State by 15 points in their only in-conference away game this season, the Cavaliers went 1-7 last year in ACC road games. One of those losses came against the Yellow Jackets, in an 80-60 rout. The Cavaliers lost to Georgia Tech at home last season as well.
Having already been dealt two quick ACC losses, tonight's game has a heightened sense of urgency for the Cavaliers. They are looking to bounce back from Sunday's 93-71 home loss to Duke.
"We just can't let our performance against Duke beat us" against Georgia Tech, Smith said. "We can't dwell on the loss. We have to put it behind us because there's nothing we can do about it."
Smith's 19-point performance notwithstanding, most of the Cavalier veterans struggled against the defending conference champion Blue Devils. Many of Virginia's freshmen, however, came off the bench and put forth relatively strong performances.
Guard T.J. Bannister ran the point for over half of the game, dishing out five assists while committing only two turnovers in 27 minutes on the floor. Forward Donte Minter scored 12 points and grabbed six boards in only 16 minutes. Forward Jason Cain, who sees the fewest minutes among Virginia's five scholarship freshmen, also contributed. The rail-thin Cain (6'9", 197-lbs.) scored four points and picked up two rebounds in 13 minutes, impressing his coach with his play.
"Jason Cain did a real nice job giving us some energy," Gillen said. "He's still young. He's like Bambi; he's thin and getting pushed around, but he's a great player."
The already deep Cavalier bench received an additional two players to add to their arsenal. 6'8" Junior forward Jason Clark returns after missing the beginning of the season for academic reasons. Freshman Vince Redd, a 6'6" outside linebacker for the football team, also will be joining the squad. Redd and Clark should help beef up Virginia's under-manned frontcourt contingent, currently consisting of only Minter and Junior center Elton Brown.
Whether the influx of new blood means more victories for the Cavaliers is difficult to determine, but Virginia will likely need more than just strong performances from their reserves tonight to earn a victory. A defeat would leave the Cavaliers at 0-3 in the ACC, which would be their worst in-conference start since the 1998-99 season in which Virginia lost its first five ACC contests.
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