Is there a doctor in the house?
Seriously, the Virginia basketball team (14-9, 2-8 ACC) could use someone who knows how to stop the bleeding of a five-game conference losing streak before No. 15 Georgia Tech (18-5, 5-4 ACC) comes to University Hall tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.
As troubling as the losing streak has become, the Cavaliers did show a pulse and some physical toughness in a hard-fought loss at Duke Wednesday night in the notoriously hostile Cameron Indoor Stadium. The tough effort was not enough to beat the number one team in the country, but it was a far cry from the lifeless showing Virginia put up against N.C. State at home last Saturday.
"We played as hard as we could," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said of his team's effort against Duke. "We didn't play great, but we played, I thought, very well."
On the surface, Virginia's last two losses look quite similar. N.C. State won by 16, Duke by 18. But the numbers do not tell the whole story.
The N.C. State game was at home, with Virginia at full strength, and yet the Cavaliers seemed out of the game before halftime arrived. The Wolfpack dominated offensively and defensively, and actually looked interested in playing basketball.
On Wednesday night, however, Virginia played without second-leading scorer, junior Devin Smith, and hung with the best team in the country on the road until Virginia foul trouble and a patented Duke run pushed the Blue Devils' lead to 14 with 5:41 left in the game. Players were hustling and did not seem intimidated by the Cameron Crazies.
"We took a big step forward," said junior center Elton Brown, who scored 24 points against the Blue Devils. "But, as coach said, there's no such thing as a moral victory."
The Cavaliers will likely need to play with a maximum level of energy to stay close with the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech has great momentum coming into the contest, bringing a two-game winning streak to University Hall. Their 11-point victory over North Carolina in Atlanta Tuesday night could prove to be a turning point in Georgia Tech's season, as it put them over the .500 mark in conference play.
Junior B.J. Elder has led the "Ramblin' Wreck" recently, especially Tuesday night when he broke out for 30 points, including five three pointers in the second half, against one of the premier players in the ACC, North Carolina's Rashad McCants.
All season long, however, Georgia Tech has been more than a one-man show, winning games with full team efforts. Five Yellow Jackets -- Elder, Jarrett Jack, Marvin Lewis, Will Bynum and Isma'il Muhammad -- average in double digits in points scored, and fourth-year coach Paul Hewitt has the upstart team playing well above preseason expectations.
While Georgia Tech has their eyes focused on the NCAA Tournament, Virginia's attentions should be pointed more toward the N.I.T. The Cavaliers need to finish with at least a .500 record to be eligible for the tournament. At 14-9 with six regular season games left to play, Virginia needs to lock up at least one of those games to maintain eligibility before the ACC tournament.
With their postseason hopes still alive, the Cavaliers need show that they still have a basketball pulse. Whether or not they can defend their home court tomorrow against Georgia Tech should prove to be a good indicator of Virginia's remaining basketball life.
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