Starting at forward, a 6-foot-10 sophomore from Philadelphia, No. 32, Jason Cain.
The mustachioed -- no, scratch that, the mustache-free Cain made his second-straight start last night, as Virginia coach Pete Gillen opted for beanpole over bulk in his starting lineup.
Back up, you say? Mustache-free? Indeed. Cain finally opted to rid himself of the patch of fluffy flesh that used to linger on his upper lip -- and that helped make him famous campus-wide with the Assemblage of Cain. Perhaps it's a part of the "new attitude" of Virginia basketball.
Whatever Cain's reason for mowing lawn, one thing was evident -- he was ready to make something happen against brawny Florida State.
After the Seminoles dinked a shot on their first possession, Cain ripped down the rebound, drawing an enthusiastic cheer from the petite crowd of 6,891. Unfortunately for Cain, it would be his only board of the night.
Cain's size couldn't match up with Florida State's Alexander Johnson in the lane early on. At 205 pounds, Cain gave up at least 45 to the Seminoles' Behemoth big man, resulting in two quick fouls and a seat on the bench.
For the first four minutes of the game, Elton Brown's rear end crunched his cushioned bench chair. His arms were crossed and a scowl was planted across his mug. He shook his head after every Florida State offensive rebound. His face looked to be saying "Can you get a rebound? No? Well I can."
Brown did, and with apparently little antagonism toward being benched at the start.
"I just want to win -- do anything to win," he said. "I don't care. I'll play four minutes, I'll play three minutes, I don't care as long as we get a 'w'."
With 12:36 remaining in the first half, Brown got his first points of the game on a layup after wearing down on Florida State's Adam Waleskowski. Brown scored again 21 seconds later on a fast-break feed from T.J. Bannister.
Brown shared first-half time with Cain. They each scored four points, and Brown added four rebounds. A Cain dunk with 4:33 remaining in the half ignited the crowd. The aura of Cain can't be matched by any other Cavalier, but foul trouble early in the second half sent him to the bench, and gave Brown the green light to take over.
"Elton Brown was fired up and played with a lot of animation tonight," Gillen said. "I thought he was overpowering for four or five minutes. He was sick [with the flu] so we couldn't play him for long. I think for a few minutes he took over the game on offense."
With 11:39 remaining, Brown picked up an offensive rebound off a missed Devin Smith 3-pointer. Brown knocked the ball up and in as he was fouled. He converted on the free throw to cut Florida State's lead to seven.
Then he became Mr. Motivation and the team's star defender, forcing the Seminoles' Von Wafer into a travel that gave the ball to Virginia and eventually led to Smith's game-winning bucket. Brown finished with a team-high 13 points and six rebounds.
There has admittedly been some Elton bashing lately. After all, it's easy to pick out the flaws of a struggling team, especially the biggest (here in a physical sense) ones. But whether wrong or absolutely right, the bashing took a backseat for the night against the Seminoles.
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