With little more than two weeks left in the regular season, Virginia (14-10, 7-6 ACC) has little wiggle room left if it hopes to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001. Tomorrow afternoon's matchup in South Carolina against Clemson (15-11, 4-9 ACC) is the first of three remaining contests whose outcomes will determine the fate of Virginia's season.
Playing with a high level of intensity has not been a problem for Virginia at home this year. In their last season at U-Hall before moving into John Paul Jones Arena, the Cavaliers have posted a stellar 6-1 home conference record that includes victories over top-25 programs North Carolina and Boston College.
On the road, however, Virginia has struggled to focus for the entire 40 minutes. The Cavaliers have notched only three victories away from Charlottesville, and Virginia's conference road record stands at 1-5. Two of the most glaring examples of Virginia's lack of focus on the road occurred in College Park and Tallahassee. Feb. 7 the Cavaliers squandered a 14-point first-half lead against Maryland at the Comcast Center. Last Saturday, the Cavaliers were generally listless as they succumbed to Florida State in a 76-62 loss.
"We have to find a way to bring our energy and level of concentration with us on the road," freshman swingman Mamadi Diane said. "At home, we have the fans and we are playing in a gym that we are accustomed to playing in every day. We have a certain level of confidence [in U-Hall] that we may not have on the road. We especially need to carry that confidence with us on the road if we hope to make the postseason."
Virginia coach Dave Leitao has continuously cited the Cavaliers' relative lack of a maturity as a possible explanation for their bipolarity.
"All year long, we've been trying to get better at the intangibles," Leitao said. "In order to do that, it takes maturity. What I have told them from game one is that you have to get that in the gym every day. Because we've had up and down practice days, it shows itself on the road more than anything else, where you have conditions going against you. You have to rely upon something inside, a collective energy, and I don't know if we can rely upon that yet when things are going against us."
After running a stagnant 2-3 zone against the Seminoles three days earlier, Virginia caught Boston College by surprise with an energetic man-to-man defense. The Cavaliers' perimeter defense limited the Eagles to three-of-16 shooting from behind the arc.
"They definitely showed that [this game] was important to them," Boston College coach Al Skinner said in the post-game press conference. "It wasn't just their offense; they did a great job defensively as a team."
Sophomore guard J.R. Reynolds has been on a tear recently. He scored a season-high 28 points Tuesday against the Eagles.
"He continues to grow," Leitao said. "He hasn't had a really bad performance since the Fordham game. He grows quietly because he's not a loud player. He continues to get better. He doesn't want to be known as a guy who just sits behind the arc and takes threes. He can take you off the dribble now, finish in traffic and make decisions, which is what an all-around guard has to do."
Virginia pulled out its first conference win of the season 64-58 over Clemson at U-Hall Jan. 7. Sophomore swingman Adrian Joseph led Virginia with 19 points. After starting the season with an 11-game winning streak, coach Oliver Purnell's Tigers have dropped 11 of 15 games. Wednesday night, Clemson fell to cellar-dweller Wake Forest 74-68 in overtime in Winston-Salem.
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