TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Tallahassee has become my personal den of disappointment. In the fall of 2004, I traveled here on the Team Cavalier bus to witness Florida State's 36-3 drubbing of Virginia in Doak Campbell Stadium. This past Friday, a friend and I made the 13-hour trek in my beautiful Hyundai Elantra to cover the men's basketball game. Saturday's loss, however, left me once again facing a long return journey to Charlottesville accompanied by an empty feeling of despair.
I do not want to sound cranky, but Virginia did nothing deserving of praise during the contest. The Cavaliers came out flat and never displayed the fire that would have been required to win this critically important ACC road game in Tallahassee. It is clearly gut-check time for Virginia and its effort Saturday was not a good sign. If the Cavaliers cannot bounce back quickly and win Tuesday night's home match-up against Boston College, things could go rapidly downhill. The loss to the Seminoles definitely dimmed Virginia's chances of going dancing in March.
What made the loss more frustrating was the fact that this game was a winnable one. Coach Leonard Hamilton's Seminoles are a solid -- but not great -- team, and yet they have now beaten Virginia twice this season. That has got to stick deep in Virginia coach Dave Leitao's craw.
The Cavaliers allowed themselves to be beaten by one man -- the one-dimensional three-point sharpshooter Andrew Wilson. All 11 of Wilson's shots came from behind the perimeter and the junior knocked down seven of them. Florida State often put four players on the perimeter against Virginia's 2-3 defense. Leitao credited Florida State's excellent ball movement as one of the decisive factors in the game.
Virginia's lack of depth also manifested itself Saturday. Sean Singletary committed two early fouls, forcing Leitao to rely heavily on backup guard T.J. Bannister. Singletary ended up notching only 27 minutes of playing time while shooting zero for five from behind the three-point line. He was definitely taken out of the groove that Virginia fans are so used to seeing him in. J.R. Reynolds played a solid game, leading the Cavaliers with 18 points, but could not do everything by himself.
Virginia's post players also faced a stern test after freshman forward Laurynas Mikalauskas went down with a little more than nine minutes left in the first half after being elbowed in the face by Alexander Johnson. Jason Cain recorded eight points and 12 rebounds but had relatively little impact on the game as he did not impose his will in the paint. Tunji Soroye was a complete non-factor, fouling out of the game with zero points and zero rebounds.
Virginia's road conference record dropped to 1-5, which evenly counters its 5-1 conference home record. Jason Cain was at a loss for words when asked to explain Virginia's road woes. His candor is striking.
"I have no idea," Cain said in the post-game locker room. "I don't know what the hell is going on."
The road ahead is not an easy one for Virginia. Four conference games remain and the Cavaliers could finish with a conference record ranging from 6-10 to 10-6. It is extremely hard to make predictions about this team because its margin between success and error is so small. When Singletary and Reynolds are firing on all cylinders and Cain is aggressive in the post, the Cavaliers can compete with almost anyone on a given night. When any little thing goes wrong, however, Virginia can also lose to anyone (i.e. Fordham).
I may be disappointed about the result of my second trip to Tallahassee but the painful memory could be easily forgotten if the Cavaliers pull themselves together and go on a run through late February and into March. If Virginia limps through the rest of its schedule, however, Saturday's loss will likely be remembered as the turning point where things went wrong.
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