Greensboro, N.C. -- In the end, it all came down to something we knew would be a problem for this Virginia basketball team -- depth. Or maybe that should be lack of depth. That was the single biggest difference in Virginia's second round 79-67 loss in the ACC tournament. Cavalier guards Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds combined to score 49 of Virginia's points, but no one else was able to score in double digits.
The duo of Singletary and Reynolds was once again the only real component of the Cavalier offense. A look at the halftime box score shows just how much of the load the two guards carried. Virginia's starting backcourt combined to score 28 points; the rest of the team scored six points in the half. No team with that type of scoring distribution can expect to be able to win games against teams with NCAA Tournament aspirations. But the Cavaliers were only down by five at the half against a North Carolina team that recently beat Virginia by 45 points. So, while Singletary and Reynolds basically fought alone in the first half, there was still hope that maybe some of Adrian Joseph's three-point shots would fall or that Jason Cain might be able to make a contribution in the second.
Instead, it was the North Carolina supporting cast that stepped up and won the game. The Tar Heels had four players score in the double digits including a team-high 24 points from Reyshawn Terry. North Carolina's Wes Miller also stepped up, with 15 points in a performance where he was 4-4 from the field and 2-2 from the free throw line. David Noel showed the value of senior leadership with his 10 points and 11 rebounds. Noel stepped up his game in the second half, when he posted seven points and seven rebounds en route to a crucial double-double. Those players were able to complement the second leading scorer in the ACC, Tyler Hansbrough, a player who is good for a double digit total in pretty much every game he plays.
And that is the difference between North Carolina and Virginia. The Tar Heels have multiple scoring options, while the Cavaliers only have two real scoring threats. No one on the Virginia roster has stepped up into the role of being a complementary player who can carry a scoring load for a while. There's a reason why the only Virginia players consistently quoted by the media are Singletary and Reynolds, and it isn't the fact that they are the team's co-captains. It is that the rest of the team is hit-or-miss. And because this team has not developed yet, it is heading to the NIT instead of the NCAA's.
But if we look ahead to next year, there is hope. Three rising seniors, Reynolds, Cain and T.J. Bannister, should log significant playing time. With that many seniors, anything is possible. Look at Wake Forest's run in the ACC Tournament that saved the Demon Deacons' otherwise disappointing season. Seniors Eric Williams and Justin Gray led that charge and have taken their team into the NIT. Before Duke could even get to its ninth consecutive ACC Championship game, the Blue Devils had to get past a close game with Miami. In that win, Duke's final 11 points were scored by seniors. Singletary will be a year older and, presumably, better, as will Joseph and forward Tunji Soroye. Virginia's freshman duo of Laurynas Mikalauskas and Mamadi Diane should be able to add some consistency to their games. Throw in three recruits and the Cavaliers could be able to make it back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001. And playing in the NIT this year will also help the maturation process for Virginia. So while next year's goal is the Big Dance, the NIT and a first round date at Stanford is the first step toward getting the Cavaliers to that goal.
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