Virginia vs. N.C. State, 2:30 p.m. ACC Network
The Cavaliers missed a key opportunity to pick up a top 25 win over Florida State on March 1, senior night, at John Paul Jones Arena. UVa blew a 10-point lead with just over minutes left and lost 63-60. The general thought was that a win against the Seminoles would have all but ensured a bid to the NCAA tournament for the Hoos. Instead, Virginia had to sweat out a rivalry game on the road at Maryland. Virginia led throughout, but the Terps tied it at 61 in the final minute to send it into overtime. Virginia, down to four scholarship players by the end of the game, toughed out a big victory, 75-72. Mike Scott was brilliant, scoring a career-high 35 points and adding 11 rebounds. Sammy Zeglinski came alive for his best game of the year -- 20 points on 6 of 14 shooting, 4 of 9 from 3-point range.
Malcolm Brogdon didn't play (injured foot) and neither did Assane Sene (out for violating a team rule/injury) and it was announced after the Maryland game that neither would be back for the remainder of the season, leaving Virginia with seven scholarship players and one of those, Joe Harris, has been limited by a fractured hand since Feb. 11. During the game, both Akil Mitchell and Darion Atkins fouled out, as did Harris at the very end. Walk-on Doug Browman had to come in for the contest's final few seconds. And though the final few seconds didn't matter, Browman would have had to play minutes that mattered had the game gone into a second overtime. That's how dire the circumstances were for the Wahoos.
It was a very gritty win for the boys and maybe even a confidence-building win. After starting out 14-1, this team hasn't exactly set a blistering pace down the stretch, just barely eeking out a winning ACC regular season record (9-7) and going 5-5 over its last 10 games. Before the Maryland OT win, Virginia had lost its last four overtime games. This team is just going to have to find any means possible to win from here on out. No remaining game will be easy. Virginia has had a hard time closing out games this year, so being able to stave off multiple comeback bids by the upset-minded Terps and win in overtime was encouraging and could benefit this team down the stretch.
The conclusion of the season starts today in the ACC tournament quarterfinals in Atlanta. Virginia faces an N.C. State Wolfpack team that took care of business against Boston College on Thursday but is still desperate for a win to help its NCAA tournament chances (UVa, meanwhile, is thought to be solidly in the field of 68).
ACC tournament first round results from Thursday:
-No. 5 N.C. State 78, No. 12 Boston College 57
-No. 8 Maryland 82, No. 9 Wake Forest 60
No. 10 Virginia Tech 68, No. 7 Clemson 63
-No. 6 Miami 54, No. 11 Georgia Tech 36
ACC tournament quarterfinals today:
-No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 8 Maryland, noon
-No. 4 Virginia vs. No. 5 N.C. State, 2:30 p.m.
-No. 2 Duke vs. No. 10 Virginia Tech, 7 p.m.
-No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 6 Miami, 9:30 p.m.
This team has been a pleasure to watch. I can't think of many UVa teams through the years that seemed tougher and seemed to give it their all more than this one. This team has lost lots of close games but also won lots of close games. Three wins that were key this year were over Oregon, N.C. State, and Miami. All three teams are around the NCAA tournament bubble (State and Miami). Without those victories, Virginia is scrambling to build up its resume in the ACC tournament like State and Miami. The wins against the Wolfpack and Hurricanes were by one point each.
N.C. State is still hungry for another win. Virginia's motivation is try to improve its seeding in the NCAA tournament (it is projected around an 8 seed now, I would think any win or loss would equate to about one move up or down, respectively, in NCAA tournament seeding). For the Cavaliers to win, they must improve their rebounding. N.C. State out rebounded the Cavs by 17 boards the last time these two teams met Jan. 28 in Raleigh, N.C. Virginia won despite making just four field goals in the second half and scoring just 23 points. Sammy Zeglinski made four 3s, his best ACC game of the year at the time. Meanwhile, State's sharpshooter, Scott Wood, had a terrible game, shooting just 3 of 11 from the field and 2 of 8 from 3-point land. He made five 3-pointers Thursday in the Wolfpack's win over Boston College. I would expect him to have a better game this time around against the Hoos. Virginia was led in the Jan. 28 matchup by Scott with 18 points, Zeglinski's 12 and Harris added 12 as well. Brogdon had seven points and Virginia will be without his services today. Someone will have to step up in his absence. This will be a very tough game for the Hoos to win. They are depleted at the end of the season and the Wolfpack need a win more badly. It would be cool to see Virginia win, however, because it hasn't reached the ACC tournament semifinals since 1995.
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