Cavaliers attempt to corral 'Canes; Wahoo wanderings

Virginia at Miami, 9 p.m. today ESPNU

Note: If you want to vote in my poll on the right, you have until 6 p.m. Wednesday. Maybe tonight's game will help you decide one way or another which outcome is more likely.

The Cavaliers travel down to Coral Gables, Fla., on Tuesday for a late-night matchup with ACC leader Miami, which is ranked No. 2 in the country and 12-0 in the ACC, 21-3 overall. Virginia is 18-7, 8-4 in the ACC. This is the only meeting between the two schools in the regular season.

Last year, the teams played once as well. Virginia pulled out a nailbiter in a game I attended at JPJ, 52-51, holding Miami without a game-winning basket on its final possession.

Durand Scott

It is going to be a huge challenge for UVa, maybe its biggest of the season. I give the Cavs a better chance to beat Duke at home in a little over a week than winning at Miami. At Miami earlier this year, the Hurricanes destroyed Duke, 90-63. Miami also has impressive wins over North Carolina (68-59 at UNC and 87-61 in Miami), Florida State (71-47 at home and 74-68 on the road) and Michigan State (67-59 in Miami). The Hurricanes have won 13 in a row. Their last loss was in overtime to Indiana State, 57-55, on Christmas. The  'Canes' other two losses were to Arizona, 69-50 the game before playing Indiana State, and Florida Gulf Coast, 63-51, in the second contest of the season. None of the losses should be considered bad losses. Arizona was undefeated at the time of the loss, and both Indiana State and Florida Gulf Coast have respectable resumes (FGCU is now 104th in RPI). All of those losses came when Miami wasn't at full strength, as well. I don't think Miami has any injuries to speak of now, a key, as all 'Hoo fans know, to being successful, since the Cavs have dealt with injuries both this season and last season.

Shane Larkin

Miami is led by a trio of players that all score around 13 points per game: senior guard Durand Scott, sophomore guard Shane Larkin (son of Reds Hall-of-Famer Barry Larkin), and senior forward Kenny Kadji. Scott is a lanky, 6-foot-5 guard that can also rebound (4.6 per game) and dish the rock (three per game). Larkin leads the team in assists at the point (4.3), and Kadji also averages 6.5 rebounds per contest. He is not the team's leading rebounder, however. That would be senior big man Reggie Johnson, who averages 9.5 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. And I really mean big man. Johnson checks in at 6-foot-10, 292 pounds. He is a load down low. Miami goes very deep. Three more players average at least 6.5 points per game: senior Trey McKinney Jones (9.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg), senior Julian Gamble (6.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg), and junior Rion Brown (6.5 ppg). You also probably noticed how experienced the Hurricanes are. Five players in their seven-deep rotation are seniors, the other is a junior and another is a talented sophomore who is a candidate for first-team All-ACC.

Kenny Kadji

If experience and talent aren't enough, Miami is also very tall. In Whitey Reid's Daily Progress story about the game, coach Tony Bennett is quoted as saying, "This will be the most talented and biggest team that we've played to this point, height-wise and how physical they were ... it's an enormous team." Indeed, Larkin is 5-foot-11 but every other player in the seven-deep is at least 6-foot-5 and Gamble, Kadji, and Johnson all run 6-foot-10 or 6-foot-11.

Strength down low for Virginia will be vital. It will have to push back on Miami a little bit. Luckily, Darion Atkins might be rounding into form for the Cavs. The sophomore has been bothered with a right shin stress reaction since late December but played eight minutes against UNC and had four points and three rebounds. The 6-foot-8 forward could certainly help defend in the post. A couple of timely blocks would be nice. The problem is both he and Akil Mitchell (6-foot-8) are undersized, not only in height (only 6-foot-11 freshman Mike Tobey would help in that department, but he is out with mono) but also in girth, and experience as well. It is a tall task in every way imaginable for the Cavaliers' bigs.

UVa sophomore
forward Darion Atkins

Atkins knows it is time to become a bigger participant after hurting for much of the ACC season. After the UNC game, he said, "Most likely I'm going to step it up a notch from this game."

There is a ton to like about Miami. The Hurricanes defend well (58.7 ppg, third in the ACC, and hold opponents to 37.8 percent shooting, second in the ACC), rebound well (+2.4 rebounding margin per game), are scoring well (69.5 ppg, a figure that has been rising steadily), and also block lots of shots (4.9 per game, second in the conference).

But that is not to say they have not had letdowns. Just Sunday night, Miami almost lost its first ACC contest, at Clemson, but pulled out a 45-43 win when Kadji hit a game-clinching 3-pointer with 35 seconds left. Miami also owns single-digit victories over FSU, N.C. State (by one), Virginia Tech (a game the Hokies led in the second half), Boston College (by one), Maryland, North Carolina, Michigan State, and Stetson in the first game of the season. That's nine victories by nine points or less. That is a lot of close calls. On the other hand, how do you win close games? With experienced players coming up in the clutch, and Miami has those in spades.

What, if anything, gives 'Hoo fans hope? It is extremely difficult to go undefeated in the ACC. I'm not sure which team was the last to do it. I believe I heard when Miami got to 10-0, it was the first 10-0 ACC team in a decade. The Hurricanes have to be due a loss, right? Miami has one more real good shot to lose if it does not lose to Virginia: at Duke on March 2. The 'Canes' other remaining games are at Wake, and home against BC, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech, which sound like wins to me.

I think the kind of victory the Hurricanes got Sunday over Clemson helps UVa's chances. Psychologically, a win is always more comforting than a loss. A win, by any means necessary and in whatever way possible, is often all that matters. The 'Canes might feel the need to shore up some areas following an ugly win, but still, the urgency that comes with a loss is not there. Also, their confidence could slip a bit by barely beating a team way below it in the ACC standings. On the flip side, Virginia should be able to look at that game and know it can beat Miami, that it is vulnerable.

If the Cavaliers can keep their hot shooting up and slow the pace of the game down, a win in the Sunshine State is possible. Virginia has not won in the state of Florida since 2001, 15 straight losses. You would have to think that streak would eventually come to an end, right? If nothing else, hopefully Virginia won't get blown out of the water and keeps the the game competitive for most of the 40 minutes. If not, the Cavs could be struggling to find their own confidence heading into the crucial stretch run.
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WAHOO WANDERINGS

Here are a few updates on some other UVa sports.

Men's tennis: The Cavaliers won their fifth ITA National Team Indoor championship in six years Monday by beating USC, 4-2, in Seattle. Virginia also beat Washington, Duke, and Ohio State in the tournament. UVa's victory over USC is especially meaningful because the Trojans have defeated the Cavaliers two straight years in the outdoor finals. Hopefully, this year, Virginia can finally translate its indoor success to outdoor success and win an NCAA championship in May. UVa begins the outdoor season March 3 by hosting Oklahoma.

Baseball: The Wahoos are off to a 3-0 start. They beat East Carolina over the weekend by scores of 14-4 and 13-9. In the first game, sophomore Kenny Towns hit TWO grand slams to pace the Cavaliers and Brandon Waddell, a true freshman, won his first collegiate start on the mound. The third game of the series was canceled because of weather. The Cavs opened up their home schedule with a 9-1 win over Saint Peter's on Monday. Today, Virginia hosts William & Mary at 3 p.m.

Men's and women's lacrosse: Both teams picked up one-point wins in their first games of the season. The men won at home, 13-12, over Drexel in overtime Saturday. The women edged Loyola (Md.), 10-9, on Saturday as well. The women face Richmond on the road Wednesday while the men host VMI today at 7 p.m.

Women's basketball: The team was considered a candidate for an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament but has fallen off as of late and stands 15-10 overall, 7-7 in the conference. The Cavs took one on the chin against Maryland on Sunday at home, losing 73-44. They've lost four of five. Virginia's last four regular-season games are winnable and it will probably have to win them all to make the big dance, provided it doesn't make a run in the ACC tournament.