ATLANTA-Dining hall meals and eight o'clock classes have never sounded so good.
The Virginia men's basketball team will be thrilled to get back to Charlottesville after capping a 1-3 ACC road trip with a 68-47 loss at Georgia Tech last night that was as frustrating for the Cavaliers as the score indicates.
Virginia (15-8, 5-5 ACC) knew it would have to deal with the inside brawn of Yellow Jacket twin towers Alvin Jones and Jason Collier. What the Cavs could not have anticipated were their own struggles shooting the ball.
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With Georgia Tech (11-11, 3-6) in a 3-2 zone and Jones swatting his way to a seven-block night, the Cavaliers needed to shoot well from the outside to stay in the game. Virginia shot 27.6 percent from the floor and hit only two of 19 three-point attempts, a month after draining 13 treys in beating Tech 83-65 in Charlottesville.
"It looked like we had never seen a zone before," Cav Coach Pete Gillen said. "Georgia Tech was very aggressive on the perimeter with the zone, and you can do that when you have an eraser like Jones inside. He did a great job of blocking shots and intimidating our inside shooters. We didn't make any jump shots. You can't beat a zone unless you make jump shots."
First-year guard Roger Mason, whose 18 points and 5-for-5 free throw performance stood as one of the lone Virginia bright spots, could not explain the Cavs' hesitant play against the zone.
"We work on it every day in practice," Mason said. "Coming out flustered like that, I don't know why we looked like that. I'd rather lose swinging. We didn't lose swinging."
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Jones - or more precisely, his right arm - was swinging the whole game. Whenever the Cavaliers ventured through the zone, the 6-foot-11 junior was at the basket to greet them. Jones, who also chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds, blocked seven shots to set an ACC career high.
"Alvin was a factor defensively," Tech Coach Bobby Cremins said. "He does not play like this all the time. I'm proud of him tonight. When Alvin plays well defensively, it makes a big difference in our team."
Virginia took a 15-11 lead midway through the first half, but the Yellow Jackets put together a 14-point run and took a 34-21 advantage into the locker room at halftime. Full-court pressure allowed the Cavaliers to make a brief spurt in the second half to pull within nine with six minutes remaining, but Collier hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to salt the game away for Georgia Tech.
Gillen said he knew his team was missing something when they slogged through pre-game warmups.
"We weren't in it emotionally, mentally, in any way whatsoever," Gillen said. "I looked in their eyes and didn't likewhat I saw. I got on them, yelled at them, but I can't play for them."
While freshman Clarence Moore scored 15 points and transfer Shaun Fein had 10 to give the Jackets three starters in double figures, Virginia's stars struggled. Cav guard Donald Hand, who dropped 27 on Tech Jan. 8, scored only two points on 1-of-7 shooting and forward Chris Williams hit only four of 13 field goal attempts.
Coming off losses last week at Maryland and Duke, Virginia lost in historical fashion. The 21-point margin of victory was Georgia Tech's highest in an ACC game since it beat Clemson by 30 in 1995. The last time the Jackets held an opponent under 47 points was 1985, when the Cavaliers managed only 46 against them.
"Not to make any excuses, but I think we were a little punchy from playing games in a row on the road," Gillen said.
With N.C. State arriving in town Saturday, the Cavaliers need to regroup in a hurry.
"Right now, we're in disarray," Gillen said.
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