With a great escape Saturday night, the Virginia men's basketball team improved to 4-0, rallying to beat Virginia Tech 69-61, in a game that was much closer than the score indicated.
When the buzzer sounded at the end of the first half the Cavaliers were facing a situation of which they hadn't seen all year: A deficit. Virginia faced a 16-point margin - three points away from their largest deficit of the season - which Roger Mason Jr. shot down with 4.6 seconds remaining in the first half.
"I didn't even realize we were down by 19," Mason said of the margin when he took the three at the end of the half. "They were making shots and we weren't. They were playing defense and we weren't. They were hustling and we weren't. When things go wrong like that, you probably will go down by 19."
Just about everything that could go wrong for the Cavaliers in the first half did. Virginia came out unfocused and believing that as the No. 9 team in the country, they could come out and walk over everyone. The Hokies provided the lesson that proved otherwise.
"It was a great victory, but we have to learn from it," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "We were very fortunate. Our guys didn't believe me when I said Virginia Tech would come out ready to play. They started to believe at half time."
In years past the team would resort to name-calling and assigning blame after such a horrendous half, according to Gillen. This time the team came together and understood that to win they would need a team effort.
"We didn't panic," Gillen said. "We didn't scream or yell at them. There wasn't any finger-pointing going on. We told them that they were better than they were playing, and to win, they would have to come out and play physical."
Virginia did just that, coming out of the half fired up and ready to give the capacity crowd something to cheer about. Coming out of the locker room the Cavaliers went on a 17-6 run over the first 7:52 to bring Virginia within five points, culminating with a huge dunk by forward Chris Williams.
Mason, who scored 22 points and dished out five assists, led the Cavaliers in both categories. Williams scored 16 points, while pulling down five rebounds and coming up with five steals. It was the freshmen, however, that came up big on the day.
"Our freshman did a great job," Gillen said. Jason "Clark made a bunch of great plays. Keith Jenifer made a basket that put us up one. Our freshmen play with a big heart and a lot of courage."
Jenifer came up with two smooth running jumpers along the baseline late in the game. Both shots put the Cavaliers back in the lead.
Gillen knows that he will need both the freshmen and the seniors to give him a full 40 minutes of tenacity if the Cavaliers hope to defeat Auburn on Saturday.
"If we play this way against Auburn next week, we'll lose by 15," Gillen said. "We'll get drilled. Our guys must realize that we have to come out and play hard the entire game."
No one will be more fired up for the game in Birmingham, Ala. than Williams, who returns to his old stomping grounds. Williams played at Minor High School in Birmingham, and Gillen thought it only appropriate to give the young man a trip to his hometown to thank him for sticking with Virginia.
"We thought it would be a great way to thank Chris for sticking with us," Gillen said. "He has meant so much to the program, so this is the best way for us to thank him. It should be a tremendous time for him."
Williams and the rest of his team will have to be ready for a 4-2 Auburn squad that has had many close run-ins so far this season. The Tigers have a terrific frontcourt, led by 6-foot-10 sophomore Kyle Davis, who is one of the best shot-blockers in the nation. The guard spot has been a question mark for Auburn, as they will platoon three players led by former N.C. State guard Adam Harrington.
"I am excited to be going home," Williams said. "But we need to come out focused and ready to play. We can't have a first half letdown like we did" against Virginia Tech.
"Chris has done it all for us this year," Mason said. "It's great that he gets to go home. When [former Virginia coach Jeff] Jones left, he could've left. He is one of our leaders."
With a big game against Georgetown looming on Dec. 20, the Cavaliers need to make sure that they don't look ahead, or they will be bitten when they venture down to Tiger country.
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