When the Virginia men's basketball team enters Joel Coliseum Sunday, the Cavaliers will attempt to accomplish a feat that a Virginia team has not pulled off in nearly two years: beat a ranked team on their home court.
No. 15 Virginia (16-6, 6-5 ACC), who will take on No. 19 Wake Forest (17-8, 7-4) at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, has won two straight after falling to four of the nation's hottest teams in a row. The Cavalier players hope to be healthy for the first time since early January as they aim to regain the services of swingman Adam Hall, although his status still is unknown.
The Cavaliers will hope to catch the Demon Deacons at an opportune time, as Wake Forest is coming off of two tough losses, to No. 5 Cincinnati and a double overtime loss to Clemson Wednesday night. The Clemson loss was extremely painful, as the Deacons' star forward, Josh Howard, re-injured his ankle in the first overtime.
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If Howard is unable to go against the Cavaliers, Wake Forest's talented frontcourt will take a significant hit, as Howard is second on the team in scoring and rebounding at 14.3 points and 7.7 rebounds a game, while leading the team in offensive rebounds with 85.
Leading scorer Darius Songaila (17.0 ppg, 8.1 rpg) will have to pick up the slack if Howard is out, and he is more than capable of doing just that, as he has caused fits for the Cavaliers in the past.
"We are going to have to find some way to stop Songaila," Virginia center Travis Watson said. "He is a very versatile player and he always has played good against us in the past. We will have to be tough."
The other player in the Wake Forest frontcourt that could present problems for Virginia is Antwan Scott, who was a monster on the boards in Charlottesville Jan. 14, before an errant pass jammed his middle finger, putting Scott on the bench for the better part of the second half. Watson and low-post teammates Jason Clark, J.C. Mathis and Elton Brown will have to contain Scott and Songaila in order to steal a win in Winston-Salem.
The Cavaliers also will have to keep an eye on dead-on shooter Craig Dawson, who tied an ACC record Wednesday night with 11 three pointers, surpassing former Demon Deacon great Randolph Childress and tying former Georgia Tech star Dennis Scott. Dawson ended up with 38 points for the night off the bench.
Taking over the point guard duties midway through the ACC season is freshman Taron Downey, who has provided an instant spark for Wake, replacing the struggling Broderick Hicks. Hicks now is more productive off of the bench, while Downey runs a good ship for the third-place Deacons.
"They are very talented and deep in the front and back court," Virginia guard and leading scorer Roger Mason Jr. said. "We will have to come with our best game if we hope to leave down there with a win."
Wake Forest's newest editions also have come in handy in clutch situations in the form of Steve Lepore, Jamal Levy and Vytas Danelius. Danelius and Levy have provided strength down low when Songaila has been in his normal foul trouble, and Lepore is a good, but streaky, three point shooter who can light it up at times off of the bench.
If Virginia hopes for a chance to finish in the top three in the ACC standings this season, they will need to go down to Wake Forest and steal a win from a Demon Deacons team that will, no doubt, be fired up after two straight losses.
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