If Thursday's win over Maryland was the biggest win of the year, Sunday's comeback thriller can't be that far behind. Pete Gillen's Cavaliers followed up an improbable win with a victory against a team that had beat them five straight times.
If Julius Hodge's desperation three had rimmed in instead of out, Virginia's victory over No. 8 Maryland could have been rendered meaningless. But as breaks are now starting to go the Cavaliers' way, the ball didn't drop in, and Gillen's squad earned an impressive victory. What's more is that you will never guess how they did it: With defense. Stunning, I know.
With junior Todd Billet's three-pointers not falling and Travis Watson turning the ball over a season-high number of times, it was the Virginia defense that came to the rescue. And if you have followed basketball under Gillen, that just doesn't happen very often. On Sunday, when the contest was in its critical stages, defense won the game.
"Coach tells us that we have to play defense and keep our focus on stopping the other team," said Derrick Byars, who hit two free throws to finish the scoring. "We wanted to stay focused the whole game, because we knew they were a good offensive team. We knew Hodge was going to take that three in the end and I wanted to get out there and make it tough for him."
It's quite refreshing to be able to describe a Virginia defense as doing something correct, as many writers have often lamented how the Cavalier defense gives up loss after loss. For the final two minutes, 56 seconds, Virginia's defense did not allow a point -- in a very similar fashion to the Maryland upset.
The big difference in this game was the fact that Virginia played solid defense for about 34 of the 40 minutes, with the only meltdown coming at the beginning of the second half when the Wolfpack went on a run to extend their halftime lead to nine. As the Virginia defense goes, however, baby steps are necessary in their quest for 40 great minutes of defense.
"It's nice to get a win because of our defense," Gillen said. "That's what we have been stressing to our kids. We still have a lot to learn, but we have the possibility to be very good if we keep progressing. We have to defend, rebound, and share the ball on offense if we want to be a good team, and I think we can be."
The success of the Cavaliers' defense could be attributed to the intensity felt between N.C. State and Virginia. In other words, they just don't like each other very much. At all.Sophomores Elton Brown and Julius Hodge were talking plenty of smack before the contest even started.
Once we got into the game, tempers were running high, as the referees had to separate several potential fracases. One escalated into a shoving match when Wolfpack forward Marcus Melvin pushed Travis Watson after a dead ball whistle. While the crowd hooted and hollered for a technical, the teams just stared each other down. It was at that juncture when Virginia's defense really picked up their play with the game on the line.
When asked about Melvin, Watson just shook his head as if to let everyone know that those teams don't get along.
"They had beaten us five times in a row," said sophomore Jason Clark, who had the responsibility of guarding Hodge. "We try not to get into anything with them, but we just want to win so bad that emotions flare up sometimes. All I know is that it was a big win over a very good team."
As far as ACC standings go, this was indeed a critical win for the Cavaliers. They now sit in a tie for fourth with N.C. State and Georgia Tech, and they are on a roll going into a tough week against a pair of Tobacco Road teams.
If the Virginia defense plays like it did yesterday when it faces North Carolina and Duke, the Cavaliers will have a chance to jump to the top of the league. After an up-and-down season with poor defense to blame for several losses, Pete Gillen has to be smiling.
And why not? Things are looking on the up-and-up.
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