"It hurts." That was the prevailing sentiment in the Virginia locker room after the team blew a 10-point lead with less than four minutes remaining and suffered a devastating 76-71 loss to Virginia Tech last Thursday night. As I looked around that room, I saw some of the most shell-shocked faces I'd ever seen.
[caption id="attachment_32741" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski fires a three-point shot over two leaping defenders in Chapel Hll Sunday night, as Virginia defeats North Carolina to move into a tie for second place in the ACC.
[caption id="attachment_32707" align="alignleft" width="224" caption="Sammy Zeglinski's shot at the end of regulation delighted the Wahoo faithful but couldn't keep Virginia Tech from winning easily in overtime.
After failing to extend its eight-game win streak last week, a Virginia team eager to regain momentum will face its fifth ACC opponent of the season tonight at John Paul Jones Arena, taking on in-state rival Virginia Tech. "I think that's the beauty of sports - you can't be too discouraged or too elated if it goes well," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said.
[caption id="attachment_32624" align="alignleft" width="250" caption="After a lackluster 3-9 season, newly hired football coach Mike London hopes to follow in men's basketball coach Tony Bennett's footsteps and return Virginia to ACC prominence.
[caption id="attachment_32540" align="alignleft" width="253" caption="Junior forward Will Sherrill (above) had to carry the Cavalier offense after sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg got into foul trouble.
[caption id="attachment_32511" align="alignleft" width="205" caption="Sylven Landesberg, the 2008 ACC Rookie of the Year, will lead Virginia against award runner-up Al-Farouq Aminu and the Demon Deacons Saturday in Winston-Salem.
Dec. 21, Dec. 23, Jan. 5 Virginia defeated New Jersey Institute of Technology, Hampton and Texas Pan American by a combined score of 220-144.
[caption id="attachment_32376" align="alignleft" width="243" caption="Junior forward Mike Scott, who scored 17 points against Penn State, and the rest of the Cavaliers will be looking for a more consistent performance in their upcoming matchup against the Tigers.
He's done it before. The game-tying basket with 13.4 seconds left in regulation in last season's home game against then-No.
[caption id="attachment_32227" align="alignleft" width="192" caption="Despite sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg's team-high 18 points on 6-for-13 shooting from the field against Penn State last night, the Cavaliers suffered a narrow 69-66 home loss.
[caption id="attachment_32192" align="alignleft" width="199" caption="The Cavaliers defeated Oral Roberts 76-55 at home Saturday in the second game of the Cancun Challenge.
[caption id="attachment_32149" align="alignleft" width="231" caption="Sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski put in 23 minutes of work Saturday afternoon for 13 points, three rebounds and one assist.
Rider is an unusual early season opponent for the Virginia basketball team, and not just because of its distinctive mascot: The Broncs. Instead of being an early season "gimme" like many college basketball games major conference teams play in November, tonight's matchup between the Broncs and the Cavaliers at John Paul Jones Arena pits two teams against each other that seem to be on the same level.
[caption id="attachment_32031" align="alignleft" width="216" caption="After scoring 14 points in Virginia's season-opening victory against Longwood Friday, sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski managed only two points on 1-for-4 shooting from the field in the Cavaliers' 66-49 loss against South Florida last night.
[caption id="attachment_31992" align="alignleft" width="203" caption="Sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg's 23 points helped the Cavaliers to a season-opening win against Longwood Friday.
[caption id="attachment_31895" align="alignleft" width="199" caption="Senior Jamil Tucker will take an indefinite leave of absence from the team for personal reasons.
