THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702230360
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: 65 lines
Unfortunately for the University of Virginia and its always fragile postseason aspirations, the Cavaliers play basketball in the real world, where actual victories are preferred over the moral variety.
On a Saturday afternoon when U.Va.'s window of opportunity to the NCAA tournament closed a little tighter, the Cavaliers played a tough team tough, only to lose.
For Jeff Jones' team, it was deja vu all over again.
Sure, that's a cliche. But, then, so is the predicament in which U.Va. finds itself once more.
``I don't think,'' Jones said of the 66-60 loss to Wake Forest, ``that it's the end of the world.''
He's right. It's more like a U.Va. rerun, in which every game becomes a must victory, every week a time to regroup, every excruciating loss a blow to the soul.
Cavalier fans have been there, done that.
``We're very capable of competing in the NCAA tournament,'' Courtney Alexander, U.Va.'s sophomore wing man, said.
But first, the Cavaliers must get in the tournament.
They can still do it with a 7-9 ACC record. It wouldn't be pretty, but, then, when's the last time a U.Va. team won style points.
The Cavaliers must beat Maryland at University Hall next Sunday. It wouldn't hurt, either, to get by Virginia Tech Tuesday in Richmond.
In the meantime, recent close losses to Duke, Clemson and now Wake Forest, are ``taking their toll,'' said Alexander.
``A loss is a loss,'' he conceded. ``We're just not getting the results.''
Though Wake Forest was fourth-ranked nationally coming into the game, the Demon Duncans had dropped three of their last four ACC games.
``We had to come up here and take a step back to respectability,'' said Wake Forest coach Dave Odom.
With Tim Duncan scoring 21 points to go along with 23 rebounds, the visitors were no more than respectable, which was enough.
``They didn't make any really big plays down the stretch,'' Alexander said of Wake, ``but we didn't make any plays.
``When you give it your all, and you ultimately lose, it doesn't help your team.''
Except, maybe in the ratings percentage index, which places great value (too much, it says here) on losses to higher-ranked teams. U.Va. can point to plenty of those.
A place in the Field of 64 is the goal. But if secured, it won't change everything. U.Va. will remain a second-division ACC team for the second year in a row.
An appearance in the tournament will provide relief for Jones, his players, and the school's fans. But at no great benefit to the program's reputation.
Keep in mind, too, that of U.Va.'s 16 victories, half have come against George Mason, William and Mary, Liberty, UMBC, Radford, Delaware, Loyola and Richmond.
Had U.Va. defeated Wake Forest Saturday, the television audience would have seen students storm the court in celebration. But how many years has it been since the student body at another ACC school stormed the court after its team defeated U.Va.? Does anybody remember the Sampson era?
Reaching the NCAA tournament, in other words, is not the only measure of a program.
``These next two games,'' said Jones, ``will be our most important games of the year.''
So what's new?