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March 15, 2001
After two spirited practices at a Memphis area college and a shoot-around in the Pyramid, the Virginia men’s basketball team is anxiously awaiting its first round NCAA Tournament game with Gonzaga. The players took special note of 12th-seeded Utah State’s upset of fifth-seeded Ohio State. The Cavs are very aware of the propensity for upsets to happen in tourney play. Certainly after many of the national experts have picked Gonzaga to win, Virginia’s players enter the match-up with a desire to prove they are a team deserving of national recognition.
“My personal take is it kind of strikes a light in me – a little fire,” Virginia guard Roger Mason said. “I think it does for the whole team. Gonzaga’s very talented and they’ve had a lot of success in the tournament so I can understand people saying that. But at the same time, we’re very confident in our ability as a team and if we’re the underdogs we’ll approach it that way and just play hard.”
Virginia’s road woes have been well documented as it won just two conference games away from University Hall this season. In an effort to build confidence heading into tournament play, the players point to a neutral court game they played earlier this season: a 107-89 win over then fourth-ranked Tennessee at Continental Airlines Arena on December 19.
“The biggest thing we did in the Tennessee game was we were aggressive from the opening tip and we got a lot of production from our bench and from our starters as well,” Mason said. “And that’s going to be a big key for us in our first game against Gonzaga. We have to play loose and aggressive and get contributions from everybody.”
In an effort to keep the players relaxed before Friday’s game, the coaches and managers along with Jason Dowling, Maurice Young, and Majestic Mapp, challenged the rest of the players to a best-of-ten shooting contest at the end of Thursday’s shoot-around. The coaches’ team won the first game 10-9 on a Dowling jumper. The players easily won the second match on three-point shots from each corner. But the coaches’ team pulled the upset in the rubber match as assistant Tommy Herrion drained a jump shot for a second 10-9 victory. The contest was another example of Pete Gillen’s main objective in preparing the 16th-ranked Cavs for their first NCAA Tournament game under his leadership.
“We try to be very positive with them,” Gillen said. “We try to have fun. I think our guys are having fun. We lighten up a little bit. In preparation we’ve been positive. Gonzaga’s a great team, but we’re a great team, too. We we’re ranked sixth in the country at one time. Right now we’re ranked 15th or 16th in the country depending on what poll. So we’re a very good team.”
Friday afternoon we will find out if this Virginia team is good enough to win in the NCAA Tournament.