Cavs try to stop Canes

Tonight, you can probably expect Virginia to get Miami’s best effort at John Paul Jones Arena. The Hurricanes, after all, are playing for their NCAA Tournament lives.
With just three conference games remaining, Miami sits at 5-8 in ACC play. The Canes likely need to win out in order to have a shot at the Big Dance.
“I think .500 in league play would put you in great position to get an at-large bid,” said Miami coach Frank Haith, whose team snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Boston College on Saturday, “but for us — we can’t worry about that. We’ve stopped talking about the tournament with our guys and have just gotten back to focusing on winning a game, and that’s what we did on Saturday.
“We have to do what we can to get ready to play a Virginia team that is playing hungry and very well.”
Well, at least that was the case until last Saturday in Raleigh.
In the loss at N.C. State, Virginia (9-14, 3-9) reverted to some old habits. A “lack of energy” — the bugaboo that plagued UVa during its recent eight-game losing streak — was back in full effect.
The Wahoos’ poor starts to both halves forced them to play from way behind for much of the game.
They can’t afford that tonight against Miami (16-10, 5-8), which features one of the best gunslingers in the country in shooting guard Jack McClinton. The senior was recently named among the 30 mid-season candidates for the 2009 Naismith Trophy.
McClinton is the ACC’s all-time 3-point field goal percentage leader (.446). He also leads the ACC this season in 3-point field goal percentage (.477) and 3-pointers per game (3.2), while ranking among the league’s top five in both scoring (20.1) and free-throw percentage (.860).
“Miami is another team, like just about every other team in this league, that is playing for a lot of marbles and will take their best shot,” said Virginia coach Dave Leitao. “We obviously have to figure out a way to defend them both on the inside and especially on the outside with a guy like McClinton. It will take all of our concentration and all of our effort.”
McClinton started out at Siena College, but left following his freshman season when former Virginia assistant coach Rob Lanier — then the head coach at Siena — was fired.
Haith, who had seen McClinton play in high school, said there weren’t very many suitors for McClinton at the time because he was wanting to move up a level (from a mid-major).
Haith thought McClinton could be “a solid player” in the ACC. Then the Baltimore native got on campus and started outplaying the likes of former Miami guards Robert Hite and Guillermo Diaz.
“Obviously, he has exceeded my expectations and turned out to be a great player,” Haith said.
Florida State, which defeated Miami on Feb. 18, did one of the better jobs this season of defending McClinton. The Seminoles held him to 13 points on 5 of 12 shooting.
“They ran a lot of different guys at him,” Haith said, “and just jumped him off screens.”
Virginia didn’t show much defensive aggression against the Pack. Part of that might have stemmed from being away from the friendly confines of JPJ, part of it may have had to do with the fact that UVa — like a lot of other teams at this time of year — is getting worn down.
“We have to continue to watch and maintain ourselves — that we’re getting maximum effort and energy,” Leitao said, “and, at the same point in time, keeping the guys rested.”
Dunks
Miami leads the all-time series with Virginia, 5-3, including a 95-93 win in Coral Gables last season. … UVa junior Jerome Meyinsse hasn’t played in the team’s last five games. Leitao said it was a combination of the players in front of Meyinsse performing well, going with a smaller lineup, and the Baton Rouge native not playing consistently aggressive. “If he were to do that, he would probably be more in the mix,” said Leitao, referring to Meyinsse’s demeanor on the court, “but I would put it much more on the guys who are in than him.” … McClinton is the only ACC player to rank among the nation’s top 30 in four different statistical categories — including third in the country in three-point field goal percentage, and owns three of the conference’s top 10 scoring performances this season — including back-to-back-to-back 30-point games versus Wake Forest, Duke and North Carolina.