Cavs try to tame Tigers on Senior Day

When Virginia defeated Clemson on Feb. 15 to snap an eight-game losing streak, the sense of relief among the players, the coaching staff and the fan base was palpable. After UVa coach Dave Leitao grabbed the courtside microphone and asked fans for their continued support, it seemed as if the team might be turning a corner.
But a little over two weeks later, the Wahoos are essentially back to square one. The relief has given way to a new wave of anxiety. Virginia, having lost three straight, is in the midst of another dismal stretch.
“Obviously, you’re the one who’s driving the bus, so a lot of times it starts and ends with you,” said Leitao, when asked about how he personally was dealing with the team’s latest slide. “It’s difficult, but, at the same point in time it doesn’t shake my confidence that we’re doing the right thing and going in the right direction.”
Tonight, Virginia fans probably won’t get that feeling. UVa (9-16, 3-11) will be heading into shark-infested waters when it takes on No. 18 Clemson in Littlejohn Coliseum.
The Tigers (22-6, 8-6) will be looking to get Virginia back for the overtime loss last month at John Paul Jones Arena. In addition, it will be Senior Night at Clemson, and the Tigers figure to be pretty amped up for that event.
“We just have to do what we’ve been doing — coming out with energy and playing hard, things like that,” said Virginia sophomore Jeff Jones. “[The win over Clemson] definitely gives us confidence, but another thing is now they have a chip on their shoulder and we know that we’re going to have to play that much harder.”
Clemson, after starting the season 16-0, has been up and down of late. The Tigers are coming off losses to Virginia Tech and Florida State.
In those games, Clemson turned the ball over far too much for coach Oliver Purnell’s liking.
That was also the case in the Tigers’ February loss to Virginia. In that contest, Clemson had 21 turnovers.
“[We] got ourselves down in the first half,” Purnell recalled. “We came back in the second half and got a little bit of a lead, then went right back to being a little sloppy with the basketball.
“We expected them to play hard and like their basketball life depended on it, but us turning the ball over so many times really hurt.”
Virginia freshman Sylven Landesberg forced overtime when he scored on a strong drive to the basket. UVa outscored Clemson, 11-6, in the extra session.
In the last few games, teams have developed a much better game plan for defending Landesberg. The guard scored just 10 points, nearly eight below his season average against Wake Forest.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Leitao reinsert senior Mamadi Diane into the starting lineup to help take some of the pressure off of Landesberg. While junior Solomon Tat may provide nice energy, he has scored just four points in his seven starts. You wouldn’t think Virginia could afford to get down big on the road early.
However, Leitao didn’t commit to giving Diane any more minutes, despite his better showings of late.
“His emergence or reemergence into games has been a byproduct of how he’s went about his days in practice,” Leitao said. “His days of practice have helped him be more productive in games. We’ll continue to judge him and everybody else in that way.”
Dunks
Leitao wasn’t optimistic about the return of Assane Sene (sprained ankle) to the lineup tonight. Sene injured the ankle against Miami and did not play versus Wake Forest on Saturday. “It’s gotten significantly better,” Leitao said, “but it’s still not at the point where he can put his sneakers on and get out there.” … Virginia leads the all-time series, 65-48, including its last trip to Littlejohn in 2006-07. In that game, UVa overcame a 16-point second-half deficit to shock the 19th-ranked Tigers thanks to a late bucket by Jason Cain.