Bennett delighted to see young players join party; UNC’s Williams’ frustration continues

By Jerry Ratcliffe

After both No. 5-ranked Virginia and No. 7-ranked North Carolina laid an egg in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge last Wednesday night, both fan bases were left shaking their collective heads.

They weren’t alone. Both UVA’s Tony Bennett and UNC’s Roy Williams were doing the same, wondering how their teams would respond in Sunday’s early-season clash against each other in Charlottesville.

It was Williams who was still exasperated when he left John Paul Jones Arena on Sunday night with a 56-47 loss in his hip pocket. Parlayed with his disappointment in how his team performed was the fact that Virginia (8-1, 2-0 ACC) won its fifth consecutive game against the Tar Heels.

“It’s the most frustrated I’ve ever been,” said Williams, who guessed that his teams haven’t posted two games in a row with less than 70 points in back-to-back games during his 32 years as a head coach.

He was correct. In fact, with a 74-49 loss to Ohio State at the Dean Dome on Wednesday, piggybacked by Sunday’s loss at UVA, it was the first time since 1947-48 that a Carolina team had scored less than 50 points in back-to-back games.

Bennett, whose team was clobbered, 69-40, at Purdue a few nights ago, was perhaps more relieved than anything after toppling the Tar Heels. For really the first time this season, Virginia got strong contributions from players that hadn’t made much of an impact thus far.

Junior-college transfer Tomas Woldetensae, who came to UVA with a strong resume as a 3-point shooter, was only 3 for 21 behind the arc heading into Sunday, but showed glimpses of a sharpshooter with a 3-for-4 performance from downtown and 11 points.

Big man Francisco Caffaro, billed as the next Jack Salt, but who had been slowed by a severely bruised thigh in the preseason, made his presence known against the Heels with 10 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes, all season/career highs for him.

That wasn’t all. Kody Stattmann, also with the reputation as a sniper, was 3 for 9 shooting (1 of 4 from the 3-point line) for seven points. He had missed four games with a mono-like virus and reported that he’s still not 100 percent.

Then there was freshman Justin McKoy, who has circled this game on his calendar for quite some time, having grown up in the shadows of Chapel Hill. McKoy played physical basketball, helped on the glass with five rebounds and hit four free throws to help the cause.

Had those guys not shown up strong, it might have been Bennett bemoaning another loss instead of Carolina’s Williams.

“I am just thankful those guys came to the party and responded from a thorough can of you-know-what at Purdue,” Bennett said.

We don’t think he meant a can of corn.

“That is who we are right now,” Bennett said of his team that improved to 8-1 overall and 2-0 in the ACC. “We have to fight and scrap and play with guts.”

While that is who Virginia is right now, Carolina’s Williams has no idea who he is coaching at the moment.

“I don’t think we’re playing basketball the way that I want us to play and that is probably the most frustrating,” said Williams of his Heels, who dropped to 6-3 overall, 1-1 in the conference. “Pushing the pace, sharing the ball, competing like crazy. I’ve been very fortunate over the years, finding the right buttons to push to get guys to do that, and I haven’t found the right buttons to push to get these guys to do it that way.”

Williams didn’t like the fact that his team couldn’t execute the traditional Carolina greyhound pace, that it went 1 of 14 on 3-point tries, and 12 of 22 at the free-throw line. His team also fouled a Virginia 3-point shooter on three occasions in the game, growing his frustration.

“I’m just beside myself,” the Heels coach said. “Since last year, last two years, last three years, I’ve gotten to be the worst coach I can ever remember because we are doing some of the most unbelievable things of any team I’ve ever had.”

Both teams started the game in hangovers from their last pathetic outings. Carolina’s lingered while some of the new blood kick-started Virginia, which took a 24-18 halftime lead and ballooned it to 17 with just over three minutes to play.

The Cavaliers were still led by senior forward Mamadi Diakite, who scored 12 points before fouling out late in the game. Oddly, Jay Huff, who did not play well at Purdue, did not score and played only 14 minutes after getting into early first-half foul trouble. Senior Braxton Key remained sidelined after wrist surgery, but Bennett reported that although the guard hasn’t practiced, his stitches should be removed soon.

Woldetensae re-discovering his long-range shooting ability could be a huge boost for the Cavaliers, who have been mediocre at best from the perimeter most of the season — particularly against better teams — up until Sunday. 

“It made me smile,” Woldetensae grinned. “I mean, trying to work hard on coming back from a wrist injury and I’ll say that maybe that affected my mind a little bit on shooting. But just taking one step at a time and I’ll be back.”

One step at a time is fine for Bennett, who possesses the patience of Job in allowing some of the chemistry to blend with so many inexperienced players dotting his roster.

For Williams, he’s hoping for a major leap. It may take a while.

Virginia now hits a 10-day exam break before returning to action on Dec. 18 vs. Stony Brook.