Cavaliers Suffer 'Unacceptable' Loss

Liberty 86, Virginia 82

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Nov. 25 -- Sitting outside the locker room minutes after the highest-scoring game of his career, Virginia guard Sammy Zeglinski did not waste a moment to consider his reaction to what had just occurred on Tuesday night. He and his teammates had just been stunned by an 86-82 loss to Liberty, and Zeglinski found an apt word to convey his feelings.

"Unacceptable," said Zeglinski, a redshirt freshman.

His coach and teammates spoke with the same disdain, because the problems that kept popping up during the Cavaliers' first three games, all wins, were not fixed in the fourth. Never mind that Coach Dave Leitao said he witnesses the necessary intensity daily at practice. When the fans take the seats and the games matter, Virginia has appeared listless.

Though they were picked to finish last in the ACC, the Cavaliers were hosting a team that was coming off a 28-point loss to UNC Asheville. With daunting road trips to Syracuse and Minnesota, this one could have been seen as merely a final tuneup.

"Not to take anything from Liberty," forward Mike Scott said, "but we definitely should have won this game."

Instead, each game has left Leitao wondering when his team will respond.

"We lost the game far before today even started," Leitao said. "We've been flirting with disaster or losses, whatever you want to call them, for a while now."

Virginia beat South Florida and Radford by two points each, with freshman Sylven Landesberg making big plays at the end of both games. But on Tuesday night, the Cavaliers' tenuous lead evaporated midway through the second half, and they never could get it back.

Defensive stops were nonexistent. Whenever Virginia hit a big shot to cut the lead, Liberty answered. And although the Cavaliers were making three-pointers, they were not feeding Scott in the paint. At 6 feet 8, he was the biggest player on the floor against a team whose tallest starter was 6-6.

Scott often called for the ball in the post and finished with nine points and 17 rebounds, but four of his points came off offensive rebounds and three came from the free throw line. Leitao said after the game the team needed to get the ball within 15 feet by any means -- passing, penetration and post-up.

Virginia likely would not even have been in the game without the second-half performance of Zeglinski, who went shot-for-shot with Liberty.

Starting the first game of his career, Zeglinski was silent for much of the first half. He entered the intermission scoreless but scored 24 second-half points, including 6 of 9 three-point attempts.

Liberty was carried by Kyle Ohman; Anthony Smith, the Big South preseason player of the year; and freshman Seth Curry, the brother of Davidson star Stephen Curry. Ohman and Seth Curry both scored 26 points, while Smith added 21 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds.

The Cavaliers reside in a dubious position. With a difficult road game at the Carrier Dome looming after just two days of practice and four games of questions, Virginia must rectify the dispassionate play that perplexes the team.

"We knew we had to fix this since the South Florida game," Zeglinski said, "and we're still not able to."

Cavaliers Notes: Woodbridge native Tristan Spurlock and Jontel Evans of Hampton, Va., signed national letters-of-intent with Virginia, the school announced. . . . Freshman center Assane Sene was in uniform for Tuesday's game following the resolution of his eligibility status.