Deacs know Cavaliers are good

If there was any chance of the Virginia Cavaliers slipping into town for today's game against Wake Forest under the cover of preseason expectations, their cover has been blown.

There's a downside to almost everything, including a 3-0 conference record.

The Cavaliers, picked in the preseason to finish next to last under first-year Coach Tony Bennett, have been the surprise team of the early ACC season. Their first victory, at N.C. State, might have been attributed to the Wolfpack's own struggles, but the same could not be said for home wins against Georgia Tech and Miami.

Led by Sylven Landesberg, an early candidate for ACC Player of the Year, the Cavaliers (12-4 overall) are the only team to remain undefeated in league play. In fact, other than 2-1 Maryland, every other team has at least two losses.

The Deacons, 13-4 overall after Wednesday's 82-69 victory at North Carolina, will try to improve to 4-2 in conference play.

Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Joel Coliseum.

"I've shown them Georgia Tech film and we've showed them individual clips," Coach Dino Gaudio said of his players. "They'd better understand how hard we have to play and how smart we have to play to beat these guys.

"I think (the Deacons) understand. They're 3-0 and they've won at N.C. State. They beat Miami, who beat us. These kids have great respect for Georgia Tech."

Freshman C.J. Harris of Wake Forest said that Virginia's success hasn't been as surprising to him that it apparently has been to others.

"They've got everybody back, that means they have experience," Harris said. "They have the ACC Rookie of the Year (Landesberg) back. And then I guess they're buying into their new coach.

"So it's all coming into place for them."

Bennett derived his coaching style from his father, Dick Bennett, who compiled a 316-227 record at Wisconsin-Green Bay, Wisconsin and Washington State. Dick Bennett championed the Pack-Line defense, which emphasizes building a wall in front of the basket as opposed to overplaying on the perimeter.

When Gaudio was shopping around for a new defensive approach for Wake Forest, he talked with Tony Bennett repeatedly while Bennett was at Washington State. Gaudio ultimately implemented the defense, which has helped turn the Deacons into one of the ACC's most formidable defensive teams.

To no one's surprise, Virginia deploys the defense as well.

"I'd like to say it's our defense but it's their defense," Gaudio said.

Gaudio may be even more impressed with the way the Cavaliers have run their offense in their first 16 games under Bennett. Virginia ranks last in the ACC with 71.1 points a games, but it's second with a free-throw percentage of .763 and first with a 3-point percentage of .415.

But the Cavaliers' real forte is their ability to take care of the ball. Virginia leads the ACC with 10.2 turnovers a game.

"We've got to not try to steal, just play our defense like we've been doing all year," Harris said.

Gaudio said the Deacons had better be prepared to play disciplined defense.

"We told them we've got to guard them for 30 seconds, and then we've got to box out or else we're going to have to guard them for another 30 or 35 seconds," Gaudio said. "I think we're pretty disciplined in the half-court defense. I think we'll do it. I think we're pretty good at that.

"We've got to do a really good job of staying attached to cutters and our big guys really have got to do a good job of helping us when other screens are occurring."

Landesberg, who has taken 85 more shots than anyone else on the team, leads the Cavaliers with 17.5 points a game, and he's averaging 21 against ACC competition. A 6-6 guard from Flushing, N.Y., Landesberg is shooting 45 percent form the floor and 38 percent from 3-point range.

Few players in the ACC are hotter than Sammy Zeglinski, a sophomore guard who is shooting a conference-best 49 percent from 3-point range. Zeglinski, whose father John was a standout football player for Wake Forest in the 1970s, is averaging 10.6 points a game.

Mike Scott, a 6-8 junior from Chesapeake, Va., leads the Cavaliers with 7.6 rebounds a game and is second with 13.2 points a game.

"A kid I really like is Scott inside," Gaudio said. "We recruited him a little bit.

"I think he's skilled. He plays hard. He's got that 15-17 foot base line jump shot that we saw Deon (Thompson) and (Travis) Wear shoot on Wednesday night. We've got to get out there on him."

dcollins@wsjournal.com | 727-7323