Virginia Plays Boston College In Opening Game Of ACC Tournament

GREENSBORO, N.C.--The Virginia men’s basketball team opens play in the 57th annual Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament on Thursday (March 11) at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C. The Cavaliers are seeded ninth in the tournament and play eighth-seeded Boston College in the tournament’s first game at noon. The game will be televised by Raycom and broadcast by the Virginia Sports Radio Network.

The winner of Thursday’s game will play top-seeded Duke in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Friday (March 12) at noon.

UVa has an overall record of 30-55 in ACC Tournament play and won the tournament in 1976. Virginia has lost its last four ACC Tournament games. The Cavaliers last win was a 60-56 victory over Virginia Tech in the first round of the 2006 ACC Tournament.  

Virginia enters the tournament with an overall record of 14-15 and the Cavaliers were 5-11 in the ACC during the regular season. UVa is coming off a 74-68 loss to Maryland at John Paul Jones Arena last Saturday (March 6). The Cavaliers have lost their last nine games, their longest losing streak since the 1961-62 season.

Senior forward/center Jerome Meyinsse led Virginia with 17 points in the loss to Maryland. Meyinsee was 7-8 from the field and 3-4 from the free-throw line in that game.

Junior guard Jeff Jones scored 16 points against the Terrapins. Jones was 4-7 from the field, including 4-6 from three-point range, and made all four of his free throws. Sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski added 14 points, six rebounds and three assists against Maryland last Saturday.

Boston College enters the tournament with an overall record of 15-15 and a 6-10 record in the ACC during the regular season. The Eagles are coming off a 66-54 loss at NC State on Sunday (March 7).

UVa and Boston College met once during the regular season with the Eagles defeating the Cavaliers 68-55 on March 3 in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The Cavaliers lead the series with Boston College 6-4, but the Eagles have won the last three games in the series. Boston College defeated Virginia 76-63 in the first round of last year’s ACC Tournament. 

Virginia will be without sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg and senior guard Calvin Baker at the ACC Tournament. UVa head coach Tony Bennett announced last Saturday that Landesberg will not play in games for the remainder of the 2009-10 season for failure to live up to his academic obligations.

Landesberg leads Virginia in scoring, assists and minutes played this season. He averaged 17.3 points, 2.9 assists (77 assists) and 32.1 minutes played a game while playing in 27 of the team’s first 28 games. Landesberg averaged 4.9 rebounds a game and shot 81.0 percent (111-137) from the free-throw line.

Landesberg ranks fifth in the ACC in scoring, sixth in free throw percentage, eighth in field goal percentage (.443, 166-375) and ninth in minutes played. He earned second-team All-ACC honors and was named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-District III Team this season. 

It was announced on Monday (March 8) that Baker will miss the rest of the season for personal family reasons. He averaged 3.0 points, 1.9 assists and 1.2 rebounds a game in 25 games for the Cavaliers during the regular season. Baker started 10 games this season. 

Without Landesberg, junior forward Mike Scott is the only Virginia player averaging double figures in scoring. Scott is averaging 11.9 points a game and leads the team with an average of 6.8 rebounds a game. He is third in the ACC in field goal percentage (.506, 132-261), 12^th in rebounding and 20^th in scoring.

Zeglinski is averaging 8.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists a game. He leads the team in three-point field goals made (56) and in steals (34). Zeglinski ranks eighth in the ACC in three-point field goals made per game (1.9).

Meyinsse has scored in double figures in each of the last four games for the Cavaliers. He is averaging 15.8 points and 5.5 rebounds a game and is shooting 73.3 percent (22-30) from the field during that four-game stretch.

Boston College has four players averaging in double figures in scoring led by junior forward Joe Trapani. Trapani is averaging 14.6 points a game and also leads the team in rebounding with an average of 6.4 rebounds a game.

Sophomore guard Reggie Jackson is averaging 12.7 points and 5.6 rebounds a game and leads the Eagles in assists with an average of 4.5 assists a game. Junior forward Corey Raji is averaging 11.6 points and 5.9 rebounds a game, and junior guard/forward Rakim Sanders is averaging 10.8 points a game.

As a team Boston College is scoring an average of 69.4 points a game and allowing an average of 66.0 points a game.

Al Skinner is in his 13^th season as the head coach at Boston College. His Boston College teams have compiled an overall record of 247-164 and participated in the NCAA Tournament seven times.