Tudor's take: UVa punches ticket to nowhere

ROBERT WILLETT - rwillett@newsobserver.com

GREENSBORO — The 57th ACC basketball tourney opened before a cast of dozens — well, OK, hundreds maybe — this afternoon in Greensboro Coliseum.

But for a game witnessed by so few, and with table stakes similar to those of a city league pick-up game, Virginia and Boston College put on a surprisingly good show.

The Cavaliers, quickly running out of roster and entering the tournament with an ugly nine-game losing streak, finally got back to .500 (15-15) with a 68-62 win that buys them a ticket to nowhere Friday.

Tony Bennett's ninth-seeded team will have to face top-seeded Duke, thoroughly rested since ruining North Carolina's life last Saturday night in Durham.

UVa and the Blue Devils played just once in regular season — a 67-49 Duke win in Charlottesville on Feb. 28.

Boston College (15-16) fell behind early and never found a way to stop UVa guards Sammy Zeglinski (21 points)  and Jeff Jones (14 points). Rakim Sanders (22 points, three assists) was the lone  bright spot for Al Skinner’s team, which went 6-10 during the ACC's regular season.

The defining moment of the game came with about two minutes left when Boston College made a brief run, prompting Jones to turn to the small group of Cavalier fans in the south end-zone area and implore the fans to make some noise. They responded with all they had and Jones soon thereafter canned a 3-pointer to pretty much seal the outcome.