University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Heels Look to End U-Hall Hex
January 28, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 28, 2005
By Adam Lucas
The excuses are handed to Jawad Williams, no questions asked.
Maybe it's the tight rims. Maybe the shooting background is poor. Maybe (ahem, RCA Dome, cough) there's too much wind in the arena. All of those could be potential reasons why the Tar Heels have struggled mightily in Charlottesville in recent years.
But he's not making it easy.
"Nah, that's not it," he says. "It's just like any other ACC arena. Teams just play better at home. It's actually a fun place to play."
He can say that, because it's the one place his sister, Siedah Williams, gets to see him play in person. She'll be there tomorrow for the noon tip-off (the Lady Cavaliers host Virginia Tech tonight).
But Williams is wrong. University Hall isn't just like any other ACC arena, at least not according to the stats. Pick your timeframe and the numbers aren't pretty. Carolina has lost their last five games there, eight of their last 11, and 15 of their last 25 (And that's without even mentioning the football problems in Charlottesville, where Carolina hasn't won since 1981). Making the futility even more mystifying is the fact that the Heels have dominated the Cavaliers in Chapel Hill, winning 21 of the past 23 games in Blue Heaven.
So what kind of mystical hold does Charlottesville possess over the Tar Heels?
Part of it, of course, is that the stretch includes some very good Virginia teams, especially when Ralph Sampson was patrolling the paint in the early 1980s. In those seasons, the UVA game was annually one of the biggest--if not the biggest--on the Tar Heel schedule.
But that doesn't explain the recent struggles. Virginia has only been ranked during three of the last 10 meetings in Charlottesville (they won all three). But there always seems to be a John Crotty, a Keith Friel, a Todd Billett waiting to plunge the dagger into anything wearing Carolina blue. Last year, the Heels had a five-point lead and Raymond Felton had the ball on a 3-on-1 fast break, seemingly ready to put the game away. But Sean May and David Noel miscommunicated and the ball trickled out of bounds, starting a Virginia comeback that ended with a 74-72 Cavalier win.
Even the wins at U-Hall have been difficult, including Ademola Okulaja's game-winning three-pointer in 1999 and the King Rice-guided triumph in 1991.
This year's team will try to reverse that trend against a Cavalier squad facing a short rest following Thursday night's loss to Virginia Tech. The 36-hour turnaround is something the Tar Heels faced themselves three times last year--they won all three of the back ends of those combos. But the `Hoos have bigger problems than a lack of rest, as they've lost five of their last six games.
"It always concerns you when a team is going through difficult time periods, especially teams in this league," Roy Williams said. "Virginia beat Arizona earlier in the year by 18. You know Virginia is a pretty doggone good basketball team and you know they'll get it going, you just hope it's not against you."
His team will be coming off a week's rest, a time they used to rest some bumps and bruises. Carolina took Sunday and Wednesday off and had only a light run-and-shoot session on Tuesday.
During those sessions, Roy Williams hasn't dwelled on his team's problems in Charlottesville.
"I've mentioned it to them," he said. "They've had some success against us and that gives them a little more confidence against us the next time. We have to break that."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. His book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about the book, click here.
