ESPN's Matt Ward chimes in
Talked to ESPN analyst Matt Ward late Monday evening, and among the other topics we discussed was No. 1 Virginia's potential to become just the 13th team in Division I history to have an undefeated season.
Ward, who was a member of the Cavaliers' 2006 national championship squad and won the Tewaaraton Trophy that season, bleeds orange and blue, but even he was slightly concerned about Virginia's second-half letdowns against Syracuse and Johns Hopkins.
"They squeaked out wins against Syracuse and Hopkins on their home fields, but they can't have lapses like they did in both games," Ward said. "When you're up 12-6 on Hopkins, that means put more gas on the pedal. The players need to realize that games are 60 minutes long and that Syracuse and Johns Hopkins are going to go on runs themselves, and you can't let that happen."
In the Cavaliers' 13-12 victory over the Orange on Feb. 27, Virginia owned a 13-8 advantage with 7:32 left in the fourth quarter, but was forced to hold off a Syracuse 4-0 run that simply ran out of gas. Last Saturday, the Cavaliers ran out to a 12-6 lead with 3:13 left in the second quarter, but the Blue Jays stormed back, eventually taking a 15-14 lead with seven seconds left in the third quarter.
Rather than continue to press the issue when they had substantial advantage, the Cavaliers let up on the accelerator, Ward said.
"When teams aren't capitalizing on that, then you're in trouble," he said. "I'd just like to see this Virginia team get more of a killer instinct to make sure that they're not putting themselves in a situation where they can lose a game. When you have a six-goal lead, make it a 12-goal lead. Keep playing hard, and I think Virginia has the skillset to do that."
I asked Ward to select the biggest surprise thus far, and he pointed to a Georgetown squad that is 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the Eastern College Athletic Conference.
"They've had some bad losses," Ward said the Hoyas, who have dropped decisions to No. 2 Syracuse, No. 12 Duke, Hobart and St. John's. "It's not necessarily a bad loss just because they lost to some teams you may not be familiar with, but because they've come out flat and not played well. Georgetown's had a bunch of big recruiting classes and they just need to get their heads together and start playing well. They might find themselves not playing in the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row, and that's a big issue for Georgetown."
