AROUND THE ACC

Former Virginia head coach Pete Gillen stepped down at the end of last season after finishing in last place in the ACC and failing to make the NCAA Tournament for the fourth consecutive year. The Cavaliers brought in Dave Leitao and the first-year coach has led the team to a 7-7 conference record and 14-11 mark overall. The Cavaliers were picked to finish dead last in the ACC in preseason polls, but currently sit in a fifth-place tie with Florida State and Miami with two games left on their conference schedule. "It was unanimous that we were the 12th-best team in this league," Leitao said. "We never felt that we were the 12th-place team.... We just set out to work as hard as we could every day." The Cavaliers are currently ranked 68th in the RPI and are only 2-5 against teams ranked in the RPI top 50, leaving them on the bubble and in need of quality wins if they want to be dancing. Leitao's squad will have an opportunity to bolster its NCAA Tournament resumé Wednesday at North Carolina. The Cavaliers knocked off the Tar Heels in Charlottesville Jan. 19, but have struggled to a 1-6 mark on the road this season. "There's a change of routine, you're out of your comfort zone and there's no fan base," Leitao said of playing away from home. "For us specifically, we can't have much go wrong at home or on the road and be successful." The Cavaliers have been nearly unstoppable at home, however, dropping just one game and knocking off two top-25 opponents. Maryland will travel to University Hall Saturday for the final game of the regular season and the last game before Virginia moves to John Paul Jones Arena next season. Leitao said his team is focusing on finishing this year out strong and that this is the most important time of the season. "We've been hot and cold with what we've done all season long," he said. "We want to finish off the regular season playing the best that we can play." -Patrick Byrnes