Pirate Galaxy » he fact Im still out here doing the best I can.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Austin Nichols is one of several new players that figures prominently in the rotation for No. 8 Virginia, and while he arrived as a transfer from Memphis with a reputation as a gifted offensive player, hes adapted quickly to Tony Bennetts defensive philosophy.I think we can be a pretty good team, Nichols said after leading Virginia with 11 points in a 72-32 rout of St. Francis Brooklyn on Tuesday night. Weve just to continue focusing on defense.The Cavaliers (2-0) looked in midseason form at the other end of the floor, holding the Terriers of the Northeast Conference scoreless for a stretch of more than 10 minutes in the first half. Virginia scored 20 consecutive points in that stretch to open a 35-11 lead.The Cavaliers dont have a go-to scoring option so far, and even if one surfaces, Bennett said their focus will always be the same.I think this team understands that were going to have to be so good defensively, he said. Thats going to be our ticket.The Terriers (0-2) ended the drought on two free throws by Yunus Hopkinson with 7.8 seconds left in the half.These games do one of two things for you. They either make you stronger or break you, Terriers coach Glenn Braica said.Glenn Sanabria led St. Francis with 10 points and Gunnar Olafsson had seven.Nichols, who missed Virginias two preseason scrimmages and season-opener at UNC Greensboro while serving a suspension for violating a team rule, scored on an array and shots around the basket. Jarred Reuter added nine points and London Perrantes, Marial Shayok and Mamadi Diakite each had eight for Virginia. All 11 scholarship players for the Cavaliers scored and grabbed at least one rebound.The Terriers finished 11 for 48 from the field, 22.9 percent.BIG PICTURESt. Francis: The Terriers attempted 16 3-pointers in the first half and made just one, which is not the recipe for a team from the Northeast Conference to challenge a ranked or Power Five-level school. Having already lost at North Carolina State, they continue an early season gauntlet at Providence next Monday.Virginia: The early-season indoctrination of youth into coach Tony Bennetts lineup continued as freshmen Kyle Guy (21 minutes) and Ty Jerome (10) each got significant playing time and Diakite, a redshirt freshman, played 14.THE DOWN LOWNichols has plenty of company up front in 6-11 Jack Salt, 6-9 Diakite and 6-7 Reuter, and all made contributions.Jack started and had six points and two rebounds, Reuter and Diakite each grabbed four rebounds and Diakite had a block.Me and Manadi are more like finesse players, Nichols said, and the Bruise Brothers, Jarred and Jack, theyre the bangers inside.BULLSEYEVirginia walk-on Justice Bartley was one of three walk-ons who entered the game for Virginia with about 2 minutes to play, and Bennett was thrilled to see the sophomore score his first collegiate basket on a layup with 30 seconds remaining.HE SAID ITI think its $60,000, or $80,000. -- St. Francis Brooklyn coach Glenn Braica when asked what his team gets from facing Virginia.UP NEXTSt. Francis travels north to play at Providence next Monday night.Virginia continues a three-game home-stand with a visit from Yale on Sunday. 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EUGENE, Ore. -- One one-hundredth of a second.After receiving a kidney transplant last September and going through a second kidney surgery in October, after going through months of recovery, training and daily medication, Aries Merritt missed making the U.S. Olympic team Saturday by just one one-hundredth of a second.Racing in the 110-meter hurdles final at the U.S. Olympics trials, Merritt thought he crossed the line in second or third place. But after an agonizing delay, his place was shown as fourth with a time of 13.22, just behind third-place finisher Jeff Porter (13.21).Merritt was obviously disappointed, but he said he had come to grips with it. After all, he has a gold medal in the event from the 2012 Olympics and is still competing against the worlds best despite once thinking he could never run again because of his failing kidneys. Not making the Olympics is far better than being hooked to a dialysis machine for the rest of your life.Nothing can be worse than being told you can never run again, even if you come up a little short here, he said. Ive been to the Olympics, I won the Olympics. Ive broken the world record. So, I mean, someone else can have a turn.Even though Merritt will not compete in Rio, he should still be an inspiration to everyone. While you watch Michael Phelps, Simone Biles and Usain Bolt this August, also keep Merritt and what he overcame prominently in mind.After winning gold in 2012, his kidneys began to fail in 2013. Even with his kidney function no higher than 15 percent, he finished third at the world championships in Beijing late last August. He then underwent a transplant just days later in Arizona, receiving a kidney from his older sister, LaToya Hubbard.And he was only one one-hundredth of a second from making the Olympics again the following summer.It hasnt even been a year since the transplant, only 10 months, Hubbard said. For him to put his heart on the line and just miss at the team, I dont look at it as a failure or coming up short. Hes still on top. Hes still an Olympic gold medalist and still the world-record holder. He may not be able to defend that title, but nobody can take away what he did.No, nobody can take that away. But what should they take away from what he has done and overcome?People should just know that no matter what youre going through in life, if you keep your mind focused on something you want to accomplish, anything is possible, Merritt said.dddddddddddd At world championships last year in Beijing, I had roughly no kidney function -- under 15 percent -- and I was still able to do amazing things.This time was a little different because I was compromised by the surgery. Me being sliced open, and my muscles shifted and putting a new organ in and me getting adjusted to the meds, its a lot to comprehend. People dont understand the severity of what Ive been through. Despite the fact Im still out here doing the best I can.Merritts kidney doctor, Les Thomas, says that not only should people look to the hurdler for inspiration -- a way to say no matter how dark it may be, there is always a brighter spot -- they should look to his sister as a hero, as well. She demonstrated extraordinary altruism, giving him a kidney.Thomas also says people should take this story as a reason to consider organ donations. Donating a kidney is not that risky -- you only need one -- but the waiting list can be many years for a transplant.They may not have anyone in their lives who can give them a kidney and they will wait and wait and wait because there is a huge demand for kidney transplants, Thomas said. And sometimes they will pass away with no kidney ever coming to them. ... If [more people donated], we would have a lot less people on the waiting list and less people would die.Hubbard, who gave birth to her daughter the previous year, said she never worried about any risk in giving up her kidney. She simply asked her brother for the phone number of the Mayo Clinic so she could schedule a time.Let me go through this process and get on a table and help my brother out, she said. He had something in his body that was dying and I have something that was living.She gave it to him. And because she did, Merritt is alive and healthy and competing. And inspiring.This is still just a beginning, Hubbard said. We still have the 2020 Olympics ahead and two world championships. I think this is eye-opening for kids and others. ...Always extend a hand and pay it forward. ' ' '