Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 28, 1992 TAG: 9203280223
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Stith scored 20 of his game-high 24 points in the second half Friday night as Virginia's men's basketball defeated New Mexico 76-71 and gained a trip to New York for the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament.
The Cavaliers made their first 21 free throws and finished 24-of-26 from the line in overcoming a five-point first-half deficit. UVa is 72-of-86 on free throws (83.7 percent) for the tournament.
It was the sixth victory in seven games for the Cavaliers, who raised their record to 18-13 and were awaiting word on their opponent for Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
"This is huge for me," said Stith, playing in the NIT for the first time after three straight NCAA appearances. "I didn't have a good game against Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament and this was a good chance for me to make a statement."
It was reminiscent of Stith's effort against Pittsburgh last year in the ACC-Big East Challenge, when he shrugged off an ankle injury to score 20 points in the second half of an 84-80 UVa victory at the Richmond Coliseum.
"When the game's on the line, I want to be the guy who takes the shots," said Stith, who had 30 points against Syracuse here in the 1990 NCAA Tournament. "I got the feeling that no one on the floor could stop me."
Stith had plenty of support as freshman Junior Burrough scored 18 points, and junior center Ted Jeffries recorded his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
"I can't say enough about Ted Jeffries," UVa coach Jeff Jones said. "This may have been his best game of the season."
Jeffries may have sealed New Mexico's fate with a little less than a minute remaining, when he stole the ball at the 3-point line and fed Cornel Parker for a layup that put UVa ahead 75-65.
New Mexico, which trailed 56-46 with 10:35 remaining, used an 8-0 run to get back in the game, but the Lobos (20-13) never had the ball and a chance to tie or take the lead.
New Mexico coach Dave Bliss said the Lobos were hampered by an injury to forward Will Scott, who started but played only six minutes and did not score.
"He had back spasms three days ago and wasn't able to get loosened up," Bliss said. "He's been our best player down the stretch. He also takes the other team's best offensive player."
The Lobos, making their eighth NIT appearance in the past nine years, took their first lead at 13-10 with 13 minutes remaining in the half and shortly after enjoyed their biggest spread at 17-12.
The Lobos led 32-28 before UVa scored the last two baskets of the first half, the second after Burrough picked up a loose ball and fed Parker for a breakaway layup with seconds remaining.
Stith, reportedly 100 percent after a fall Monday night in Virginia's 77-52 victory over Tennessee, missed his first four shots and did not have a field goal until 5:26 remained in the half.
"Bryant is definitely still affected by what happened against Tennessee," Jones said. "I don't think there's anything wrong with his neck or shoulder, but his conditioning was off after being out three days."
Picking up the slack was Jeffries, who had 10 points in the first 12:13. Jeffries, a 6-foot-9 junior, had been scoring 5.5 points per game and had reached double figures four times in UVa's first 30 games.
"Offensively, I felt like I couldn't miss," said Jeffries, who was 6-of-8 from the field, "and, defensively, I never lost my focus. We knew if we could hold things together, Bryant would come through at the end."
Junior guard Steve Logan came off the bench to score a team-high 18 points for the Lobos, but was 6-of-18 from the field. New Mexico shot 51.9 percent from the field in the first half, but dropped to 35.1 in the second. The Lobos committed 17 turnovers to UVa's 11.
A crowd of 11,092 was on hand at the Richmond Coliseum, where tickets sold out in 13 hours earlier this week. New Mexico had received 13 consecutive home games in rounds 1-3, but was the host of the NCAA West Regional this week.
"We play before crowds of 18,000 to 22,000 all the time in the Western Athletic Conference," Bliss said, "so we're used to this. It would have made a bigger difference to us if there had only been 1,000 people here." \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB