ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 15, 1996 TAG: 9601150105
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
TECH WOULD RATHER face its new Atlantic 10 West Division rival in Blacksburg, but Roanoke will have to do.
Bill Foster knew his Virginia Tech basketball team would play one big game this season in Roanoke. The Hokies' coach never figured on two.
With Cassell Coliseum still on the disabled list because of a damaged roof, 15th-ranked Tech returns for an encore at 9:30 tonight at the Roanoke Civic Center, where the Hokies face George Washington in a battle for early supremacy in the Atlantic 10 Conference West Division.
Originally, Foster and his team had hoped to greet their most dangerous divisional threat at a packed Cassell. But the nationally televised game (ESPN2 cable) was moved to Roanoke on Friday when Tech officials deemed Cassell unfit for play because of structural problems with the roof created by nearly 4 feet of recent snowfall.
The Hokies (9-1 overall, 2-0 A-10) must be the only team in the country that needs a travel agent to play a home game these days. On Saturday, Tech had to go to Radford University to beat La Salle 71-55.
Tech, which hasn't played at Cassell since Dec.18, hopes to return to its Cassell for Thursday's A-10 encounter with Dayton.
Roanoke was good to Tech on Dec.28, when the Hokies beat archrival Virginia 72-64 in front of a sellout crowd of 10,056.
``I'm hoping Roanoke can do us one more favor,'' Foster said. ``I hope we can have a great crowd. We're going to need all the help we can get in this one.''
GW (8-3, 2-0), which saw its six-game winning streak stopped Saturday at Missouri, was picked to finish second behind Tech in the West in the coaches' preseason poll. Coach Mike Jarvis' Colonials will supply Tech with its strongest A-10 test yet. The Hokies won their first two league games by 19 and 16 points over Duquesne and La Salle, respectively.
Unlike Duquesne and La Salle, GW is a known quantity, Foster said.
``I think our guys will have lot of respect for GW because they've heard a lot about 'em,'' Foster said. ``For that reason, I think we'll be ready to play.''
Tech star Ace Custis acknowledged the Hokies would rather see GW in their Cassell.
``There's nothing like playing at home, but there's nothing like playing in Cassell, either,'' Custis said. ``Cassell is our home and we feel comfortable playing there. We'd have more fan support in Cassell instead of playing in Roanoke, but it's out of our control.''
REBOUNDING STORY: The key for Tech tonight will be cleaning the glass. The Colonials, led by by 7-foot-1 sophomore Alexander Koul, will have the size advantage on the Hokies.
Rebounding ``has kind of been our Achilles' heel for a long time,'' said Foster, whose team beat Duquesne and La Salle 74-53 collectively on the boards.
Tech needs some additional board work from center Travis Jackson. The 6-8 senior from West Virginia had 23 points, but only three rebounds in the Hokies' first two A-10 games.
``We thought we had gotten better in that area,'' Foster said. Travis ``sometimes has to get a wakeup call. You know, he's thinking about the next deer hunt or wild-turkey drive or something.''
GUESS WORK: Tech may have a good team, but the first year in a new league presents its share of problems, Foster said.
``I was talking to Bobby [Hussey, a Tech assistant coach,] heading [to the Duquesne game Wednesday], and I said, `Do you kind of feel like you're in a foreign country?'
``He kind of laughed and said, `Yeah, you don't recognize anything.'
``We're going to be in for lot of that this year. I've only been in two gyms in the whole league: Xavier and Dayton. For us as coaches it's kind of a strange feeling. You don't know the players.
``After being in the Metro four years, you knew every guy, you had the book on everybody, you knew Denny's [Louisville coach Crum] favorite play, you knew what Perry [Clark, Tulane's coach,] was going to do with two minutes to go.
``We haven't really got a clue. We've got tons of film, we have no background info. For us, it's a strange feeling.''
TECH TIDBITS: Tech enters tonight's matchup with a six-game winning streak. the near future. ... The Hokies have held every opponent except Georgia - an 85-72 loss in Atlanta on Dec.16 - to fewer than 70 points and less than 47.4-percent shooting. ... Custis' 18-point, 17-rebound, six-assist effort against Duquesne produced the highest grade on Tech's ``effort chart'' in Foster's four-plus seasons as coach. ... Depth, a luxury for the Hokies this season, has helped. Foster's bench has outscored its counterparts 59-17 in two league games.
LENGTH: Medium: 87 linesby CNB