ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 7, 1997 TAG: 9703070050
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N. C.
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY THE ROANOKE TIMES
UVa likely has an NCAA Tournament bid locked up, but nothing is certain.
The Virginia men's basketball team has spent the past two weeks trying to avoid facing a must-win situation in the ACC tournament.
After winning three of their past four games and getting a coveted seventh ACC victory, the Cavaliers were somewhat taken aback Thursday when asked if they needed a victory to keep alive their NCAA Tournament hopes.
``I don't know,'' coach Jeff Jones said. ``Nobody really knows. But I don't think anyone can say, `Hey, you'd better win that one or else you're not going to be in the NCAA Tournament.'''
That's a good thing, because few teams in the country are playing better than the Cavaliers' opponent tonight, fifth-ranked North Carolina. The Tar Heels (21-6 overall, 11-5 ACC) have won nine games in a row.
``It's almost comical, if you think back to January and some of the comments that were made,'' Jones said. The Tar Heels ``were struggling at that time, but people who know basketball could tell you they had talent and that Dean Smith was a pretty decent coach.''
That message became abundantly clear Feb.8, when Carolina routed Virginia 81-57 at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill. It was the worst loss of the season for the Cavaliers (18-11, 7-9).
The Cavaliers had won an earlier meeting at Virginia, 75-63, which is one reason they are in the predicament that faces them tonight. Wake Forest got the second seed ahead of North Carolina, because the Deacons swept UVa and the Cavaliers and Tar Heels split.
North Carolina and Wake also split, and the ACC went to the fifth step in its tie-breaker formula before it could make the seeds. Officials went all the way to the sixth seed, UVa, before coming up with a team against whom UNC and Wake had different records.
Clemson (21-8, 9-7) and Maryland (20-9, 9-7) will meet at noon today in the first game at the Greensboro Coliseum. Top-seeded Duke (23-7, 12-4) will follow at 2:30 p.m. against N.C. State, a 60-46 winner over Georgia Tech on Thursday night.
In the evening session, it will be Wake (22-5, 11-5) against recent nemesis Florida State (16-10, 6-10) at 7 p.m., followed by the Tar Heels and Cavaliers in a scheduled 9:30 p.m. tip-off.
``Do you actually believe that game's going to start at 9:30?'' Jones asked a group of writers. ``My best guess is it will be closer to 9:55. I've appealed to the commissioner. I'm concerned about your deadlines.''
Jones was more concerned about the status of senior point guard Harold Deane, who has been plagued by swelling in his lower right leg since before Christmas.
``The health of our team is about what it's been,'' Jones said Thursday after practice. ``Harold went out there and lasted all of about 10 minutes. He said the leg was pretty sore, so we held him out.
``I would have liked to have him out there today and yesterday and the day before that. We've got to try and be smart about it. We know we're going to need him for quite a few minutes'' tonight.
The Cavaliers particularly need Deane's ball-handling against a Tar Heels defense that forced 19 turnovers, matching UVa's season high, in the teams' most recent meeting.
``You'd better be able to handle the basketball,'' Jones said. ``They turn turnovers into points and, most of the time, the turnovers are of the spectacular variety that gets them jacked up and gets the crowd into the game.''
Jones said the Cavaliers also need to be competitive on the boards against a Carolina team that outrebounded Duke by 31 in a 91-85 victory Sunday. UNC's ``small'' forward, Ademola Okulaja, is as tall - 6-foot-8 - as UVa center Colin Ducharme.
Although Carolina seems to have the momentum, Virginia enters the game with three victories in its past four games, including an 81-74 triumph Sunday over 16th-ranked Maryland.
``We're under the impression that we're in the [NCAA] Tournament,'' said UVa sophomore Courtney Alexander. ``That doesn't mean we can relax and be laid-back. We've still got to go at it full-throttle if we want to win the game.''
Jones said he sensed his players were tight Thursday as they practiced before a large media delegation, although they have responded well to pressure with their postseason fate on the line.
``I believe that we should be in the tournament,'' Jones said, ``but I don't feel comfortable saying, `What the hell! It's no big deal.' I think [ESPN and ABC commentator] Dick Vitale has 85 or 86 teams selected already. Not all of them can make it.''
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS Hobbled UVa guard Harold Deane ``wentby CNBout there and lasted all of about 10 minutes'' in practice Thursday,
coach Jeff Jones said. color