
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 4, 1990                   TAG: 9003042052
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: scott blanchard
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                 LENGTH: Short

HOKIES PLAY S. MISS IN LATE SHOW

Despite closing the regular season with three consecutive Metro Conference victories, Virginia Tech will enter the Metro Tournament as the seventh seed.

The Hokies (5-9 in the conference, 13-17 overall) will play second-seeded Southern Mississippi (9-5, 18-10) at 10:15 p.m. Thursday at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi.

If Tech wins its first-round game, it will play either Cincinnati or Florida State in Friday's second round. Cincinnati also was 9-5 in the conference (18-12 overall), but lost its tie-breaker to Southern Miss and is the third seed. The Bearcats meet sixth-seeded Florida State (6-8, 16-14) at 8 p.m. Thursday.

Fifth-seeded South Carolina, which lost to Florida State on Saturday, finished 6-8 in the league but won the fourth tie-breaker, which compared the teams' records against third-seeded Cincinnati. The Gamecocks (13-13) meet fourth-seeded Memphis State (8-6, 17-10) at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Top-seeded Louisville (12-2, 23-7) opens the tournament at 2 p.m. against last-place Tulane (1-13, 4-23).

by CNB