Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 12, 1990 TAG: 9003122854
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Long
Almost 20 years to the day after his most crushing defeat as a player, Cremins enjoyed redemption Sunday when his Yellow Jackets defeated Virginia 70-61 at the Charlotte Coliseum.
"I felt like I owed Charlotte one," said Cremins, whose college career ended here when South Carolina was beaten by North Carolina State 42-39 in double overtime in the 1970 ACC championship game.
"I felt we should have won the tournament. The [NCAA] regionals were in Columbia, S.C., that year, and all we had to do was win two games at home to make the Final Four."
The ACC Tournament had not been back to Charlotte since 1970, and in its return, was staged at the 23,530-seat Charlotte Coliseum, home for the last two seasons to the NBA's Charlotte Hornets.
The first ACC Tournament for the new Charlotte Coliseum also was the last for Holland, who has announced he will step down after the season to become the athletic director at Davidson, his alma mater.
UVa set up a storybook finish for its coach with upset victories over defending champion North Carolina and regular-season champion Clemson, but the Cavaliers could not produce an appropriate ending.
After closing to 44-43 with 12:24 remaining, Virginia missed 17 of its next 18 shots in a return of the poor outside shooting that had plagued the team in several late-season losses.
The Cavaliers missed five shots before Kenny Turner made a 3-point field goal with 9:25 remaining, then missed 12 more before an Anthony Oliver stick-back with 2:07 left.
"It looked like we were on schedule for another exciting finish until we ran into that roadblock," Holland said. "Our defense was good enough to keep us in the game, although we weren't exactly burning it up during any stretch.
"I told the team after the game: `You did exactly what I asked you to do.' We controlled all the things we could control. We can't control whether the ball goes in the basket."
The Cavaliers held Georgia Tech to 40.4 percent shooting from the field, outrebounded the Yellow Jackets 45-39 and committed only seven turnovers. But there was no getting around UVa's 34.3 percent shooting.
It marked the fourth time in the last eight games that Virginia has shot less than 35 percent from the field, and the Cavaliers have lost all four games. UVa is on a pace to have its worst field-goal percentage in the last 23 years.
Still, Virginia (19-11) is headed to the NCAA Tournament, where it will meet Notre Dame (16-12) at 9:30 p.m. Friday in Richmond, Va. The Cavaliers trailed 48-46 with less than eight minutes remaining Sunday.
"We kept missing, but Virginia kept missing, too," Cremins said. "I didn't know if we'd have another chance, but when we did, we made the most of it."
Dennis Scott's basket off an offensive rebound put Tech ahead 50-46 with 7:57 left and started the Yellow Jackets on an 11-0 run that didn't end until Turner made the front end of a one-and-one for Virginia with 3:18 left.
Tech led 59-46 at the time and increased its lead to 14 on three occasions before UVa scored the last five points of the game. Of the Cavaliers' 12 second-half field goals, six came in the final 2:07.
"We're not going to make any excuses for our low shooting percentage," said sophomore Bryant Stith, who led the Cavaliers with 17 points but shot just 7-of-21 from the field. "We're not a very good perimeter-shooting team. Today, it really cost us."
It didn't help matters that Virginia lacked an inside game - and has lacked one for most of the season. The Cavaliers were 5-of-25 on 3-point attempts, missing 10 in a row during one stretch.
"A lot of it is related to our inability to make the big guys stay at home," Holland said. "Let's face it, we're a small team. It's a little different with a 6-8 guy running at you instead of a 6-4 guy."
The Yellow Jackets were 10-of-25 on 3-pointers, with senior Brian Oliver and freshman Kenny Anderson sinking four each. Oliver's first two baskets of the game came on 3-pointers that he banked in.
After the second bank shot, Oliver ran by the press table, took out his mouthpiece and exchanged pleasantries with NBC-TV commentator Al McGuire.
"After the first shot, he told me, `You didn't call that,' " Oliver said. "After the second one, I told him, `It's not luck if you do it twice.' But I'm not going to lie. I wasn't trying to bank [them]."
Oliver, who finished with 17 points, went to the sideline with 13:27 remaining after injuring his left ankle. He returned to the floor with 8:52 left and the Yellow Jackets nursing a two-point lead.
"I told the trainer that, regardless of how bad it was, if I had to hobble out there I was going to play," said Oliver, who had left the bench at one point to test the ankle in the runway to the locker rooms.
"I just said, `To hell with it.' I didn't want the guys to think that we had fought so long together and I wasn't going to be there. I wanted to go back even if I couldn't contribute."
It was 3-pointers by Scott and Oliver during a 45-second span that enabled the Yellow Jackets to break open the game, going up 56-46. UVa was reduced to fouling, committing 13 in the last 3:12.
All that did was delay the Yellow Jackets' celebration of their second ACC championship, the other coming in 1985 at Atlanta. Tech (24-6) plays East Tennessee State in an NCAA first-round game Thursday in Knoxville, Tenn.
It was the fourth consecutive loss in an ACC championship game for the Cavaliers, whose lone title was in 1976. Virginia, picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll, completed the regular season in a three-way tie for fifth.
"I don't think we should take the attitude that we were lucky to be here," said Matt Blundin, who had 12 rebounds. "We weren't like, `We got this far. Thanks for inviting us.' We were here to win."
VIRGINIA MP FG FT R A F PT
Turner 385-152- 4112115Stith 397-212- 391017Jeffries 150- 11- 23011Oliver 266-130- 060413Crotty 352- 93- 42647Blundin 271- 40- 012042Smith 50- 00- 00100Cooke 42- 30- 01024Kirby 111- 40- 01152 Totals 200 24-70 8-13 45 11 21 61
GA. TECH MP FG FT R A F PT
Scott 407-152- 2131218Mackey 293- 73- 47209McNeil 211- 22- 44154Anderson 407-170- 134318Oliver 365-153- 441417Brown 310- 04- 52224Munlyn 30- 10- 02000 Totals 200 23-57 14-20 39 11 13 70i
Virginia 30-31-61
Ga. Tech 33-37-70
Three-point goals-Virginia 5-25 (Turner 3-7, Stith 1-6, Oliver 1-3, Crotty 0-6, Cooke 0-1, Kirby 0-2); Georgia Tech 10-25 (Scott 2-7, Anderson 4-10, Oliver 4-8). Turnovers-Virginia 7, Georgia Tech 7.
Technical fouls-None. Officials-Paparo, Wirtz, Housman. A-23,530.
by CNB