Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 16, 1990 TAG: 9003162250
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: KNOXVILLE, TENN. LENGTH: Medium
So does the Yellow Jackets' gluttony.
Freshman Kenny Anderson set a school record for NCAA Tournament play with 10 assists - many of them feeding Georgia Tech's oft-ignored inside game - and Dennis Scott scored 36 points as the Jackets routed East Tennessee State 99-83 Thursday in a Southeast Regional first-round game.
Anderson, fourth in the nation with 8.6 assists per game, had his 13th double-figure assist game. And the Yellow Jackets scored more than 90 points for the 16th time. And still more: Tech's field-goal percentage of 60.9 was its best ever in an NCAA Tournament game.
Five minutes into the game, the Jackets led 14-4 and 13th-seeded ETSU was reeling. This was the same Buccaneers team that fell by just a point to top-seeded Oklahoma in the first round of last year's NCAA Tournament.
"We really got off to a tremendous start, and that was the key to the game," said Tech coach Bobby Cremins, who said a videotape of ETSU's victory over North Carolina State this season helped his team avoid overlooking the Bucs.
Fourth-seeded Tech (25-6) won its fifth straight - its 14th without a loss against non-ACC foes - and broke ETSU's seven-game winning streak.
The Yellow Jackets advance to meet Louisiana State at 7:10 p.m. Saturday in the second round at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Tigers (23-8) beat Villanova (18-15) 70-63 on Thursday.
Dreams of a first-round upset vanished almost instantly for ETSU (27-7). The Yellow Jackets blitzed the Bucs with a 16-2 run midway through the first half and led 49-24 at halftime.
"It was a big showdown in the first half, much like a Super Bowl, but only one team performed," said Les Robinson, ETSU's coach.
Scott had eight points in the Tech surge. Twice, the 3-point marksman scored on post-up moves underneath against 6-foot-3 Marty Story. Scott, who averages nine 3-point attempts per game, took six Thursday.
"Dennis was great," Cremins said. "He sacrificed the 3-point shot. We thought we could post Dennis inside."
Of Tech's 20 first-half baskets, 10 came on layups or shots from less than 10 feet. "That's our weakness," Robinson said of defending the inside game.
The Buccaneers needed their outside game to counter Tech. But ETSU, which entered the game shooting 41.6 percent from 3-point range, made just two of 10 bombs in the first half.
Tech's Anderson got insiders Johnny McNeil and Malcolm Mackey involved in the offense in the first half, zipping passes underneath to the overshadowed pair. McNeil was 6-for-6 from the field and had 14 points, and Mackey was 5-for-8 with 11 points.
"Kenny's Kenny," Cremins said.
Tech contained ETSU's duo of 6-11 Greg Dennis and 5-7 Keith "Mister" Jennings, who was the most valuable player in the Southern Conference Tournament. They combined to average 37 points per game during the regular season, but had just eight between them in the first half.
Despite the victory, Cremins is worried about guard Brian Oliver, who played in obvious pain from a stress fracture in his left ankle, scoring 13 points.
"I don't know what I'm going to do about it," Cremins said. "We need Brian Oliver to be Brian Oliver."
E. TENN. ST. MP FG FT R A F PT
Talford357-140-020117Story131-20-01032Dennis297-192-582416Geer283-132-222110Je nnings356-110-045217Keller235-60-040110West254-80-03349Jones60-10-00000Woods20 -00-11020Pelphrey11-10-00002Spears10-10-00000Jacobs10-00-01010 Totals200 34-76 4- 8 30 12 19 83
GA. TECH MP FG FT R A F PT
Scott3914-225-642436Mackey265-81-270111McNeil276-62-271114Anderson348-112-2710 321Oliver365-92-442213Brown291-32-33304Munlyn50-10-32110White10-10-00000Barnes 10-10-23000Domalik10-20-01000 Totals 200 39-64 14-24 46-14 19 12 99
E. Tennessee St. 24 59-83
Georgia Tech 49 50-99
Three-point goals-E. Tennessee St. 11-28 (Talford 3-5, Dennis 0-3, Geer 2-7, Jennings 5-8, West 1-5), Georgia Tech 7-13 (Scott 3-6, Anderson 3-4, Oliver 1-3).
Turnovers-E. Tennessee St. 11, Georgia Tech 18.
Technical fouls-None.
Officials-Stupin, Bova, Shapiro.
Attendance-15,066.
by CNB