Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 11, 1991 TAG: 9102110033
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. LENGTH: Long
The Cavaliers couldn't hold a nine-point halftime lead Sunday at Wake Forest and lost their third road game in four days, 74-66.
"You could have predicted there was a good chance they would lose two of those," said Wake Forest basketball coach Dave Odom, who got the Cavaliers after they had visited Duke and North Carolina.
"They probably came down here [to North Carolina] figuring this was their best chance to win. I don't know if they saved anything, but mentally they had to look at this as a possible win."
Virginia had beaten the Deacons eight days earlier on its home floor, 83-80, and had moved up to No. 11 in The Associated Press poll, its highest ranking since 1983.
The Cavaliers, who trailed first-place Duke by one-half game when the road trip started, return home in a fifth place tie with Georgia Tech at 5-5 (17-7 overall).
Wake Forest, which won three ACC games the entire 1989-90 season, moved into fourth place at 5-4. The Deacons (14-7) are assured of at least a .500 record after five straight losing seasons
Wake Forest was relentless in the second half, shooting 72.7 percent (16-of-22) from the field, with only three turnovers. The Deacons scored on 24 of 30 second-half possessions.
Virginia hung tough behind junior Bryant Stith, who finished with a game-high 26 points, and Wake Forest did not take the lead for good until Chris King put back Robert Siler's missed free throw to make it 65-63 with 3:54 left.
The Deacons increased their lead to 68-63 when Randolph Childress was fouled by Cornel Parker on a 3-pointer with 2:19 remaining. It appeared the shot would be short until Parker plowed into Childress on the follow-through.
It was a mistake by both freshmen, Childress for taking the shot and Parker for fouling him, just as he had on a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the Wake Forest-UVa game in Charlottesville, Va.
"It's a thrill a minute with Randolph," Odom said. "My back was turned when he took that 3-point shot; had I seen that, I think I would have blocked the shot myself."
Childress hit all three of the resulting free throws and it appeared the Cavaliers were dead - until Kenny Turner hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 68-66 with 2:04 left.
After a Wake Forest turnover, Turner missed another 3-pointer from the right wing that would have given the Cavaliers the lead with 48 seconds left. Turner thought the ball was in, as did Odom.
"I thought it had a chance, a real good chance," Odom said. "I always think his shots are going in. He has that slingshot action that has a way of correcting itself at the end."
The Cavaliers, who were plagued by poor shooting throughout the road trip, made only two of 13 shots from the field over the final nine minutes and finished 21-of-46 for the day (45.7 percent). Wake Forest, which shot 34.6 percent in the first half, finished at 52.1.
The Deacons placed five players in double figures, led by Childress, who came off the bench to score 19. Childress had 28 points Saturday in Wake Forest's 86-74 victory over Georgia Tech.
"I thought he'd be good," Odom, a former UVa assistant, said, "but I didn't think he'd be this good. I felt coming in that he'd be the most ready to play of our freshmen and I don't think I've been disproved."
That's a tall statement because another of the freshmen, Rodney Rogers, leads the Deacons in scoring and rebounding. After picking up three early fouls, Rogers scored all 15 of his points in the second half, going 6-of-6 from the field.
"The two freshmen, Childress and Rogers, seemingly took over the game," Virginia coach Jeff Jones said. "I guess it's a little bit unusual for freshmen to do that, but they've been doing that all year."
Childress, a 6-foot-2 guard from Clinton, Md., played at Flint Hill Prep in Vienna, Va., and attended camp at Virginia before his sophomore year in Vienna.
"I liked Virginia," Childress said. "They recruited me, but I didn't know who the coach was going to be. I knew coach Odom from when he had recruited George [Lynch] and Arron [Bain] for Virginia."
The victory was the fourth in a row and sixth in seven games for Wake, which visits North Carolina on Wednesday before entertaining Duke on Saturday.
Virginia plays five of its final six regular-season games at home, starting Wednesday when the Cavaliers entertain Fairfield.
"I think we approached this game in a positive manner," Stith said. "We didn't hit our shots in the second half, but we played with emotion and intensity, which is something we lacked at North Carolina and Duke." VIRGINIA MPFGFTRAFPT Stith 398-157-860126Turner 275-91-151313Jeffries 302-42-53336Parker 311-40-04153Crotty 365-136-614418Kirby 70-00-01020Smith 60-00-03000Katstra 10-00-00000Blundin 230-10-01050Totals 20021-4616-202492366 WAKE FOREST MPFGFTRAFPT King 395-03-453013Tucker 375-01-232311Rogers 266-03-580315Siler 264-03-444412McQueen 261-00-00533Childress 284-08-1020219Wise 20-00-00000Owens 150-01-42121Medlin 10-00-00010Totals 20025-4819-2927151974 Rebounds include team rebounds Score by periods: Virginia35-31-66 Wake Forest26-48-74
Three-point goals - Virginia: Stith 3-7, Turner 2-5, Parker 1-1, Crotty 2-5, Totals 8-18. Wake Forest: Siler 1-2, McQueen 1-2, Childress 5-8, Owens 0-1, Totals 5-9.
Turnovers - Virginia 13 (Crotty 5); Wake Forest 9 (Tucker 3). Blocked shots - Virginia 1 (Parker); Wake Forest 4 (King 2). Steals - Virginia 5 (Stith 2); Wake Forest 5 (King 2, Rogers 2).
Technical fouls - None. Officials - Donaghy, Hartzell, Corbin. Attendance - 11,521. B5 B1 UVA UVa
by CNB