Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 24, 1991 TAG: 9102240135
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH, N.C. LENGTH: Long
The Cavaliers caught Rodney Monroe's act Saturday at Reynolds Coliseum and paid more for the performance than they would have liked.
Monroe scored 32 points, including 30 in the second half, as the Wolfpack overcame a 20-point deficit in defeating 20th-ranked UVa 83-76.
It was the fifth loss in seven games for the Cavaliers, who dropped into sixth place in the ACC at 6-7 (19-9 overall). N.C. State took over sole possession of third at 7-5 (16-8 overall).
The Wolfpack has not lost at home in 12 games.
Virginia scored the last nine points of the first half to go ahead 47-32 and eventually increased its advantage to 52-32 with less than 19 minutes remaining.
As if on cue, Monroe hit a 3-pointer with 18:55 remaining, and that was all the Wolfpack needed. After going 1-for-5 in the first half, Monroe was 8-of-11 from the field and made all 11 of his free throws over the final 20 minutes.
"It's almost like he needs his back to the wall before he's at his best," N.C. State coach Les Robinson said. "I didn't ask him [to assert himself]. I told him. And, I told the team.
"You get to this point in the season and there's so much talk about going undefeated [at home], that you almost pencil it in. You think, `It's automatic,' but it's not."
Virginia had routed the Wolfpack 104-72 in the teams' first meeting, but the Wolfpack fans weren't about to let that happen Saturday. Over a span of 5:42, N.C. State outscored the Cavaliers 16-3.
That cut the deficit to 55-51 with 13:13 left, but the Wolfpack didn't take the lead until Monroe hit a jumper with 4:04 remaining.
Bryant Stith answered for Virginia to make it 73-72, but Bryant Feggins followed with a 12-footer for N.C. State with three minutes remaining and the Wolfpack never trailed again.
"We went out there today thinking we would win," Robinson said. "We didn't realize - and I failed to mention - that Virginia is a Top Twenty team. They sort of stunned us."
After what Robinson described as a "prayer meeting" at halftime, the Wolfpack shot 57.7 percent from the field and went 17-of-17 from the free-throw line. They committed only three turnovers in the second half.
They needed that kind of performance against the Cavaliers, obviously smarting from a 73-60 loss to Georgia Tech on Tuesday night. UVa shot 61.8 percent in the first half Saturday.
Virginia cooled off in the second half, but still shot 50.8 for the game, marking the first time in 19 games that UVa has shot 50 percent or better and lost. The Cavaliers committed nine turnovers.
"I think that was about as discouraging as it gets," first-year Virginia coach Jeff Jones said. "We said at halftime that talk was cheap and that we needed to play 40 minutes of basketball. Quite honestly, we got what we deserved."
Jones has questioned the team's intensity throughout its late-season slump, but the UVa players seemed to think Saturday's loss was a case of a streak player getting on a roll.
The Cavaliers started with 6-foot-7 Cornel Parker on Monroe and also used Anthony Oliver, known in the past as a defensive stopper. Neither had any answers.
Oliver also was among the players who took a turn on Georgia Tech's Kenny Anderson, who scored 33 points against the Cavaliers on Tuesday night.
"He [Monroe] impressed me a lot more," Oliver said. "He's just the ultimate scorer. I don't think anybody else could have done what he did to me today."
Monroe outscored Virginia by himself in the second half, 30-29.
"If I have a shot, I'm never afraid to take it," Monroe said, "but I wasn't very assertive in the first half. All it took was that first shot [in the second half] to get me going. I thought every shot I took was going in."
The other N.C. State players contributed where they could. Even Kevin Thompson, shooting 45 percent from the free-throw line, hit a free throw and bonus with 1:04 left to put the Wolfpack on top 77-72.
Although he was 5-of-14 from the field, Chris Corchiani finished with 18 points and eight assists, falling one short of the Division I career assist record of 960 held by Syracuse's Sherman Douglas.
Kenny Turner led the Cavaliers with 25 points, 19 in the first half, and nine rebounds. John Crotty, who was scoreless in UVa's 84-58 loss here in 1990, finished with 19 points and seven assists.
"It doesn't feel as devastating as Tuesday's loss, even though Coach Jones seemed very upset," Crotty said. "He's a fierce competitor and has very high expectations, but I don't look at this as a step backward."
VIRGINIA MPFGFTRAFPT Turner 3712-241-291225Stith 358-141-353418Jeffries 230-22-25112Crotty 307-133-537419Parker 161-10-03142Blundin 201-20-12102Oliver 243-70-01126Smith 101-20-11432Katstra 50-00-00000Totals 20033-657-1432192076 N.C. STATE MPFGFTRAFPT Gugliotta 374-100-09659Feggins 345-82-233112Thompson 364-82-2110210Corchiani 405-146-878418Monroe 409-1611-1111232Bakalli 131-20-11122Totals 20028-5821-2436191683 Rebounds include team rebounds Score by periods: Virginia 47-29-76 North Carolina State 32-51-83
Three-point goals - Virginia: Turner 0-3, Stith 1-4, Crotty 2-2, Smith 0-1, Totals 3-10. North Carolina State: Gugliotta 1-6, Corchiani 2-7, Monroe 3-5, Bakalli 0-1, Totals 6-19.
Turnovers - Virginia 9 (Turner 4); North Carolina State 10 (Corchiani 3). Blocked shots - Virginia 2 (Jeffries, Crotty); North Carolina State 2 (Feggins, Thompson). Steals - Virginia 1 (Jeffries); North Carolina State 8 (Corchiani 6).
Technical fouls - None. Officials - Wirtz, Scagliotta, Higgins. Attendance - 12,400.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB