Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 5, 1992 TAG: 9201050230
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: TALLAHASSEE, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
CAVALIERS CLIP FSU IN OVERTIME
There have been times during his illustrious college career when Virginia's Bryant Stith has called for the basketball, but seldom as emphatically as he did Saturday night.Stith, held to three points in the first half, scored 20 in the second half and overtime to lead the Cavaliers to their first victory of the season on an opponent's home floor, 77-68 over Florida State.
UVa trailed 68-66 in the overtime when Stith stuck a finger in his chest, got the attention of freshman point guard Cory Alexander and mouthed, "Get me the ball."
"I just felt, in that situation, I wanted to be the guy to take the pressure shots," said Stith, who was 7-of-7 after halftime. "I didn't feel there was anybody who could stop me."
After hitting from the baseline to make it 68-68, Stith put the Cavaliers ahead for good when he fought through a double-team and converted a three-point play with 1:33 left.
It was the 10th victory in the past 12 overtime games for Virginia, which defeated Georgetown 76-66 this season by outscoring the Hoyas 13-3 in the extra period. UVa outscored the Seminoles 11-2 in overtime Saturday night.
"This is a very big win for us and an emotional lift," said Stith, who became the fourth UVa player to score more than 2,000 points in his career. "I could sense team morale fading a little bit."
The Cavaliers (5-5 overall, 1-1 ACC) entered Saturday night's game with four losses in their five previous games and were four-point underdogs to the Seminoles, who were making their home debut against an ACC opponent.
Florida State, which opened ACC play with an 86-74 victory at North Carolina, jumped to a 13-6 lead against the road-weary Cavaliers, who already have played games in six states.
"I could build a case for our schedule preparing us for a game like this," UVa coach Jeff Jones said, "but I could also build a case for us being worn down. We've tried to make it as much of a positive as we could."
Just when it appeared they might be headed for a blowout, the Cavaliers went on a 14-0 run for a 20-13 lead. Florida State had problems, missing eight shots in a row, after UVa switched to a 2-3 zone.
The Seminoles (7-3, 1-1) regained the momentum when they scored the last six points of the half to go ahead 35-29, but the Cavaliers started the second half with an 8-0 run that included two field goals apiece by Stith and Junior Burrough.
Burrough finished with a career-high 23 points "and shouldered the load for most of the game," Jones said. "Without Junior's contribution, we would not have been in position to win the game."
Even with Burrough's contribution, the Cavaliers were not in a good position when they fell behind 54-45 with 10:06 left. It was 58-50 when FSU's Douglas Edwards made two free throws with 6:32 remaining.
At that point, only Stith and Burrough had scored from the field for Virginia in the second half, but Alexander came alive, scoring 10 points in the final 5:25 of regulation.
Alexander, who missed his first six shots from the field, sent the game into overtime when he hit a pull-up jumper over the Seminoles' Sam Cassell with eight seconds remaining in regulation.
"I can't stand up here and say the play turned out exactly how we had wished," Jones said. "The play ended up being nothing like what we drew up."
The Cavaliers lost a game this season when they were unable to get the ball to Stith for a tying shot at New Orleans. He was one of the first options again Saturday night.
"I was in a situation where I was either going to take the shot or we weren't going to get a shot," Alexander said. "I think I shoot better off the dribble than I do standing still anyway."
It was reminiscent of Virginia's 68-62 loss to Duke two nights earlier, when the Blue Devils' Bobby Hurley made a late 3-pointer as the 45-second clock was about to expire. There were three seconds on the clock when Alexander's shot went through the net.
The Cavaliers, who committed a season-high 20 turnovers against Duke, had a season-low eight against the Seminoles, two in the second half and overtime.
Florida State, which had nine turnovers, shot 36.2 percent from the field. Edwards and Cassell had 19 and 18 points, respectively, but were a combined 14-of-41 from the field.
"I told our kids not to let the North Carolina game be an indication of where we are in the ACC," Florida State coach Pat Kennedy said. "Nobody needed a win more than [the Cavaliers] - and they earned it - but I also think we let one get away." \
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