Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 9, 1992 TAG: 9201090403
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
SMITH SPARKS UVA
Dave Odom, who believed Doug Smith was an ACC player when few would have agreed, might have been sorry his evaluation come true Wednesday night.Smith, a reserve point guard, came off the bench to score 12 points for Virginia as the Cavaliers defeated No. 19-ranked Wake Forest 58-53 in an ACC basketball game at University Hall.
Virginia (6-5 overall, 2-1 ACC) led by 14 points early in the second half before Wake Forest (8-2, 1-1) rallied and took a 45-43 lead with 10:30 left.
The Deacons made only two of their next 11 shots from the field, however, and the Cavaliers pulled away for their 14th victory in the past 15 games against Wake in Charlottesville.
"It was not pretty, but anybody who has followed the series could have anticipated that," UVa coach Jeff Jones said.
Virginia was led by senior forward Bryant Stith, who matched a career high with 24 points. Smith, whose one-and-one with 3:15 left put the Cavs up 53-49, was the only other UVa player in double figures.
"I thought he was as important, in his own way, to Virginia's victory as Bryant Stith," Odom, the Wake Forest coach, said. "He gave them stability. He's very heady, very Virginia-like."
Rodney Rogers led the Deacons with 20 points, but had only a breakaway dunk in the last 11:26. Derrick McQueen had 11 points, including two baskets in the last 16 seconds.
Odom watched all the skeletons come out of his closet in the first half, when role players Smith, Ted Jeffries and Shawn Wilson all played a part in UVa building a 35-23 halftime lead.
The three players, all recruited by Odom when he was a Virginia assistant, combined for 18 points. Smith, with eight, and Wilson, with four, had career highs by the half.
The Cavaliers had some early ball-handling problems, but Wake was unable to capitalize, shooting 4-of-15 from the field to start the game. UVa raced to a 21-10 lead with 8:59 left and led 35-22 on a Smith 3-pointer with 56 seconds left.
Smith had made one 3-pointer all season before he hit two in the first half of the Cavaliers' 77-68 overtime victory over Florida State on Saturday. He had four in his three-year career before the past two games.
Smith's shooting proved to be a bonus because it was obvious he was inserted for ball-handling purposes. The Cavaliers had four turnovers before he entered the game with 13:59 left and three for the remainder of the half.
Virginia owed much of its halftime margin to its rebounding work. The Cavaliers had a 21-13 rebounding margin over the Deacons, who until recently had been leading Division I in rebounding margin.
Stith, coming out of a shooting slump, made five of eight shots from the field and led both teams with 11 points at the half. Smith made all three of his shots and the Cavaliers were 16-of-30 (53.3 percent) as a team.
Rogers, second in ACC scoring with a 21.5 average, led the Deacons at the half with five. His partners on Wake's vaunted front line, Chris King and Anthony Tucker, had four each.
Odom seemed to lose patience with Tucker and King when he substituted for them with 16:04 left in the first half. It was only the third game for King since an academic suspension that caused him to miss two games at the end of the first semester.
The Deacons were at full strength other than the absence of sophomore Randolph Childress, who underwent reconstructive knee surgery during the summer and will not play this season.