Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 9, 1992 TAG: 9201090460
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
RESERVE SPARKS UVA WIN
When Dave Odom made the judgment that Doug Smith was an ACC-caliber basketball player, he didn't think the evaluation would come back to haunt him.Yet, when Smith scored a career-high 12 points Wednesday night, Odom became the victim as his 19th-ranked Wake Forest team lost to Virginia 58-53 at University Hall.
The Cavaliers (6-5 overall, 2-1 ACC) got a game-high 24 points from Bryant Stith, and Smith, whose previous career high was seven, was their only other double-figure scorer.
"I thought he was as important, in his own way, to Virginia's victory as Bryant Stith," said Odom, a former UVa assistant in his third season as Wake Forest's head coach. "I thought he could do exactly what he's doing. He gives them stability out front. He's very heady, very Virginia-like."
It appeared the Cavaliers might come unraveled when they blew a 14-point second-half lead, but it was the Demon Deacons who fell apart after taking their only lead, 45-43.
Virginia, running out of ideas for stopping sophomore Rodney Rogers, went to a zone defense after a timeout with 7:05 left, and the Deacons (8-2, 1-1) made one of their next nine shots.
The field goal was a breakaway dunk by Rogers with 3:31 left, cutting the difference to 51-49, but Smith answered by making a free throw and bonus.
"That's part of my job. I don't want to start thinking about it," said Smith, who has made all 11 of his free throws this season and 20 of 21 the past two years.
Odom watched all of his skeletons come out of the closet in the first half when role players Smith, Ted Jeffries and Shawn Wilson - all recruited by Odom - combined for 18 points.
"Why me?" Odom said, "I was the one who believed in them."
Virginia scored the first basket of the second half to go ahead 37-23; then, Wake Forest went on a 13-1 spurt that included nine points by Rogers, who finished with 20 points, only two in the final 11:32.
"We didn't have a lot of answers," Jones said of the decision to play zone. "We were kind of groping. But it's not like we took away all their shots; they just missed some."
Only one team has shot 50 percent against Virginia this season, and the Deacons, who shot 39.1 percent (25-of-64) from the field, were the fifth to shoot less than 40 percent.
In addition, Virginia fought the Deacons to a 33-33 rebounding standoff although Wake Forest had outrebounded the opposition by an average of 16.7 per game and at one point led Division I in that category.
"That was something we pointed out to the guys before the game," said Jones, whose team outrebounded the Deacons 21-13 in the first half.
The Cavaliers had some early ball-handling problems, which they attempted to resolve by inserting Smith, a 6-foot-1 junior who has backed up freshman Cory Alexander at point guard.
Smith, who never has been known for his offense, had made four 3-pointers in his career before Saturday night, when he hit two in the first half of UVa's 77-68 overtime victory at Florida State.
Smith made two more 3-pointers in the first half against the Deacons and had his career high by halftime, as did Wilson, who had two field goals in 40 seconds.
"It's special to play well either for or against somebody who recruited you," said Smith, who had five assists and two turnovers in a career-high 31 minutes.
"The coaches have been on me to shoot because I've been hitting [the 3-pointers] every day in practice," Smith said. "It was a matter of translating it into the games."
Smith, who lost a battle for the starting job before the season, has seen increased playing time alongside Alexander in recent games. Wednesday night, his playing time came at Alexander's expense.
"Sure, I got down; I can't say I didn't," said Smith, who played one minute in UVa's 54-52 loss at New Orleans. "All I can do is play so well when I do play that they can't take me out."
\ NOTE: Terry Kirby, who joined UVa's basketball team after his first two seasons as a tailback for the Cavaliers' football team, has decided not to play basketball this season.
Jones said the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Kirby told him he needed a break, but added Kirby has not ruled out the possibility of joining the basketball team after his senior season of football.
Kirby played in 29 games and had 82 points, 30 rebounds and 12 assists.
\ see microfilm for box score