Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 15, 1992 TAG: 9201150271
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Medium
JACKETS GET BEST OF UVA
Georgia Tech guard Travis Best, whose habit of looking at the bench has driven coach Bobby Cremins to distraction, had eyes only for the basket Tuesday night.Best hit five 3-point field goals, four in a 2:34 span of the second half, as 16th-ranked Tech rallied for a 75-71 ACC victory over Virginia at Alexander Coliseum.
Best finished with a team-high 21 points and also contributed seven assists, compared with only one turnover, as the Yellow Jackets (13-3 overall, 3-1 ACC)took over sole possession of second place.
Virginia fell to 2-2 and 6-6 despite a season-high 28 points from Bryant Stith, who also had eight rebounds and a career-high four blocked shots.
The Cavaliers took a 31-29 halftime lead on a 50-foot, desperation 3-pointer by freshman Yuri Barnes and extended the margin to 37-30 with 18:08 remaining in the second half.
Virginia was leading 42-37 when Best hit the first of his second-half 3-pointers. When he was done, the Yellow Jackets led 51-49 and would not trail again.
"The big thing with Travis is, he's very tentative," Cremins said. "He looks over at me too much. I tried to tell him, `Travis, do your thing. Loosen up.' "
Virginia was to tie the score at 53 on a driving layup by Cory Alexander, who was fouled with 10:00 remaining, but Alexander missed the resulting free throw in what was only the start of UVa's miseries at the line.
Alexander and Ted Jeffries each missed the front end of one-and-ones and the Cavaliers were to go 6-of-13 from the line in the second half (7-of-14 for the game).
"On the road, against a team of Georgia Tech's caliber, you've got to take advantage of whatever opportunities to have," UVa coach Jeff Jones said.
Jones was particularly distressed when the Cavaliers were able to get in position for defensive rebounds in the closing minutes, only to fumble the ball into the hands of a Georgia Tech player or lose it out of bounds.
"We couldn't get a handle of the game and literally couldn't get a handle on the ball," Jones said.
Nevertheless, it was the spree by Best that turned the game in Tech's favor. The Yellow Jackets needed him because second-leading scorer Jon Barry was 2-for-12 from the field, 0-for-8 on 3-pointers.
"Things looked very bleak," Cremins said. "Virginia has a way of making you look bad. They've done that many times here. I thought we were going to lose."
Cremins said he felt the game turned in Tech's favor when the Yellow Jackets, down 40-35, went to a zone with 16 minutes left. However, the Cavaliers didn't lose their shooting touch until later.
"The only problem was, they were scoring 3's and we were scoring 2's," Jones said. "I felt we had Best covered on most of those [3-pointers]. If he misses, we got 'em on the ropes."
Cremins said he felt Best was outplayed for a half by Alexander, with whom he was often compared when both were in high school last year. Georgia Tech recruited Alexander until Best decided to make an oral commitment.
"I wasn't concerned about him against me," said Alexander, who had 13 points, but was 6-of-15 from the field. "I'm sure some other people were looking at the matchup, but I was just worried about us having a chance to win."
Said Best: "I'm just out there to play hard, no matter who it is. Cory and I are good friends and I'm sure we'll have a few more of these [match-ups] over the next couple of years."
Alexander, who did not score in UVa's 58-53 victory over Wake Forest last week, played 38 minutes against the Yellow Jackets in the absence of his back-up, junior Doug Smith.
Smith was released from University of Virginia Hospital on Tuesday after undergoing an emergency appendectomy Sunday. The UVa coaches hope Smith will be available Saturday, when the Cavaliers entertain Notre Dame.
"These next three games are NCAA games for us," said Stith, referring to home games with Notre Dame and Marshall and a road trip to Clemson. "We've definitely got to get our record to 9-6."
\ see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
BASKETBALL