Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 14, 1992 TAG: 9202140158
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
SEMINOLES WIN AGAIN ON ROAD
Florida State continued its ACC road mastery Thursday night, avenging an earlier basketball loss by defeating Virginia 64-63 at University Hall.The Cavaliers had a chance to win with two seconds remaining, but ACC free-throw leader Bryant Stith missed both free throws of a two-shot foul.
It was the sixth conference road victory for 23rd-ranked Florida State, which has an overall record of 17-6 and is 9-4 in the ACC in its first year as a conference member.
Virginia (11-9, 4-5) lost for the seventh time this season when it has led in the second half. Stith, an 86 percent free-throw shooter, missed his last three free throws, including one in a bonus situation with 4:28 left.
UVa's only points of the last 3:36 were on a free throw by freshman Junior Burrough with 13 seconds left. With a chance to tie the score on his second shot, Burrough did not hit the rim.
Burrough had 19 points for UVa and Stith added 16, moving into a tie with Buzzy Wilkinson for second place on the Cavaliers' all-time scoring list with 2,233 points,
Chuck Graham led the Seminoles with 18 points and Bob Sura added 13. Florida State trailed by eight points in the first half and seven (47-40) with 15 minutes left in the second half.
Virginia played the last 3:53 of the first half without Stith and point guard Cory Alexander but built its lead to 38-26 on a 3-pointer by Doug Smith with 59 seconds left.
The remainder of the half was a fiasco for Virginia, which fouled twice in eight seconds, the second time after it failed to rebound a missed free throw.
UVa was holding for the last shot when Smith drove the lane with 10 seconds left, only to have his layup attempt blocked at face level. Sam Cassell hit a breakaway layup with three seconds left to cut the deficit to 36-33.
It was the first field goal after seven misses for Cassell, the Seminoles' leading scorer with 18.9 points per game. He also whizzed a pass into the stands, nearly striking an elderly spectator.
Florida State received scoring production from an unexpected source as Graham, a junior, came off the bench to score 12 points in the final 8:24 before halftime.
Graham and fellow starter Rodney Dobard had missed the Seminoles' 86-79 victory Monday night at Florida State. Dobard was expected to play against the Cavaliers, but Graham was listed as questionable.
Burrough, whose season high of 23 had come in the Cavaliers' first game against Florida State, had 11 points and five rebounds at halftime. Stith had 10 points.
The Cavaliers, last in the ACC in field-goal percentage at 43.9, hit 14 of 28 field-goal attempts in the first half and committed only four turnovers. Florida State had a slight edge in rebounding, 15-14, although no player had more than three.
The game marked the return to action of UVa's Cornel Parker, who quit the team 10 days earlier. Parker, whose only three starts of the season immediately preceded his departure, rejoined the team for practice Saturday.
Parker played the last 6:39 of the first half, replacing Alexander, but he did not have any points or rebounds. Parker took over at shooting guard for Doug Smith, who moved to point guard.
It was only the third game of the month for the Cavaliers, who hit the road today for Saturday's 3 p.m. game against Wake Forest. It will be the 13th of 21 games away from University Hall for the Cavaliers.