Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 23, 1992 TAG: 9202230149
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
CAVS COLD AT BAD TIME
Only at Virginia is the word "shoot" considered to be profanity.The Cavaliers, seeking to build some momentum after an upset victory over fourth-ranked North Carolina, hit only 35.2 percent of their shots Saturday in losing 52-49 to Georgia Tech in an ACC basketball game at University Hall.
"Our defense and hustle kept us in it," said coach Jeff Jones after UVa's fifth straight loss to the Yellow Jackets, "but it's going to be tough beating anybody if you play that way offensively.
"You look at the stat sheet [including a season-low six turnovers] and we did a lot of good things, except the one thing we needed the most."
It was the third loss in four games for UVa, which is 12-11 overall and 5-7 in the ACC and may have seen its hopes for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid disappear for good.
The Cavaliers trailed by one point at halftime despite shooting 28 percent (7-of-25), and they led 36-31 with less than 12 minutes remaining, but that has been the story of their season. It was UVa's eighth loss in a game it has led in the second half.
"It's discouraging," Jones said, "but it's not the end of the season.
"There's a way we can still get things done, but, obviously, we don't have a whole heck of a lot of breathing room."
It was a carbon copy of several other losses for UVa, which is 1-5 in games decided by four points or fewer, compared to a 6-1 mark last year.
Virginia had its chances down the stretch, but senior Bryant Stith missed a free throw that could have tied the score with 57 seconds left and Doug Smith didn't come close on a 3-point heave with five seconds left.
Smith said he anticipated a Georgia Tech foul and wanted to be in the act of shooting. The Yellow Jackets had committed only three fouls, so UVa was not in the bonus.
"We wanted to foul at the end," Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins said. "We thought we could work about five seconds off the clock, but Travis [Best] got so nervous, he just forgot."
The Yellow Jackets (17-9, 5-7) had gone ahead by three points when freshman forward James Forrest hit a jump shot with 16 seconds left. UVa called a timeout with 11 seconds left and set up a play to free freshman Cory Alexander for a 3-point shot.
Asked what prevented Alexander from getting the ball, Jones said: "I really don't know. I'm not sure. I'll have to look and check."
It was Alexander who had given Virginia a 43-40 lead on a pull-up jumper with 6:12 left. The Cavaliers then went to a 2-3 zone defense for the first time all afternoon and Georgia Tech's Jon Barry hit a 3-pointer with 5:55 left.
On their next possession, the Yellow Jackets missed two shots before 7-foot-1 Matt Geiger scored off an offensive rebound. They were the only two times UVa played zone, but the damage was done.
"We wanted to try and buy one or two possessions since Ted [Jeffries] and Junior [Burrough] each had four fouls," said Jones, who did not have a player on the floor over 6-7. "No way we could go [man-to-man] with that lineup."
UVa tied the score on an Alexander jumper, but Barry hit another 3-pointer with 1:50 left to make it 50-47.
"I think Virginia plays the best man-to-man defense in the league," said Barry, who finished with 11 points, well under his 17.0 average, "but I think it was a good move because, in the last three or four games, everybody's zoned us and we've just gone stale.
"It was a tough defensive struggle. It seemed like Stith scored every single point for them. I can't remember anybody else getting a bucket."
Stith finished with a game-high 25 points, hitting nine of 10 free throws before his late miss. He also missed two free throws at the end of UVa's recent 64-63 loss to Florida State.
"He can't do a whole lot more than what he did today: 25 points, nine rebounds, four assists, three steals," said Jones, reading across the final statistics. "He played a whale of a basketball game."
Stith passed Phil Ford to move into seventh place on the ACC career scoring list with 2,305 points. Stith needs 13 points to become UVa's all-time leading scorer, succeeding Jeff Lamp.
The record is likely to fall Wednesday night, when the Cavaliers visit Duke, ranked No. 1 in the country.
"We saw they were vulnerable the other night [in a 91-89 victory over Maryland], so why sell ourselves short?" Stith said. "Nobody's going to get me to say we're not making the NCAA Tournament. This is my last time around and I will not be denied." \
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