Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 14, 1992 TAG: 9203140148
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LOUISVILLE, KY. LENGTH: Medium
Virginia Tech coach Bill Foster said that during warmups, UNC Charlotte guard Henry Williams walked by, smiled and told Foster, "It's over."
He was right.
The 49ers deep-sixed Virginia Tech's season with a 70-52 victory in the first round of the Metro Conference basketball tournament Friday at Freedom Hall.
Williams tied the tournament record with six 3-pointers as UNCC (21-8) beat Tech (10-18) two different ways - with 65 percent shooting in the first half and a little extra defense and rebounding in the second.
The teams had split the regular-season series, but UNCC, in its first season in the Metro, moves on to play Southern Mississippi in today's semifinals.
Foster said afterward that his first season at Tech hadn't been "anything like what I expected." Yet, he could have predicted Friday's finale: UNCC outrebounded Tech and frolicked on the perimeter while the Hokies shot poorly and finished with the lowest losing points total in a Metro tournament game since Tech beat Tulane 49-47 in 1984.
"We had nothing to lose," Tech senior Erik Wilson said, noting he and fellow senior John Rivers approached the game "thinking it's like a national championship . . . ."
Remember Nevada-Las Vegas and Duke, Take One? This was only slightly more competitive. UNCC made 12 of its first 14 field-goal attempts (84.6 percent) in the first 12 minutes and led 29-19 - this, against the Metro's leader in defensive field-goal percentage. It was that close because the Hokies had made nine of 17 field-goal attempts for 52.9 percent.
UNCC took a 37-30 lead into halftime, and it could have been 37-32 had Tech forward Thomas Elliott's fast-break dunk not come a fraction of a second after the first-half buzzer.
Williams was distraught that the 49ers' sizzling offense translated into a lukewarm lead.
"I was like, man, what else can we do?" he said.
How about play better defense and wait for the Hokies to fall into their futility groove? Foster knew if Tech could avoid an offensive collapse, it had a chance.
"I basically said to our guys, `They can't shoot that way again in the second half,' " Foster said. "If we repeat what we did the first half and shoot reasonably well, we can win."
UNCC opened the door for Tech by scoring 11 points in the first 12 minutes of the second half, but the Hokies fizzled, too, scoring nine points in the first 15 minutes.
UNCC's James Terrell said the 49ers knew they had to focus on defense after their first-half shooting antics didn't blow away the Hokies. And 49ers coach Jeff Mullins preached that the game would be won from the inside.
Wilson, Tech's 7-foot center, had 13 first-half points and four in the second half. Elliott didn't score in the last 20 minutes, nor did Tech's frontcourt batter the boards, a Foster directive to his team.
The Hokies had 22 rebounds, their lowest total this year, and only seven came on the offensive end.
"Thomas [Elliott] was like a pulling guard - every time [a shot] went up, he was going the other way," Foster said.
The 49ers, meanwhile, barely needed offensive rebounding with Williams and Terrell combining to make 14 of 24 field goals. Williams, the Metro's third-leading 3-point shooter, made five of six attempts in the first half.
Then, he and Terrell combined to waylay Tech's last gasp in the second half. The Hokies cut a 48-32 deficit to 48-38, but Williams' 3-pointer made it 51-38. After a Tech miss, Terrell's 3-pointer gave UNCC a 54-38 lead with 7:45 left.
"He had a choice to go on one side with a one-man screen or the other side with a double-man screen," Jay Purcell said of Williams. "He always went to the double-man screen."
In that situation, Foster said, Tech's lack of depth in practice hurt.
"If you had to practice every day against a guy who could shoot the basketball, do you think you'd recover quicker and fight through screens better?" Foster said. "I do.
"Most of the time in practice, [our kids] don't really have to compete. You're not going to fight through that same screen to try to get to [walk-ons] Mike [Davis] or Andy [Reed]."
Williams is a long way from a walk-on. He was familiar with Tech's defenses against him.
"I was going to initiate the offense to them," he said. "I approached it right today." \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB