Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 25, 1992 TAG: 9203250081
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
So, when the pairings were announced Tuesday morning, Jones was at least mildly surprised to hear UVa would be playing New Mexico at 7:30 Friday night at the Richmond Coliseum.
Welcome to the NIT.
"I felt the chances were reasonably good that we would be playing in Richmond," Jones said. "We had checked on the availability of the building for Wednesday and Thursday night, but we were told [by the NIT] that we could not play Friday."
Virginia had established its drawing potential Monday night with a crowd of 8,551 - less than 400 short of capacity at University Hall - for a second-round game with Tennessee. UVa handed the Volunteers their worst loss of the season, 77-52.
Virginia would have been unable to hold a third-round game at University Hall, site of the women's NCAA East Regional. The arena is booked for practice sessions today, and the tournament starts Thursday.
New Mexico is the host school for the men's NCAA West Regional starting Thursday, and the Lobos (20-12) were told Monday night after a 79-71 victory over Washington State that they would be going to Virginia.
"It kind of caught me by surprise that it was New Mexico," Jones said, "but we had even gone so far as check into the Robins Center [at the University of Richmond] as a backup."
Associate athletic director Jim West said the NCAA was opposed to the UVa men playing an NIT game Wednesday or Thursday night in Richmond because it would present "a conflict of interest."
"They felt we would have to split our people and that the media coverage would be cut," West said. "They really weren't wild about us playing Friday either."
Jones certainly didn't mind having the game Friday, particularly after leading scorer Bryant Stith was injured in a fall with 3:17 remaining in the Tennessee game. Stith injured his right shoulder and neck.
"He was shaken up mentally, too," Jones said. "That was a pretty dramatic fall. I think he was pretty frightened by what could have been."
It was determined Stith did not need X-rays, but he spent the night at the home of team physician Dr. Frank McCue.
"Bryant didn't have a headache when he woke up and there was no concussion," Jones said. "I saw him later in the morning and a lot of the soreness already had gone away. If we had to play [Tuesday], I think he would have been out there."
Jones said he doesn't expect a sellout at the Richmond Coliseum, which seats 10,716 for basketball, but he thinks a crowd of more than 7,000 is a reasonable estimate.
"I think Monday night's game was a good reminder that there are a lot of people who really care about Virginia basketball," he said. "I got to the arena about 6 o'clock and there were already a lot of cars in the lot and people walking to the game. And, I didn't see a lot of coats and ties."
UVA has had a problem with no-shows in the season-ticket section, but Monday's game was not part of the season-ticket package and there were no reserved seats.
"I'm sure it's something that will be widely debated in the off-season, not just the configuration of the seating but the possibility of having general-admission games during the regular season," Jones said.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB