Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 4, 1993 TAG: 9303040201
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
ALEXANDER SPARKS UVA ROUT
Before saying goodbye Wednesday night, maybe Virginia should have asked College of Charleston how to beat Georgia Tech.The Cavaliers haven't beaten Georgia Tech in the past eight meetings, but they defeated the Yellow Jacket-killers 72-58 at University Hall.
College of Charleston pulled off one of the bigger upsets of the college basketball season when it defeated Georgia Tech in December, but the Cougars couldn't survive UVa's best shooting night of the season.
The Cavaliers (17-8), who had failed to shoot 40 percent in their previous four games, hit 61.4 percent of their field-goal attempts. It was the first time in 10 games UVa has shot at least 50 percent.
"I think everybody realizes the importance of this game," said UVa coach Jeff Jones, trying his best to avoid any NCAA Tournament talk. "We had just come off a week where we lost three difficult games."
UVa's shooting woes did not escape anybody, least of all sophomore point guard Cory Alexander, who was 21-of-63 in the Cavaliers' four previous games and had seen his season field-goal percentage drop to 44.1 percent.
"I think I did a good job of not letting it bother me," Alexander said. "I didn't take 500 shots a day or come shoot between classes. I've tended to dwell on missed shots too much in the past."
Alexander missed his first shot in each half, but he finished 11-of-14 en route to a career-high 27 points. UVa is 16-0 the past two seasons when Alexander has shot 50 percent or better.
"I love Cory Alexander," Cougars coach John Kresse said. "If I was still with the [NBA's New York Nets] as chief scout and director of player personnel and we were still playing with the red-white-and-blue ball, I would definitely draft Cory Alexander in the first round.
"I'm sure he's going to be a first-rounder as an NBA hoopster."
Kresse was an assistant to Lou Carnesecca at St. John's and later with the Nets in the old American Basketball Association before going to Charleston, where he has won 19 or more games in 12 of 14 seasons.
Virginia did not lead by more than 13 points until Alexander hit a 3-pointer with 6:15 left, making the Cavaliers' lead 63-47. The shot extended his string of games with at least one 3-pointer to a school-record 23.
"I knew I hadn't hit one in the first half, and it was starting to get close [to the end]," said Alexander, who was 10-of-10 inside the 3-point line. "I knew, when I got a pass, I was going to take one. I knew the streak was still on."
The Cougars shot 59.1 percent in the second half but never got closer than the eight-point deficit they faced at halftime. One reason was UVa's improved ball-handling.
Virginia was so sloppy in the opening period that Jones called a timeout with 1:50 remaining in the half and spent the first couple of seconds in the face of sophomore forward Junior Burrough.
"We have some guys who want to dribble the ball every time they get it," Jones said. "That's something we have to work on. Whenever we were getting shots in the first half, they were going in."
In addition to making 13 turnovers, Virginia missed its last four free throws of the half. If not for the Cougars' 11-of-31 field-goal shooting, Charleston might have been ahead.
Kresse, whose staff includes former Cave Spring High guard Gregg Marshall, clearly was disturbed by the officiating. At one point he directed the officials' attention to a 9-4 disparity in the fouls.
Kresse later lobbied for an NIT bid for the Cougars (19-8), one of the first teams in the country to complete its regular-season schedule. Charleston, a second-year Division I independent, will join the Trans-America Conference next year.
Virginia, the reigning NIT champion, doesn't want to hear about a return trip. You won't hear much discussion about the NCAA Tournament either, although most observers think UVa, with 17 victories, is in good shape for an NCAA berth.
"We talked to [the players] about this being a big game from that standpoint," Jones said later. "Winning or losing, I think it would have had ramifications for us." \
see microfilm for box score
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.