Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 29, 1993 TAG: 9301290212
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
CARDINALS PULL AWAY FROM HOKIES
VIRGINIA TECH stayed close throughout the game, but Louisville had what it needed to finish strong and claim a 76-65 victory.
Virginia Tech had enough spunk Thursday night to throw a few big roars into an energetic Cassell Coliseum basketball crowd.
When it mattered, though, the Hokies were mute, and they lost a Metro Conference game to Louisville, 76-65, before a season-high 6,430 spectators.
The Cardinals had five players score in double figures and shot 54.5 percent from the field in the second half while making 16 of 21 free throws.
Tech, meanwhile, was outrebounded 19-17 in the second half, missed half of its 14 free throws and committed 12 of its 15 fouls.
"We wore down a little bit inside," Tech coach Bill Foster said. "We don't have quite the same people they do coming off the bench.
"We said, `If they can beat us with the three, let 'em beat us with the three. They got it inside on us."
Louisville vetoed the last Hokies push with a 9-0 run after Tech had crept to 65-61 behind with 2:32 left. Louisville's 6-foot-9 center, Clifford Rozier, who had all of his 17 points in the second half, had four free throws in that stretch.
"Coach [Denny] Crum has a way of telling you things that make you want to go out and play," Rozier said. "At halftime, he said, `Son, you're getting killed.' I just got mad and decided to play harder."
Tech lost its third straight game and fell under .500 for the first time this season (6-7 overall, 1-4 in the Metro).
Louisville (10-5) won for the eighth time in its past nine games and moved into first place in the Metro with a 5-0 record, matching its best league start since 1988-89.
Louisville has beaten Tech 14 out of the past 16 times and leads the all-time series 22-8. The Cardinals have won more times (11) in Cassell than any other team.
The Cardinals led 10-3, were tied three times and never trailed, but Louisville wasn't filing this one under "domination."
"Two or three times they got the lead out to six or eight and you felt like they were going to get away from you, and they didn't," said Foster, 0-4 against Louisville in his career. "This team has shown a pretty good tendency to not get [blown] out of a ball game."
The Cardinals didn't care. Asked to rate Louisville's performance, Dwayne Morton said:
"Terrible."
Morton was 3-for-11 on field-goal attempts and didn't patronize the rest of the team.
"I don't know what was wrong tonight," he said. "It wasn't a good night for us."
Crum agreed the Cardinals erred on little things - hitting the open man, taking good shots - but Louisville's defense cut off Tech's hopes.
The Hokies' Thomas Elliott was lively, scoring 22 points and taking a career-high 20 shots. Shawn Good had seven assists and no turnovers in 33 minutes.
But missed free throws hurt, and, typically, the Hokies couldn't count on scoring when they had to.
"They were switching screens, and we stopped moving a little bit and made it a lot easier for them to play defense," Good said.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals hit four first-half 3-pointers, setting up Tech for second-half back-door baskets as well as more production inside.
"We haven't been rotating down well," Elliott said. "It's causing us to make up for it by fouling. We tried to pressure them on the perimeter, but they just went back door every time."
The Tech crowd's final thrill came with less than three minutes left, when the Hokies cut a 64-56 deficit to 65-61, getting a key 3-pointer from Elliott.
On Louisville's next possession, Greg Minor, left open on the wing, pump-faked past two Tech defenders and scored a layup with 2:08 left.
Good missed a jumper on the other end, Elliott missed a follow shot and Shawn Smith's follow shot was blocked by Rozier.
Louisville's Keith LeGree hit one of two free throws, and Rozier stole the rebound from Elliott, was fouled and hit two free throws to give the Cardinals a 70-61 lead with 1:07 left.
Tech missed at its end, and Louisville threw long to LeGree for a layup and a safe 72-61 lead.
"We're getting better," Foster said, "but we won't solve all our problems this year."