Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 31, 1993 TAG: 9301310160
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
EVEN VIRGINIA TECH STILL WONDERS.
Even Virginia Tech still wonders.What happened?
"You tell me. You tell me, man," bubbled Hokie freshman Jim Jackson.
OK, here goes. Believe it at your own risk.
Virginia Tech's slumping basketball team overcame a 15-point second-half deficit and beat Virginia's slumping basketball team 59-53 in front of 9,789 spectators at the Richmond Coliseum. Tech outscored the Cavaliers 17-3 in the last 6:19 and 33-12 over the last 16:21.
Virginia Tech had its lowest scoring first half (22 points) and worst first-half shooting percentage (.250), and trailed 35-22 at halftime.
However, Virginia went 5-of-27 from the field in the second half and the Hokies' normally truant offense attended class.
Tech broke a three-game losing streak and improved to 7-7. Virginia lost for the fourth time in five games and is 12-4. UVa leads the series 64-43 but had a four-game winning streak over Tech broken.
Two games ago, Virginia blew a 23-point lead before beating William and Mary in overtime. Saturday, the Cavaliers' 23 turnovers hurt. Any more answers, Jeff Jones?
"No," Virginia's coach said. "I'm at a loss.
"We put the ball in the lane. We had it, and just came away with nothing."
Tech's players and coach Bill Foster said it was the Hokies' second-half offensive execution - not any defensive strategy changes - that carried Tech.
"We just kept rebounding, kept fighting, got steals, doubled down on the big men," Purcell said. "[The freshmen] stepped up a lot and made some tough shots."
Added Foster:
"We didn't have anything to lose because we weren't supposed to be in that situation. We just tried to emphasize offense. The second half, we had so much more motion."
Virginia was left with motion sickness.
"[Junior Burrough's] missed dunk, we can live with that," center Ted Jeffries said of the play that preceded UVa's collapse. "Four turnovers [after that] - we can't make excuses. We've all got to act like we're going to win. If we're not going to go out and say we're going to win, at least act like it.
"There are certain parts of the game you can't control. But everything else can't fall in on top of you."
It did.
UVa led 41-26 with 16:21 to go. Tech's Shawn Smith threw up an airball and the Cavaliers ran, but Burrough clanked an alley-oop dunk off the rim. Virginia rebounded, but Burrough's second shot was blocked by Smith.
Then came the four straight turnovers - two on Tech steals - and the Hokies scored on their next four possessions to make it 41-34 with 13:15 to go.
"We said, `We're not going to let this one slip away,"' Tech center Jimmy Carruth said. "We were going to battle. If it was going to be, that was the time to make it happen."
Virginia recovered briefly, pushing the lead back to 50-42 with 6:15 to go.
Tech wasn't finished. Jay Purcell was trapped at the free-throw line but forced a jumper, hit it and was fouled. His free throw made it 50-45.
Jim Jackson tipped a pass that skidded off Cornel Parker's fingers out of bounds. At Tech's end, Shawn Good's layup was partially blocked, but Smith tipped it in to make it 50-47, Cavaliers, with 5:35 to go.
Virginia got a free throw from Jeffries and the teams traded misses. Then Smith, who had attempted four 3-pointers all year, drilled one from the top of the key and Tech trailed 51-50 with 4:29 to go.
Cory Alexander missed a 17-foot jumper, and Smith was fouled on the rebound. He made two free throws: 52-51, Tech, with 4:12 to go.
Burrough missed an ugly jumper and Jeffries rebounded. He spun in the lane, but Smith stripped the ball. At Tech's end, Carruth played give-and-go with Good, who beat Alexander to the basket for a 54-51 Tech lead with 3:05 left.
Jeffries' layup made it 54-53 with 2:55 left, but it was UVa's last basket. The Cavs' killer came when, after Tech called a timeout with five seconds on the shot clock, it inbounded to Smith, who banked in a straight-on 17-footer and drew a foul on Burrough.
The free throw gave Tech a 57-53 lead with 47.8 seconds left. \
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