Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 31, 1993 TAG: 9301310199
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
SUPER WIN FOR TECH LIX-LIII
THE HOKIES erased a 15-point deficit in the final 16:21 for the victory over 15th-ranked Virginia, ending a four-game losing streak against the Cavaliers.\ 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 15th-ranked 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) in trailing 35-22 at the break. However, Virginia went 5-of-27 from the field in the second half and the Hokies' normally truant offense attended class.
Freshmen scored 26 of Tech's last 33 points, including 10 by Shawn Smith. Tech rallied without two veterans: Senior Thomas Elliott and junior Corey Jackson barely played in the second half and both were scoreless in the game.
Tech won for the first time this year outside Cassell Coliseum, broke a three-game losing streak and improved to 7-7. Virginia (12-4) lost for the fourth time in five games, and the Hokies ended a string of 16 non-conference victories for UVa.
Virginia has won 15 of the past 19 games between the teams and leads the series 64-43, but Tech broke a four-game losing streak against the Cavaliers.
Two games ago, Virginia blew a 23-point lead before beating William and Mary in overtime. Saturday, the Cavs' 23 turnovers hurt.
"I'm at a loss," Virginia coach Jeff Jones said. "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 made the difference.
"We just kept rebounding, kept fighting, got steals, doubled down on the big men," Tech's Jay Purcell said.
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. Even Cory Alexander was woozy: A spill he took at game's end left him with a possible concussion.
"[Junior Burrough's] missed dunk, we can live with that," UVa's 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 air ball 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 were going to battle," Tech center Jimmy Carruth said. "If it was going to be, that was the time to make it happen."
Virginia recovered briefly, pushing the lead to 50-42 with 6:15 to go, but Tech wasn't finished.
Purcell was trapped at the free-throw line but forced a jumper, made 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.
Alexander missed a 17-foot jumper, and Smith was fouled on the rebound. His two free throws gave Tech the lead 52-51 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.
"Shawn Good really got us started," Jim Jackson said.
Jeffries' layup made it 54-53 with 2:55 left, but 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 made it 57-53, Tech, with 47.8 seconds left.
"[When you're] 3-for-25, that's Virginia," UVa's Doug Smith said of his team's shooting woes. "It's not Virginia Tech."
The Hokies, who celebrated wildly on the court and met chanting fans on the way out of the locker room, just wanted the "W."
"I don't know if it was us or them," Purcell said, "but our defense picked up. The longer the game got, the more confident we got." \
see microfilm for box score