Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 5, 1993 TAG: 9302050234
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
POINTER STICKS HOKIES
Pointer Williams wasn't insulted. In fact, he gave Virginia Tech's defense his blessing.Then, he cursed the Hokies.
Williams' top-of-the-key 3-pointer late in the second half scissored a Hokies rally and helped Tulane win its 11th consecutive game, a 72-59 Metro Conference basketball victory over Tech before 5,811 spectators at Cassell Coliseum.
Tech fell to 8-8 overall, 1-5 in the Metro, and coach Bill Foster missed a chance for his 450th career victory.
Tulane (16-3, 6-0) is a half-game behind league-leading Louisville in the conference standings.
Williams, a sophomore point guard, was shooting 23 percent from 3-point range entering the game. Tech had scored five straight points and Tulane led 55-53 before Williams, wide open, connected.
"We'll give him that shot," Tech coach Bill Foster said.
Said Williams, "That was smart on their part. Every once in a while you get lucky. I was glad to see it went in. I was kind of screwing up."
Not enough to suit Tech. Both times the Hokies pulled to two points behind in the second half, Williams bit back - once with that 3-pointer and once with back-to-back steals and layups after Tech crept to 35-33 with 18:39 left.
Both of Williams' steals came with Tulane in a trapping zone - not the usual way the full-court-pressing Green Wave beats opponents.
"That really gave us the confidence to start playing again," Williams said of his steals.
Tech wasn't suffocated, however. It had 17 turnovers, five fewer than Tulane normally forces, and shot 46.8 percent - the best against Tulane in 10 games.
It wasn't good enough.
"You think about playing Tulane and you spend a lot of time worrying about their presses, traps and overplays," Foster said. "That's not what beat us. Part of [their zone success] is their quickness. Their guards are like blurs."
Tulane coach Perry Clark said his team's on-and-off pressing worked.
"We were able to get them when they were tired, and not in the right spots," he said.
It didn't hurt that Tulane made half its field goals, the best performance against Tech all year. The Hokies entered the game third in the nation in defensive field-goal percentage (38.4), behind George Washington and Marquette.
Forward Anthony Reed hit on four of five 3-point attempts in the first half, keeping Tulane close. Tech made its first 10 shots - six field goals and four free throws - to take a 16-11 lead.
The Hokies led 22-13 with 8:55 left, but Tulane went on a 20-1 run over the next six minutes as Tech failed against various zones.
"You never know what they're going to do," Tech point guard Shawn Good said.
In the second half, Tulane's offense picked up, making 13 of 24 shots and committing just five turnovers. The Green Wave had its way inside.
"We broke down on some help-side situations," Foster said. "We shored that up, and there comes Pointer Williams, jumping up out of the corner and he hits a three."
Williams' shot made it 58-53. Then Smith was stripped of the ball, and Reed's 17-footer made it 60-53 Tulane with 4:29 left. Tech never got closer than four the rest of the way.
Williams helped again when, with Tulane up 60-56, he penetrated against Good and passed to Matt Greene, who was fouled with one second left on the shot clock. It gave the Wave another possession, and Reed's tip-in put Tulane up 62-56 with 2:38 left.
\ see microfilm for box score