Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 28, 1993 TAG: 9302280056
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
5 TRIES ADD UP TO 1 BIG LOSS
It was a situation where Virginia would have settled for one good shot at the basket.Instead, the Cavaliers got five - three from gimme range, as they say in golf.
Suffice to say, the Cavs couldn't score the tying field goal in the closing seconds Saturday and lost 58-56 to No. 12-ranked Wake Forest at Joel Coliseum.
"I definitely don't want to see film of that," said Junior Burrough, whose tip was shot No. 4 on UVa's final possession. "I don't think I had an easier shot [all afternoon].
"Maybe I needed somebody flying at me or jumping on my back. We've got no excuses. One of us may have been fouled, but there weren't five consecutive fouls."
It was the third loss in a row for 22nd-ranked Virginia (16-8 overall, 8-7 ACC). The Cavaliers, who fell from a third-place tie to sixth in the ACC in six days, almost surely will drop out of the Top 25 rankings after an eight-week stay.
The Deacons (18-6, 9-5) jumped into a tie for third with their first victory in three games. However, it didn't come easily for Wake Forest, which shot 34.5 percent in taking a 22-19 halftime lead.
"What you saw today, you can blame on Terry Holland," said Wake Forest coach Dave Odom, a former Holland assistant at Virginia. "He would have loved it because that's as Holland-like a game as you'll ever see."
Virginia, which had averaged 16 turnovers in its four previous games, committed five Saturday. However, the Cavaliers made only 22 of 67 shots - their fourth straight game under 40 percent.
"The only thing we should concern ourselves with is getting good shots," said UVa coach Jeff Jones, another Holland disciple. "There have been times when [the percentage] has been more a product of rushing and hurrying and ill-timed shots than it was today."
There were 12 lead changes in the game and the score was tied nine times, the last at 51-51 on a jumper by UVa sophomore Cory Alexander with 4:15 left.
Wake Forest quickly regained control when Rodney Rogers hit a 3-pointer and then ripped a rebound away from Jason Williford at the other end. Rogers, fouled on a breakaway, hit one of two free throws to make it 55-51 with 3:15 left.
"The story of the game - to me, anyway - were the two baskets by Rogers and [Randolph] Childress," Jones said. "Rogers was struggling, and to be willing to take the shot, much less knock it down, shows the kind of player he is."
After UVa cut the deficit to 55-53, it was Childress' turn. With one second on the shot clock and Alexander all over him, he hit a twisting jumper that gave Wake Forest a four-point lead with 1:35 left.
"I wasn't as off-balance as I looked," said Childress, who was 3-of-12 until that point. "I only landed off-balance. It was the only shot I took that I knew was good as soon as it left my hand."
Wake Forest needed it, too, because Doug Smith hit a 3-pointer to pull UVa to 57-56 with 1:25 left. After Childress missed his first free throw in a bonus situation, Alexander and Smith missed wide-open 3-point attempts on UVa's next-to-last possession.
A free throw by Derrick Hicks with 32.8 seconds left completed the scoring and set the stage for UVa's last possession, which included misses (in order) by Alexander, Williford, Ted Jeffries, Burrough and Williford.
"I saw Ted's shot and I was the only defender in front of him," Burrough said. "I thought mine was in or else I would have done a better job getting the rebound."
Rogers led all scorers with 24 points ("He's never had a tougher 24," Odom said), and Childress, with 10, was the only other Deacons scorer in double figures.
Alexander had a team-high 17 points for Virginia, which got 14 from Burrough and 12 from Jeffries.
In a statistical oddity, UVa's Williford and Wake Forest's Hicks combined for five points and 28 rebounds.
"I could kick myself a thousand times over," said Jeffries, who appeared to have the most uncontested of UVa's last five shots. "I'm not saying anything [about contact]. I just missed the shot."
The Cavaliers, underdogs in their past five games, finish the regular season with home games in which they will be favored - against College of Charleston and Maryland.
"We took a tough loss," Jeffries said, [but] by no means is it time to panic. We can't overlook anybody, though. We know what Charleston did to Georgia Tech [an upset victory by Charleston]." \
see microfilm for box score