Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 30, 1993 TAG: 9312300089
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
It took a bunch of Golden Gophers to help dig Virginia out of its early-season hole.
Stinging from consecutive losses in which they blew seven-point leads in the final 10 minutes, the Cavaliers took the comeback road Tuesday night, rallying from five down in the final 8 minutes, 25 seconds to defeat 16th-ranked Minnesota 62-57 in men's basketball.
The victory, before about 2,000 spectators who braved a snowstorm, pushed Virginia back over .500 at 4-3.
"It's a good feeling to win," said Jeff Jones, UVa's coach. "I'm certainly not going to lie. This is not just another win. Hopefully, it's something we can build on."
Trailing 51-46 after Voshon Lenard's four-point play with 8:25 left, Virginia proceeded to outscore Minnesota 16-6 the rest of the way.
Junior Burrough paced the Cavaliers' comeback, scoring six of his game-high 22 points in the run.
"I've been talking with Coach, and he said they're coming to me for points," Burrough said. "He said I needed to make stronger moves to get shots. It's just nice to finally play a good game in which we also win.
"This is a big win for us if we continue to play the way we did tonight. It's not a big win if we lose to Liberty [on Thursday]."
UVa had led the entire way and was on top 39-28 with 17:44 left when Minnesota made its run. The Gophers outscored the Cavs 10-1 in the next 4 1/2 minutes as UVa threw away points at the free-throw line, missing five of six attempts.
Townsend Orr's 3-pointer with 7:03 left gave the Gophers their first lead at 47-46. Lenard, who had been held without a field goal by UVa's Cornel Parker, then collected his four-point play - sinking a 3-pointer and hitting the free throw after being hacked by Parker.
Jason Williford's runner in the lane and Parker's 3-pointer pulled UVa even at 51 with 6:42 left.
Parker and Lenard exchanged shoves and words after the 3-pointer, resulting in a double foul - each player's fourth. Parker fouled out seconds later on a charge.
The Gophers couldn't take advantage, though, as Burrough took over. His two free throws with 3:31 left put UVa up for good at 53-51. Fifty-four seconds later, he put the Cavs up by four with a 10-foot baseline turnaround.
Minnesota closed to 60-57 with 28.5 seconds left. Free throws by Burrough provided the final margin.
The Cavaliers, who entered the game shooting 37.2 percent, hit 24 of 51 shots (47.1 percent). Minnesota made 22 of 61 (36.1 percent).
"Virginia killed us in areas we were concerned about," Gophers coach Clem Haskins said. "We felt like if we stayed with them on the boards, we'd have a chance. But they outrebounded us [41-33]. [Yuri] Barnes and Williford and Burrough are like Big Ten [Conference] players, so this was a good test for us."
\ NOTES: Virginia hit 57.1 percent (16 of 28) of its field-goal attempts in the first half - its best shooting half of the season. . . . Mark Bogosh, the only 7-footer to play at UVa besides Ralph Sampson, has left the team by mutual agreement with Jones. The 7-1 center, who transferred to UVa from Bacone Junior College in Muskogee, Okla., failed to score in three minutes played this season. Bogosh, who played at Division I Maryland-Baltimore County in 1990-91, is expected to continue his studies at UVa. . . . Burrough became the 28th player in UVa history to score 1,000 points.
by CNB