Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 31, 1993 TAG: 9312310192
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MIAMI LENGTH: Medium
Rest assured, the Hokies have not.
"We took 'em a little more seriously this time," said Tech senior guard Jay Purcell, who scored a game-high 24 points in leading the Hokies to an 87-65 basketball victory at the Golden Panther Arena.
It was the successful conclusion to a two-game South Florida swing for Tech, which has a 7-1 record, its best start since 1985-86.
"If anybody had told me before the season that we'd be 7-1, with five road games in the first eight, I'd have said, `No way,' " said Tech coach Bill Foster, making his first return to the Miami area as coach since he was at the University of Miami from 1985-90.
"I was worried about this game a lot. Not only had they beaten us last year, but I was worried because we had been down here four or five days in this cushy environment and there wasn't much atmosphere."
Foster's concerns seemed justified early, when Florida International (2-6) took a 26-24 lead, but the Hokies scored the next 11 points, helped by a technical foul on Golden Panthers coach Bob Weltlich.
Weltlich, who had been jawing with the officials over a shot-clock violation, was whistled for the technical after Tech's Shawn Smith had scored an uncontested basket off the break to put the Hokies ahead 28-26.
The players were headed upcourt when the technical was called. Purcell hit two free throws, and then Smith made a layup to put the Hokies ahead 32-26.
"I didn't swear; I didn't challenge [the official]," Weltlich said. "He told me to quit yelling at him and I said, `Well, then, call it.' He said I was challenging his integrity.
"The next technical foul he calls on me, I can tell you he's going to be bleeding from the ears. Not to absolve myself of any of the blame, but I thought it had a big impact on the first half."
The Hokies extended their lead to 42-31 at halftime, and Florida International never got closer than 10 points. The Golden Panthers didn't help their cause by making only 12 of 35 free throws, missing nine in a row.
"And those nine misses were by five different players," Weltlich said. "It's not like it was one bad free-throw shooter and they kept sending him to the line. If it wasn't so sad, it would be comical."
Florida International came into the game shooting 40.2 percent from the field and 57.9 percent from the free-throw line and didn't come close to either figure. The Golden Panthers were 24-of-74 (32.4 percent) from the field, the sixth team to shoot under 40 percent against the Hokies this season.
Tech shot a season-high 66.7 percent from the field - its second-highest percentage in Foster's three seasons as coach. Purcell was 6-of-9 from the field, and Smith, making his second consecutive start at center with Jimmy Carruth injured, was 6-of-7 and scored 17 points.
Redshirt freshman Adrian "Ace" Custis finished with 15 rebounds, but Foster generally was not pleased with his team's rebounding against the smaller Golden Panthers. Tech outrebounded Florida International 42-40 but gave up 26 offensive rebounds.
"It was a good growing-up game for us," Foster said. "It was very physical. It's not the most physical [opponent], but they make you guard a ton of passes and they're well-coached. If they called every foul, I'm not sure how many players would have finished the game."
Tech made only 25 of 39 free throws, but when the Golden Panthers could have gotten back in the game early in the second half, the Hokies made 10 in a row.
"It was the mirror image of last year's game," Weltlich said. "We were the experienced team last year, and they were inexperienced. They're still young, but their experience really showed tonight."
After beating Tech 57-44 last year, the Panthers finished 20-10, their only winning record in four seasons under Weltlich. Only two of their top seven scorers returned, a big reason behind their 2-6 start.
"They were a good team last year," Purcell said, "but not many people had heard about them. They took us out on our home court and we wanted to do the same to them."
Said Foster: "Yeah, we talked about it. Last year's game hadn't been forgotten. It was payback time. We didn't feel we had anything to prove to them; we had to prove something to ourselves."
by CNB