Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 3, 1994 TAG: 9403030123
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
No wonder Virginia felt comfortable playing basketball above the ice Wednesday night at the Roanoke Civic Center.
The Cavaliers have had icicles hanging off them all season.
Cold-shooting Virginia, which had failed to shoot 35 percent or better in its previous seven games, found a home Wednesday night on the frigid playing floor of the Roanoke Civic Center.
UVa shot 50 percent for the first time all season - 51.1 peercent, to be exact - and beat Tech 70-61 at the home of the new Roanoke Express hockey team.
"That might be the answer," said UVa junior Jason Williford, who had 16 points, nine as Virginia was taking a 36-24 halftime lead. "Maybe we need to put some of this ice down at University Hall."
It was Virginia's eighth victory in its past 10 games with Tech at the Roanoke Civic Center, which is as good an explanation as any for the Cavaliers' reluctance to play the game on campus. UVa has beaten Tech in 16 of 20 games since 1977.
Uva (15-10) entered the game as a 4 1/2-point favorite, but had lost five of their previous seven games. The Hokies (16-9) had won three games in a row and, like Virginia, were looking to further their postseason chances.
"If I was a fan, I would say Virginia's chances of going to the NCAA Tournament are over if [the Cavaliers] lose this game," said UVa forward Junior Burrough. "As a player, you're thinking, `We'll go up and win at Maryland, then win the ACC Tournament.' "
Nobody was more responsible for the Cavaliers' victory than Burrough, who had made only 21 of 81 shots in the previous six games. Burrough went 10-of-15 and finished with 24 points, his high since Feb. 2.
"If he plays the way he did tonight, a lot of people will have trouble [stopping] him," said Bill Foster, Tech's coach. "He did it outside, put it on the floor. . . . He did a lot of good things."
Burrough's resurgence followed a meeting with coach Jeff Jones on Monday, two days after he was 4-of-17 in a 63-45 loss to Wake Forest in which the Cavaliers went eight minutes without a field goal.
"Between Sunday, when he was really down, and Monday, when we talked, he had a change in attitude," Jones said. "He wasn't beating himself up.
"He hadn't been playing particularly well, but he told me he wanted the responsibility of being the focus [of the offense]."
Burrough missed his first two shots Wednesday night, but that didn't prevent the Cavaliers from grabbing a 7-0 lead. It was 10-2 before Damon Watlington scored Tech's first field goal with 11:03 to go in the half.
A crowd announced as 9,286 watched the Cavaliers also get off to a quick start in the second half, building their lead to 42-26 on a three-point play by Williford with 18:30 remaining.
The 16-point margin had an ominous look to it because the Hokies had rallied from 40-24 down last year to defeat the Cavaliers 59-53 at the Richmond Coliseum.
"I didn't have to remind our players not to be comfortable with a 12-point [halftime] lead, especially after last year, when we only scored 18 points in the second half," Jones said. "We knew Tech would come back and scratch and claw."
The Hokies got as close as 46-41 before UVa freshman Harold Deane Jr. hit a 3-pointer - his only field goal of the game - with 13:07 left. Deane was playing in front of a large family contingent, including his father, Harold Sr., who played at Roanoke's Lucy Addison High School in the 1950s.
UVa worked its lead back up to 60-45 before a furious Tech comeback that enabled the Hokies to cut the deficit to six points, the last time at 67-61 following a pair of Jay Purcell free throws with 34 seconds left.
Tech was 17-of-20 from the line, but shot only 33.9 percent (20-of-59) from the field. No player hit half of his shots for the Hokies.
"You can shake it down any way you want to," Foster said, "but this game comes down to putting the ball in the hole, and 33 [percent] won't beat 51 very often.
"They probably hit as many perimeter shots against us as they have since the big flood. We didn't shoot much better [in the second half], but overall we were a much better team after intermission.
Purcell had 16 points to share Tech scoring honors with Watlington, who did not start but played 29 minutes. Seldom-used Chris Havlicek made a rare start for Virginia and hit his first shot, but was replaced by Deane after two minutes. "It stems from an internal matter," Jones said.
Burrough and Williford were UVa's only double-figure scorers, but senior Cornel Parker also played a big role with nine points, eight rebounds and tenacious defense against Purcell, who was 4-of-12.
by CNB