Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 21, 1994 TAG: 9403210106
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SACRAMENTO, CALIF., LENGTH: Medium
For what happened next, Parker took full responsibility.
Reeves, a second-team All-American, scored 21 of his 30 points in the second half Saturday to lift Arizona past Virginia 71-58 in the second round of the NCAA basketball tournament.
"In the second half, they came out very aggressive, Reeves in particular," UVa coach Jeff Jones said. "The first play they ran was to Reeves. I think that gave him a lot of confidence."
Reeves had scored Arizona's last six points of the first half. Three of his first-half field goals came against Jason Williford and a fourth was off a fast break.
"Parker had a great half; he shut me down," said Reeves, coming off a 32-point effort in Arizona's 81-55 first-round victory over Loyola. "I was frustrated I wasn't scoring, but I always play well in the second half."
At one point in the first half, Reeves appealed to an official to get Parker to stop hand-checking him, and that became a sub-plot to their duel. Parker picked up his second foul with 5:02 to go before halftime.
"All along, I thought [Reeves] was a great player, and he proved it," said Parker, recognized as one of the best defenders in the country. "He knew I had two fouls, and he knew when I picked up my third."
Parker's third foul came on a Reeves drive with 19:09 left. Parker did not pick up foul No. 4 until 6:14 remained, but, while he played 33 minutes, his effectiveness was reduced.
"I was kind of mad because he had nine [points] going into the half and all he had against me was one free throw," Parker said. "I thought I did a great job on him.
"Once I got my third [foul], I had to back off. You could hear the people on the bench shouting, `Take him to the hole.' "
Reeves, a 6-foot-2 1/2 senior, scored 15 of Arizona's first 19 points in the second half, almost all the result of drives. He missed all five of his 3-point attempts, although he had hit more than 80 through the first 31 games.
"He's deceiving," said UVa forward Jason Williford, who was switched to Reeves when Parker was out of the game in the first half. "He doesn't look as quick as he is.
"He'll lull you to sleep; then, all of a sudden he'll go by you. He's strong, very strong. He takes you exactly where he wants on the court, elevates and sticks shots. He can flat out shoot."
Said Jones: "We don't have anybody who is as good as Cornel, but to give Khalid Reeves credit, he scored off Cornel, too."
The best reflection of Reeves' penetration is the amount of time he spends at the free-throw line. He went 10-for-13 Sunday and has shot 249 free throws for the season.
"Coach made the switch, and that caught me off guard," Williford said. "He's just a great player, him and [Damon] Stoudamire both. It's the best backcourt we've played against this season."
Stoudamire had 13 of his 20 points in the first half, including back-to-back 3-pointers after Virginia had gone ahead 21-13. He subsequently added a three-point play after beating UVa freshman Harold Deane.
"At the time we needed some buckets," said Stoudamire, a 5-11 junior. "Parker was doing a pretty good job denying the ball to Khalid, and I felt I could beat Deane off the dribble."
Deane finished with 14 points and matched a season high with six assists, but two of his field goals came after the outcome had been decided, when the Cavaliers scored 12 points in the final 2:29.
"Offensively, [the Wildcats] obviously are very dependent on their guards," said Jones, aware that only two other players scored for Arizona. "Everybody said it's probably the best backcourt in the country, and you won't get any argument from us."
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB