Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 3, 1994 TAG: 9401030017
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Take Virginia Tech sophomore Travis Jackson, whose fancy once was 19-foot, 9-inch jump shots.
"I am a center," said he.
He was Sunday for the Hokies. With his economical scoring and rebounding performance and the gift of his 6-8 height in the post, he helped Tech rout Tennessee 86-63 before 5,311 spectators at Cassell Coliseum.
Jackson did draw four fouls guarding Tennessee's tall frontcourters, but his eight points and six rebounds in 18 minutes helped Tech (8-1) overcome the bigger Volunteers with its fourth straight victory.
Jackson's role is weightier now that 6-10 Jimmy Carruth is out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his foot. Jackson assesses his importance with a mental shrug.
"Somebody's got to do it," he said. "If it doesn't get done, you don't win."
Another essential truth. Tech helped its post defenders with double-teams and held 6-10 Shun Sheffield and 7-0 Steve Hamer (playing with a a sore knee that has kept him out of three games) to a combined 17 points and only two rebounds.
Without much inside, Tennessee (2-6) flipped up a variety of off-balance jumpers and 3-pointers. Seven of the latter connected, the Vols' only accomplishment as they became the Hokies' third straight Southeastern Conference victim, joining Florida in 1991 and Alabama in 1989.
As for points, Tech had plenty from plenty of folks. Jackson had six in a stretch of 3:14 as Tech turned a 22-16 first-half deficit into a 26-22 lead.
Tennessee cut it to 33-30 on Chris Brand's 3-pointer with 3:52 left in the half, but the Hokies cracked Tennessee's zone with a 12-2 run to end the half with a 45-32 lead.
The last bucket came on Jay Purcell's driving layup with less than a second left. Ten seconds earlier, after a UT shot-clock violation, Purcell and Jackson had jogged off the court and through the Cassell Coliseum tunnel, thinking the half was over.
It was one of few slip-ups for Tech, which trailed 19-9 six minutes into the game before rallying. The Hokies, who led by as many as 28 in the second half, have won their last seven games by an average of almost 24 points.
Sunday, the Hokies met a Tennessee team that has lost current Detroit Pistons guard Allan Houston - Tech coach Bill Foster said UT is going through "culture shock" - and has lost home games to Arkansas-Little Rock and Western Carolina.
"They're a good team," Tech's Jim Jackson said. "Maybe they're not playing well."
To Foster, Tennessee's troubles are a matter of minutes.
"In five-to-six minute spurts, they play well enough to be in the top of their league," Foster said. "We played a boatload of 30-minute games last year."
With the exception of a 33-point loss at Xavier, this year's Hokies haven't dissolved when they've been behind. Tennessee, off to its worst start since 1961-62, did so Sunday.
"This team just has to learn to play well through adversity," he said. "Virginia Tech got their spurt after we got ours."
Jim Jackson credited Tech's defense with starting the Hokies' first-half comeback. Three UT 3-pointers, two by Cortez Barnes, helped Tennessee get its 19-9 lead.
By the time Tech had tied it at 22, the Vols had gone 1-for-5 from the field - the only field goal a Kevin Whitted dunk at the back end of Tech's press - 1-for-2 from the line and committed one turnover.
And Tech was limiting Tennessee's inside game.
"That's what was so scary," Jim Jackson said. "They've got some big people. We all picked it up."
Foster said Tech probably wouldn't have double-teamed so much if Carruth had been available. But, as Travis Jackson said: "As long as it gets done, we don't care who does it."
"The longer the game went, the more effective it got for us," Foster said of the double-teaming.
Tech's defense and rebounding sparked its transition offense that helped it shoot 56.3 percent from the field, its third straight game it shot better than 50 percent.
Tech, coming off back-to-back 10-win seasons, can get its ninth victory Thursday night at Cassell against Tulane in the Hokies' Metro Conference opener.
If Tech wins, it'll be 9-1 - a mark last reached by the 1982-83 Hokies, who were 14-1 en route to a 23-11 season.
"Totally surprised," Foster said about this year's run. "We thought 6-3 would be a heck of a start."
by CNB