Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 21, 1994 TAG: 9401210131
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Everywhere Jeff Jones turned, Virginia fans were admitting they never thought the Cavaliers could beat North Carolina.
"Maybe 10 percent of the people in that building really thought we could win," said Jones, UVa's fourth-year men's basketball coach. "I don't think very many people gave us a chance in hell."
At least they showed up, however, and Jones was quick to cite fan support as one of the keys to UVa's 81-77 upset of No. 3 North Carolina, the 1993 NCAA champion, on Wednesday night.
"The atmosphere was great," said Jones, swamped along with the players when Virginia fans streamed onto the floor at University Hall. "Our players were [in the locker room] saying the crowd was worth 10 points.
"It hasn't been like this all year. Whenever the Tar Heels come to town, people tend to get up a little bit more - maybe a lot more."
Jones, surprised by the turnout for a 9 p.m. game on a brutally cold night, had spent four days trying to rouse the Cavaliers after a 66-58 loss to No. 2 Duke.
"We knew when we played Duke that we were outhustled," said junior center Yuri Barnes. "They outworked us. They beat us to the loose balls. They killed us on the boards and they're smaller than Carolina.
"Coach [Jones] really got in our faces. He'd been yelling and cussing about it the last couple of days."
It might have seemed like wasted breath when UVa fell behind 29-19, but the Cavaliers rallied to lead 35-34 after Barnes scored seven points during a 9-0 run.
Carolina stretched a 43-41 halftime lead to 54-46 before it became the Junior and Jr. Show. Junior forward Junior Burrough and freshman guard Harold Deane Jr. combined for 24 points in the second half, including 15 of UVa's last 19.
"I thought two key 3-point shots were Deane's from NBA range with the clock running down and Junior shooting it off the backboard . . . I don't think he planned that," said Dean Smith, North Carolina's coach.
Deane's 3-pointer, shortly after his return to the floor from a leg injury, gave the Cavaliers their first lead of the second half at 65-64 with 6 minutes, 37 seconds remaining. Burrough's 3-pointer, with 3:02 left, made it 75-70.
Moments later, Burrough stole a pass to the post and fed Cornel Parker for the layup that gave UVa its biggest lead, 77-70. Burrough finished with four steals and four assists to go with a game-high 22 points, 13 in the second half.
UVa shot 59.3 percent (16-of-27) in the second half to finish at 48.3 percent, its season's high. The Cavaliers also had season highs in 3-pointers (eight) and blocks (nine).
Deane sat out nearly four minutes of the game with cramps caused by a kick to the shin but still finished with 18 points and four assists against Carolina senior Derrick Phelps and touted freshman Jeff McInnis.
"If I tell [Deane] he can't do something, it's almost an invitation to prove me wrong," said Jones, who used the McInnis matchup as motivation. "He's similar to John Crotty in that respect. He's gotten here by being stubborn and hard-nosed and a fighter."
When Deane was out of the lineup, Parker, a 6-foot-7 senior, assumed primary ball-handling responsibilities and had a game-high seven assists.
"Let's make no mistake: Cornel Parker had four points, but Cornel was just as big as anybody," Jones said. "He did a great job on defense. He handled the ball and took a lot of the pressure off of Harold."
Parker was on Carolina guard Donald Williams, who was scoreless from the field before injuring a shoulder with 15:04 left. Parker subsequently moved to Dante Calabria, who was 2-for-8, but the Cavaliers also spent some time in a zone.
"We had no intention of playing this much zone," Jones said. "If [Eric] Montross really got it going, we felt that might be a way to change their emphasis."
Montross, the Tar Heels' 7-foot, 275-pound center, was held to three field-goal attempts in the second half, and Carolina couldn't make Virginia pay from the perimeter. The Tar Heels were 3-for-17 from 3-point range, 0-for-11 by McInnis, Calabria and Jerry Stackhouse.
"I hope we're not the team now that we're going to be," said Smith, who learned Thursday that Williams will be out for two to three weeks with a bruised and slightly separated left shoulder. "It's a road game. This happens. We don't want it to happen too much."
The Tar Heels (13-3 overall, 3-2 ACC) had won seven of the previous eight games with Virginia, five by 18 points or more.
"It's an outstanding win against a basketball team that's obviously better than us," said Jones, whose Cavaliers (10-4) moved atop the ACC standings - at least briefly - at 4-1. "As low as we were on Saturday . . . to come back and play with that much energy and that much life tells you an awful lot."
by CNB