Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 10, 1994 TAG: 9402100158
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
North Carolina State, never a factor in its first men's basketball game against the Cavaliers, held UVa to two field goals in the last 9 1/2 minutes Wednesday night in a 67-54 victory at Reynolds Coliseum.
"You can't have 23 points in a half and expect to win in the ACC if the other team is playing reasonably well, which N.C. State was," Virginia coach Jeff Jones said. "It is tremendously demoralizing for a basketball team when you work really hard to get the ball in the paint and continually come away with nothing."
Virginia shot 21.9 percent (7-of-32) in the second half to finish at 33.9 for the game. That followed a 32.7 percent shooting performance Sunday in a 100-64 drubbing by Florida State.
The Seminoles moved out of last place with their victory over the Cavaliers, who had a 23-point first half in Tallahassee, Fla. N.C. State had dropped into last before beating UVa for only the third time in the past 11 meetings.
"It's not like I've got any better ideas," UVa forward Jason Williford said, "but maybe we need to do something different. Maybe there's another set we could try. Maybe we need to mix something up."
That hardly seemed necessary when the Cavaliers were 12-5 and tied for the ACC lead at 6-2. However, Florida State and N.C. State were teams they beat by 20 points in Charlottesville.
"I definitely thought we would beat this team," UVa senior Cornel Parker said. "There was no intensity tonight. I can remember a couple of times when we held them for almost 35 seconds and they'd score just before the [shot-clock] buzzer."
The Wolfpack (8-14 overall, 3-7 ACC) came into the game shooting 41.1 percent - eighth in the conference, ahead of only Virginia - and hit 47.2 percent Wednesday night.
N.C. State has been playing much better, however, witness recent victories over Florida State and Georgia Tech at home and a road win Monday at Tennessee.
"They're an example of a team that has been struggling, but they stayed with it," Jones said. "With their play recently, it looks like they've gotten over the hump."
The Wolfpack was determined to avoid a repeat of the first game, when UVa took a 12-0 lead, extended its lead to 28 points early in the second half and basically toyed with State en route to a 79-58 victory Jan. 9.
"We had the pride factor tonight," said Wolfpack forward Bryant Feggins, who fouled out in 12 minutes at UVa. "We got embarrassed in Charlottesville, and we didn't want the same thing to happen on our home court."
A basket by Feggins broke a 31-31 halftime tie, and the Wolfpack never trailed in the second half. After falling behind 48-39, UVa twice got as close as four points, the first time at 52-48 after two free throws by Harold Deane.
A 3-point attempt by Deane could have cut the deficit to one, but he missed and the Wolfpack got the rebound.
N.C. State led the rebounding 40-34 and held UVa to a season-low nine offensive rebounds.
Sophomore center Todd Fuller had 14 points and 11 rebounds for State and also shut down Junior Burrough, who finished with seven points on 3-for-14 shooting. Burrough had been scoring 17.2 points per game.
Deane led the Cavaliers with 16 points, followed by Parker with 11. Yuri Barnes, after scoring seven points in the first 8:07, spent the rest of the first half in foul trouble and missed his last six shots.
The Cavaliers, who have shot under 40 percent in five of their past eight games, found the loss more troubling in some ways than the Florida State debacle because it seems a pattern might be developing.
UVa, which plays host to Clemson on Saturday, had hoped to bank some wins before road games next week against Duke and North Carolina.
"I think this is a crucial period for us not to give up," Jones said, "but I'm more worried about the one game [Clemson] now than anything else.
"Most of all, it's important that we be smart. It's not time to panic. I looked at 'em tonight and I didn't see a lot of zip, but it's not like we can't get it back."
by CNB