Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 26, 1995 TAG: 9501260137
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
With the game on the line, the Deacons were content to have Randolph Childress take every shot.
Who could blame them?
Childress scored 18 of the Deacons' last 20 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 5.7 seconds remaining, as 16th-ranked Wake upset No.15 Virginia 71-70.
``He never flinches when things go against him,'' said Dave Odom, Wake Forest's coach. ``I'm sure he didn't shoot a good percentage tonight, but he was the one left standing at the end. I'm not surprised.''
Wake's other four players had little role other than to be in position for a rebound in case Childress missed.
``I will [rely on Childress] every game as long as he's in a Wake Forest uniform,'' Odom said. ``I don't care who knows it. It will be him at the end of the game.
``We'll try to do it different ways, but it's going to be him. Wasn't anything cute about it. He was going to take the ball and take it at 'em every time.
``If they could stop it, he was going to throw it out. He's not a selfish kid. But, they're going to have to stop his thrust first. Our team is comfortable with that. I'm comfortable with that. That's the way we're going to play.''
The Cavaliers (11-5 overall, 5-2 ACC), trailing 69-64 with less than two minutes remaining, took a 70-69 lead on a Jason Williford tip-in with 34 seconds left.
After a timeout with 20.3 seconds left, Childress took the ball on an inbounds pass in the backcourt. Everybody moved aside as Childress drove left, then crossed hands against UVa's best perimeter defender, Harold Deane.
Childress, who scored 29 points, was practically to the baseline before he pump-faked Deane into the air. Deane was called for a shooting foul, but was emphatic when asked if he deserved it.
``Nope,'' Deane said. ``Sure didn't. I admitted it last time when I fouled out down there at Duke, and I'll admit it this time: I ain't touched him. I got all ball.
``It came down to the last call of the game, and he's the referee and I'm just a player, but by all means I did not foul him. I'm 100 percent sure. But we shouldn't have let it come down to that.''
The Cavaliers, who trailed 34-33 at the half, led 57-49 with 10 minutes, 15 seconds remaining and were unable to capitalize on a technical foul against Odom with 7:40 on the clock.
UVa hit three of four free throws to go ahead 60-55 but failed to score on four straight possessions after Wake (10-4, 3-3) dropped into a zone defense to protect foul-plagued center Tim Duncan.
``I think the critical and deciding factor was Dave's move to go to zone defense after the technical fouls,'' said Jeff Jones, UVa's coach. ``We had the momentum and had gotten some confidence against their man-to-man.
``A lot of teams have had trouble with Wake the last couple of years. Their style is difficult to play against. I wish somebody had told Dave Odom that Terry Holland assistants are not supposed to play zone.''
Odom, a UVa assistant under Holland for eight years from 1982-89, has seen the Deacons win three games in a row at University Hall, but he wasn't comfortable until the final horn sounded.
The Cavaliers' plan was for Cory Alexander to get the ball on UVa's final possession, but Childress was all over him. The pass went to sophomore Jamal Robinson, who was uncovered in the backcourt.
Robinson dribbled inside the free-throw line before pulling up for a 10-foot jumper. The ball hit the back of the rim and bounded high and off target as time expired.
``That wasn't the first option,'' Jones said. ``We did figure that they would somehow take the ball out of Cory's hands, but 5.7 seconds is a lot of time. We've practiced that a lot.
``I don't think we could have asked for a better shot [than] Jamal Robinson coming down the court full-speed,'' Jones said. ``They just got the heck out of the way. Sometimes they go; sometimes they don't.''
by CNB