Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 29, 1995 TAG: 9501300072
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
``We accomplished what we wanted,'' Jones said Saturday night after a 128-98 victory over George Mason. ``The only statistic we were concerned with was our 12th victory.''
The Cavaliers reached numerous milestones, however, including a career-high 36 points by senior guard Cory Alexander and a school record for points in a game.
A layup by Maurice Watkins with 41.6 seconds remaining gave Virginia 126 points and broke a record that had stood since November 1982, when the Cavaliers opened the season with a 124-60 romp over Johns Hopkins.
There was reason to believe a record was in the offing, particularly since George Mason had allowed 100 points or more in eight games, including back-to-back games of more than 130.
George Mason had given up 73 points in the second half Wednesday night against American University, but that seemed to have an inspirational effect on the Patriots - either that or a visit to a Fairfax County swimming pool.
``I've done that before,'' coach Paul Westhead said. ``Never with the [Los Angeles] Lakers, but with Loyola-Marymount and the [Denver] Nuggets. I'm surprised more teams don't try that.''
Nobody could have questioned his approach when the Patriots raced to an 8-0 advantage and led until 10 minutes, two seconds remained before halftime. With just more than six minutes left, it was 33-33.
``They've got good players,'' Jones said. ``They were only down by 15 to UCLA at the half and they're [the Bruins] one of the top teams in the country. I was concerned about a letup.''
The Cavaliers, coming off a 71-70 last-second loss to Wake Forest on Wednesday night, got a big lift from Alexander, who had 23 points as the Cavaliers grabbed a 59-44 halftime lead.
Alexander, whose previous high was 29, passed the 30-point mark with 11:28 left in the game. He hit 15 of 21 shots from the floor and also contributed 11 assists - nine in the second half - and seven rebounds.
``That was fun,'' said Alexander, echoing his coach. ``We work in Northern Virginia there and play in their place and go up against those guys every day. We're all friends out there; it was like a pick-up game.''
Said Jones: ``Cory early in the game was trying to get others involved in the offense, but we had to tell him, `You're just going to have to beat your man.' It's nice when coaching is that easy. Then, a couple of other players started playing well.''
Three players for Virginia (12-5) had double-doubles, including senior forward Junior Burrough with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Another senior, Yuri Barnes, came off the bench to record 18 points and 19 rebounds in 24 minutes.
``Yuri looked very athletic and he rebounded very aggressively,'' Jones said. ``He didn't waste time inside. He just took the ball to the basket. I think Junior took his cue from Yuri.''
Barnes had 14 rebounds by the half and was within a tip-in of a rare 20-20 game for points and rebounds when he left the game with under two minutes remaining. Jones went with his starters unusually long given the margin.
``Twenty or 30 points against them, quite honestly, isn't enough,'' he said. ``When there were about eight minutes to go and the lead was between 15 and 20, we weren't comfortable as a coaching staff.''
Barnes had career highs for points and rebounds and freshman guard Curtis Staples also had the most prolific night of his college career with 19 points. Staples also had three assists, three steals and no turnovers.
The only UVa player who didn't pad his statistics was senior forward Jason Williford, who did not play after receiving a technical foul in the first half. Jones did not offer an explanation, but Williford clearly incurred his coach's wrath by ball-faking the basketball at official Terry Nobles' face.
George Mason, with its 11th straight loss, dropped to 5-13. The Patriots got 21 points out of Nate Langley and 20 from Kevin Ward, a pair of sophomores who sat out the 1993-94 season when they failed to qualify academically.
``You might expect Virginia to be tired at times,'' Westhead said. ``[The Cavaliers are] not used to playing this style. But for our guys to be tired is a problem. That's been our problem all year.''
by CNB