Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 14, 1995 TAG: 9502140118
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Coming off Saturday's costly slip at South Florida, Tech must rebound this week against Metro Conference foes UNC Charlotte and Tulane, or else face a do-or-die situation come Metro tournament time, Hokies coach Bill Foster said Monday.
``This has got to be a good week for us,'' Foster said, ``or else we'll have to do real well in the tournament [March 10-12 at Louisville] to go to the big dance [NCAA Tournament].
``I think this week is more critical for us than anybody. We're 3-4 [in the Metro] and UNC Charlotte (6-3) and Tulane (4-3) are both above .500. Whereas I think UNC Charlotte can afford to lose, we can't afford another loss because it makes an uphill climb that much tougher.''
Tech (17-6 overall) is tied with South Florida for fifth place in the seven-team Metro. If Tech wins four of its last five league games, it would finish 7-5, which likely would be good enough for at least a share of second place in the the regular-season race.
``If you're first or second going into the Metro tournament, I think you're OK,'' Foster said. ``If you're third through fifth, I think you would have to go in the Metro tournament and win at least one game. The tournament is looming bigger and bigger, especially the first round.''
Tech's five remaining league games are: UNC Charlotte twice (at Charlotte on Thursday and in Blacksburg on March 4); Tulane at home Saturday; at Virginia Commonwealth on Feb.23; and South Florida at home on Feb.25.
If Tech finishes 6-6 in the Metro and fails to beat what will be a favored Virginia team on Feb.28 in Richmond, the Hokies will be 20-9 entering the Metro tournament.
``I think 6-6 would be enough,'' said Foster, ``if you win [a game or two] in the Metro tournament.''
The Hokies could have made things much easier if they had won at South Florida, where they were upset 68-66. Tech would have been playing for first place at UNC Charlotte instead of being mired in fifth.
``That was a huge game,'' Foster said. ``It's incredible how one loss can change things so much.
``This whole league is separated by just a few baskets. Somebody is going to end up fifth, sixth and seventh with a dadgum good basketball team.''
RATINGS GAME: After barely winning at unheralded Wright State and stumbling as a favorite at South Florida, Tech plummeted from 19th to 32nd in the latest Ratings Performance Index.
Tech is third in the RPI among Metro teams, behind Louisville (16th) and UNC Charlotte (27th). The ratings didn't include Sunday's games, and therefore, didn't take into consideration the Cardinals' 53-48 home loss to Temple.
The Metro (.5838) still is rated third among all conferences in the RPI, behind the Big Eight (.6075) and ACC (.6039). The Big Ten (.5781) is fourth, the Pacific 10 (.5692) fifth.
The Big Eight, ACC and Metro are the only leagues with every one of their teams rated in the country's top 100.
Tech's future conference, the Atlantic 10, is rated ninth among all leagues.
IT COULD BE WORSE: Foster said he sat at his Blacksburg home Sunday afternoon ``feeling sad about Saturday's loss'' until he began considering the possible flip side.
``Then I started thinking about Ace Custis' foot,'' Foster said of his star player, who has continued to play despite a stress fracture in his right foot.
``I said to myself, `what if Ace's foot had gone down ... we wouldn't even be in the hunt. Heck, we could be sitting here now with him out for the year. And if he had had gone down, we'd be sitting here out of luck.''
While Louisville is expected to be without star freshman center Samaki Walker for the next 2-4 weeks due to a similar injury, Custis hasn't missed a beat. The sophomore forward, who is making a serious bid for Metro player of the year, had 21 points and 15 rebounds Saturday at South Florida.
``I think the thing with Ace is we caught [the fracture] early,'' Foster said. ``We took him out of practice immediately and put a special orthotic in his shoe. Now, it appears everything is OK. He even practiced some last week.''
TECH TIDBITS: Hokies point guard Shawn Good was last week's Metro player of the week. After failing to have a player win the honor since the 1989-90 season, Tech has had four different winners this season. Damon Watlington, Shawn Smith and Custis won the award earlier. ... Center Travis Jackson took eight stitches in his lip during halftime of Saturday's loss at South Florida. Jackson was cut by an inadvertent blow with 46 seconds left in the first half and returned in the second half. ... Custis, who leads the Metro in rebounding (11.0) and ranks second in scoring (16.8), has had 13 double-doubles this season. He has fallen either one point or one rebound shy in three other games. ... Tech has outshot 20 of its 23 opponents from the floor.
by CNB