Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 20, 1995 TAG: 9502210053
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
One list was analyst Dick Vitale's ACC all-stars. Rasheed Wallace. Jerry Stackhouse. Joe Smith. Travis Best. Randolph Childress. The list went on ... Bob Sura. Tim Duncan. Cherokee Parks.
None of those names was the one Vitale was screaming by the end of a game with first-place and top-ranked implications.
Harold Deane made sure Vitale knew who he was. As the often-cavalier UVa student fans stormed the floor, Deane got in the ABC analyst's face, kind of like North Carolina point guard Jeff McInnis had early in the second half.
Deane was lifted to some students' shoulders, as if he and his teammates weren't riding high toward the NCAA Tournament already.
Anyone who watched the first half of Virginia's 73-71 victory over second-ranked UNC understood why Vitale hadn't named anyone on the only UVa team without Ralph Sampson to have 10 victories in an ACC season.
At intermission, the Cavaliers were playing great defense. They were at home. They had only four turnovers. They had 14 offensive rebounds against the taller Heels. UNC was shooting a season-low 38.7 percent and coach Jeff Jones' team had the tempo it wanted.
It also had an eight-point deficit and a fear of shooting, much less missing, in an 11-for-38 half. ``Don't forget, we couldn't make free throws [1-for-4], either,'' Jones said.
``That first half really did look a lot like our games last year,'' said UVa sophomore guard Harold Deane, who had a Dean among his admirers after a second half in which a barrage of 3-pointers bombed Carolina.
One of the subjects of much hoops debate these days is the UVa team since the season-ending injury to point guard Cory Alexander. Are the Cavaliers a better team without Alexander?
Dean Smith, UNC's coach said Alexander ``is a great player, but Virginia is a better team now.''
Jones said the issue isn't whether his team is better or worse, although he knows it is different.
``The issue is finding ways to win,'' Jones said.
Shooting 64.3 percent in a second half is one of those ways, even when the visiting team - a more talented club - is hitting 51 percent. Getting 8-for-8 shooting from Deane is another way. Holding down UNC star Stackhouse - he's 6-for-29 this season against UVa - is another.
``We do play differently with me at point guard,'' said Deane, whose 28 points came on 11-for-13 shooting. ``We're different players. Without Cory, we still have to play well, very well.
``Coach's [Smith] comment, I don't know about that. I don't agree.''
Other than their first half of brickwork, the Cavaliers (18-6) played very well. Offensive rebounding and movement without the ball were crucial ingredients, as was Jones' complaint to official Zelton Steed about a held-ball call with a little more than two minutes left.
With 4.2 seconds to play, Steed called UNC center Rasheed Wallace for fouling a driving Deane, whose shot was blocked before he clinched the victory with two free throws. It didn't look like a foul on the replay.
Jones thought it was a foul, but he didn't think it would be called. Steed hesitated before he blew the whistle.
``I thought we were headed for overtime,'' Jones said.
Sometimes, lobbying is as important as rebounding.
However, Smith pointed out that Deane's slashing and driving toward the hoop was a confounding problem down the stretch for the Tar Heels (20-3), who, after No.1 Connecticut's wipeout by Villanova on Saturday, was hoping to step up in the polls.
The Cavaliers may be playing without Cory Alexander on the floor, but there are reminders of the redshirt junior everywhere among his teammates.
Deane has Alexander's No.12 written on both of his shoes, which happen to be that size, too. The top band of tape on Deane's ankles had a penned ``12,'' too.
Some Cavaliers are sporting Alexander's initials or number.
The number that marks this UVa team as special, however, is the left one in a 10-3 ACC record, good for a share of first place with the Tar Heels.
The Cavaliers are certain of a top-four finish in the league, too. Now, that's a list worth shouting about, bay-bee.
by CNB