Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 11, 1995 TAG: 9503140049
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
The Cavaliers had their own Junior whopper.
UVa's 77-67 quarterfinal victory over Georgia Tech, a basketball feast for Cavaliers senior Junior Burrough, was a lot like the drive-through line, however.
``Junior took us there,'' said classmate Jason Williford, who ordered up a double-double himself. ``We rode him the whole way.''
However, as is customary for Burrough, his experience against the oft-passive Yellow Jackets was a case of dining inside. He scored four of the first five field goals for 11th-ranked Virginia (22-7), then asked coach Jeff Jones to let him sit down.
``I was tired,'' Burrough admitted.
That didn't surprise Williford, and when Burrough returned, Georgia Tech started to push the meaty 242-pounder farther from the basket.
``He was starting to take what they were giving him,'' Jones said. ``He ended up taking 12-footers instead of seven-footers.''
After a halftime ``discussion'' - Jones and Burrough agreed on that noun - Junior played like a senior in his last ACC tournament. He had 26 points after halftime. He fouled out Tech star James Forrest.
There have been only 11 higher individual scoring games than Burrough's in ACC tournament history - including the 40-pointer by Randolph Childress of Wake Forest in a Friday quarterfinal victory right after UVa's triumph.
No Virginia player has scored as much in an ACC tourney game since Buzzy Wilkinson had 42 in the school's first ACC tournament game in 1954.
Burrough's 13 field goals tied Wilkinson's ACC tourney record for the school. The 6-foot-8 forward didn't shoot as many as Wilkinson's 44 times in that '54 date with Duke - although it seemed like it.
Burrough took 23 shots.
``That's OK,'' Williford said. ``He was making them. We wanted to go inside and get Junior established early, and it was working, so we just kept doing it.
``He's had days like that in practice before. I know he got tired, but one thing Junior never gets tired of is shooting. His arm never gets tired.
``We used to throw the ball in there, and it didn't come back. We used to call him the `Black Hole.'
``One season, he had something like two assists the entire year [eight, actually, as a freshman]. Now, he throws it back once in awhile. Today, we didn't want him doing it.''
Burrough had one assist and also tied his career free-throw high with 10 (of 12). His deuces-wild day in the UVa scorebook was a by-product of the Cavaliers' 83-60 romp at Georgia Tech three weeks ago, when the Yellow Jackets were torched by UVa's ball movement and outside shooting.
Burrough wasn't alone among the Cavs in getting desired and good shots. In its last nine games entering the ACC tournament, coach Bobby Cremins' team had allowed a combined 51 percent shooting by opponents.
``We kept waiting for Georgia Tech to double Junior, but it never happened,'' Williford said. ``You can't play him one-on-one. You saw today what he does to teams that do, especially to a team like that, that doesn't have the really big guy that can block his shot.''
That's the kind of foe Burrough will face in today's semifinal opener in Wake Forest's long-armed, 6-foot-10 Tim Duncan. In UVa's 63-60 loss at Wake on Feb. 26, Burrough was only 2-of-10 from the field and went scoreless the final 27 minutes.
However, defensive intensity isn't in the game plan of the Yellow Jackets (18-12), who will head into the NCAA Tournament with six losses in their past eight games and a 3-9 record against ranked foes.
``We wanted to make them play defense,'' Burrough said.
It seemed the Jackets couldn't, wouldn't and didn't, and Virginia used its aggressiveness to great advantage, particularly on the boards.
Burrough's very-pointed day also pushed him past UVa's foremost ACC tournament legend - Wally Walker, who won the Everett Case outstanding player trophy in the Cavaliers' only title in 1976 - into fifth place on the school's career scoring list.
Not bad for a third-team All-ACC pick for the second straight year.
``It just seemed like he made everything,'' Williford said. ``The game's been over for 20 minutes, and he's probably still shooting.''
by CNB