Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 17, 1995 TAG: 9503170050
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTON, OHIO LENGTH: Medium
The Cavaliers needed every one of them.
UVa eventually routed Nicholls State in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional 96-72, but Nolan may have been the only bright spot in the first half. ``Of our post men, he did by far the best job in the first half,'' said Virginia coach Jeff Jones, whose team trailed for more than 16 minutes.
``He was the one guy who went after the ball, grabbed it emphatically and finished the play. It's why we changed our rotation and made him the first big man off the bench.''
Nolan, a 6-foot-8, 249-pounder, played sparingly in the second half but still finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and a blocked shot.
``I've been so inconsistent,'' said Nolan, averaging 2.6 points and 2.2 rebounds before Thursday. ``For me to come in and score double figures in my first NCAA game is a real confidence boost.''
UVa's other post players - Junior Burrough, Chris Alexander and Yuri Barnes - had five points in a combined 33 minutes in the first half.
``I could see that Chris and Junior had a height advantage,'' Nolan said, ``and by the time I got in the game, I was really pumped up.''
STILL SHOOTING: UVa's most-heralded freshman, Curtis Staples from Roanoke, made three 3-points field goals Thursday and has 94 for the season - four short of Dennis Scott's record for an ACC freshman.
Staples missed his first six shots before hitting a two-point field goal - from a step inside the line.
``I was looking to shoot the ball at first rather than letting the shots come to me,'' said Staples, who had 15 points. ``In the first half, I never had an inch of space. In the second half, they probably figured I wasn't on and gave me a little more room.''
REBOUNDING: Jones said Virginia needed to improve its defensive rebounding to stay alive in the NCAA Tournament and the Cavaliers heeded his instructions.
UVa limited Nicholls State to 13 offensive rebounds and had a 43-34 advantage on the boards. The Cavaliers had 18 offensive rebounds, giving them 63 in the past three games.
WELCOME BREAK: Once the outcome was decided, UVa was able to rest sophomore Harold Deane, whose 33 minutes played were his low in the past 11 games. In 10 previous games since Cory Alexander was injured and Deane became UVa's full-time point guard, he, Deane had played 40 minutes in five games and 38 or more in eight.
TWICE SATISFIED: Anthony Solomon, in his first year as a Virginia assistant, recruited three of the players involved in Manhattan's upset of Oklahoma in the Southeast Regional.
Solomon, who came to UVa after one season at Richmond, was on the Manhattan bench in 1993 when the Cavaliers beat the Jaspers in Syracuse, N.Y.
``I can still remember what [Manhattan coach] Fran Fraschilla said that day,'' Solomon related. ``He said, `Next time we'll win one,' and they did.''
NO JINX: No one was better able to warn Virginia of the perils of a No.4 seed (UVa) taking on a No.13 seed (Nicholls State) than Pete Herrmann, the Cavaliers' restricted-earnings coach.
Herrmann was an assistant coach at Navy in 1985, when the Middies, seeded 13th, rode David Robinson to a 78-55 romp over fourth-seeded Louisiana State at Dayton Arena.
Herrmann, later the head coach at Navy, tells a funny story about LSU coach Dale Brown at that game. Brown called a late timeout and implored one of his guards to stay on Doug Wojcik and for the other to cover No.10.
The only problem was, Wojcik was No.10. On the first possession after the timeout, Navy's other guard, Kyle Whitaker, raced through the LSU defense for a layup.
ABOUT MIAMI: Virginia never has played Miami of Ohio, its opponent in the second round Saturday, but the Cavaliers lost to another Mid-American Conference team, Ohio University, in the Preseason NIT. Miami beat Ohio U. twice during the regular season.
by CNB