Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 17, 1995 TAG: 9503180050
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTON, OHIO LENGTH: Medium
You would have thought the Cavaliers were playing the Orlando Magic.
It was a while before reality sunk in, but now maybe UVa realizes why no team from the Southland Conference has ever won a game in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
The Cavaliers, who trailed Nicholls State for most of the first half, scored 65 points after halftime Thursday to bury the Colonels 96-72 in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional.
``I just think we were a little too focussed in on them at first,'' UVa freshman Curtis Staples said. ``We didn't want Nicholls State to be remembered forever just because they beat us.''
One upset was enough for the afternoon session round at the University of Dayton Arena. Moments before the Cavaliers took the floor, 12th-seeded Miami of Ohio knocked off fifth-seeded Arizona 71-62.
The Redskins (23-6) will have a home-state following when they face Virginia (23-8) at 4:50 p.m. Saturday. Arizona's loss prevented a rematch of last year's West Region second-round game, in which the Wildcats ended UVa's season.
``Right before we went out, coach (Jeff) Jones made it a point to say, "Arizona just got beat because they were taking that team for granted,' '' Staples said. ``He said not to let it happen to us.''
As a result, the Cavaliers may have taken the Colonels too seriously. UVa made three of its first 14 shots from the field and had eight turnovers in the first 10 minutes, few caused by Nicholls State's press.
``I'd say we had as many unforced errors as forced errors,'' said Jones, using a tennis analogy. ``There was one timeout where I just blistered them. I couldn't even wait till halftime.''
The Colonels (24-6) took a 5-0 lead to start the game and twice stretched their advantage to six points, the second time at 16-10 with under 10 minutes to play before halftime.
Virginia got some unexpected offense from freshman Norman Nolan, who had eight points at the half, and finally took the lead, 24-23, on the second of back-to-back baskets by Staples.
The Cavaliers scored the first 10 points after halftime and completed an 18-4 run in going ahead 49-31 with 14:16 left. UVa took its biggest lead at 85-56, at which point Jones pulled his starters with 3:49 remaining.
``Naturally, I'm a little disappointed,'' said Nicholls State coach Rickey Broussard, whose team was making its first NCAA Tournament appearance. ``I really thought deep, deep down that we would win the game.
``I still think we have a nice basketball team, but Virginia did some things to take us out of our gameplan. I can see why Virginia holds its opponents - and not just Nicholls State - to 39-percent shooting.''
The Colonels shot 43.3 percent for the game, but that was deceiving because they were 6-for-9 against the UVa reserves. Virginia hit 66.7 percent in the second half and shot 46.8 for the game.
The Cavaliers finished with 17 turnovers, the low against Nicholls State this season, ``but more surprising to me were the 22 turnovers we had,'' Broussard said. ``That's not like us.''
It was the worst loss of the season for Nicholls State and the most lopsided victory in Virginia's 31-game NCAA Tournament history. Fourth-seeded UVa entered the game as a 14-point favorite.
The Cavaliers had four players in double figures, led by sophomore point guard Harold Deane, who was 12-of-15 from the free-throw line. UVa had 42 free-throw attempts, its high in an NCAA game, and made 32.
Deane, Staples and Junior Burrough were a combined 2-for-18 at one point in the first half, but all finished strongly. Burrough had 16 points and nine rebounds, and Staples had 15 points and five rebounds.
``I really felt, if we had been playing our normal game, we could have been leading by 12 or more in the first half,'' Jones said. ``I had to tell our guys, "Look, (Wake Forest center) Tim Duncan is not in this game.' ''
Nicholls State post man Gerard King hit eight of 13 shots and finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, but Southland Conference player of the year Reggie Jackson was a non-factor, with 10 points.
``We didn't feel they were an imposing team and those are the kind of teams (imposing) that give us problems,'' Broussard said. ``I underestimated their perimeter defense. ``I guess I didn't do a good job of evaluating them. I thought Virginia was by far the best team defensively we've faced this season. By far.''
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by CNB