Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 19, 1995 TAG: 9503210067
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTON, OHIO LENGTH: Long
Nobody had to ask what he meant.
Alexander is on crutches now and unlikely to play for the Cavaliers again, but he didn't want his teammates to forget a very special tradition.
UVa hadn't lost an overtime game in five years and they weren't about to start Saturday, when they overcame a 10-point deficit to defeat Miami of Ohio 60-54 at Dayton Arena.
``I didn't want my season to be over,'' said UVa senior Junior Burrough, whose college career would have been over had he not scored 28 points, including 21 after halftime and nine in the overtime.
Remarkably, it was the Cavaliers' 12th consecutive overtime victory away from University Hall and it couldn't have come at a more opportune time, with a berth in the Midwest Region semifinals at stake.
``We could have been like some of the higher-seeded teams that have gotten bumped off,'' said UVa coach Jeff Jones. ``I'm still not sure exactly how we did it, but the bottom line at this time of year is winning.''
The Cavaliers (24-8) advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA men's basketball tournament for the seventh time since 1981 and will meet top-seeded Kansas (25-5) on Friday at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.
Virginia certainly knows something about home-state followings, especially after the way a partisan crowd cheered on the Redskins, whose campus is located 46 miles from Dayton in Oxford.
Miami, coming off a 71-62 victory over fifth-seeded Arizona, missed its first 11 shots Saturday but then took the lead over a Virginia team that was almost as inaccurate and much more foul-prone.
The Cavaliers actually were fortunate to be down 23-17 - their lowest scoring output in a half this season - after committing 10 turnovers and yielding nine offensive rebounds. UVa also did not have an assist in the first 20 minutes.
The Redskins (23-7) hit their first four shots of the second half in taking a 32-22 lead, but it wasn't as if the Cavaliers had never been in that position before. In the last two seasons, UVa has won 20 games in which it has trailed at some point in the second half.
``It's something you think about,'' Burrough said. ``One reason I think we've won so many overtime games is because we're usually coming from behind. We're usually the team with the momentum.''
With only Burrough providing consistent offense, the Cavaliers turned to an old standby - defense - to get back into the game. From the time Devin Davis dunked the rebound of a free throw with 17:37 remaining until Chris McGuire hit a 3-pointer with 3:37 left, Miami hit one field-goal attempt.
By that time, UVa had gone ahead 42-38 on a pair of jumpers by an otherwise cold-shooting Curtis Staples, but Miami came back to take the lead - the last time when Jamal Robinson was called for goaltending with 1:21 left.
After Burrough tied the score at 46 on a layup, the Cavaliers had to sweat out a final minute in which both teams had a chance to take the lead, including an airball by Robinson with seconds left.
``The overtime thing wasn't really mentioned until we went out for the jump ball,'' said UVa senior Jason Williford. ``Junior said, `You know, we're going to win this.' I guess we just wanted to keep the TV audience happy.''
Burrough did all the damage as the Cavaliers outscored Miami 7-2 to start the overtime, but the outcome wasn't decided until McGuire was called for traveling on an ill-advised dash to the basket with the Redskins trailing 57-54.
``We wanted to spread the floor and run a play that we call `twirl,''' said Miami coach Herb Sendek. ``It was for a 3-point shot. We just didn't execute it.''
UVa got the ball back with 4.7 seconds and was on the verge of committing a violation on the inbounds play when Burrough - who else? - spotted Robinson at midcourt.
``He's [Burrough] a good player,'' said the Redskins' Davis. ``His team needed him to step up and he stepped up to the challenge. I think he's by far the best player I've played this year.''
Harold Deane and Staples scored 14 and 10 points, respectively, but were a combined 8-of-28 from the field. Williford had 13 rebounds, which, added to Burrough's 12, helped give UVa a 41-36 advantage on the boards.
Miami had seven turnovers, compared with 16 for the Cavaliers, but shot only 32.8 percent from the field. Davis and Landon Hackim shared team scoring honors with 12 points, but Davis, who was 4-of-14 from the field, did not approach his 24-point, 15-rebound effort against Arizona.
``We didn't play very well,'' Jones said. ``I didn't think Miami played very well, either, but Miami had a great deal to do with how we played and vice versa.
``That was a great college atmosphere. It wasn't a thing of beauty out there, but you saw two good teams going after each other very, very hard. I'm not going to worry now about how we played; I'm just happy to be advancing.''
NOTE: PLease see microfilm for scores.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB