Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 20, 1995 TAG: 9503220008
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PROVIDENCE, R.I. LENGTH: Medium
Maybe Virginia Tech's sudden, unplanned gig in the National Invitation Tournament isn't such a ripoff after all.
The Hokies still are playing, aren't they?
If they had gotten an NCAA Tournament bid, they likely would have been history by now. Instead the Hokies are one of only 32 of the nation's 302 NCAA Division I men's college basketball teams with at least one game to play.
That's one of way of looking at it. But, hey, this is the NIT. In the Avis of postseason bashes, twisted logic not only is permitted but encouraged.
Tech (21-10) puts its season back on the line tonight in a second-round matchup with Providence (17-12). The 7:30 contest at the Providence Civic Center will be shown by ESPN.
The Friars, especially in Providence, are tough hombres. First-year coach Pete Gillen's club was 13-4 at home, including quality victories over NCAA Tournament contestants Oklahoma State, Connecticut and Villanova. The Friars knocked off Syracuse in the Big East Conference tournament before losing to Villanova in a semifinal.
``It will be a tough assignment, to say the least,'' said Bill Foster, Virginia Tech's coach. ``Any team that's closed out beating the teams they beat is truly outstanding.''
The Hokies advanced to the second round with a 62-54 home victory over Clemson on Friday. The Friars stayed alive with a 72-67 home triumph over the College of Charleston on Thursday.
The ball keeps bouncing for tonight's winner. The Tech-Providence survivor will face the winner of tonight's game between New Mexico State and Texas-El Paso in a quarterfinal this week.
Dave Braine, Tech's athletic director, said Saturday he thinks the Hokies would be awarded a quarterfinal home game, likely to be played Friday.
``We had 6,621 people against Clemson, despite the students being gone for spring break,'' Braine said. ``We'd have had another 3,000 with the students on campus.
``The NIT official at the game was really impressed at the turnout and how vocal our fans were. It was a heck of an atmosphere, I'm telling you.''
Spurred by the boisterous following, Tech staved off Clemson, hitting 10 of 12 free throws down the stretch to thwart a Tigers comeback bid.
Damon Watlington, coming off a weak six-point effort in Tech's first-round Metro Conference tournament loss to Southern Mississippi, led four Hokies scorers in double figures with 20 points. It marked the first time the junior guard has scored 20 since December, when he did it five times.
The Hokies will need Watlington's backcourt mate, Shawn Good, to step up tonight. Good had one point against Clemson. In his past four games, Good has hit only 10 of 29 shots and scored a collective 27 points.
Before slumping, the junior point guard had scored in double figures for 13 consecutive games, averaging 15 points in the process.
Providence, which won the Big East tournament last season under current Clemson coach Rick Barnes, finished a disappointing 7-11 in the Big East.
The Friars, who have beaten three Top 25 clubs in winning four of their past five games, are led by Eric Williams (17.9 points per game), Troy Brown (12 ppg) and Franklin Western (10.2 ppg).
Austin Croshere, a reserve most of the season, has been hot of late, scoring 75 points in Providence's past three games. Croshere matched his career high with 28 points against Charleston.
NIT BITS: Providence was 71st in the final regular-season Rating Percentage Index (RPI) rankings. Tech was 36th. ... The Hokies and Providence have played once before. Tech beat the Friars 70-57 in the consolation bracket of the Hawaii Rainbow Classic in December 1982. ... Gillen, a former VMI assistant, has faced the Hokies once. His Xavier team whipped Tech 85-52 in Cincinnati last season. ... Tech is 11-12 vs. Big East schools. ... After three rounds of campus play, the four remaining NIT teams head to New York for the semifinals (March 27) and final (March 29) at Madison Square Garden. ... This is Tech's seventh NIT appearance. The Hokies, who won the title in 1973, are 13-5 in the tournament.
by CNB