Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 27, 1995 TAG: 9503280026
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KANSAS CITY, MO. LENGTH: Medium
The matchup to watch Sunday at Kemper Arena involved two players who seldom guarded each other.
Virginia senior Junior Burrough, never more than a third-team All-ACC selection, was at least the equal of the Southeastern Conference's player of the year, Corliss Williamson.
Williamson experienced the thrill of cutting down the nets, however, after top-seeded Arkansas outlasted Virginia 68-61 and earned its second consecutive trip to the Final Four.
Burrough had game highs of 22 points and 16 rebounds to cap a remarkable career-ending surge in which he averaged 24.6 points and 12.6 rebounds for the last eight games.
``I feel really good about what I was able to do,'' said Burrough, whose double-double was his 11th of the season, including five in the past seven games, ``but I'd rather be going to Seattle.''
Burrough and teammate Harold Deane were named to the All-Midwest Regional team, which included Williamson and Scotty Thurman from Arkansas and guard Mingo Johnson from Memphis. Williamson was named most valuable player.
Williamson hit eight of 13 shots from the field Sunday and led the Razorbacks with 21 points and nine rebounds. One of his biggest plays might have been signalling a timeout with 3:40 left.
The Razorbacks were leading 54-48, following a Thurman 3-pointer, when the Cavaliers lost control of the ball at their end. As several players for both teams wrestled for the ball, the officials recognized Williamson's timeout call.
Jeff Jones, UVa's coach, argued Williamson did not have possession and that a jump ball should have been the call. The possession arrow was in Virginia's favor.
After the timeout, the Razorbacks worked the ball to Williamson, who anticipated a double-team by Deane and spotted Deane's man, Cory Beck, under the basket. Beck's layup, his only field goal of the game, put Arkansas ahead 56-48.
It was part of an 11-1 run by the Razorbacks, who stretched their lead to 62-49 with 2:47 remaining. The closest Virginia came thereafter was 67-61 following a Burrough 3-point field goal, his first of the season.
Burrough overcame a 1-for-6 start to finish 6-of-14 from the field, but there were stretches at the end of each half when the Cavaliers almost seemed to ignore him.
``I felt like we looked for him,'' said fellow UVa senior Jason Williford, ``but the way they played us defensively, he had to be the release man against the press [and] play on the high post, so that took him away from the low block, where he feels so comfortable.''
UVa committed 14 turnovers, which wasn't atrocious against the Razorbacks' non-stop pressure, ``but they seemed to come in stretches of the second half when we needed to get shots up,'' Burrough said.
Burrough, who became a 70 percent free-throw shooter for the first time this season Sunday, was 9-of-11 from the line. The rest of the Cavaliers were 8-of-17, including Deane's 3-of-7 shooting.
``You can't make everything,'' said Burrough, a 75 percent shooter (48-of-64) in the past seven games. ``It looked to me like he was falling off a little bit to the right, but I didn't have a good angle.''
Burrough's performance Sunday left him with 1,970 points for his career, fifth on UVa's all-time list, and 929 rebounds, second to Ralph Sampson. He ranks in the top 10 in 10 other statistical categories.
``It's not something I'm really thinking about,'' Burrough said when asked about the end of his career. ``I'm just happy to be part of a team that made it to the final eight. I wish it wasn't over, but that's about it.''
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB