ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 4, 1996 TAG: 9601040078
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
When he finally found his shooting touch after 30 minutes and 10 missed shots Wednesday night, Curtis Staples thought somebody might notice.
Florida State wasn't paying attention, but neither were Staples' teammates, who failed to feed him the ball with the game on the line.
A furious Virginia rally came up short as the Seminoles handed UVa its first ACC-opening men's basketball loss in four years, 69-64, at University Hall.
``Curtis Staples finally made some shots, was feeling it, and we had guys jacking up shots with Curtis standing wide open,'' said Jeff Jones, UVa's coach. ``But, if we play better at the beginning of each half, maybe some of those things don't loom as big as they do.''
The Cavaliers, who trailed 59-50 with 71/2 minutes remaining, closed to 63-60 on the second of back-to-back 3-pointers by Staples, this one with 3:25 remaining. A defensive stop gave UVa a chance to pull closer.
Freshman Courtney Alexander got the ball on a two-on-one break and seemed ready to lob the ball to Jamal Robinson for an alley-oop dunk, but pulled up for a jumper and missed.
``They just didn't find me,'' said Staples, who was standing on a wing, open at the 3-point line. ``It's just something that's got to happen if we're going to win.
``When it counted, people weren't finding each other. It's happened, for the most part, all year. When people [are] open, they're just not getting the ball.''
Staples was so cold at one point that a female fan shouted, ``Don't shoot Curtis,'' after his 10th consecutive miss. He finished 3-of-14 from the field and dropped to just under 32 percent for the season.
Staples and point guard Harold Deane combined to miss 14 of their first 15 shots. Deane, shooting less than 30 percent for the year, was 3-of-11 from the field and did not make any of his six 3-point attempts.
Meanwhile, LaMarr Greer, a previously undistinguished 6-foot-5 sophomore, repeatedly drove to the basket and finished with a career-high 22 points for Florida State.
``What a great moment for LaMarr Greer!'' said Pat Kennedy, the Seminoles' coach. ``A lot of people - media and fans alike - have questioned whether LaMarr Greer can play point guard at this level. It was a very important game for him.''
The Seminoles (9-2) also got 18 points - matching his career high - and 10 rebounds from junior center Kirk Luchman, a one-time UVa recruiting target who is a protege of former Cavaliers center Marc Iavaroni.
``Maybe shooting here this summer gave me confidence,'' said Luchman, who attended Iavaroni's inaugural big man's camp and also reduced his body fat from 19 to 13 percent.
Jamal Robinson had a season-high 17 points for UVa (5-4). Robinson hit eight of 13 shots from the field and had Jones contemplating a lineup change.
``It's certainly time to take a long look not at the minutes, but at the starting lineup,'' said Jones, who had Robinson on the floor for 25 minutes. ``Anything to get over these slow starts.''
The Cavaliers got off to their usual dreadful start, missing their first seven shots and going 1-for-13 as Florida State held an 11-2 lead after the first five minutes.
UVa got back into the game with some ferocious rebounding. The Cavaliers hit seven of 10 shots from the field during one stretch, following all three of the missed shots for field goals.
A 10-0 spurt gave Virginia its first lead, at 14-13, and the Cavaliers went on top at the half following a pair of 3-point field goals by freshman Scott Johnson, who had made one 3-pointer in UVa's first eight games.
James Collins, averaging a team-high 19.9. points, attempted only three shots in the first half. That apparently caught the attention of Kennedy, who opened the second half with a clear-out for Collins, who had 15 of his 17 points after intermission.
It got ugly for the Cavaliers with 7:39 remaining, when official Karl Hess slapped Jones with a technical foul, Jones' first of the season.
The damage was minimal, as Florida State made only one of a potential four free throws and failed to score on the ensuing possession. The Cavaliers wasted several opportunities, however, as Deane spent nearly two minutes at the scorer's table.
Deane, who had come out of the game with 5:24 left to realign a contact lens, did not re-enter the game until a dead ball with 2:12 left.
``That was too long for me to be sitting out,'' Deane said, ``but there was no timeout, no dead ball, no nothing. I could see that Curtis was open, but I couldn't get the ball to him from the table.''
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: UVa's Courtney Alexander (32) looks for help while beingby CNBguarded by FSU's Geoff Brower (41).|
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