ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 11, 1996 TAG: 9602130025
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
VIRGINIA continues climb by beating Clemson 62-51 for fourth straight win.
There won't be many occasions in college basketball this season when a team makes six two-point field goals and wins.
It happened Saturday afternoon at University Hall, where Virginia did most of its damage behind the 3-point arc and from the free-throw line in a 62-51 victory over Clemson.
Harold Deane and Courtney Alexander scored 20 points apiece as the Cavaliers won their fourth game in a row and continued their climb through the ACC standings.
UVa improved its record to 11-10 overall and moved into fifth place in the ACC at 5-6. Only eight days earlier, the Cavaliers had been tied for last.
``I was just reminded that the most important statistic was the final score,'' UVa coach Jeff Jones said. ``I'm not sure what to say about how we played.''
The Cavaliers led by as much as 27-8 in the first half, when Clemson missed 13 of its first 14 shots, but the Tigers kept clawing and cut the deficit to 42-40 with just under 51/2 minutes remaining.
Curtis Staples subsequently made three free throws after being fouled on a shot from the left wing and he sparked an 8-0 flurry that put the Cavaliers ahead 50-40 with 4:04 left.
From that point, the Tigers were reduced to fouling and the Cavaliers made them pay by making 10-of-12 from the line in the final 1:19. UVa was 20-of-24 on free throws in the second half.
``I thought the big play was the foul on the 3-point shot by Staples,'' Clemson coach Rick Barnes said. ``I thought he got fouled. No question. But, that foul was a big, big play in the game.''
Staples wasn't so sure he was fouled on the shot. He felt Billy Harder may have made contact before the shot, ``but, it made up for a few calls they had made [against me] earlier,'' he said.
Staples picked up two quick fouls and played only eight minutes in the first half, when the action was proceeding so smoothly for the Cavaliers that even seldom-used Darryl Presley made a rare appearance at small forward.
Barnes may have been happier than Jones after the Tigers trimmed the deficit to 28-14 by halftime, despite going 3-of-22 from the field. UVa had one field goal in the last six minutes of the first half.
``The first half was just one of great effort and wasted opportunity after opportunity,'' said Jones, who agreed that his team looked as if it couldn't wait to build its lead to 30.
Clemson started making a few shots and hitting the offensive boards and didn't look like a team that had lost five of its previous eight games. The Tigers (14-6, 4-6) did not have a turnover in the second half.
``We could have done what we did last week,'' said Barnes, whose Tigers had lost to Duke by 30 in their last ACC outing. ``We got better today. I liked the looks on [the Tigers'] faces.''
Sophomore forward Greg Buckner, last year's ACC rookie of the year, scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half as Clemson repeatedly tried to exploit his height advantage over Staples.
``I didn't like that at all,'' said Staples, who was isolated against Buckner in the lane. ``I'm not the type of guy to fight with some guy all day under the goal.''
Clemson shot 43.8 percent in the second half, which lifted the Tigers to only 31.5 for the game. Virginia survived 35.7-percent shooting because it was 9-of-19 on 3-pointers.
``I think we thought we were going to be up by 20 or 30 points at halftime and that was a letdown,'' said Deane, who made five 3-pointers, four in the first half.
Barnes praised Alexander, who has scored 19, 20 and 20 points in his past three games. In the five games Alexander has played 30 minutes or more, he is scoring 21.2 points per game.
``Courtney Alexander has really improved for them as the season has gone along,'' Barnes said. ``He's a very, very good offensive player. He presents the one problem that's hard to defend; he's got that medium-range game where he gets the ball in the paint and goes up and over people.''
It was the fifth game in 10 days for UVa, which visits Duke on Wednesday and then returns to ``Tobacco Road'' on Saturday for a date with North Carolina.
``Now that this one's over, I've got to prepare for the Cameron Crazies,'' said Alexander, referring to the fans at Duke. ``Since I live five minutes from there, there's no telling what synchronized sayings they'll come up with.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 linesby CNB