ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 8, 1996 TAG: 9603080075
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: GREENSBORO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
THE CAVALIERS look to the past as they hope to keep playing beyond tonight's quarterfinal against Wake.
For Virginia, this is the way the ACC tournament used to be.
Win or the season's over.
Maybe that's what bothers coach Jeff Jones the most - not the fact that his Cavaliers probably won't receive a postseason bid if they don't win the title, but that they might not play again until November.
``We need to play more games,'' Jones said on the eve of UVa's meeting with 12th-ranked Wake Forest at the Greensboro Coliseum at 7 p.m.
At this time of year, the games are more meaningful and everybody wants to keep playing, but that's not what Jones meant. The Cavaliers (12-14 overall, 6-10 ACC) have not played fewer than 30 games in a season since 1978-79.
Virginia needs to win the tournament not only to make postseason play, but to avoid its first losing season since 1987-88. UVa has not won as few as 12 games in a season since 1976-77.
Much has been made of the 20th anniversary of the Cavaliers' first and only ACC tournament championship, in 1976. However, there are many more similarities to 1977, when UVa was beaten by North Carolina in the championship game.
That team was seeded seventh. This team is seeded seventh. That team played Wake Forest in the first round. This team plays Wake Forest in its first game. That team was 10-16, this team is ... etc., etc., etc.
Virginia's seventh seed marks the first time since 1977 the Cavaliers have been seeded that low. On the other hand, UVa can take heart in a 67-49 victory over the Deacons only 13 days ago.
``I think Virginia is one of the three or four most dangerous teams going into this tournament,'' said Dave Odom, Wake's coach. ``In order to win, you've got to have a cause. And, I think Virginia is one of those teams with a cause.
``It's impossible for Virginia to get to the NIT. I don't think the NIT is going to take a team with a losing record. They can only get to the NCAA Tournament, and the only way they can do that is to win three games.''
The Deacons (20-5, 12-4) had a cause last year, when senior guard Randolph Childress could not be denied and Wake won its first ACC title since 1962. And, what is Wake's cause this year?
``I didn't say we had a cause,'' Odom said. ``I think what we've got to do, rather than find a tournament cause, is to find a game cause. And, our game cause is to prove we can play better against Virginia.''
The Deacons had won their past five games with Virginia, but the Cavaliers shot a season-high 60.5 percent from the field, while holding Wake to its season low, 29.0. Center Tim Duncan, a two-time All-ACC selection, was 6-of-20.
Duncan, with 15, was the only Wake player with more than seven points. Jones said UVa's strategy was to shut down Wake's perimeter players, who had buried the Cavaliers with 3-pointers in an 81-64 triumph in Winston-Salem, N.C.
``It's a pick-your-poison-type thing and that night it worked, if that's what they did,'' Odom said. ``As I go back over the tape, I'm not sure that's true.
``They may say that and maybe the coaches told them that, but the more I watch tape, the more I think that was the Virginia defense of old. The guy who was guarding Sean Allen, every time Timmy Duncan caught the ball, he was there.''
A key matchup could come at the shooting-guard spot. In the first game, Wake's Rusty LaRue had 16 points and four steals. In the second, LaRue couldn't get his shot and finished with five.
``LaRue, coming into the last game, was the guy we were most concerned about,'' said UVa shooting guard Curtis Staples. ``He was the guy who was making it work, the guy who was making them win.
``Everybody talks about Tim Duncan, but, if you shut down the other guys on that team, Wake can be beaten. The guy who hurt us most in the first game was [Jerry] Braswell.''
The winner of the Virginia-Wake game will meet the winner of today's 9:30 p.m. quarterfinal, between third-seeded North Carolina (20-9, 10-6) and No.6 Clemson (17-9, 7-9) at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Many eyes will be focused on the respective coaches, Dean Smith and Rick Barnes, who have feuded since the Tar Heels beat the Tigers 78-62 in the second round last year.
Afternoon action today will pit No.4 Duke (18-11, 8-8) against No.5 Maryland (16-11, 8-8) at noon. The Blue Devils will be without senior guard Chris Collins, their second-leading scorer, who suffered a sprained ankle Sunday.
Maryland has won 10 of 15, but the hottest team in the conference is top-seeded Georgia Tech (20-10, 13-3), which takes a seven-game winning streak into its 2:30 p.m. game against the winner of Thursday night's play-in game between North Carolina State and Florida State.
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Wake Forest's Tony Rutland (right) and Tim Duncanby CNBhope their game with Virginia tonight will be all fun and games.