ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603180067
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DALLAS
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
The Virginia Tech Hokies left Texas on Saturday night still wondering what hit them.
Was it a locomotive? Or was it a Mack truck?
Try Kentucky's basketball team.
Tech became the latest bug splattered on Kentucky's windshield Saturday afternoon in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional.
Conducting a second-half dunkathon, the Wildcats pulled away in the final 14 minutes and floored Tech 84-60 before a crowd of 15,469 at Reunion Arena.
The loss ended the Hokies' season at 23-6. Meanwhile, tournament favorite Kentucky improved its record to 30-2 and earned a trip to Minneapolis and the Sweet 16. The Wildcats will face Utah (27-6), a 73-67 victor over Iowa State (24-9).
"It's going to take some kind of team to handle that bunch,'' said Bill Foster, Tech's coach.
"I knew they were good, but I think they're better now after playing 'em. The only teams that will have a chance against them are teams that are strong inside. They just killed us inside.''
Kentucky front-liners Antoine Walker, Walter McCarty and reserve Ron Mercer had a feast down low against the shorter, less-mobile Hokies. Walker, a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward, had a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds. McCarty, a 6-10 senior center, had 19 points, and Mercer had eight points, including three jams in a Wildcat run that put Tech to rest.
Despite not shooting well, Tech was still in it with 131/2 minutes left after Shawn Smith's two free throws made it 49-40.
"At that point,'' said Smith, "we still had a chance. Down nine, plenty of time left. I was thinking about a comeback.''
Kentucky wasn't, however. The 'Cats loaded up a haymaker and knocked out the Hokies with a 13-4 run that made it 62-44 with 9:07 left.
Mercer ignited the run with a jam off a lob pass from Anthony Epps. Then, McCarty stole Troy Manns' pass on Tech's possession and took his turn at jamming. The UK lead grew to 16 seconds later when McCarty stepped out and buried a 3-point goal from the top of the key.
Walker followed with another jam, this one on a stick-back, then Mark Pope drained a 12-foot jumper to put Kentucky up 18.
Once the Wildcats got their high-flying trapeze act limbered up, it was over. Kentucky beat the Hokies time and again with lob passes from out top to guys flying to the basket for dunks.
"They're scary plays because you've got to have good passes and have a guy who can put his chin on the rim,'' said Rick Pitino, Kentucky's coach.
"I love to see it. Sometimes you might rather see a bounce pass or something, but those plays really fire us up to play defense.''
The Kentucky front line was just too big, too quick and too talented for heavy underdog Tech.
"They have tremendous athletes and so many weapons,'' said Tech star Ace Custis, who was held to eight points. "I can see now why they've been on top all year. They've got a ton of weapons, they're rolling and playing well. And right now there doesn't seem to be much anybody can do about it.''
Not only does Kentucky run and jam, it plays defense, too. While Tech was able to keep the tempo at its desired slower pace most of the way, the Hokies had problems executing against the Wildcats' half-court defense.
"They play great half-court defense,'' Foster said. "We couldn't get anything down low.''
Foster said the Kentucky running game wasn't what beat his club.
"I'll remember all the dunks, the lobs and transition baskets,'' Foster said, "but that's not how we got beat. We got beat because we couldn't stop the half-court game.''
Foster, who had said before the game that Tech "would be dead in the water'' if it didn't play more than seven guys against Kentucky's deep bench, changed his mind once the game started. He basically went with seven. Four other players combined for 10 minutes of late-game mop-up duty.
"It's hard to play a big lineup against them because it wouldn't give us enough handlers in there,'' Foster said. "It puts too much pressure on your guards. As the game went on, I just didn't see how any of the other kids [on the bench] could contribute against that kind of team.''
Kentucky, which had eight players go 14 minutes, wore down the Hokies with its depth and relentless full-court pressure.
"We didn't get a lot of turnovers off our press,'' Pitino said, "but I think it did keep them from being fresh running their half-court offense.''
Smith, whose 13 points led Tech, said fatigue became a factor in the last 10 minutes.
"I know myself, I've never played a team that goes up and down the court all time like they do,'' Smith said.
After making their first three shots to take a 7-4 lead, Tech hit only 19 of its final 53 field-goal attempts.
Kentucky was 32-for-60 (53 percent) from the field. Of course, 11 dunks tends to help a club's shooting numbers.
"On paper,'' said Custis, "they look unbeatable.''
They look pretty darn good on the court, too.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Tech's Shawn Smith and Shawn Good (right)by CNBconverge on Kentucky's Mark Pope as the three players battle for a
loose ball on Saturday in Dallas. 2. Kentucky's Tony Delk puts up a
shot above Tech's Shawn Good during the first half. color.