ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 27, 1996 TAG: 9611270061
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LAHAINA, HAWAII
The island of Maui truly has been paradise for the Virginia men's basketball team.
Looking almost as good as this scenic Pacific hideaway - well, that's a slight stretch - the Cavaliers downed No. 17 Massachusetts 75-68 in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational on Tuesday.
Virginia's second impressive victory - it buried highly regarded South Carolina 93-70 on Monday - in two days on the island enabled it to parasail into tonight's 10:30 title game.
The Cavs (2-0) will face second-ranked Kansas (3-0), an 85-67 winner over California in Tuesday's second game.
For the second straight game, UVa found the steamy Lahaina Civic Center to its liking. Once again the Cavs shot the ball well (27 of 55, 49 percent) from the floor and played suffocating defense.
Like South Carolina, UMass discovered you may get a free meal in Maui before you find an open look against UVa's sticky defense. UMass hit just 27 of 75 shots (36 percent), including 10 of 40 in the first half.
"We just ran into a hell of a team,'' said first-year UMass coach James ``Bruiser'' Flint. "And they taught us some good lessons I hope we can learn from.
"I know they had a tough year last year, but they're going to be heard from. As far as I'm concerned, Virginia is one of the best teams in the country and they showed it.''
UMass' frustration, particularly Flint's, boiled over with 2:06 left when the Minutemen's coach got ejected for his second technical foul.
Junior forward Norman Nolan, fighting the battle of wide bodies down low, and sophomore forward Courtney Alexander had 20 points each to lead UVa. Senior point guard Harold Deane had 13, all in the second half, and Roanoker Curtis Staples added 11.
The game wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated. UMass, which was down by 20 late, hit four 3-pointers in the final 47 seconds to make the final tally respectable.
Virginia never trailed after hitting eight of its first 12 shots to take a quick 10-point lead. UMass, getting absolutely nothing from its guards, trailed 34-22 at halftime.
The contest resembled wrestlemania at times as bodies were hurtling everywhere. Flying elbows and crushing picks were the norm, not the exception.
"They have four guys 6-9 or above and all or 250 or more,'' said Nolan, no pushover himself at 6-8, 243. "We knew it would be a war down low.''
UMass killed UVa on the offensive boards the first half, but couldn't make it pay off. The Minutemen converted just five of 17 offensive rebounds into points.
In the second half, UVa held UMass to just six offensive rebounds.
"I was pleased we showed some toughness, particularly in the second half,'' UVa coach Jeff Jones said.
Tyrone Weeks paced UMass with 22 points. Highly touted UMass guards Carmelo Travieso and Edgar Padilla combined for 27 points, all but five coming in the second half.
The Cavs won most of the battles. And it's a good start to the long war of a season for a club looking to rebound from last season's 12-15 campaign.
While some may say UVa's long journey west will be successful win or lose, the Cavaliers don't exactly share the same feeling.
"Definitely not,'' said senior point guard Harold Deane, when asked if the trip was a success already.
"My goal is to come here and win three games, not two. If we win this tournament I feel we will have established ourselves some.''
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Chase Metheney (42) of Virginia and Mike Babul ofby CNBUMass chase a loose ball in the first half at the Maui Invitational.
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