ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 15, 1996 TAG: 9612160133
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
GEORGIA SHOOTS the basketball, and well, to beat the Hokies 60-57. - It didn't take a rocket scientist to deduce the difference between Georgia and Virginia Tech on Saturday.
One team shot the ball. The other didn't.
Shooting 65 percent in the second half, including 6-for-8 from 3-point range, the Bulldogs clipped the misfiring Hokies 60-57 in front of a season-high 6,443 fans at Cassell Coliseum.
``The bottom line,'' said Tech coach Bill Foster, ``is when old man [Dr. James] Naismith hung that basket, there was a reason - you've got to put the ball in it.''
Georgia did. Tech didn't.
The Bulldogs shot 54.1 percent from the floor (20-of-37), including 62.5 percent from 3-point range (10-of-16). Both were season highs for a Tech opponent.
Meanwhile, the Hokies had their masonry cards on display. Tech shot a miserable 32 percent (16-of-50) - its lowest figure since an icy 30.8 percent effort at Temple last season - and missed 11 of 12 3-point tries.
``We were getting pretty good shots,'' said Tech senior David Jackson, ``but we just weren't knocking 'em down.''
Not to mention Georgia had its Dukes up. Junior forward Derrick Dukes paced the 'Dawgs' shooting gallery, hitting six of nine shots, including four of five from long range, en route to 19 second-half points.
``I'm glad Derrick Dukes was on our team,'' said Georgia coach Tubby Smith, surveying the box score after the game.
Dukes was a hazard to a Tech team that couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. After not taking a shot and scoring one point in the first half, the 6-foot-7 junior produced half of Georgia's 38 points in the second half.
``I guess I was feeling it,'' said Dukes, whose 20 points were a career high.
``They were able to get me open in the second half. They had trouble finding me in the first half.''
Little wonder. Dukes spent all but four of the first 20 minutes on the bench beside Smith.
``That guy was on fire,'' said Jackson of Dukes. ``He was hitting everything and a lot of 'em were tough shots.''
The first half was about as ugly as it could get for two schools that made the NCAA Tournament last season. Both teams took turns seeing how long they could go without scoring.
Georgia (5-1) went 5:42 without a point at one stretch and watched a 9-6 lead dissipate into a 16-9 deficit.
Tech (4-3) returned the favor later in the half, going 6:34 without a point, which was key in enabling Georgia to take a 22-19 halftime lead.
Tech, having trouble with a rare Georgia zone, shot 28 percent for the half.
Despite missing its first six shots of the second half - the Hokies were shooting 22.8 percent at that point - Tech hung close because of its work at the free-throw line, where it finished 24-for-29.
But Tech's charity work wasn't enough to offset Dukes and Georgia's long-range game.
After Tech had closed to 54-51 on two Ace Custis free throws with 3:25 left, G.G. Smith drained a 3-pointer to push Georgia back up by six with 2:09 left.
When Jackson came up short on a long 3-point attempt as the shot clock wound down, Dukes delivered the haymaker, scoring on a floating, left-hander leaner in the lane to make it 59-52 with 1:13 to go.
Tech cut it to 59-55 on Troy Manns' drive with 25.4 seconds left, but it took the Hokies 18 seconds to foul somebody on the inbounds play and Dukes' free throw with 7.2 seconds remaining made it 60-55. Shawn Browne's layup at the buzzer supplied the final margin.
Tech beat Georgia in all the numbers except shooting. The Hokies outrebounded the 'Dawgs 31-25, outscored the visitors 24-10 at the line and had six less turnovers.
``If somebody had told me we'd get 50 shots and they'd [get] 37, and we'd go to the line 29 times and they'd go 22, and we'd outrebound 'em and lose, I'd had 'em checked,'' Foster said.
``We bring out the best in 'em for some reason. They shot the lights out in Atlanta last year [an 85-72 Georgia victory]. Today we told our kids the 3-pointer would be the biggest problem we'd have with 'em, and it was.''
Custis, as usual, paced Tech with 22 points and 11 rebounds. But Custis, shooting 56.3 percent from the floor before Saturday, hit just five of 16 shots. Most of his damage came at the free-throw line, where he was 12-for-15.
Nevertheless, Custis was willing to shoulder the blame for the loss.
``This one hurts a lot,'' Custis said. ``I take the blame. I didn't shoot the ball well and that hurt the team.
``I got in foul trouble early and I couldn't play my man straight-up in the post like I wanted to and he got a lot of easy baskets on me inside because I was afraid to pick up my fourth foul early in the second half.''
Custis shouldn't take all the heat. He had plenty of help.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff. Virginia Tech's Shawn Browne (top right)by CNBand Georgia's Lorenzo Hall (center) battle for a loose ball during
their game Saturday at Cassell Coliseum as Tech's Troy Manns
watches. color.