ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 29, 1996 TAG: 9612310029
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
The Virginia men's basketball team made it abundantly clear that it knows full well it's in no position to be taking anybody lightly.
The Cavaliers turned their full wrath on overmatched Radford, vaporizing the Highlanders in a 95-47 Saturday matinee in front of a drowsy University Hall audience of 7,907.
Most of the gallery stayed around until the end, which was a little surprising considering the suspense had leaked fully from this affair before the first half was half over.
``We wanted to jump out early so we could build some confidence for our team,'' said Virginia guard Curtis Staples.
The first half began splendidly for Virginia, which scored on nine of its first 10 possessions. Highlander heads probably never stopped spinning after that.
``If there's a positive in this for us, it's knowing that we can't sneak up on people,'' Radford coach Ron Bradley said. ``Virginia came to play and they put us to bed early.''
The final margin was the most lopsided in Radford history, exceeding a 108-61 walloping at the hands of Ohio State in 1989.
As for the Cavaliers (7-3), it was the 38th straight time they'd beaten an in-state foe in U-Hall. Virginia, now 61-6 against its state neighbors at home, last lost here to a team from the Commonwealth 18 years ago.
Virginia outrebounded Radford 58-28 and held the Highlanders to a season-low 27.9 percent from the field. The Cavaliers had only nine turnovers. It would have been difficult to find much fault with any phase of the Cavaliers' play.
``That's more like it,'' said Virginia coach Jeff Jones.
Virginia guard Harold Deane, who Radford recruited when he was in high school, made both his 3-point shots and finished with a game-high 21 points. Staples had a tough afternoon from long range (2-of-7 from beyond the arc) but made it to the stripe more than he has all season and finished by making 10 of 13 foul shots on the way to scoring 20 points.
``I tried to attack the defense more and take it to the hole,'' he said.
Willie Dersch made seven of eight free throws and chipped in 11 points for Virginia.
Radford (5-5) did not have a double-figure scorer. Anthony Walker, the Highlanders' team leader, was held to eight points, almost nine fewer than his average.
``This was the most consistent effort we've had,'' Jones said.
Bradley pointed out that with quirks of the schedule and holidays, the Highlanders had not practiced well in two weeks.
``That wasn't us out there,'' he said.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Virginia's Willie Dersch (right) puts up a shotby CNBwhile Radford's Eric Parker tries to defend during their game in
Charlottesville on Saturday. Dersch finished with 11 points.