ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 19, 1997 TAG: 9701200125
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: DURHAM, N.C.
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
VIRGINIA FALLS BEHIND early and is swamped 78-59 by the Blue Devils.
As Duke's lead continued to mount Saturday night, more than a few thoughts turned to the afternoon two years ago when Virginia overcame a 23-point deficit at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
``It was in the back of our minds,'' said Virginia guard Curtis Staples, one of the principals in UVa's 1995 victory. ``And, if you'll notice, we did make a run there to start the second half.''
The Cavaliers trimmed a 20-point deficit to nine early in the second half, but Duke was just as determined not to let history repeat itself and pulled away for a 78-59 ACC mens' basketball victory.
``There were flashbacks at halftime because we were almost in the same position as two years ago,'' Duke junior Trajan Langdon said. ``We had played a good first half and we wanted to come out and establish ourselves like we did in to start the game.
``It didn't happen and, once they got it to nine, something had to change. I think we did a good job offensively and defensively to pick it up at that point.''
Langdon hit a 3-point goal and added a three-point play to spark a 10-0 Duke run that put the Blue Devils on top 50-31 with 14:15 remaining. Duke (14-4 overall, 3-2 ACC) later stretched its lead to 27 points on two occasions.
``I think it was apparent from the beginning that Duke was pumped up and [it was] attacking at nearly every position,'' Virginia coach Jeff Jones said. ``We never, ever got a handle on the game defensively.''
It marked the first time this season that Virginia (11-6, 2-4) had lost back-to-back games. The Cavaliers led for more than 35 minutes Wednesday night against second-ranked Wake Forest before losing 58-54.
The next day, Jones learned that point guard and second-leading scorer Harold Deane had not been enrolled for 12 credit hours within the required time frame and would miss the Duke trip.
``Harold didn't find out till the last minute,'' Staples said. ``I talked to him Thursday night and he was talking about how excited he was about coming down here, especially after what happened last year.''
Virginia led by 18 points before crumbling in the second half last year at Duke. Deane picked up a critical technical foul in that game that accounted for his fifth, disqualifying personal in a 79-66 UVa loss.
Senior Jamal Robinson and freshman Willie Dersch did most of the ball-handling and playmaking in Deane's absence Saturday night, but neither had played much point guard of late. In fact, Dersch had not played in two games.
Staples led the Cavaliers with 17 points and Courtney Alexander added 11, but Alexander, from Durham, was only 4-of-17 from the field after scoring a career-high 30 at Cameron last year.
``I stunk the place up,'' Alexander said. ``It wasn't just that my shot wasn't falling. I didn't play a total game and I had been playing a total game for the last couple weeks.
``I felt like Curtis and I had to pick up the load. I didn't come ready to play. I didn't understand why. Think about it: I was coming back home, this was on national TV. I'm paying for it right now.''
Duke shot 52 percent from the field in joining top-ranked Kansas as the only teams to shoot 50 percent against Virginia this year. The Cavaliers had held 12 of their previous 16 opponents under 40 percent.
``To me, the 52 percent summed up the game,'' Jones said. ``Our guys tried to bounce back from our slow start, but it was too late. If you're not prepared mentally and physically, you're not going to find it against a team playing as well as Duke did.''
Five Duke players scored in double figures, including reserves Jeff Capel and Ricky Price. Langdon led the way with 17 points and point guard Steve Wojciechowski added a career-high 16, with seven assists.
``He was great,'' Jones said. ``He's always a pest, but tonight he distributed the basketball [and] he shot the basketball. If there was a player of the game for Duke, he was it.''
Monte Marcaccini, seeing his first action in three games, came off the bench to grab a game-high 12 rebounds and the Cavaliers outrebounded the Blue Devils 39-29, but that was one of the few positives for Virginia.
``Obviously Virginia was hampered without having Harold here,'' Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ``What a huge adjustment to try to make in a one-day period, not having practice time.
``We did take advantage of that. We didn't let up. Our team was ready to play [against] Harold Deane; then, all of a sudden we're not playing against him. I thought our focus [and] our maturity was excellent.'' NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Monte Marcaccini (33) of Virginia grabs a reboundby CNBfrom Roshown McLeod of Duke during the first half.