ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 3, 1997 TAG: 9703040022
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
VIRGINIA RALLIES in the second half to bolster its chances for an NCAA Tournament berth.
Virginia coach Jeff Jones had been searching all week for ways to reduce the pressure on his men's basketball team.
Falling behind by 10 points with less than 15 minutes remaining Sunday was not one of his ideas.
With its NCAA Tournament hopes hanging in the balance, UVa needed its biggest second-half comeback of the season to defeat 16th-ranked Maryland 81-74 at University Hall.
``We tried doing some things to lighten up the locker room,'' Jones said, ``but to say that there wasn't pressure would be an outright lie. There was a ton of pressure on this basketball team.''
No ACC team ever had been invited to the NCAA Tournament with a 6-10 conference record. The Cavaliers, who had lost three consecutive games to the Terps, finished the regular season at 18-11 overall and 7-9 in the ACC.
``I know what I felt we had to do and we did it,'' Jones said. ``In terms of the regular season, it's out of our hands. Whether we get into the [NCAA] Tournament or not - and I think that we should; I think that we will - we've done what we can do.''
The Terrapins (20-9, 9-7) led 47-40 when Virginia went to a 2-3 zone defense, and it was 50-40 after Laron Profit picked off a pass in the Virginia end, made a breakaway layup, was fouled and converted the free throw.
In the eyes of many, UVa's season was headed down the tubes.
``A couple of weeks ago, maybe we would have thought that,'' sophomore Courtney Alexander said. ``But, we've been through so much already. We had too much at stake to lie down and die.''
Three 3-point baskets by junior Curtis Staples helped narrow the gap, but the Cavaliers never led in the second half until Alexander hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 62-61 with 5:26 left.
Alexander subsequently found himself in a mismatch against the Terps' 6-foot Terrell Stokes and added a three-point play on the Cavaliers' next possession to spark a 10-0 run.
``I had missed my previous [six] shots,'' Alexander said, ``but, as a shooter and a scorer, I can't back down from taking a big shot. That's what my team needs me to do. That's what my role is.''
A three-point play completed a 29-11 run and put Virginia ahead 69-61 with 3:08 left. The Cavaliers didn't have another field-goal attempt, hitting 11 of their last 14 free throws, including six of six by Harold Deane in the last 52.9 seconds.
``I guess that's the best place for it to end,'' said Deane, recognized before and after the game with fellow seniors Jamal Robinson and Martin Walton. ``I want to be at the line when it counts.''
Deane, who had missed three days of practice this past week with a virus, said his injured left leg felt better than it has in a month. After scoring in double figures once in the previous seven games, he had a team-high 18 points and eight assists.
The Cavaliers, who had not scored 80 points in an ACC game this season, had five players in double figures for the first time in conference play. Freshman center Colin Ducharme, replaced by Walton in the starting lineup, had season highs of 15 points and five blocked shots.
``You have to give Virginia credit,'' said Maryland coach Gary Williams. ``They had to win the game and sometimes that's not easy to do. I felt we played pretty well for a long time.''
Profit led all scorers with 24 points, with Keith Booth contributing 17 points and 12 rebounds. Sarunas Jasikevicius added 15 points, but missed his last six shots, five from 3-point range.
``I'd like to think we can get the ball inside if we take our time,'' Williams said, ``but Sarunas is our best shooter from the perimeter. I'm not going to jump on him now because he did have good looks.''
The Terps, picked eighth in the conference in the preseason poll, finished in a fourth-place tie with Clemson and will meet the Tigers at noon Friday in an ACC tournament quarterfinal in Greensboro, N.C.
Virginia finished sixth and will meet North Carolina at 9:30 p.m. Friday. The Tar Heels, tied for second with Wake Forest, got the third seed based on the fifth tie-breaker - the teams' respective records against UVa.
If the Tar Heels ``aren't playing as well as anyone in the country, they're daggone close,'' said Jones, who would not have wanted his team's NCAA hopes to rest on an upset of Carolina.
``If we lose this game today and don't do something big in the ACC tournament, then we're out of the NCAA Tournament and [the players] knew it. This was as big as it gets.'' NOTE: please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 87 linesby CNB