ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 9, 1997 TAG: 9703110034
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C.
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY THE ROANOKE TIMES
Courtney Alexander was at the scorer's table when the momentum changed vs. Carolina.
With barely five minutes remaining in Friday night's ACC tournament quarterfinal, North Carolina called a 20-second timeout and discussed how it could stop Virginia's Courtney Alexander.
No problem. Before the Tar Heels knew it, Alexander was out of the game.
Then, the Cavaliers were out of the game.
Alexander watched from the bench - then the scorer's table - as fifth-ranked Carolina pulled away for a 78-68 victory at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Although the Cavaliers never led in the second half, the score was 59-59 after Alexander hit a 3-pointer from the right wing with 5:34 remaining. At that point, he was 5-for-6 from the field in the second half, including three 3-pointers.
When the teams took the floor after Carolina's timeout with 5:30 left, Jamal Robinson was in for Alexander. By the time Alexander returned with 3:30 remaining, the Tar Heels had gone ahead 67-59.
UVa coach Jeff Jones wasn't exactly clear on his reasons for taking Alexander out of the game. At first, he said Alexander had four fouls, but that wasn't correct. Alexander finished with four fouls, but he had three at the time.
Jones later floated several other possible reasons for the move: Maybe Alexander was tired. Maybe he had failed to guard a 3-point shooter, although Carolina had gone almost seven minutes without a 3-point field goal.
``Maybe he felt I was hurt,'' said Alexander, who had been flexing his left arm after crashing into a cameraman. ``It was a coach's decision. I have no problem with it. I wasn't tired. I had three fouls. I don't know.''
In Jones' defense, Alexander was on the bench only for a short time. He went to the scorer's table following a UVa turnover with 4:53 left, but, when there were no stoppages in play, the Cavaliers needed a 20-second timeout to get him back on the floor.
``I was at the scorer's table for an eternity,'' Alexander said. ``I saw Vince Carter hit a 3. I saw Shammond Williams hit a 3. And when I looked up, the score was a lot different from when I left.''
Carolina had completed an 11-0 run before Alexander ended the Cavaliers' scoring drought with a jumper at the 2:01 mark. He added a 3-point field goal with 1:49 that brought UVa as close as it got in the closing minutes, 71-64.
``He was the main reason they came back,'' said Antawn Jamison, who had a team-high 24 points for the Tar Heels. ``Once he was off the floor, it was like a sigh of relief. But, we knew they had other players on the floor who could hurt us.''
Curtis Staples made five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points, and Norman Nolan had 15 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth ``double-double'' of the season. However, point guard Harold Deane was 2-for-13 from the field, including 1-for-10 on 3-point attempts.
``I'm not going to make any excuses,'' said Deane, who had missed most of practice Friday with a sore lower right leg. ``I've played games when I was hurt and made my shots. I just had a bad shooting game today.''
Jones said he was struck by the number of open shots the Cavaliers had, especially Staples. The former Patrick Henry High School star hit two 3-pointers to start the game, then missed his next five shots.
``It was streaky,'' said Staples, who was 6-for-17 from the field, including 5-for-14 from beyond the 3-point arc. ``I had a lot of good looks, wide-open looks. It was like I was too open. I'm used to having people in my face.''
The Cavaliers committed four turnovers, a season low, after turning over the ball 19 times in an 81-57 loss to Carolina in Chapel Hill. That was one of Jones' pregame goals, as was a desire to keep the rebounding close.
Remarkably, UVa had 17 offensive rebounds, compared with the Tar Heels' nine, but Carolina scored after each of its offensive rebounds. An assortment of stick-backs, tip-ins and dunks helped UNC (21-7) shoot 51.9 percent from the field.
It was the 10th consecutive victory for the Tar Heels, who reached the semifinals of the ACC tournament for the sixth time in seven years and 34th time overall. UVa (18-12) has gone two years without an ACC tournament victory for the first time since 1984-85.
If there is consolation for the Cavaliers, it could come at 6:30 p.m. today, when the NCAA Tournament field is announced. UVa's chances, once promising, have not been helped by N.C. State's bid for the ACC's automatic berth.
``I think it would be the natural thing to be nervous,'' Staples said. ``We do feel we're on the bubble. We don't know whether we're in or not. The good thing is, if we do make the field, the season starts fresh next week.''
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS. North Carolina point guard Ed Cota (5)by CNBtries to get past his Virginia counterpart, Harold Deane, as he
pursues a loose ball Friday night. color. KEYWORDS: BASKETBALL