THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502020429
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DOUG DOUGHTY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COLLEGE PARK, MD. LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
When he wasn't manhandling Virginia on the boards and in the paint, Joe Smith gave the Cavaliers a painful lesson at the free-throw line Wednesday night.
Smith capped a 29-point, 21-rebound night by making all six of his free throws in the final 3:35 to lead fifth-ranked Maryland past No. 15 Virginia, 71-62, at Cole Field House.
``Unfortunately, it was on national TV, too,'' said Maryland coach Gary Williams, who would love to keep Smith for the next two years. ``He picks his spots.''
Smith, a 6-foot-10 sophomore from Norfolk, also matched a career high with seven blocked shots, but the Terrapins did not take the lead for good until a Keith Booth layup with 7:15 remaining.
The Cavaliers subsequently missed five straight free throws, although they were able to get as close as 65-62 following a Harold Deane layup with 39.8 seconds left.
Maryland had missed six of eight free throws to that point in the second half, but junior guard Duane Simpkins hit a pair and then Smith swished four in a row to complete the scoring.
``I didn't worry about how many free throws people had missed before that,'' said Smith, who finished 11-of-13 from the line. ``In a close game like that, you have to knock down your free throws.''
Smith's performance against Virginia helped erase the memory of a career-low 6-point game Saturday against Duke.
``That last game affected me a lot,'' he said. ``I was 2-for-10 in that game, and I'm not used to that. I think that game affected me a lot and made me want to come out and and play hard.''
The Terrapins raised their record to 17-3 and took over sole possession of first place in the ACC at 7-1, one-half game ahead of North Carolina, which visits Duke tonight.
It was the third loss in the last four ACC games for Virginia, which dropped to 12-6 overall and 5-3 in the conference. The Cavaliers led by as much as 44-40 withunder 15 minutes remaining.
``They got stronger down the stretch, and we didn't have any answers to their intensity,'' U.Va. coach Jeff Jones said. ``It wasn't about finesse, it wasn't about technique, it wasn't about strategy.''
Maryland, shooting an ACC-high 52.3 percent from the field, hit only 42.9 against the Cavaliers. But the Terrapins grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Virginia 43-32 for the game.
``It was hard-nosed basketball, and we did not respond,'' Jones said. ``We felt it was important to defend them 12 feet and in, (but) you could actually reduce that to 5 feet and in. The bottom line is, they kicked our butts.''
Maryland's comeback overshadowed an outstanding performance by U.Va. senior Junior Burrough, who hit 12 of 16 shots from the field for a season-high 25 points. Burrough also had four assists for the third time in four games.
``Junior Burrough doesn't get as much attention as he deserves,'' Williams said. ``We went into the game really trying to stop him and obviously we couldn't. He's just a terrific player.''
Burrough, shooting 75.9 percent from the line for the year, missed two free throws with 2:46 remaining and Maryland up 61-55.
``It certainly doesn't help things,'' said Jones of the Cavaliers' 3-for-11 performance at the line, ``but if it did (deflate U.Va.), that's inexcusable. If any team should know about fighting hard when you're not shooting well, it's our team.''
The Cavaliers overcame some early adversity to forge a 34-34 halftime tie. Maryland scored the first six points of the game and upped its advantage to 14-5 after 4 1/2 minutes, but Virginia came back to lead on four occasions.
Maryland junior Exree Hipp, coming off a 21-point effort Saturday against Duke, missed all eight of his shots from the field, one reason U.Va. played more zone defense than it had all season.
The Cavaliers rebounded poorly out of the zone, ``but, when the game was on the line and they really hurt us, we were in man-to-man,'' Jones said.
``The thing that sticks out is (Maryland) just pounding it inside, getting on the offensive boards, scoring a few baskets, getting to the free-throw line. That was just demoralizing.''
Maryland had four double-figure scorers, including Booth with 15 points, but the story was Smith, who was coming off a career-low six points Saturday in the Terrapins' 74-72 victory over Duke.
``He keeps a much more level perspective that a lot of people, for instance his coach,'' Williams said. ``He's going to score; he's a great shooter. We just didn't do a good job of getting enough room for him on Saturday.
``The biggest thing Joe did tonight was go to the offensive board. Every once in a while, he gets in a zone where he makes up his mind that nobody else is going to get a rebound. He can't do it the whole game - nobody can - but for one stretch tonight it was like he said `these are mine.' '' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Maryland center Joe Smith goes up for two of his 29 points over
Virginia forward Norman Nolan, center Yuri Barnes and forward Junior
Burrough.
by CNB