THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 1, 1995 TAG: 9503010616
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
At halftime, word arrived from North Carolina that the Tar Heels had been beaten by Wake Forest.
The crowd at the Richmond Coliseum let out a roar. It was a mostly University of Virginia crowd, so that was to be expected.
It's natural, too, that the race in the regal ACC would take precedence over a non-conference game, even one with Virginia Tech.
Tuesday's scrimmage between the two state schools could have been viewed as an inconvenience for U.Va., but for the less-respected, hungrier Hokies it represented an opportunity.
Virginia, after all, already had booked passage into the NCAA tournament; Virginia Tech would need a couple of big victories down the stretch if it hoped to entertain an at-large bid.
A victory over U.Va., then, was seen as a must for Tech, the poor relation from the oft-maligned Metro.
That U.Va. was a weighty challenge for the Hokies was obvious anytime the Cavaliers got the ball down low to Junior Burrough, a 242-pound load.
More times than not, Burrough was guarded by Ace Custis, a sophomore who gave up about 40 pounds to the U.Va. senior.
Here was the U.Va.-Tech matchup in microcosm. Burly Burrough vs. wispy Custis. Big, bad ACC vs. middlewight Metro.
All night, U.Va. exploited Tech's problems on defense, pounding the ball into Burrough, who would pound his way toward the basket.
Burrough was having a field day from the field (he would finish with 22 points, hitting 11 of 17 shots). So well was he playing; so easily was he scoring that it was easy to overlook the story being told on the scoreboard.
With five minutes to play, Tech was ahead by four.
Then, with 3:54 to go, Custis crashed the boards on a Tech miss, and was fouled by Yuri Barnes, another bigger bounder. He made one of two, and Tech led by five.
Once more, Virginia passed the ball to Burrough in the low post. This time, a Tech hand slapped it away. Seconds later, Shawn Smith hit a jump shot, and Tech led by seven.
After that, it began to unravel for Tech.
Burrough, operating from the low post, passed to Jason Williford, who was fouled as he sank a layup.
Then the Hokies guards began to melt under U.Va.'s fullcourt pressure. A U.Va. steal was followed by another.
U.Va. led by one.
But then Custis was fouled on a drive and sank a pair of free throws. Tech regained the lead with 34 seconds, only to have Harold Deane put U.Va. ahead, 63-62, on a drive with 16 seconds to play.
So now it came down to one final Tech possession, a possession that could alter the way folks perceive Hokies basketball.
It shouldn't be this way, of course, one regular-season game shouldn't have such an impact on how people look at a basketball program.
It shouldn't, but it probably will. Today, nobody will think of Tech any differently than before; the NCAA tournament selection committee will not be moved.
It might have been different had Shawn Smith's potential game-winner, a leaning 14-footer, not popped out after going halfway down.
The ball spins out and the temptation is to overlook all coach Bill Foster has done to inch Tech back into the big picture.
Too bad.
So now, it's a return to the ACC for U.Va., to the Metro for Virginia Tech.
U.Va., barely, marches on. Tech, for the moment, marches in place. by CNB