THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 17, 1995 TAG: 9503170676
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTON, OHIO LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Just when the University of Dayton Arena began looking like a castle for would-be Cinderella teams, Virginia provided much-needed credibility to the NCAA Midwest Regional seedings.
After struggling early, the fourth-seeded Cavaliers advanced to the second round with a 96-72 victory over Nicholls State.
Earlier in the afternoon, Miami of Ohio upset fifth-seeded Arizona, 71-62, and will play Virginia on Saturday.
The Cavaliers (23-6) seemed in danger of joining Arizona for an early trip to the airport through most of the first half.
Off to a shaky start, they trailed the Southland Conference Colonels (24-6) for the first 16 minutes before forging ahead, 31-27, at intermission.
``We knew what had happened to Arizona, and we weren't going to let Nicholls State try to be another Cinderella,'' Virginia guard Curtis Staples said.
``I never felt we were going to lose this game, but we had to make an adjustment at halftime.''
That adjustment simply was to stop rushing things and let the game come to them.
The Cavaliers, with that in mind, quickly turned a close game into a romp in the second half.
They outscored the Colonels, 22-6, in the first seven minutes to take a 20-point lead. It grew to 29 before coach Jeff Jones cleared his bench.
``We knew from the start we were better than they were,'' Staples said. ``But we may have given them too much respect in the first half and that caused us to rush our shots too much. I wasn't waiting for good shots.''
After the first 13 minutes, Virginia's top three scorers - Junior
Burrough, Harold Deane, and Staples - had scored only three field goals and were a combined 3 for 21.
Staples, who missed his first six 3-pointers, finally found the net at 4:25 to begin a nine-point spurt that carried Virginia to its halftime lead.
Deane finished with 22 points, followed by Burrough (16) and Staples (15).
Nicholls State's Gerard King, who had a team-high 18 points, credited Virginia with doing a much better job of running its offense the second half.
``We weren't playing well defensively, and good teams make you pay for that,'' he said.
Nicholls State coach Ricky Broussard came into the game believing his team would pull an upset and admitted to underestimating the Cavaliers.
``I didn't think they were an imposing team, so I guess I didn't evaluate them as well as I should have,'' Broussard said.
``I definitely underestimated their perimeter defense and that is where they got us. They are by far the best defensive team we've played.''
Deane said defense has been something the Cavaliers have relied on all season when the offense wasn't going well.
``If I am missing my shots, I always try to make up for it on the defensive end,'' he said.
Deane agreed with Staples that the Cavaliers would have made it easier on themselves if they had been more disciplined offensively from the beginning.
``Coach told us that Arizona had not been prepared and got upset. He didn't want that to happen to us,'' Deane said. ``We probably tried too hard to take control early and were rushing things too much. We had more patience in the second half and put the game away quickly.''
Virginia, during its early struggle, received offensive help from freshman forward Norman Nolan, who scored eight of his 11 points in the first half.
``We have needed someone to help Junior to score inside, and Nolan might be the one to do that,'' Deane said.
As for playing Miami of Ohio, Deane said the Cavaliers knew better than to take it lightly.
Miami won the Mid-American Conference regular season by three games over Ohio University, which beat Virginia in the NIT preseason tournament.
``Some people might have thought Miami was not good enough to be Arizona, but we knew better,'' Deane said. ``We will have to be ready for them.''
The winner of Saturday's game will advance to the regional championship in Kansas City next week. ILLUSTRATION: LAWRENCE JACKSON
Staff
Jason Williford holds back Harold Deane after a Nicholls State
player knocked Deane to the floor.
LAWRENCE JACKSON
Staff
[Color Photo]
Virginia's Junior Burrough, center, scores against Nicholls State's
Gerard King during the second half. Burrough had a tough time
against King, who scored 18 to Burrough's 16.
by CNB