THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 19, 1995 TAG: 9503190168
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DAYTON, OHIO LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
Miami of Ohio had no clue.
The little Mid-American Conference school seeking to write another Cinderella story in the NCAA playoffs thought it still had a chance when Virginia's Jamal Robinson left his jump shot short just before the buzzer Saturday and the Midwest Region second-round game headed into overtime.
``We felt very confident we were going to win,'' Miami's Jamie Mahaffey said.
He just didn't know these Cavaliers play 10-feet tall and bullet-proof in overtime.
None of the Cavaliers had ever lost in overtime while wearing a Virginia uniform, and they weren't about to do so this time with a trip to the regional championship tournament at stake.
``We knew we were going to win as soon as it went to overtime,'' senior Jason Williford after the perfect overtime streak grew to nine games with a 60-54 victory.
The win puts the fourth-seeded Cavaliers in the Sweet Sixteen for the fifth time since 1981.
They will play top-seed Kansas in the regional semifinals Friday in Kansas City.
For awhile, though, the Cavaliers seemed headed nowhere but home to Charlottesville as the latest upset victim in these topsy-turvey playoffs.
Three minutes into the second half they had scored only 22 points and were 10 points down to the 12th-seed Redskins who had upset fifth-seed Arizona in the first round.
``We basically stunk up the place,'' Williford said.
Finally catching offensive sparks from Junior Burrough, Curtis Staples and Harold Deane, the Cavaliers tied the score at 38 with 6:55 left in regulation and forced the issue into beloved overtime eight points later.
``The seniors haven't lost in overtime in four years,'' Williford reminded, ``and that's a streak we want to keep going.
``Just before the start of overtime, Junior and I looked at each other. He nodded, and I told him, `Let's do it.' ''
Burrough, the strong senior forward from Charlotte who has carried the Cavaliers in recent weeks, obliged once again.
He scored the first two goals in the extra five-minute session for a 50-46 lead and had a big three-point play at 2:06 for a 53-48 advantage.
Still, the Redskins refused to go gently into tradition.
Junior guard Chris McGuire, who had dogged the Cavs most of the game, sank a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left to narrow Virginia's lead to 56-54.
But, following a free throw by Deane, McGuire turned the ball over on a travel with 4.7 seconds remaining - time enough for Robinson to break away for a dunk and to add a free throw.
``We didn't play very well most of the game, but I am not going to worry about that now,'' Virginia coach Jeff Jones said.
``We could have gotten bumped off like some of the other higher-seed teams. I am not sure how we did it, but we'll take the win and move on.''
The Cavaliers played a brutal defense and made the most of Burrough's 28 points, which came on a 11-for-15 performance from the floor.
The rest of the team was 11 for 36.
The inside defense of Burrough, Williford and Chris Alexander kept Miami's Devin Davis so bottled up that he got only 12 points - 16 fewer than in the win over Arizona.
``They made it hard for me to go to the hole one-on-one,'' said Davis, who had only one field goal after intermission.
Davis said Burrough was the best player he had faced all season.
``He knocked down his shots when his team needed him to step up,'' Davis said.
That has been his style in the last ten games as he has averaged 26.2 points and 10 rebounds.
The Cavaliers couldn't agree on why they got off to such a miserable start, as they had in the first-round win over Nicholls State, too.
Jones thought it was tournament jitters. Deane said the Cavaliers were rushing things too much again.
Burrough said it was a combination of things.
``We had to work through a lot of adversity,'' he said. ``We had calls going against us, breaks going against us, the crowd going against us.
``Everything was going bad for us until Curtis hit that 3-pointer (to tie the game at 38).''
Like his teammates, Burrough knew a victory was in the bag once the game went into overtime.
``The record we have in overtime gives us the confidence we can do it at crunch time,'' Burrough said.
Miami coach Herb Sendak, who thought he had done a solid job of scouting the Cavaliers, admitted he did not know about their invincibility in overtime.
``Nine and oh?,'' he said, shaking his head. ``Looks like we just became the latest link in that streak, uh?''
The Redskins ended their season with a 23-7 record. ILLUSTRATION: LAWRENCE JACKSON, Staff color photo
Miami's Landon Hackim, center, dives for a loose ball he lost under
pressure from Virginia's Junior Burrough, left, and Curtis Staples.
LAWRENCE JACKSON, Staff photos
Miami of Ohio forward Jamie Mahaffey snatches a loose ball over
Virginia's Junior Burrough.
Jamal Robinson walks off the court after missing a jumper near the
end of regulation.
by CNB