THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996 TAG: 9601140199
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Virginia freshman Courtney Alexander delivered more messages than an errand boy Saturday.
He left one for Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, another for Cavaliers coach Jeff Jones, and a special delivery for the home folk watching on television back in Durham.
The message to all parties was pretty much the same: ``Hey, don't worry about me. I can play this game!''
The 6-foot-6 Alexander, who once seemed a lock to play collegiately at Duke, played his best game in a Virginia uniform to help lead a 77-66 victory over the Blue Devils in University Hall.
The victory evened Virginia's ACC record at 2-2 (7-5 overall), and left Duke 0-4 in the league, 9-6 overall.
Alexander scored 19 points, pulled in eight rebounds, and had three assists.
Alexander said Duke was at the top of his list going into his senior year until the Blue Devils signed three other guards.
``It felt good to play like I did today,'' Alexander said, ``just to let them and the people back home know what got away from them.''
Alexander also wanted the folks at home and Jones to know he still intends to become a superstar in the league despite being bumped from the starting lineup in the last two games.
He had started every game until being replaced by Jamal Robinson in a loss to Clemson on Wednesday.
``I think I needed a kick in the butt, and coach Jones gave me one,'' Alexander said.
Jones gave the starting lineup another bump Saturday, starting 7-foot-4 sophomore Chase Metheney in place of senior Chris Alexander.
``We are trying to do things to shake up a couple of players and from the look of things, I think we probably got what we wanted,'' Jones said.
Chris Alexander, never an offensive hammer, did his best work on the defensive end, where he had four blocks. ``I definitely think this was Chris' best game, and it probably was our best game,'' Jones said.
He admitted he was concerned about how his team would bounce back from the disappointing loss at Clemson.
``Instead of having our heads down, we responded as we were capable,'' Jones said.
The players must have been concerned, too, since they held their first closed-door, no-coaches meeting of the season Friday night.
``We just wanted to make sure everyone knew we had to stick together,'' Courtney Alexander said.
Harold Deane, who called the meeting, said he saw positive signs from the meeting.
``We came together more as a team than we had in any previous game,'' Deane said. ``We helped each other, and we were happy with each other.''
Deane, who pumped in 39 points in the Clemson loss, had 20 points, and Curtis Staples, showing signs of breaking out of his season-long slump, had 15 points.
Krzyzewski said he also noticed the Cavaliers were ``more together'' than they were in film of other games he had seen of them.
He was particularly impressed by the Cavaliers' determination in the final four minutes, when they wrapped up the victory.
Staples put Virginia ahead to stay 66-64 with a 3-pointer at 4:21 and Duke's only points after that came on Carmen Wallace's tap-in with 34.9 seconds left.
``We could have taken better shots and been more patient, but you have to give Virginia's defense credit for some of that,'' Krzyzewski said.
``This was a win we had to have,'' Alexander said, ``but I do feel some sympathy for those Duke guys. They deserve to be better than 0-4 (in the ACC) and I really believe they are going to get it together.'' by CNB