Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 16, 1992 TAG: 9202160168
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
UVA LOSS TO DEACONS A KILLER
Virginia's trip to Wake Forest wasn't the pain-killer the Cavaliers had desired after a disheartening loss to Florida State.Or, maybe it was.
UVa's basketball team seemed numb Saturday afternoon, failing to score on its first eight possessions and falling to Wake Forest 69-60 at Lawrence Joel Coliseum.
"We were all anxious to put the Florida State game behind us," said UVa senior Bryant Stith, who missed two free throws with two seconds left in a 64-63 loss Thursday. "But Wake Forest just knocked our feet from under us."
UVa made two of its first 14 shots from the field and trailed 17-4. Wake led 28-19 at the half despite the absence of point guard Derrick McQueen for the final 18:02.
"I thought I was done for the afternoon," McQueen said. "At first, I thought my knee was twisted, but I saw on film where I ran into [Ted] Jeffries. That was a lot of force."
McQueen had made up his mind that he would test the knee in the second half, but it was not coach Dave Odom's intention to start him.
"I said, `[Robert] Doggett, report,' " Odom related. "Then, I looked down at the five starters' chairs and there was Derrick sitting there. I said, `What do you think you're doing?' "
McQueen, celebrating his 22nd birthday, played 19 of 20 minutes and scored all 12 of his points in the second half. He did not have a turnover and the Deacons had five as a team, their low in three years under Odom.
"Still, you just never feel safe with Bryant Stith out there on the floor," Odom said. "He always seems to find a way to win the game, particularly [after] the way Thursday's game ended.
"That kind of thing just doesn't happen to Bryant Stith and certainly not twice in one week."
The Cavaliers, down by 15 points early in the second half, cut the deficit to 51-44 on a 3-pointer by Stith with 7:48 left. UVa's last gasp came with 2:20 left, when Stith was called for an offensive foul with the Cavs down 58-50.
One week earlier, Wake had blown a 22-point second-half lead in an 80-78 loss at North Carolina, but this wasn't the Dean Dome and the opposition wasn't the Tar Heels.
"We definitely didn't want it to get too close today," McQueen said. "We had a timeout at the seven-minute mark and I said, `This is where we've got to get it stopped right now.' "
The Cavaliers fell to 4-6 in the ACC, changing places with Wake, which moved from fifth place to fourth. With an overall record of 11-10, UVa may have reached the point where an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament is out of reach.
"There's no telling how many wins it's going to take us to get there," UVa coach Jeff Jones said, "but I don't want to get too concerned with that right now.
"At 11-10, obviously we aren't real pleased with our record, but I think . . . we're a decent basketball team that needs to take a step up and be able to knock off a North Carolina." The Tar Heels visit Charlottesville on Wednesday night.
Jones said the Cavaliers are "playing pretty good basketball," but they shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59) from the field, were outrebounded by 10 and forced only two first-half turnovers against a team without its point guard.
After shooting only 26.9 percent (7-of-26) from the field in the first half, the Cavaliers shot 54.5 percent (18-of-33) after intermission. Freshman Junior Burrough scored all 16 of his points in the second half, going 8-of-9 from the field.
"Our offense is predicated on getting the ball to Bryant each time down the court," Burrough said. "But, if we don't get it to him, what do we do next?
"I'm not saying it's wrong. But maybe it would make it easier for the team if we spread it around some more."
Freshman Cory Alexander had 17 points and seven assists, and Stith added 17 points despite chants of "choke, choke, choke" from the Wake Forest student section. He was 7-of-18 from the field.
Rogers had a game-high 22 points - "the hardest 22 points he's had all season," Odom said - and also led the Deacons in rebounds (15) and assists (five).
Wake, a 58-53 loser at Virginia, improved its record to 14-7 overall, 6-6 in the conference. The margin Saturday was the largest in seven Wake-UVa games in the three years Odom has been in Winston-Salem.
"I read where the average margin in those games has been something like 3.7 points," said Odom, an assistant at UVa from 1982-89. "By those standards, this was almost a rout." \
see microfilm for box score