Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 13, 1993 TAG: 9303130017
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LOUISVILLE, KY. LENGTH: Medium
TECH RIDES WAVE TO UPSET
Surprise! Virginia Tech is still here today.Many figured the Hokies would be busing back to Blacksburg on Friday night, but Tech renewed its reservation in the Metro Conference basketball tournament with a 64-55 upset of 23rd-ranked Tulane in an afternoon game at Freedom Hall.
Tech (10-17) broke a seven-game losing streak with a competent performance at the perfect time, winning a Metro first-round game for the first time since 1991 in Roanoke and only the second time since 1984.
The seventh-seeded Hokies play third-seeded Virginia Commonwealth today in the semifinals. VCU (19-8) defeated South Florida 79-72 in the first round Friday.
"A lot of people were probably taking the points and taking Tech," said Hokies coach Bill Foster, who won a conference tournament game for the first time since 1980, when Clemson beat Virginia in the ACC Tournament's first round.
Doing exactly what they wanted, the Hokies zoned the languid Green Wave into 38 percent shooting and effectively navigated Tulane's duller-than-normal presses and half-court traps. Four Hokies scored in double figures.
Most importantly, senior forward Thomas Elliott had 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds - 12 after he'd picked up his fourth foul with 17:51 left in the game.
"I was reading the Louisville paper this morning and it said our only chance to win [the tournament] was if the Ohio River froze over," Elliott said. "I took that as a motivational tool."
Tulane coach Perry Clark rummaged in his toolbox, turning to little-used players such as Carter Nichols and Antonio Jackson, but nothing worked. The Green Wave (21-8) lost its fourth in the past five games and is on the fence for a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"Our defensive effort and intensity wasn't what it normally was," Clark said. "We've always used our defense to create scoring opportunities.
"Right now, we're struggling. We're caught up in the life of a basketball team. It happens."
Clark's worst fear happened Friday: Tech forced Tulane into a half-court game. Tulane made three of 18 3-pointers, one of 14 in the second half, and couldn't get the ball inside enough to do damage.
"The zone did it," Foster said. "They occupied so much of the clock [against the zone]. And we didn't turn it over as much in the second half."
Jay Purcell, playing on a sore Achilles tendon, had six turnovers in the first half and two in the second. The Hokies ran when they could, pleasing freshman Shawn Good, who had 13 points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals and no turnovers in 37 minutes.
"When we get out and run, it's a lot easier for me to play," said Good, playing about an hour's drive from his hometown of Columbus, Ind. "There's not as much stopping and standing around."
Tech trailed from the outset but made up ground in the second half, starting with a 7-0 run - in which freshman Shawn Smith had four points - to make it 35-34, Tulane, with 15 minutes left.
Tulane's Anthony Reed hit a 3-pointer, but Smith hit a short jumper and, after a Reed missed 3-pointer and a Tulane throwaway, Purcell tied it with a leaning jump shot with 11:25 left.
With 9:48 left, Jim Jackson stuck a 3-pointer and Tech had its first lead, 41-38. With 7:22 remaining, Good's 3-pointer with five seconds left on the shot clock made it 45-39 Hokies, and Tulane never got closer than four after that.
Tulane's Carlin Hartman missed a free throw, failing to convert a three-point play, with 2:20 to go that would've cut Tech's lead to three. Elliott hit two free throws at the other end to make it 55-49 Tech with 2:05 to go.
The Hokies made seven of 10 free throws to seal it.
Tech outrebounded Tulane 37-33 - odd because the Hokies don't rebound well and were playing zone. And, Tulane backed off its full-court press for much of the second half, even though Tech had trouble with it early.
"We never really got to our traps," Clark said.
Purcell said Tulane's habit of playing the same zones and traps helped Tech. The Hokies made 52.9 percent from the field in the second half, including 3-for-6 from 3-point range. Tech now has hit a 3-pointer in 200 straight games.
The Hokies rarely have been so seamless.
"When we needed it, we got it," Foster said. \
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