Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 20, 1994 TAG: 9402210076
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL, N.C. LENGTH: Long
When Virginia hit nine of its first 11 shots Saturday against North Carolina, it was reasonable to think the Cavaliers might finish with a decent percentage.
Fat chance.
On a day when second-ranked Carolina shot a season-low 36 percent and gave up 24 offensive rebounds, UVa went more than 11 minutes without a basket and fell 69-56 in an Atlantic Coast Conference basketball game at the Smith Center.
The Cavaliers (13-9 overall, 7-6 in the ACC) made only eight of 40 shots in the second half and shot 30.9 percent for the game, their fifth game in a row under 35 percent.
"It was nothing to write home about," said coach Dean Smith, whose Tar Heels ranked No. 1 in the country in field-goal percentage to start the week. "There was a lot of defense out there."
Virginia, which led 47-43 after a 3-pointer by Harold Deane with 12 minutes, 24 seconds remaining, missed 16 consecutive field-goal attempts before Yuri Barnes scored on a follow shot with 56.3 seconds left.
By that point, North Carolina (20-6, 9-4) had stretched its lead to 15 points en route to its 13th consecutive victory over the Cavaliers at home, the last nine at the "Dean Dome." The Tar Heels are 50-4 against UVa in Chapel Hill.
Carolina had 18 field goals for the game - matching its low in the past 14 years - but made 29 of 40 free throws. After going 10-for-18 from the line in the first half, the Tar Heels went 19-for-22 after intermission.
"We never talk about foul shooting," Smith said. "We're a good foul-shooting team [65.1 percent before Saturday]. I said we'd be over 70 percent the rest of the year and that was about three games ago."
The Tar Heels shot 16 free throws before Virginia attempted its first, a statistic UVa coach Jeff Jones attributed to the Tar Heels' depth and pressure defense.
"North Carolina, as much today as any time I can remember, wore us down," Jones said. "I know that's part of their game plan and I think it had a lot to do with the discrepancy in free throws."
The Tar Heels were without starting point guard Derrick Phelps, nursing a slight sprain to his right knee, but experienced little drop-off with freshman Jeff McInnis, who had a season-high 16 points.
Carolina got big games from two other freshmen - Jerry Stackhouse, who had a game-high 17 points, and Rasheed Wallace, who contributed 10 points and six of Carolina's 14 blocks.
"Of 14 blocked shots, I'd say probably 12 were layups that would have been scored against almost anybody else," Jones said.
Starting center Eric Montross had four of the Tar Heels' blocks, but was benched to start the second half. Montross has not scored more than 10 points in the past five games, including a seven-point effort Saturday.
"I put Eric and Brian Reese on the bench to start the second half [because] it seemed like a good idea at the time," Smith said. "I wanted them to wake up, to relax, to get mad at me, to get mad at something."
Jones changed his lineup for the first time in 21 games, giving sophomore Chris Alexander his first start in place of Junior Burrough, who has a pulled abdominal muscle.
"Before we arrived at the arena, I was 90 percent sure Junior would not play based on the fact he hadn't practiced," Jones said. "I told him, unless he was at least 90 percent, he wasn't going to play."
No sooner had Yuri Barnes picked up his second foul than Burrough was in the game with 16:40 remaining in the first half. Burrough hit his first shot, a 3-pointer, but finished with five points and two rebounds in 31 minutes.
"It actually feels better than it did after the Duke game [Wednesday night]," said Burrough, who does not have an offensive rebound in four games since suffering the injury. "Maybe I'll have a chance to practice now."
The Cavaliers, after playing four of the past five and six of eight games on the road, return home Tuesday night to face Georgia Tech, a team they have not beaten in Jones' four-year tenure as head coach.
"I don't think it helps us a whole lot to talk about it," Jones said, "but if you look at our record and their record and the conference standings and the fact it's our next-to-last home game, that should spell it out."
The Yellow Jackets (14-9, 5-7) have won three of their past four games, including a 96-89 triumph at North Carolina on Feb. 12 that was their second victory of the season over the Tar Heels.
"How did they come out today?" Smith said in reference to the Yellow Jackets, 71-69 winners over Wake Forest. "They either won by 50 or lost by 50 or won by one point.
"We played well enough to beat all but about two or three teams in the country. I tried to tell our team it was like a win, but it was hard for me to believe, too."
by CNB