Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 11, 1994 TAG: 9502080001
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
According to Virginia Tech's Ace Custis, coach Billy Tubbs and his Texas Christian University basketball team may as well have handed out frog gigs to the Hokies before Saturday's game at Cassell Coliseum.
After TCU star Kurt Thomas sauntered cockily onto the court for pregame warmups with one hand raised high, Custis said he knew the Hokies were about to stick some frogs.
``Yeah, [Thomas] walked out with his hand up signalling he was the man and saying this was his house,'' Custis said.
``But this is our home. He's not coming in here and trying to run Cassell. We have to defend Cassell like we defend our home. No one is coming in and taking over our territory. No siree.''
Before a season-high crowd of 6,843, the Hokies (6-1) gigged the Horned Frogs 98-84 and wrapped Thomas in a 6-foot-10 box of frustration and shipped him back to Fort Worth.
Thomas, averaging 31 points in TCU's first three games - all victories - was held to 5-of-18 shooting and 13 points by Tech's swarming inside defense.
With 8 minutes, 47 seconds to play and Tech leading 81-59, Thomas and Custis, who had been at each other's throats all game, got tied up on the floor in a mini-scuffle that brought Tubbs and Bill Foster, Tech's coach, charging onto the floor.
Thomas was assessed an intentional foul for tying up Custis on the floor with his legs.
``He wrapped his leg around me leg and wouldn't let me run,'' Custis said. ``He kept pulling me back. He's a very dirty player. He's a great player, but he's a cocky player, too.
``So it's extra gratifying to kick their butts and hold him under his [scoring] average.
``He was very frustrated. He wasn't getting the ball. He was talking to himself. And once you get 'em like that, you know you've got 'em.''
Basically, Tech had 'em all the way. Led by junior guard Damon Watlington's 27 points and nine rebounds - both career highs - the Hokies took charge early in rolling to their fourth consecutive runaway victory, all at home, in eight days.
Custis had 26 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, while Shawn Smith finished with 18 points and just missed a triple-double with eight rebounds and eight assists. Point guard Shawn Good added 15 points and seven assists.
``It was a whale of an effort by our team,'' said Foster, whose club shot better than 50 percent (35-of-69) from the field for the third consecutive outing and outrebounded its opponent for the sixth time in seven games (53-41).
``I couldn't be happier about the last eight days. It's tough playing four games in eight days, but we came through it in great fashion. It's nice to be 6-1 at this stage. If we to do it again, I'd settle for that record against the type of competition we've faced.''
Behind hot-shooting Watlington, Tech ran off 13 points to erase a 17-16 TCU lead and never looked back.
The Hokies led 57-38 at halftime, thanks to Watlington, who hit all five 3-pointers he attempted and had 22 points.
Watlington had an unbelievable week. His 27 points Saturday marked the third consecutive game he has eclipsed his career high. He had 23 on Monday in an 82-55 victory over Xavier and 25 in Wednesday's 110-75 rout of VMI.
``I was feeling it in warmups ... I knew my shots were falling,'' Watlington said.
Custis said when Watlington gets his stroke going, that's where the ball's going.
``Damon is on a roll right now,'' Custis said. ``You go to the man who is hot, and he's hot.
``He was in a little slump earlier. I told him before the Xavier game that everybody has had a big game but him. I was just joking. I guess he took me seriously.''
Thomas, who finished with a career-high 20 rebounds, couldn't figure out why Custis was so serious.
On his tangle with Custis, Thomas said: ``I guess Custis thought he had something to prove because last year he thought that people respected me more than him.''
Tubbs, in his first year at TCU after 14 seasons at Oklahoma, said he knew his bunch was in trouble before the the opening tip-off.
``We're not quite ready for this yet,'' Tubbs said. ``We start three freshmen. I really thought we'd play better than we did, though. To say the least, this was a learning experience.
``Bill [Foster] talks about not having any players. Well, he's got a strong seven-man rotation. I wish he would have had some more subs so it could have screwed him up.''
see microfilm for box score
by CNB