ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 31, 1995 TAG: 9601020072
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
With the Atlantic Coast Conference schedule on the horizon, Virginia shooters had their second-best game of the season.
The Cavaliers zeroed in on Liberty University Saturday for a 76-48 non-conference victory that sets the stage for Wednesday's invasion by Florida State.
That's the good news, but the Cavaliers' 45.8 accuracy from the field doesn't put the 22nd-ranked team where it wants to be entering the conference season.
First, Virginia's 3-point shooting, expected to be a staple of this year's team, didn't crank it up until the second half. The Cavaliers (5-3) missed all five 3-point attempts in the first half but led 36-29 at halftime.
UVa missed two more long shots before Roanoke's Curtis Staples finally nailed a trey with 15:14 left that came in the midst of a 13-6 run as the Cavaliers took control after the half.
``We've got a lot of work to do. We have to make use of our time before we're ready to play Florida State,'' UVa coach Jeff Jones admitted. ``I'm concerned [about our outside shooting]. I'd be stupid not to be. I don't think I have the answer, but I have some ideas, and they're not that difficult. We have to take better shots, and we have to have some kind of an inside game.''
Harold Deane, who teamed with Staples last year to give the Cavaliers one of the nation's best perimeter games, wound up with 10 points. He and Staples were 2-for-9 from 3-point range, but the junior says shooting might not be the key to winning in the ACC.
``If we play good defense, we'll win. That's what wins games,'' Deane said.
If Saturday's game is an indication, he might be correct. The Cavaliers, thanks in large part to Chris Alexander, shut down Liberty's 6-foot-10 Peter Aluma, holding him to eight points, more than 10 under his team-leading 18.4 average.
``Liberty has good 3-point shooters, so we couldn't double down on him,'' Alexander said. ``I tried to get position, make him go where he didn't want to shoot. If he posted up, I'd try to step in front and do some things to make him catch the ball further out than he likes to shoot.''
Aluma didn't score from the field until there was 3:54 left with Virginia safely in front 69-43. He got only seven shots and the frustration showed in Aluma's free-throw shooting as he hit only 6-of-16 from the line despite making 66 percent of his free throws coming into the game.
All this disappointed Liberty coach Jeff Meyer, who expected his team to give a better accounting. Saturday's game came exactly two years to the day of the only other meeting between these schools when UVa won 62-49.
``We weren't the basketball team today we have been through the first seven games,'' Meyer said. ``We were disappointed not with the outcome necessarily, but with the way we played. We were slow out of the gate, but that wasn't a surprise with the time away from competition and with the lineup change.''
That change, Meyer said, was a bigger reason for the wide margin than the defensive job Virginia did on Aluma. Liberty was without 6-6 Erik Sorenson, who has a sore back. The sophomore averages 5.7 points, but Meyer said that isn't a measure of his importance to the Flames.
``Erik's been the glue that holds us together, the mortar between the bricks,'' Meyer said. ``To what degree his absence had to do with the way we played, it's hard to say. We missed Erik, but not to the degree we played today.''
Virginia never trailed as the Cavaliers scored the first 12 points when Liberty (4-4) failed to score on its first nine possessions. Virginia came out with the purpose of going inside. As a result, 6-6 freshman Courtney Alexander had a career high 21 points and 10 rebounds while 6-8 sophomore Norman Nolan added 18 points.
Still the inside game wasn't what Jones or Nolan desired. ``We were up seven points at the half and it wasn't more due to our failure to take advantage of opportunities like free throws and shots around the basket,'' Jones said. ``We'd work to get the ball inside and then come away with one point or no points. That's tough.
``I was disappointed we didn't take advantage of our opportunities. We needed to be greedy, seize the opportunity when it's there. We have to go back to the lesson we learned from Virginia Tech [in a 72-64 loss]. That's an efficient team and we need to play with the same efficiency,'' added Jones.
Nolan, who missed six free throws, had no disagreement with his coach's assessment.
``I started off making my first four. Then I missed four or five in a row. It got to me. I have to be more consistent,'' Nolan said. ``We talked about going inside. Once we go inside, that sets up the outside game. It's getting better every game, but we have to go inside more. We have to get better team chemistry, especially with the ACC coming up next week.''
see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Virginia's Norman Nolan puts up a shot overby CNBLiberty's Adam Hopkins on Saturday. UVa ripped the Flames 76-48. KEYWORDS: BASKETBALL