THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 19, 1995 TAG: 9501190522
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Fresh from the greatest comeback in school history, the Virginia Cavaliers went looking for another landmark victory Wednesday night but ended up with their first ACC defeat instead.
Three-point attempts by Curtis Staples and Harold Deane missed their target in the final eight seconds to seal a 79-76 defeat to third-ranked North Carolina.
The outcome kept the Cavaliers (10-4, 4-1 ACC) winless in the Smith Center in 10 visits and left them tied with the the Tar Heels (13-1, 4-1) for first place in the ACC.
``We had our opportunities but didn't take advantage of them,'' said Virginia coach Jeff Jones, who was a point guard on the last Virginia team to win in Chapel Hill, in 1981 before the Dean Dome was built.
With ACC leading scorer Jerry Stackhouse nursing a dislocated little finger on his right hand, the Tar Heels depended on 23 points from guard Donald Williams and 21 from center Rasheed Wallace.
Williams, who had a 39 percent field goal average coming in, made five of six 3-point attempts in his best performance of the season.
``This definitely was a big win for us,'' Williams said.
``One of our goals is to win the ACC regular-season, and if we had lost we would have been two games behind them instead of being tied.''
North Carolina, after losing its first league game to N.C. State, has won its last four.
Virginia, which rallied from 23 points down to defeat Duke on Saturday, dropped 12 points behind the Tar Heels with 13:45 left in the second half.
The Cavaliers rallied back twice to within four points, each time on back-to-back goals by Junior Burrough, and finally pulled to within two (78-76) on a layup by Deane with 25 seconds left.
When the Heels' Pearce Landry split a pair of free throws, the Cavaliers got the ball with 21 seconds left with a chance to tie.
Burrough missed inside on a 2-point attempt before Staples and Deane failed on 3-point bids for the tie.
``I didn't know how much time was left and I was just trying to get the best shot I could,'' Deane said.
``It didn't feel good when I put it up.''
Deane, whose 3-pointer had cut North Carolina's lead to three with 37 seconds left, finished with 20 points.
Burrough had 22, with 18 coming in the second half.
Stackhouse, who is averaging 21.5 points per game, had his lowest output of the season, hitting only 2 of 13 attempts for 8 points.
``I was just missing shots that I usually make,'' Stackhouse said. ``I don't think their defense had anything to do with it.''
Williams, the most valuable player in North Carolina's national championship two years ago, scored 11 of Carolina's first 14 points and had a big 3-pointer at the end of the half provided the Heels with a 40-36 advantage.
Another 3-pointer by Williams gave the Heels a 57-45 lead with 13:45 left.
``I knew he (Williams) was going to have a good night,'' said backcourt mate Jeff McInnis, ``because he was asking for the ball after he hit his first goal.''
Virginia tightened its perimeter defense in the second half, but that left the 6-foot-11 Wallace with more room underneath.
Wallace had 14 of his 21 points in the final half, hitting five of his seven attempts.
X-rays after the game revealed no fracture for UNC center Serge Zwikker, who left the game in the second half after twisting his ankle. ILLUSTRATION: Associated Press color photo
Virginia's Jamal Robinson, left, and Harold deane hound Jeff McInnis
of North Carolina.
by CNB