THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 20, 1995 TAG: 9502200150
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
Dean Smith said what a lot of people may have been silently thinking Sunday after Virginia defeated his North Carolina Tar Heels.
``They are better without Cory Alexander,'' Smith declared following Virginia's 73-71 victory that lifted the Cavaliers (18-6, 10-3) into a tie with the Tar Heels (20-3, 10-3) for first place in the ACC.
Smith, who still had beads of sweat rolling down his face several minutes after the dramatic outcome, meant no disrespect to Alexander, whose broken right ankle has put him on the sidelines for the remainder of the season.
He said it as praise for Virginia sophomore Harold Deane, who is back at the controls of the Cavaliers in the wake of Alexander's injury.
And who could blame Smith for feeling that way after Deane led Virginia from 11 points down to the victory that set off the wildest postgame celebration in University Hall this year.
Fans ran onto the court, lifted Deane onto their shoulders, and surged toward press row to shout at ABC television announcers, ``We're No. 1!''
``It was a great moment,'' Deane said.
The guard scored the decisive two points from the foul line with 4.2 seconds remaining.
The victory was sealed when North Carolina's Jerry Stackhouse took a long inbounds pass near the right sideline and bobbled the ball without getting off a final shot.
Stackhouse, who scored 13 points, had tied the score at 71 on a layup with 14.6 seconds remaining.
With the clock ticking down, Deane found himself in a double-team near the key and elected to drive toward the goal, where North Carolina's 6-foot-10 center Rasheed Wallace stood guard.
Deane went up to shoot and made contact with Wallace, who was whistled for a foul, a call Wallace disputed after the game.
Smith said from where he was standing - on the opposite end of the court - he would side with Wallace.
``I was very disappointed a foul was called,'' Smith said.
But he could not have been surprised it was Deane driving the final spike into the Virginia victory.
Smith had seen Deane, who had 28 points, hurt the Tar Heels throughout the second half by winding down the clock and then driving for goals.
``He is a marvelous player,'' Smith said.
When Deane wasn't penetrating UNC's defense, he was shooting over it.
He was 4 for 5 on 3-point goals, a performance Smith had witnessed previously from him.
``He (Deane) does a marvelous job hitting the long threes, some from the NBA line, when covered,'' Smith said.
``He did the same thing to us last year in the ACC tournament and at our place this year. We can't cover him any better. Maybe the best thing to do is just run away from him.''
North Carolina had led most of the way and had a 44-33 lead when Deane hit a 3-pointer to ignite one of Virginia's most spectacular offensive streaks of the season.
Virginia outscored North Carolina, 25-4, in the next 7:40 for their own 58-48 lead.
Deane scored 15 points and freshman Curtis Staples added a pair of 3-pointers during the run.
Staples, after a dreadful start, scored all 11 of his points in the second half. He was 0 for 6 in the first half.
``We all were just pumped up too much in the first half,'' Staples said. ``I wanted to win this game so badly - the adrenaline was pumping too hard.''
Staples said Virginia coach Jeff Jones recognized the problem, too, with the Cavaliers down, 32-24, at intermission.
``He didn't holler at us. He just said we would win the game if we calmed down. That is all it took.''
Jones, indeed, felt optimistic with Virginia behind by eight points after shooting only 28.9 percent.
``We played as poor a first half offensively as possible,'' Jones said. ``But we did play hard, getting offensive rebounds and scrambling for loose balls.''
Virginia's biggest problem was Wallace, who bagged 9 of 11 field-goal attempts, scored 23 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and forced the Cavaliers outside with his defensive pressure.
``Rasheed was taking everything away inside, so we decided to go with a small lineup and a perimeter game,'' Jones said.
Virginia received an excellent performance from center Chris Alexander, who had his best game of the season.
He took only two shots, which he made, but he had seven rebounds, blocked four shots, and played rugged defense.
Jones noted Virginia's climb to the ACC penthouse philosophically.
``It is better than being tied for last place,'' he smiled. ``It is a good feeling, but we are wise enough to know that things can change quickly in the this league.''
Virginia and North Carolina have three games remaining, and Maryland is a half-game behind them.
North Carolina's remaining games are against Florida State, Wake Forest, and Duke. Virginia will finish up against Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, and Maryland. ILLUSTRATION: Landmark News Service color photo
Virginia fans and players take to the floor of University Hall to
celebrate the Cavaliers' 73-71 win over North Carolina on Sunday.
LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE photo
Virginia's Junior Burrough, left, is fouled by Rasheed Wallace.
Wallace got the best of Burrough, though, outscoring him, 23-8.
by CNB