THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 7, 1995 TAG: 9503070380
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
``ACC Champs.''
Those words were hastily scribbled on the blackboard in the Virginia locker room Sunday following the Cavaliers' 92-67 victory over Maryland.
So what if the same words could have been written in locker rooms at North Carolina, Wake Forest and Maryland as the ACC regular season ended in an unprecedented four-way tie?
It did not matter to the celebrating Cavaliers, who had not finished on top of the standings in any fashion since 1983.
It didn't matter, either, that the Cavaliers were seeded fourth for the ACC tournament that begins Thursday in Greensboro.
``I am not disappointed at all,'' center Chris Alexander said. ``I know people who would pay millions of dollars to have even a tiny piece of what we have right now.''
Wake Forest received the top seed for the tournament by having swept the Cavaliers in both regular-season games. Likewise, that's how the Cavaliers wound up with the fourth seed.
The other three top finishers split their series against one another. North Carolina got the No. 2 seed by sweeping fifth-place Georgia Tech. Maryland split with the Yellow Jackets.
``This league was like a monster this year, especially with the four top teams being as good as they are,'' Alexander said.
``To come out of it with 12 wins, which Virginia hasn't done in a long, long time, is a definite accomplishment.
``This is what we worked hard for all summer, running in the hot sun, and in the fall. This is what it was all for.''
The Cavaliers, who had seen their title hopes fade with losses at Maryland on Feb. 1 and at Wake Forest on Feb. 26, were afforded a second chance when Wake Forest also beat Maryland and North Carolina.
Still, the Cavaliers had to beat the Terps to get a share, and that meant containing Joe Smith, who had 29 points and 21 rebounds against them in College Park.
Smith got 25 points but only five rebounds in the rematch.
The player doing a bruising job on Smith was Yuri Barnes, whose presence bumped Alexander from the starting lineup for the first time this season.
Barnes started because he was a senior playing the last home game of his career, and Alexander was his most vocal supporter.
``We were determined not to let Smith destroy us again, and the biggest spark came from Yuri,'' Alexander said.
``It wasn't your typical senior-day ceremonial start. Yuri was a definite factor right from the beginning and that gave us confidence.''
Barnes, who had started only one game previously this season, was suspended for the Duke game two weeks ago for an unspecified violation of team rules.
``It felt good to play strong and with that old fire again,'' the 6-foot-8 Barnes said.
``I guess I got to start because I am a senior, but I wanted to show I deserved to be out there, and to leave a good impression.''
Barnes was so emotionally charged that he knew what to expect the first time he went to the free throw line and put up a couple of bricks.
``I was overanxious and it showed,'' Barnes said. ``I basically knew I was going to miss those, just because my adrenalin level was so high.''
The decisive victory was in sharp contrast to the beginning of the season last November when the Cavaliers stumbled by Old Dominion and lost to Ohio University in the preseason NIT.
``We have grown up a lot since then,'' court leader Harold Deane said. ``We had a lot of adversity during that time and we have overcome a lot of things.
``Some people said we couldn't do certain things, but we like being underdogs. Once again we've proven people wrong by beating Maryland the way we did.''
Deane said the convincing victory provides the Cavaliers a lot of confidence going into the tournament.
``We have accomplished one of our goals and now we want to get another by winning the tournament,'' Deane said.
Meanwhile, Maryland was putting a different spin on the loss that prevented it from winning the title outright.
``Right now we have a very sour taste in our mouths,'' guard Duane Simpkins said.
``We can't wait to put our uniforms on again and prove we are better than we were against Virginia.''
As bitter as the defeat tasted, the Terps may have gotten a consolation prize by not being the No. 1 seed and facing the possibility of meeting Duke in an opening tournament game.
Maryland beat the Blue Devils by two points in each of the regular-season games.
As the No. 3 seed, the Terps will open the tournament against Florida State, which it beat by 13 and 15 points during the regular season. by CNB