THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 12, 1995 TAG: 9503120473
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENSBORO LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Quite clearly, if Wake Forest doesn't win the ACC tournament it will be because someone finds a way to stop Randolph Childress.
Virginia took its best shot Saturday in the semifinals and came away with its third loss of the season, 77-68, to Mr. Childress and Company.
Not even a dislocated small finger on his shooting hand could prevent Childress from scoring 30 points to escort the Demon Deacons to their first championship game since 1978.
They have not won the tournament since 1962.
Childress was so effective that the Cavaliers didn't realize he had played the entire second half with a throbbing pain in his finger.
``I did't notice there was anything wrong with him,'' freshman guard Curtis Staples said.
``He's been in a zone this whole tournament, and when he is like that I don't know anyone who can stop him.''
That could be bad news for North Carolina, which also advanced to the championship game with a semifinals victory over Maryland.
Childress bagged 40 points Friday in an 87-70 quarterfinals victory over Duke, and is 36 points shy of the tournament record of 106 points set by North Carolina's Lennie Rosenbluth in 1957.
The Deacons (23-5), as against Duke, dropped behind early and turned on the power after trailing, 36-28, at intermission.
``Virginia took it to us the first half,'' Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said. ``It was all Virginia. We were fortunate to be only eight points down.''
The Deacons turned things around by going inside to center Tim Duncan and by tightening up their defense.
Duncan had 14 of his 20 points in the second half.
Virginia (22-8), which shot 50 percent in the first half, chilled down to 23.8 percent in the final half.
``Ultimately, the game came down to discipline,'' Virginia coach Jeff Jones said.
``I think our impatience and lack of discipline on the offensive end was the reason we shot so poorly in the second half.''
Until the offensive collapse, it seemed Junior Burrough, with 31 points, might carry the Cavaliers to their second straight title game.
Burrough, who had a career-high 36 points against Georgia Tech on Friday, couldn't do it by himself again, though, and he had tough going against the 6-foot-11 Duncan.
``We didn't have anyone tall enough to play with Duncan,'' the 6-8 Burrough said, ``but we didn't let him intimidate us.
``We kept taking it to him and made him sweat some. We were going to score or he was going to block it.''
Duncan had six blocks, and Virginia got only 10 points from its other inside players.
The Cavaliers didn't have anyone to match Childress on the perimeter, either.
Staples, the Cavs' best gunner, had 16 points but was 4 for 13 on 3-pointers.
Point guard Harold Deane was 2 for 9 from long range and 4 for 16 overall.
Meanwhile Childress and Duncan combined to score 16 of the Deacons' final 20 points.
Childress had a 3-pointer and four free throws as Wake Forest pulled away in the final three minutes.
``He (Childress) thrives on late-game situations, and he did that again today,'' Jones said. ``You know as the game goes on he is going to get better.''
Childress had jammed his finger at 3:58 in the first half with Virginia leading, 30-24.
He went to the sidelines only long enough for treatment. ``It hurt like hell, but nothing was going to keep me out of the game for long,'' he said.
Childress iced the finger at intermission without cooling his hot hand.
``I was worried at first the finger might have been broken,'' Childress said. ``It didn't really bother my shooting that much, it just hurt.''
Childress said he isn't concerned the Deacons had to come from behind to win both games.
``It is a 40-minute game,'' he reminded. ``Nothing is decided until the second half.''
Wake Forest's 23rd victory tied the school record set in 1984, and their nine-game winning streak is their longest since the same year. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
PAUL AIKEN/Staff
Junior Burrough, left, and Harold Deane of Virginia agonize over the
Cavaliers' 77-68 loss to Wake Forest on Saturday.
by CNB