THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603170194
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DALLAS LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
When Virginia Tech lost to Massachusetts a month ago, Ace Custis shouldered much of the blame because he answered Marcus Camby's 31 points with only seven of his own.
Saturday, Custis could have played like an All-American and Kentucky might still have swamped the Hokies. Custis, however, did no such thing. Overwhelmed by the Wildcats' stable of height and weight, the junior from Eastville registered only eight points and five rebounds.
On defense, he was largely defenseless as forwards Antoine Walker and Walter McCarty combined for 40 points on a variety of dunks and layups.
So Kentucky not only swallowed the Hokies 84-60 in the Midwest Regional's second round, it also revealed once again the lengths Custis, a lean 206 pounds, must go to become a consistently effective college big man as a senior.
``We're playing him against kids who are a little bigger, a little stronger,'' Virginia Tech coach Bill Foster said. ``In a game like that he's kind of one of your key guys. You need him to have kind of an up game.
``I thought he played better in the second half, but he didn't get a lot of production in the first half, though not from lack of effort.''
Custis had only two points and two rebounds at the half on 1-for-4 shooting.
He finished 3 for 7 from the floor, the fifth time in the last eight games that Custis scored no more than three field goals.
Kentucky's suffocating defense had plenty to do with that. Still, it was clear that Custis lacked the strength and moves to either get open or create a shot for himself once he had the ball.
``I feel I played a bad game,'' Custis said. ``I didn't really have many opportunities to shoot the ball because they were always active. They were in my face every time I got the ball.''
Unheralded when he arrived at Tech from Northampton High School, Custis overcame reconstructive knee surgery as a freshman and blossomed into a quiet, steady force his first two seasons.
Custis was unable to sneak up on anybody this season, however. And though he led the Hokies with 13.6 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, nothing came easily. Foster hopes Custis remembers that as he heads into his offseason workouts.
``This will be a great learning year for him,'' Foster said. ``Last year nobody knew who he was and he had a whale of a year with 18 double-doubles (double figure games in points and rebounds.) This year, everybody knew who he was and he struggled to get 10 double-doubles.
``My guess is he'll get married to the weight room starting next Monday, because the word out on him is beat him up and you can take care of him. So he's just got to get a little stronger and a little more maturity about him.''
Custis said that message had hit home even before Saturday.
``I had my ups and downs. I don't think I was consistent at all,'' Custis said. ``I have a lot of improvement to do, both on the perimeter and in the post. What I'm gonna do is get in the weight room and work all summer long, put on some pounds and get ready to play with the big guys next year.
``I would've like to have played better here, but there's nothing I can do now. I've got to put these games behind me. Since our (four) seniors are leaving, I've gotta try to be the leader for this team next year. I've gotta look forward to the future.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Virginia Tech's Ace Custis registered only eight points and five
rebounds.
by CNB