THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 13, 1997 TAG: 9702130571
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DOUG DOUGHTY, LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: 64 lines
Somebody wasn't telling the truth Tuesday night at University Hall.
In a controversial finish that left Virginia players and coaches fuming and officials dodging a barrage of plastic cups, sixth-ranked Duke defeated Virginia 62-61 on a pair of free throws by Steve Wojciechowski with 0.7 seconds remaining.
Although the officials looked at television replays to determine how much time to put on the clock, the chief point of contention was a series of events that started with 5 seconds left, when U.Va.'s Norman Nolan was fouled in the process of shooting.
As Nolan was preparing for the first of two free throws, U.Va. coach Jeff Jones sent freshman Willie Dersch to the scorer's table. It's a common move that allows a team to set its defense following a made free throw.
Nolan made the second of two free throws, putting the Cavaliers ahead 61-60, but none of the officials blew his whistle to stop play. Duke inbounded to Wojociechowski, who drove the length of the floor and he was fouled by Nolan, making his foul shots for the win.
``We didn't see a sub there,'' referee Rick Hartzell told Virginia sports information director Rich Murray, acting as a pool reporter. ``We didn't hear a horn.''
Jones said he couldn't hear the horn, either, but he was adamant that Hartzell had spoken to Dersch only moments earlier.
``He had to know I was there because he signaled me in first and I said, `No, no, no, I'm going in for the shooter,' '' Dersch said. ``You couldn't hear the horn because Norman had hit the foul shot and everyone was going crazy. But when I looked up at the basket, the red light was on.''
After Wojociechowski was fouled, Jones went to official Tim Higgins and pleaded for Duke to be sent back to the baseline with the 5 seconds back on the clock.
``You can't do that,'' Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ``That's not a correctable error. You can only do correctable.''
When there was no restart, the issue was how much time to put on the clock. Replays showed that Wojociechowski was past midcourt before the clock was started and Jones felt that time may have expired when the foul occurred.
As it turned out, that debate cost the Cavaliers. The officials took a look at the replay and, with a hand-held stopwatch, determined that 4.3 seconds had elapsed. That left Virginia with 0.7 seconds, instead of the 2.2 that had been showing.
``I told 'em, `If they do it, Virginia's going to be messed over,' '' Krzyzewski said. ``It's not going to be 2.2. It's going to be .5 or .7. Then, we win. We basically win.''
Jones had put considerable emphasis on the Duke game, particularly after lackluster U.Va. showings on the road against Georgia Tech (66-53) and North Carolina (81-57). Also, the Cavaliers (15-9, 5-7 ACC) probably need three more victories to make the NCAA tournament and only two weeks remain in the regular season.
``I feel badly for our players,'' Jones said. ``They were banged up, there was an awful lot of pressure on them and they found a way against a very, very good Duke team to win a basketball game and it was taken away. It's a shame.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Virginia's Jeff Jones, left: ``They found a way against a very, very
good Duke team to win and it was taken away.'' Duke's Mike
Krzyzewski, right: ``You can only (fix) correctable errors.''