THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 20, 1997 TAG: 9702200286
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DOUG DOUGHTY, LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: 70 lines
Curtis Staples put Virginia in a position Wednesday night where it could make three field goals in the second half and win a basketball game.
Staples staked the Cavaliers to a 19-point halftime lead, and they held on for a 55-46 victory in what many viewed as a must-win game at North Carolina State.
Staples had seven 3-point field goals in the first half and finished with 26 points as U.Va. (16-10 overall, 6-8 ACC) snapped a four-game losing streak by beating the Wolfpack (10-13, 2-12) for the 11th time in 12 games.
``I told the guys, `Even though we weren't great, we did what we had to do and that's win,' '' Virginia coach Jeff Jones said. ``Regardless of how we played, winning on the road makes us feel pretty good right now.''
The Wolfpack got as close as four points with more than nine minutes remaining. But it could not recover completely from the first-half barrage by Staples, who made his first six 3-point shots.
``Curtis just had it going,'' Jones said, ``but, as I told him at halftime, every one of those shots he took - with the exception of one, and he made that one, too - was a good shot.
``We were very sharp with our ball movement. The screens were good. He was just on fire and we continually tried to go to him. We didn't run many sets. We just said, `Motion ... get Curtis.' ''
Staples had victimized the Wolfpack for a season-high 27 points when the Cavaliers beat State 56-50 in Charlottesville, but they could not find anybody who could guard him in the first half.
``Usually, I know after my first two shots whether I'm going to be `on' or not,'' Staples said. ``I didn't know I had seven (3-pointers) at the half. All I knew was, we were up by 19.''
The Wolfpack made an adjustment at halftime, even switching their big men onto Staples as he came off screens. He was 1 for 3 in the second half, with his only field goal coming on a layup, and the Cavaliers were 3 for 16 (18.8 percent) from the field.
State, coming off an upset victory over then-No. 2 Wake Forest, shot 52.6 percent from the field. But, the Wolfpack missed six of its first seven free throws in the second half, including five in a row.
The free-throw line was where U.Va. won the game, thanks in large part to senior point guard Harold Deane, who did not score from the field but went 8 for 8 from the stripe.
That included a pair of one-and-ones. The first came with 3:15 left and U.Va. clinging to a 46-41 lead, the second with 54.4 seconds remaining and State still hanging around at 48-43.
Deane has been plagued by a bruised lower leg for almost two months, but he seemed to have more movement, possibly a response to hearing that the Cavaliers were a three-point underdog to the ACC's last-place team.
``Coach (Jones) told us at our pre-game meeting,'' said Deane, who was shooting 80 percent from the line before Wednesday, good for fourth in the ACC. ``It's one of those things where we knew we weren't favored to win, but I felt we were supposed to win.
``That's why there wasn't much hooping and hollering and going crazy (in the U.Va. locker room). Plus, we still have a long way to go as far as getting to the NCAA tournament.''
Most analysts feel the Cavaliers must win two more games, possibly two more conference games. They entertain Wake Forest on Saturday before ending the regular season against Virginia Tech in Richmond and Maryland at home.
``We felt like we had to win three of four,'' Deane said. ``We want to win all of our games, but we feel we know what we need to do to get to the tournament.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
N.C. State's Jeremy Hyatt maneuvers past U.Va.'s Monte Marcaccini
and Curtis Staples.