The Cavalier daily :: Friday, January 12, 1968 :: University of Virginia Library

The Virginia Cavaliers traveled
to South Carolina last night to
Clemson's Cow Palace to take on
the cellar-dwelling Tiger hoopsters,
and come within a hair of extending
their loss skein to seven. Stellar
clutch performances by Mike
Wilkes and Norm Carmichael,
however, pulled the Cavaliers
through, and enabled them to
sneak past Clemson in the last
seconds of the contest, 95-92.

Behind Most Of The Game

The first half was all Clemson,
as the Cavaliers, obviously cold,
and perhaps somewhat rattled by
the rather raucous Clemson crowd,
were down by as much as 11
points at one time in that segment.
The sharpshooting of guard Tony
Kinn, who scored 18 first-half
points, and a Virginia scoring
flourish at the end of the half,
narrowed the Tiger lead to six
points, 50-44, at the intermission.

The Cavaliers came back after
the break and continued their scoring
rally to quickly knot the game
at 56-56. Clemson refused to give,
up the lead, as the two teams swapped
baskets, until Tony Kinn sunk
a 25 foot jump shot with 5:33
left to put the Cavaliers in the lead
83-81. The lead was only temporary
for the Cavaliers, however,
as the Tigers forged ahead once
again for what appeared to be, with
only 1:44 remaining, the last, decisive
time.

Carmichael Ties Score

Carmichael made the score 9089
with 1:32 left, as he sunk two
foul shots, and then tied the score
with 39 seconds on the clock by
sinking the first foul shot in a
one-and-one situation. After missing
his first attempt from the
charity stripe, Mike Wilkes put
the Cavaliers ahead, 91-90, by
sinking his last shot. Wilkes sunk
another pressure shot on a one-and-one
to make it 92-90 with
24 seconds to go, and after missing
his second shot, Carmichael tapped
it in to ice the game for the
Cavaliers at 94-90. A Clemson
Clemson field goal and one more
free throw by John English
finalized the score at 95-92.

Four In Double Figures

Offensively, the Virginia scoring
attack was well-balanced, with four
players netting double figure totals.
Besides Kinn, who added 11 second
half points for a total of 29,
Mike Katos scored 20, Carmichael,
18, with 13 coming in
the crucial second half, and Mike
Wilkes, Virginia's most valuable
ex-substitute, netted 17.

For the Tigers, the scoring load
was shared, for the most part,
between Butch Zatezelo and Richie
Mehaffey. Zatezelo, who entered
the game as the ACC's number
two scorer, matched Kinn's 29
points, some five points above
his season average. Mehaffey,
younger brother of former
Clemson great, Rantly Mehaffey
bucketed 23 points and was instrumental
in giving the Tigers
their advantage on the backboards.

Even though the opponent was
not too terribly formidable, and the
victory not tremendously decisive,
the Virginia win is a significant
one. The Cavaliers, who have lately
received much criticism for
blowing their cool in the waning
minutes of the game, proved they
can win under pressure.