Glover man of moment

Web posted December 21, 1997

By Andy Johnston
Staff Writer

ATLANTA -- Bobby Cremins is not too quick to praise Dion Glover.

Every compliment is surrounded by criticism, albeit constructive. It happened again Saturday after Glover, Georgia Tech's latest talented freshman, had career-highs with 29 points and 11 rebounds in the Yellow Jackets' 94-86 victory over Louisville in the Delta Air Lines Classic.

``We all know what an outstanding player Dion is, but Dion has got some things to learn, and he knows that,'' said Cremins, Georgia Tech's coach. ``He's got to pull up. He's got to work on his court awareness. He's got to work on his defense. But what he did today, he just kept on playing. All of a sudden he was making things happen.''

Thanks mainly to the 6-foot-5 Glover, Jackets 7-2 overcame a 16-point deficit and scored 64 second-half points to defeat the Cardinals 3-5 for the second time in three weeks.

Glover scored 18 points in Georgia Tech's 73-69 victory over Louisville in the final of the Puerto Rico Shootout on Nov. 29, but the Cardinals had no answers for him at the Georgia Dome. He also had three assists and three steals, none bigger than the pass he swiped at midcourt that he followed with a dunk, giving the Yellow Jackets an 86-81 lead with 2:57 remaining.

``In the first half, we weren't doing so good,'' Glover said. ``Coach told us to come out and keep fighting. We kept fighting. Fortunately we were blessed by God. I know I was praying the whole first half.''

Just one month into the season, Glover, barring injury, is almost a sure bet to be the school's ninth Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year since Cremins took over in 1981. He is third in the ACC in scoring, leads the team in steals and is second in assists.

Even more telling, perhaps, is that Glover already has been named the ACC's Rookie of the Week three times, even with Duke's four freshmen making nightly appearances on SportsCenter.

``Throughout my coaching career, freshmen have played a very important part,'' said Cremins, who also starts freshmen Alvin Jones and Travis Spivey. ``Patience is something I need this year. Our freshmen are going to make mistakes. They're going to do some irrational things on the court. We've got to accept that. We've got to live through it, because they're also going to do some very, very good things.''

It took Glover's heroics and another steady 21-point, 11-point performance from Matt Harpring to overtake the Cardinals. Louisville led by 13 at halftime and built it to 47-31 just 50 seconds into the second half.

``I thought we were dead in the water,'' Cremins said.

Georgia Tech began its decisive run six minutes later, chopping the lead to single digits on Jones' two free throws with 12:41 remaining. The Yellow Jackets took the lead for good on Jones's layup with 4:09 left.

``If we could have just had one more player play up to his ability, I think we could have pulled this one out,'' Louisville coach Denny Crum said. ``We could have won this game if we had a little more poise and taken better care of the ball toward the end. We have yet to get all of our team playing well at the same time.''

[cf3][xx]LOUISVILLE 86 -- N.Johnson 0-4 0-0 0, Dantzler 4-7 3-3 11, Sanders 5-7 2-4 14, Maybin 2-3 0-0 4, Murray 4-9 0-0 8, E.Johnson 8-19 4-5 21, Williams 4-9 2-4 11, Best 1-2 0-0 2, J.Johnson 4-11 0-0 11, Jackson 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 34-73 11-16 86.

GEORGIA TECH 94 -- Harpring 8-16 3-5 21, Maddox 5-7 3-4 14, Jones 2-4 5-6 9, Glover 11-17 7-13 29, Spivey 2-6 5-7 10, Vines 1-3 2-4 5, Floyd 2-6 0-0 6. Totals 31-59 25-39 94.

Halftime -- Louisville 43, Georgia Tech 30. 3-Point goals -- Louisville 7-18 J.Johnson 3-8, Sanders 2-3, E.Johnson 1-2, Williams 1-3, Maybin 0-1, Best 0-1, Georgia Tech 7-21 Floyd 2-4, Harpring 2-6, Spivey 1-2, Maddox 1-3, Vines 1-3, Glover 0-3. Fouled out -- Maddox. Rebounds -- Louisville 38 Sanders 9, Georgia Tech 35 Harpring, Glover 11. Assists -- Louisville 22 Sanders 5, Georgia Tech 15 Spivey 6. Total fouls -- Louisville 30, Georgia Tech 18.