The Garden City Telegram
NEW E-Edition!
Subscription
Required
Add Your Comment | Read (0) Comments
AP: Wake Forest tops Texas in overtime on late shot
Published 3/19/2010 in Sports
By The Associated Press
From No. 1 to one and done: Ishmael Smith's last shot meant one final collapse for Texas.
Smith's pull-up jumper from about 17 feet out with 1.3 seconds remaining in overtime gave ninth-seeded Wake Forest an 81-80 win over the eighth-seeded Longhorns in the first round of the NCAA tournament Thursday night.
1
Associated Press Texas guard Varez Ward lies on the court Thursday as Wake Forest center Chas McFarland celebrates after Wake Forest defeated Texas 81-80 in the first round of the NCAA East Regional in New Orleans.
Texas twice rallied from double-digit deficits, then blew an eight-point lead in overtime, completing a puzzling slide after being ranked No. 1 in the country in January.
"I knew I wasn't going to get all the way to the lane," Smith said. "I knew I had to pull up, and thank God I made a big shot."
It wasn't the first crucial shot for Smith, who as a sophomore made late pull-up jumpers in the final seconds of wins over Virginia Tech and Miami. Now a senior, he made a running jumper with 19.8 seconds left in overtime to lift Wake Forest to a two-point win over Maryland a couple of months ago.
And now this.
"This has to be No. 1, obviously, because I think in the regular season you live to play another game," Smith said. "Now you're in a position — you lose, you go home."
Instead, the Demon Deacons advanced to play top-seeded Kentucky in the second round of the East Regional on Saturday.
It was the third game that went to overtime on a wild first day of NCAA action. Last year, two games went to OT in the entire tournament.
The Demon Deacons (20-10) rallied from a 76-68 deficit in the extra session. They still trailed by four in the final minute, but a 3-pointer by Ari Stewart with 15.9 seconds left made it 80-79.
Gary Johnson then missed two free throws for Texas, giving Smith one more chance.
"They're disappointed," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "I told them, 'You've got to remember this feeling.' The seniors, they've been here and they've done some good things, but it can end real quickly."
Smith finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and eight turnovers.
Wake Forest went on a 17-4 run at the start of the second half to take a 54-42 lead. The Longhorns (24-10), who had wiped out an 11-point deficit in the first half, tied it at 67 on J'Covan Brown's 3-pointer with 49.3 seconds remaining in regulation.
Wake Forest's C.J. Harris made a free throw with 30.5 seconds left, and the Demon Deacons then stopped Texas but turned the ball over trying to inbound it. Damion James tied it for the Longhorns with a free throw with 9.9 seconds left.
Al-Farouq Aminu finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds for Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons weren't playing any better than Texas coming into this game, having lost five of six, but they survived for another round after a game neither team was good enough to put away.
Neither coach was thrilled with the way his team handled the final seconds. After Stewart's 3-pointer made it a one-point game, Texas got the ball to Brown, who shoots about 90 percent from the free throw line. Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio wanted his team to foul immediately, but the Demon Deacons didn't.
"Why we didn't foul initially J'Covan, I'm not sure," he said. "We were supposed to foul him initially."
Brown, however, passed off to avoid being trapped, and Wake Forest was able to foul Johnson, who then missed twice from the free throw line.
"I was watching the 10-second clock because (Brown) should have kept the ball. We wanted him to keep the ball," Barnes said. "I told him that. What he should have done is dribbled it, and see if they would have — because they would have fouled him, because they were yelling for the foul."
Brown, a freshman, scored all 20 of his points after halftime. Jordan Hamilton, another Texas freshman, scored 16 of his 19 in the first half.
East Regional
No. 1 Kentucky 100, No. 16 ETSU 71
At New Orleans, Eric Bledsoe's eight 3-pointers set a Kentucky record for an NCAA tournament game, and the top-seeded Wildcats dominated throughout in a victory over East Tennessee State.
No. 11 Washington 80, No. 6 Marquette 78
At San Jose, Calif., Quincy Pondexter drove for a tiebreaking bank shot with 1.7 seconds left, and 11th-seeded Washington extended its remarkable late-season run into the NCAA tournament with a victory over Marquette.
No. 3 New Mexico 62, No. 14 Montana 57
At San Jose, Calif., Roman Martinez had 19 points, six rebounds and four assists, and third-seeded New Mexico overcame a shaky start to beat 14th-seeded Montana.
Midwest Regional
No. 14 Ohio 97, No. 3 Georgetown 83
At, Providence, R.I., The MAC champion Ohio Bobcats, who had a losing record in conference play, have found their way in March and now boast an NCAA tournament win for the first time in 27 years.
No. 6 Tennessee 62, No. 11 San Diego State 59
At Providence, R.I., Melvin Goins made his fourth 3-pointer with 19 seconds left after San Diego State cut the deficit to one, and Tennessee held off the Aztecs to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament's Midwest Regional.
No. 9 No. Iowa 69, No. 8 UNLV 66
At Oklahoma City, Ali Farokhmanesh hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 4.9 seconds left to lift ninth-seeded Northern Iowa over No. 8 seed UNLV.
West Regional
No. 13 Murray St. 66, No. 4 Vanderbilt 65
At San Jose, Calif., Danero Thomas hit a 15-footer as the buzzer sounded and 13th-seeded Murray State stunned No. 4 seed Vanderbilt.
No. 5 Butler 77, No. 12 UTEP 59
At San Jose, Calif., Shelvin Mack hit a career-high seven 3-pointers and scored 18 of his 25 points after halftime to lead the fifth-seeded Bulldogs.
No. 7 BYU 99, No. 10 Florida 92 (2OT)
At Oklahoma City, Jimmer Fredette scored 37 points, including two 3-pointers in double overtime, to seal the Cougars' thrilling win over 10th-seeded Florida.
South Regional
No. 2 Villanova 73, No. 15 R. Morris 70 (OT)
At Providence, R.I., Scottie Reynolds responded to his benching with a clutch performance at the foul line in the final minutes of regulation to help the Wildcats survive a serious scare after trailing most of the way.
No. 10 St. Mary's 80, No. 7 Richmond 71
At Providence, R.I., Omar Samhan had 29 points and 12 rebounds despite spending most of the game in foul trouble, and Saint Mary's pulled away to win an NCAA tournament game for the first time in six tries since 1959.
No. 11 Old Dominion 51, No. 6 Notre Dame 50
At New Orleans, Carleton Scott's 3-pointer rattled out in the closing seconds, and 11th-seeded Old Dominion stunned the Irish and star Luke Harangody.
No. 3 Baylor 68, No. 14 Sam Houston St. 59
At New Orleans, Ekpe Udoh had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and LaceDarius Dunn scored 13 to help the third-seeded Bears win an NCAA tournament game for the first time in 60 years.
Found 0 comment(s)!