news-record.com

SPORTS

13th-seeded Cleveland State stuns Wake Forest

Saturday, March 21, 2009
(Updated 4:38 am)

MIAMI -- Wake Forest, a team that won its first 16 games and was ranked No. 1 at one point, saw its season end abruptly on Friday night as Cleveland State upset the Deacons 84-69 at the AmericanAirlines Arena.

It was case of revisionist history for the Deacons and the Vikings.

In Cleveland State's only other NCAA tournament appearance in 1986, the Vikings, seeded No. 14, upset Indiana, a No. 3 seed 83-79 and won another game before being eliminated.

In 2001, when Wake Forest played Butler in the first round of the Midwest Regional in Kansas City, the Deacons trailed 40-12 at halftime and went on to lose 79-63.

With Cleveland State jumping to a 9-0 lead on two 3-pointers from Cedric Jackson and one from Norris Cole, the Deacons never faced a 40-12 deficit, but they found themselves in a hole they couldn't escape.

"This hurts as much as anything that I have ever experienced," said Wake Forest guard Ishmael Smith. "We have a disappointed locker room. Jackson is a heck of a player. He had me on my heels the entire game."

The No. 13-seeded Vikings (26-10) will play No. 12-seeded Arizona (20-13), an 84-71 upset winner over Utah, at 2:47 p.m. on Sunday for the right to play at Indianapolis.

"We knew to give ourselves a chance that we would have to hit them early," Cleveland State coach Gary Waters said. "I think that we surprised them, but once they recovered, it became a game."

Wake Forest (24-7) is the highest seed, No. 4, to lose in the first round. The Deacons are 8-7 since their 16-game winning streak was broken 78-71 by Virginia Tech on Jan. 21.

The Deacons finished the game with 18 turnovers, more than their 15.8 average for the season, and in a game where they had a tremendous size advantage inside, they only matched Cleveland State with 38 points in the paint.

J'Nathan Bullock, clearly outmanned inside by Wake Forest, finished with 21 points and six rebounds. Cole led the Vikings with 22 points, and Jackson had 19 points.

"We always felt that we had a chance," Cole said. "We just had to stay with the game plan."

In addition to their points, Jackson and Cole helped Cleveland State control the game's tempo.

"We needed to have the game played at our speed," Waters said, "and I think that it was."

It was a matter of playing catch-up the entire game as Cleveland State rushed to a 17-point lead with 8:48 left in the first half on a basket by Cole.

The Vikings were able to control the tempo, and they were aided by nine Wake Forest turnovers in the first half, two in the game's opening minutes.

Cleveland State, a 32 percent team on 3-pointers during the season, hit 6 of 14 (43 percent), and five of those came in the first half.

In the final 5:43, Wake Forest outscored Cleveland State 14-6, cutting the margin to nine, 39-30 on James Johnson's 3-pointer with 30 seconds left

"If it wasn't the way James played, it might have been much worse," coach Dino Gaudio said. "He kept us in the game."

Johnson had a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds for Wake Forest. Al-Farouq Aminu had 17 points, and Jeff Teague 10 points.

It appeared the second half would start the same as the first half when George Tandy and Bullock scored for a 43-30 lead, but Wake Forest gathered itself quicker this time.

Wake Forest cut it to six, 55-49, with 11:04 to play on a 3-point play from David Weaver, but it would get no closer.

The Vikings outscored the Deacons 18-4 over the next 7:37 with two Cole free throws providing the biggest lead of the night at 19, 73-54, with 3:27 left.

"When we cut it to six, Jackson hit a 3-pointer, and they went on a run," Gaudio said.

It was a run that gives the Vikings a chance to separate themselves from the 1986 team.

"We understand their legacy," Cole said, "but we want to continue writing a new chapter. We don't plan on it ending in the next game."

There is no next game for the Deacons, but Gaudio refused to be disappointed about the season.

"Considering how young we are and the way we played throughout the entire season," Gaudio said, "I'm proud of our kids. It is a tough locker room tonight, but we will learn from this and be ready next year."

CLEVELAND STATE

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Tandy 23 2-5 2-2 2-5 2 4 6

Bullock 38 8-16 4-5 4-6 1 0 21

Moore 28 4-9 1-2 3-6 0 2 9

Jackson 38 8-14 0-1 2-7 8 2 19

Cole 37 8-18 5-6 0-0 4 2 22

Harmon 18 1-1 3-4 0-0 0 2 6

Montgomery 13 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 3 0

Fields 5 0-2 1-2 0-0 0 2 1

Totals 200 31-65 16-22 14-32 15 17 84

Percentages: FG .477, FT .727.

3-Point goals: 6-15, .400 (Jackson 3-4, Harmon 1-1, Bullock 1-4, Cole 1-6).

Team rebounds: 7.

Blocked shots: 1 (Tandy).

Turnovers: 6 (Jackson 2, Montgomery, Cole, Tandy, Fields).

Steals: 9 (Jackson 3, Tandy, Montgomery, Cole, Harmon, Moore, Bullock).

Technical fouls: None.

WAKE FOREST

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Aminu 31 7-11 2-2 2-6 1 3 17

Johnson 36 8-13 2-3 3-8 1 4 22

Woods 5 0-1 0-0 1-2 0 1 0

Teague 37 4-7 2-4 0-1 5 3 10

Williams 30 2-4 1-2 1-5 0 3 5

Clark 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Hale 8 0-2 0-0 1-1 0 1 0

Smith 26 2-6 2-3 0-3 3 2 6

McFarland 17 1-2 2-2 1-5 0 3 4

Weaver 8 2-3 1-1 1-1 0 0 5

Totals 200 26-50 12-17 10-33 10 20 69

Percentages: FG .520, FT .706.

3-Point goals: 5-13, .385 (Johnson 4-5, Aminu 1-3, Williams 0-1, Clark 0-1, Teague 0-1, Smith 0-2).

Team rebounds: 1.

Blocked shots: 13 (Johnson 4, McFarland 3, Aminu 2, Smith, Woods, Teague, Weaver).

Turnovers: 18 (Teague 7, Smith 3, Aminu 3, Johnson 3, McFarland, Williams).

Steals: 4 (Smith 2, Johnson, Hale).

Technical fouls: None.

Cleveland State 39 45 -- 84

Wake Forest 30 39 -- 69

Officials--Les Jones, Steve Olson, Lamar Simpson.

A--8,990.

eMail Updates

Advertisement | Advertise with Us

Local Tickets

View All

Featured Ads

Search

Advertisement | Advertise with Us
Advertisement | Advertise with Us
Advertisement | Advertise with Us

News & Record Network Sites

User Tools

  • Social Networking
  • RSS
  • Share
  • Sign in to MyNR

Search