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WINSTON-SALEM — While Wake Forest's seniors spilled their emotional memories of former coach Skip Prosser during a pregame meeting Sunday, Ishmael Smith kept his thoughts brief when his turn came, fearful of becoming choked up.

Instead, he saved his real tribute for the court.

And fittingly, Smith produced a career night that embodied the vision of his talent once held by Prosser, who died suddenly of an apparent heart attack in 2007 prior to beginning his seventh season as the Demon Deacons' basketball coach. The 6-foot senior channeled his emotion into a career high 28 points, nine assists and three blocks to carry Wake Forest to a 96-92 double-overtime victory over Xavier in the first game of the Skip Prosser Classic, a 10-year memorial series between the coach's former teams.

Smith single-handedly carried the Deacons (11-2) through the first overtime, when he scored all seven of Wake's points and buried a 3-pointer to force a second extra period, and buried 10 of his first 12 shot attempts during a game that coach Dino Gaudio said was the best of Smith's career.

"Coach has meant so much to me," Smith said. "Coach Prosser is one of those people that you believe God puts in your life. I know he would've been proud of this one. It was fitting, and it was exciting to play the way I did kind of in his name."

Similar sentiments were shared around Joel Coliseum as memories of Prosser were highlighted in video presentations and tributes before and after the game. Deacons senior L.D. Williams said he couldn't stop himself from tearing up when the first memorial was presented on the arena's scoreboard, and Gaudio later became emotional during the presentation of the series trophy.

It was even more tearful in the locker room before the game, when assistant coach Jeff Battle asked the seniors to share with their teammates what Prosser meant to them. The emotions led Gaudio to leave the room.

"I was choked up," Gaudio said. "I tried talking to the kids about it two days ago. I broke down. I couldn't even finish my talk. There's no question there was a tremendous amount of emotion in the game.

But once they left the locker room, players said those emotions became uplifting. Sophomore forward Al-Farouq Aminu rode them to a 26-point, 18-rebound, three-block performance that helped counter a 30-point night from Xavier guard Jordan Crawford. And the seniors produced game-changing performances while paying tribute to their coach.

Chas McFarland pulled down 14 rebounds to help offset Xavier's tenacious rebounding, which produced a 9-2 edge in the final seven minutes of the first half while Aminu and Crawford were each on the bench with three fouls, helping Xavier take a 43-41 halftime lead. Williams then converted a three-point play off a fast-break layup at the end of regulation to tie the game at 78-78 and force the extra period.

And then there was Smith, first hitting a 3-pointer with 1:37 remaining in regulation that helped Wake overcome a four-point Xavier lead, then burying his 3-pointer to force the second overtime. He finally buried a step-back jumper with 3:06 remaining in double overtime to put the Demon Deacons ahead to stay at 91-89.

XAVIER (8-5) — Love 3-6 0-0 6, Frease 3-6 2-2 8, Lyons 4-11 0-0 9, Holloway 3-17 6-6 13, Crawford 11-25 6-10 30, Redford 1-5 0-0 3, Taylor 1-3 0-0 2, McLean 6-10 9-12 21, Jackson 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 32-86 23-30 92.

WAKE FOREST (11-2) — Aminu 11-19 4-10 26, Weaver 1-3 2-2 4, Smith 10-14 5-9 28, Harris 4-8 7-8 15, Williams 4-8 2-8 10, Clark 0-0 0-0 0, McFarland 0-5 4-6 4, Stewart 3-6 0-0 7, Woods 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 34-66 24-43 96.

Halftime—Xavier 43-41.
End of regulation—Tied 78.
End of first overtime—Tied 85.
3-point goals—Xavier 5-23 (Crawford 2-8, Lyons 1-1, Redford 1-5, Holloway 1-7, Jackson 0-2), Wake Forest 4-10 (Smith 3-3, Stewart 1-1, Weaver 0-1, Williams 0-1, Harris 0-2, Aminu 0-2).
Fouled out—Love, Lyons, McFarland, Williams.
Rebounds—Xavier 50 (McLean 10), Wake Forest 50 (Aminu 18).
Assists—Xavier 11 (Crawford 4), Wake Forest 12 (Smith 9).
Total fouls—Xavier 29, Wake Forest 25.
Technicals—Xavier Bench, McFarland, Williams.
A—14,148.