Wake Forest nips No. 17 Gonzaga

SPOKANE, Wash.

There was apparently nothing wrong with Wake Forest that a transfusion of new blood couldn't cure.

Freshman C.J. Harris celebrated his first career start with a season-high 19 points and classmate Ari Stewart drilled four 3-pointers on four tries for a season-high 17 to carry the Deacons to a clutch 77-75 victory over No. 17 Gonzaga last night in front of an ear-splitting crowd of 6,000 at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

"It means a lot for our team," Harris said. "We didn't want to drop three in a row. We came out and beat a good team, and it just showed us how good we are.

"We came into one of the best atmospheres I've played in. The crowd was crazy and we came in and got a good win."

The performance, coming on the heels of back-to-back losses to William & Mary and Purdue, put a new bounce in the Deacons' step going into a week-long break for exams. Wake Forest improved to 5-2 and Gonzaga fell to 6-2 with its fourth loss in 69 games in its home arena.

The Deacons had to overcome both a deafening environment, plus foul trouble that saddled the front line throughout and contributed to another wobbly performance by star sophomore forward Al-Farouq Aminu (nine points and five rebounds in 25 minutes). But Aminu did leave his impact on the win shortly before fouling out with eight seconds left, when he dunked a lob from Ish Smith for a 76-73 lead.

Coach Dino Gaudio called timeout to set up the play, which surprised even Smith, a senior point guard who overcame his 4-for-12 accuracy from the floor by pulling down a team-high nine rebounds and dishing out eight assists. Smith received the inbound pass from L.D. Williams and laid the ball up for Aminu breaking down the left side of the lane.

"That was a huge play," Smith said. "We've been working on that play. We call it New Orleans. We executed it to the T.

"Coach called a great timeout. I thought we were going to go flat and just let me create something. Coach pulled it out and got us a good bucket, and that ended up being a huge bucket."

Aminu's two missed free throws with 31.5 remaining gave Gonzaga a chance to tie the game on three free throws by Steven Gray, who was fouled beyond the 3-point arc for Aminu's fifth personal. But Gray missed the second and third attempts, and Stewart rebounded.

After Stewart made one of two free throws for a 77-74 lead with 5.8 remaining, Gaudio chose to have his team foul before the Bulldogs could get off a shot. Williams fouled Matt Bouldin at midcourt with 3.7 seconds remaining, and Bouldin, who led Gonzaga with 22 points, made the first and intentionally missed the second. He failed to hit the rim, however, which turned the ball back over to the Deacons.

After falling behind 24-11, the Deacons caught a break late in the half when Bouldin fouled Harris on a 3-point attempt while underneath the basket. Freshman forward Elias Harris knocked Chas McFarland of the Deacons down with a forearm shiver to the throat.

The officials huddled and assessed a flagrant foul on Harris, ejecting him from the game. Harris hit four of five free throws and Stewart drilled a 3-pointer from the left corner for a seven-point play that pared the Bulldogs' lead to 31-29.

Moments later Smith drove through the Gonzaga defense and whipped a pass to Tony Woods for a dunk that tied the game at 31.

Stewart then drilled a 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left for a 34-33 halftime lead.

WFU Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Aminu 25 4-11 0-2 3-5 0 5 9

McFarland 23 3-6 3-4 5-8 1 5 9

Smith 36 4-12 0-0 3-9 8 1 8

Harris 32 2-6 13-15 1-4 2 2 19

Williams 27 0-7 4-4 2-4 0 3 4

Clark 11 3-6 0-0 1-2 1 0 7

Stewart 14 6-9 1-2 0-3 0 2 17

Tucker 2 0-0 0-1 0-0 0 0 0

Weaver 20 1-3 0-0 1-3 0 4 2

Woods 10 1-3 0-0 0-1 0 4 2

Totals 200 24-63 21-28 16-42 12 26 77

Percentages: FG .381, FT .750; 3-Point Goals: 8-15, .533 (Stewart 4-4, Harris 2-3, Aminu 1-1, Clark 1-2, McFarland 0-1, Smith 0-2, Williams 0-2); Team Rebounds: 3; Blocked Shots: 1 (Smith); Turnovers: 10 (Smith 3, McFarland 3, Aminu 2, Stewart, Williams); Steals: 3 (Weaver, Williams, Smith);

GONZ. Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Harris 14 1-2 0-0 0-2 1 1 2

Sacre 26 2-7 3-7 2-9 1 3 7

Goodson 25 3-8 1-1 0-1 1 1 8

Bouldin 40 6-12 8-10 0-4 5 3 22

Gray 28 2-6 7-11 0-3 0 3 11

Arop 24 4-8 0-0 3-9 4 2 9

Vilarino 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Gibbs 4 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 1 0

Olynyk 19 1-3 2-5 0-1 0 5 4

Kong 12 4-5 0-0 0-1 1 0 12

Foster 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 200 23-51 21-34 9-36 13 20 75

Percentages: FG .451, FT .618; 3-Point Goals: 8-18, .444 (Kong 4-4, Bouldin 2-6, Arop 1-1, Goodson 1-3, Olynyk 0-1, Gray 0-3); Team Rebounds: 5; Blocked Shots: 3 (Sacre 2, Harris); Turnovers: 10 (Gray 2, Bouldin 2, Goodson, Arop, Olynyk, Harris, Foster, Sacre); Steals: 4 (Goodson 2, Arop, Bouldin); Technical Fouls: Goodson, Harris.

Wake Forest 34 43 -- 77
Gonzaga 33 42 -- 75

A--6,000.