Reversal of fortune: Wake Forest blows two big leads, then rallies for OT win

Mr. Big Shot made the biggest shot of his career to propel Wake Forest past Texas 81-80 in overtime and into the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Ish Smith, who picked up that nickname for game-winning shots, drained a 14-footer with 1.3 seconds left as the Deacons pulled out one of the most improbable victories in school history.

Down 74-68 with three minutes left, Wake Forest got a key 3-pointer from freshman Ari Stewart to close to 80-79 with 16 seconds left.

Gary Johnson missed two free throws with 10.9 seconds left to give the Deacons one last chance and Smith made the most of it by driving right of the key, pulling up and making the winning shot.

"That was a big one," Smith said. "That might have been the biggest one of all.

"Texas did a great job of keeping me out of the lane the second part of the half, so I knew I wasn't going to be able to get all the way to the rim, so I just pulled up.

"It feels good, but now you know it doesn't get any easier."

The Deacons improved to 20-10 and will play No. 1 seed Kentucky on Saturday night at 8:15.

Al-Farouq Aminu led the Deacons with 20 points and 15 rebounds and Smith finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. J'Covan Brown scored 20 and Jordan Hamilton had 19 for the Longhorns, who closed their season at 24-10 after missing four free throws in the past 48 seconds.

The Deacons routed Texas 59-34 on the backboards, but had 20 turnovers to only five by the Longhorns.

Wake Forest almost walked right out of the NCAA Tournament when senior L.D. Williams was called for traveling by moving on an inbound play with 13.6 seconds left in regulation.

The Longhorns tied the game on one of two free throws by Damion James with 9.9 seconds remaining.

Hamilton, a 6-7 freshman averaging 9.8 points a game, saved the Longhorns in the first half with 18 points in just 16 minutes. Hamilton made five of 10 shots from the floor -- including four of eight from 3-point range -- and did all of his damage after Texas started by missing 12 of its first 14 shots from the floor.

The Longhorns outscored Wake Forest 19-10 over the final 7½ minutes of the half to take a 38-37 halftime lead.

But the Deacons carried into the locker room the momentum provided by Tony Woods' dunk at the buzzer.

David Weaver, a fifth-year senior, started in place of freshman C.J. Harris.

It was the seventh start of the season for Weaver, but only his second since an 85-83 victory over Maryland on Jan. 12.

Wake Forest started strong on the way to a quick 18-7 lead on Ari Stewart's second straight 3-pointer with 12 minutes left in the half. The Deacons led 27-19 after a 3-point play by Aminu with 7:36 left in the half.

Nine first-half turnovers and six missed free throws caught up with the Deacons, as did the hot hand of Hamilton, Texas scored eight straight points to tie the game at 27, and extended its lead to 36-30 before Wake Forest outscored the Longhorns 7-2 over the final minute and a half.

The Deacons spent the week leading up to last night's game talking about the need to change the well-earned perception of a team that comes up short in postseason play. The stigma worsened last March when the Deacons were thumped 84-69 by Cleveland State, the 13th seed from the Horizon League.

"It's a new year," Gaudio said. "We've just got to go out there and just play hard for 40 minutes or 45, which we're very capable of doing.

"We've done it all year. We've won at some tough places. But that's the next step for us. It really is. That's the next step for us."

dcollins@wsjournal.com.


727-7323

WFU MP FG FT OR-T A F Pt

Aminu 41 6-18 6-7 4-15 1 3 20

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

McFarland 23 1-2 1-3 2-7 2 5 3

Smith 44 9-18 0-0 3-12 7 3 19

Williams 43 4-9 1-2 1-9 2 3 9

Harris 31 1-8 4-6 1-1 2 2 6

Stewart 12 3-8 2-2 1-3 0 3 11

Woods 23 5-6 1-4 7-8 0 2 11

Totals 225 30-70 15-24 20-59 15 24 81

Percentages: FG .429, FT .625. 3-Point Goals: 6-18, .333 (Stewart 3-7, Aminu 2-5, Smith 1-1, Harris 0-5). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 4 (Williams 2, Woods, McFarland). Turnovers: 20 (Smith 8, Williams 3, Aminu 3, Woods 2, Stewart, Harris, Weaver, McFarland). Steals: 2 (Harris, Aminu). Technical Fouls: None.

TEXAS MP FG FT OR-T A F Pt

Johnson 32 3-5 3-6 2-5 2 4 9

James 35 4-14 7-8 1-6 2 5 16

Pittman 21 1-4 3-8 3-8 0 4 5

Bradley 42 4-15 1-2 0-2 1 0 9

Mason 32 1-3 0-1 0-2 3 2 2

Lucas 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Wangmene 4 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 2 0

Hill 4 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 0

Hamilton 32 6-13 2-2 2-6 1 0 19

Brown 22 7-13 4-6 0-0 2 2 20

Totals 225 26-69 20-33 10-34 11 20 80

Percentages: FG .377, FT .606. 3-Point Goals: 8-24, .333 (Hamilton 5-10, Brown 2-4, James 1-7, Bradley 0-3). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 4 (Bradley 2, James, Pittman). Turnovers: 5 (Mason, Pittman, Hamilton, Brown, Wangmene). Steals: 11 (Bradley 3, James 3, Mason 2, Brown, Hamilton, Johnson). Technical Fouls: None.

Wake Forest 37 31 13 -- 52


Texas 38 30 12 -- 69

A--10,984.