A big blue wave washed over Wake Forest's season last night.
Kentucky unleashed the talent stampede, shot 75 percent for the three-fourths of the game that mattered and eliminated the Deacons 90-60.
Al-Farouq Aminu covered his head with a towel on the bench, angry at himself for committing three early fouls that took him off the floor and unhinged the Wake Forest offense.
Senior L.D. Williams, his eyes welling, lamented the end of his career.
"When I was a little kid, I dreamed of playing college basketball here at the highest level, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, at home," Williams said. "It's over. It's over."
Senior Ish Smith, the point guard whose icy overtime jumper beat Texas in the first round, walked out of the locker room smiling, his upbeat nature surviving a long last night.
"It was just those bigs," Smith said, alluding to the Kentucky front line that contributed to his 1-for-9 shooting fiasco. "Their bigs are so big that you have trouble shooting those floaters over those guys. They just weren't falling tonight. Give those guys credit. They're a heck of a team. Coach (John) Calipari is a heck of a coach. If they make their shots, I would be surprised if they don't make the Final Four."
The Wildcats' No. 6 scorer, Darius Miller, poured in 20 points. Freshmen John Wall, Eric Bledsoe and DeMarcus Cousins combined for 20 baskets in 28 attempts and 46 points. Kentucky slipped in the late stages but still hit 60 percent from the floor and controlled the boards 42-34.
"They're all good," Williams said. "That's why they're the No. 1 seed. That's why they're top four in the country all season. They're good, top to bottom.... We expected them to give us their best shot, and they did."
During introductions, Chas McFarland waited for Cousins to trot out and, as soon as he did, abruptly left the floor.
"That was an amateur move on his part," Cousins told reporters. "We won. That's the only thing that matters."
McFarland picked up a quick foul, but Cousins missed both free throws. McFarland made two baskets as the Deacons sprinted to an 8-2 lead.
Cousins' frustration was evident when he nervously rimmed out another two foul shots, but the Deacons couldn't capitalize against the deep Wildcats. Cousins eventually got a grip on his game -- 19 points on 9-for-10 shooting and eight rebounds but just 1 for 7 at the line.
He had other encounters with McFarland, who hammered Cousins on an inside shot in the second half and drew an intentional foul. Cousins jumped off the floor clapping his hands rather than retaliating, but teammate Daniel Orton was called for a contact technical foul in the scrum.
"That wasn't ball," Cousins said. "He was doing a lot of cheap things."
Aminu scored six points in the first six minutes, a required element in any upset formula, but he pushed off while driving and committed two rebound fouls. Aminu's third foul -- on a rebound with 11:39 left in the half -- sent him to the bench and shipped the Deacons' hopes to slim-and-none land.
The game was then tied at 19, but Smith crashed to the floor after missing a dunk, slightly hurting his left wrist.
The Deacons went eight straight possessions without a basket, which allowed Wall and his cohorts to rev up the transition game. Guard Miller, averaging 6.1 points, scored 16 in the first half alone.
Aminu watched the deluge from the bench. "I was just disappointed how the game went out," Aminu said.
"I was really mad about that third foul. I felt like that really changed the tone of the game for us."
In the end, the tone didn't matter. The big blue tidal wave drowned every detail in its path.
lrawlings@wsjournal.com.
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