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NCAA Tournament First Round - Wake Forest vs Texas
(9) Wake Forest 81, (8) Texas 80 (OT)
It was Wake Forest versus Texas. What else would one expect?
Two of the most talented yet troubled teams in America, loaded with athleticism yet stuffed with stupidity, played the kind of game America expected on Thursday night at New Orleans Arena. This Big Easy brouhaha was loaded with heart and grit from two teams that - to their credit - competed vigorously. However, the effort level shown by the Demon Deacons and the Longhorns was unfortunately equaled by these teams' manifest lack of fundamentals.
In a game that became a contest of "no, you take it; no, after you," Wake and Texas tried to hand each other a ticket to the second round. Ultimately, despite the Demon Deacons' very best efforts, it was the Longhorns who ultimately succeeded in pushing their opponent to the round of 32 for a date with Kentucky.
Oh, coach Dino Gaudio's Deacs most certainly tried to send Texas to the second round... and not on a bus back to Austin. Wake gained a 54-42 lead midway through the second half but then withered on the vine, coughing up several turnovers and feeding the Longhorns' fading sense of confidence. By giving up 20 turnovers for the game (Texas committed only five), an ACC team that has not been "Wake-ful" with the basketball all season long enabled its Big 12 adversary to get back in the fight. Texas used a truckload of takeaways to mount a comeback and tie the score at 67 on a J'Covan Brown 3-pointer with 55 seconds left in regulation.
And then things got REALLY wacky in this laugh-filled late show.
Wake Forest's basketball IQ is anything but impressive. The Deacons lost a game at Florida State a few weeks ago in which they held the ball for the last shot... when trailing by two points. The bench coaching in this game - on both sides - left a lot to be desired, but that reality squares with the performance of these two uber-talented yet massively underachieving squads. Neither Gaudio nor Texas coach Rick Barnes have been able to push the right buttons or find the right answers with their rosters; their encounter on the same 94-foot slab highlighted the shared problem that has haunted the Deacs and Horns all year: They don't respond well to game pressure.
This truth was borne out in the final minute of regulation and - unfortunately for Texas - the overtime period that followed.
After a free throw and then a defensive stop made possible by a phenomenal block on the part of forward L.D. Williams, Wake owned a 68-67 lead with 13 seconds left in the second half. Gaudio called time out to set up the ensuing inbounds pass and make sure nothing went wrong.
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There was just one problem: Williams - the inbounder - was not reminded by Gaudio that he could not run along the end line, something that can only be done after a made basket. Williams committed an out-of-bounds violation, and as a result, Texas was able to tie the game on a foul shot by Damion James. Wake almost fell asleep when James missed the second shot (he made the first one) with nine seconds left, but the Deacs barely managed to cradle the defensive rebound. Williams, though - who should never be caught dead handling the ball in the open court - stumbled down the court and was unable to create a shot in the final few horrifying seconds of regulation. Wake - being its clumsy, scatterbrained self - had allowed Texas to live for at least five more minutes, and when the Longhorns scored the first eight points of overtime to take a 76-68 lead with three minutes remaining, it appeared that the Longhorns were going to advance as a result of Wake's signature frailty in late-game situations.
But oh, the team from Texas had its own (not-so-pleasant) reputation to uphold, and in the final three minutes of overtime, the good people of New Orleans (and a national TV audience) would realize that "Texas being Texas" could do even more damage than "Wake being Wake."
The Longhorns - in complete command against the mentally reeling Deacs - simply could not find it within themselves to end this game in a drama-free manner. A bad 3-point shot, a careless foul, and a turnover allowed Wake Forest to remain within striking distance - down 78-74 - entering the final minute of overtime.
And then came the collapse.
In a manner reminiscent of the 1983 Houston Cougars in the NCAA national championship game against North Carolina State, Texas proceeded to falter at the foul line while losing focus on defense. First, two Texas defenders pinched toward the lane and allowed the Deacs to take - and make - a wide-open three that sliced a four-point Longhorn lead to 80-79 with 15 seconds left. Then, with 10 seconds to go, Texas forward Gary Johnson missed not one, but two foul shots (in the double bonus), and suddenly, Wake had a chance to win the game after being dead just moments earlier.
Ishmael Smith took advantage.
Wake's speedy point guard raced down the floor after Johnson's second miss and surveyed the Texas defense as the clock ticked down. His drive to the bucket was stopped, so Smith stepped back and - from about 15 feet away on the right wing - nailed an ice-veins jumper with 1.3 seconds to go. Texas missed a halfcourt heave at the horn, and amazingly, Wake Forest outlived its mistakes to advance.
It was ridiculous. It was absurd. It made no sense.
It was Wake Forest versus Texas, of course.
WHAT'S NEXT
Wake takes on top-seeded Kentucky on Saturday. The Demon Deacons need to make this game as fast-paced as humanly possible, so that they don't have to overthink the game. The Deacs will want to run until they drop and shoot the ball within 15 seconds on each and every possession. Ish Smith needs to break down the Kentucky defense on the dribble, and Al-Farouq Aminu has to have his best game of the season if Wake is to have any legitimate chance of winning.
By: Matt Zemek
ACC-Fans Staff Writer