COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : SOUTHEAST REGIONAL : Wake Forest’s Rogers Gets Message, 84-78

Rodney Rogers picked the perfect time to show he has been paying attention for the last three years.

Rogers scored 33 points, including 12 of Wake Forest’s final 19, as the Demon Deacons beat Iowa, 84-78, during the second round of the NCAA Southeast Regional on Sunday.

“One of the things we’ve been trying to get Rodney to realize in the course of his three years is that there’s a difference between game action and win time,” Wake Forest Coach Dave Odom said.

“The really great players sense when the game is on the line, and they understand what they can do to affect the game.”

The victory sends Wake Forest (21-8) to the final 16 for the first time since 1984, when the Deacons reached the Midwest final before losing to Houston. Wake Forest will play top-seeded Kentucky, an 83-62 winner over Utah.

It was a close game throughout, with neither team taking a double-digit lead. Rogers tied the score at 75 with 2:34 to play, and Randolph Childress made a three-pointer with 1:45 remaining that gave the Demon Deacons the lead for good.

Childress finished with 25 points.

Iowa came into the game with the best rebounding margin in the nation, but Wake Forest out-rebounded the Hawkeyes, 26-20. The Demon Deacons held Iowa star Acie Earl scoreless over the last 7 1/2 minutes while Wade Lookingbill, who finished with 15, didn’t score during the final 11 1/2 minutes.

Earl finished with 16 points, while Lookingbill and Val Barnes each added 15.

The 6-foot-7 Rogers, the ACC player of the year, led the Demon Deacons with 10 rebounds and played all but two minutes.

“Rodney, because of his personality, has been a little slow at seizing that moment,” Odom said. “Today was his best performance at a crucial time in a very, very, meaningful game.”

The loss was Iowa’s third in a row to an Atlantic Coast Conference school in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Duke beat the Hawkeyes (23-9) in the last two tournaments.

“We played very well, and Wake played a little better,” Iowa Coach Tom Davis said. “They had a good inside-outside combination. We tried everything defensively to shut them down, and we couldn’t find enough answers.”

The Hawkeyes played without reserves Kevin Skillet and Jim Bartels, who sat out because of illness.

Wake Forest shot 63% during its first-round victory over Tennessee-Chattanooga and cooled only slightly to 62.5% against Iowa, which shot 56%.