NCAA EAST REGIONAL : Wake Forest Earns Methodical Blowout

After an emotional victory in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, Wake Forest needed an easy victory to come back to earth. The Demon Deacons, top-seeded in the East Regional, got just that Thursday, cruising past 16th-seeded North Carolina A&T;, 79-47.

“It was a chance to get the ACC tournament out of our system,” said Travis Banks, who had 10 points and nine rebounds.

Tim Duncan used his height advantage to control the inside, Randolph Childress took care of the outside and Wake Forest’s defense smothered everything the Aggies tried.

“We came out and took care of business the way we were supposed to,” said Childress, who had 15 points and seven assists in only 29 minutes. “This game could have easily been a lot closer. . . . I don’t take any team or game lightly because the day or minute you do, it’ll be your last game.”

Third-ranked Wake Forest (25-5) won its 11th consecutive game and plays St. Louis on Saturday.

The Deacons took an 11-point lead 8:06 into the game as the Aggies (15-15) missed 10 of their first 12 shots. They shot only 22% (five of 23) in the first half, and Wake Forest led, 35-17, at halftime. A 9-2 run to start the second half allowed Coach Dave Odom to pull his starters early.

“The run to start the second half was something we built on the rest of the way,” Odom said. “I could not be more pleased with Randolph Childress and the game he played. I think he played as well today in what he had to do as he played last weekend.”

Childress was the MVP of the ACC tournament, scoring 107 points in three games. He was six for 10 from the field and directed the attack against the Aggies.

“His approach today was that he had to be a leader and he was,” Odom said. “He didn’t take the bad shot, he didn’t force things and we put him on Phillip Allen, whom we considered their best guard, and he did a fine job on him.”

Allen, like all the Aggies, struggled, hitting only three of 13 shots. North Carolina A&T; finished at 31%.

Duncan, a 6-foot-11 sophomore, finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots. North Carolina A&T; didn’t have a defender bigger than 6-6.

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St. Louis 64, Minnesota 61--The ninth-seeded Billikins (23-7) survived a torrid comeback by the Golden Gophers (19-12) and a hectic finish to advance.

Minnesota missed four three-point shots in their final possession, including the three by Townsend Orr, whose final heave at the buzzer bounded off the rim.

“It seemed like an eternity, really,” said Erwin Claggett, who had 16 points. “It seemed like forever. It was just amazing that they got off four shots. I would have died if they were to hit one.”

Claggett wasn’t the only one who thought that time stood still as the Gophers kept firing away.

“Doggone, I thought the clock had quit on me,” St. Louis Coach Charlie Spoonhour said.

Scott Highmar led St. Louis with 18 points, and Voshon Lenard led Minnesota (19-12) with 18.

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No. 20 Alabama 91, Pennsylvania 85--Antonio McDyess, Alabama’s sophomore center, scored a career-high 39 points and grabbed 19 rebounds, and the fifth-seeded Crimson Tide used an 11-0 run at the start of overtime to win.

Alabama (23-9) advanced to Saturday’s second round against Oklahoma State.

For the Quakers (26-6), it was the end for the senior class that led Penn to three consecutive unbeaten Ivy League seasons.

“As I was walking off the floor, a fan yelled to me from the stands, ‘Coach, what do you think of Penn now?’ I told him the same as I did before the game,” Alabama’s David Hobbs said. “I knew they were good and I knew they weren’t a No. 12 seed. We feel extremely fortunate to win. They were very, very tough to put away.”

Not as tough as it was to handle McDyess, who did what was expected of the Crimson Tide inside, dominating the game at both ends. He was 16 of 24 from the field and had eight offensive rebounds.

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No. 14 Oklahoma State 73, Drexel 49--Bryant Reeves, bullying his way through two and three defenders at a time, had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Cowboys, who started slowly before finally getting into sync.

On the other hand, Drexel (22-8) got off to an awful start and never quite changed gears in its lowest-scoring game of the year.

Oklahoma State (24-9) pulled away by opening the second half with a 16-5 run for a 44-24 lead. Reeves had six points and six rebounds in the surge, despite picking up his third foul 36 seconds into the half.