Long-Range Win for Wake Forest

Third-ranked Wake Forest broke the ice Sunday after a preseason filled with high rankings and hype.

“My biggest challenge has been keeping these guys’ minds sharp--I don’t think I’ve done a very good job of it,” Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said, after his team’s 92-63 season-opening win over Virginia Military at Winston-Salem, N.C.

Jerry Braswell made a career-high five 3-pointers as Wake Forest, with VMI (1-1) packing a variety of zones around Tim Duncan, showed its outside prowess early on.

Braswell, showing no ill effects from a broken left foot sustained in September, made three consecutive long-range shots in the game’s first five minutes, and finished five for seven from behind the arc for 17 points--15 in the first half. Duncan warmed up in the second half and finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots.

“I know we’re going to get a lot of open looks at the basket because we have two big guys, especially Tim because he’s going to get double-teamed and even triple-teamed sometimes. So we just have to step up and knock them in.”

VMI (1-1), a team that likes to play up-tempo and shoot from the outside, was only three for 15 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes and fell behind, 44-24, at intermission.

Despite taking a 20-point lead at halftime, the Demon Deacons had trouble solving VMI’s zones in the first half, turning the ball over 11 times and occasionally trying to force it inside to the 6-foot-10 Duncan.

Wake Forest broke open the game with a 19-4 run midway through the first half. Duncan scored on a three-point play and baseline hook to spark the surge.

OTHER GAMES

Marquette 82, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 55--Chris Crawford scored a career-high 23 points before leaving with 6 1/2 minutes remaining and the taller, stronger and deeper Eagles trounced the Panthers at Milwaukee.

Aaron Hutchins had 10 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and seven steals in 29 minutes for Marquette, which outshot the Panthers 56% to 24%.

Notre Dame 73, Monmouth 66--Pat Garrity scored 26 points and freshmen David Lalazarian and Keith Friel added 12 points apiece to the Irish in their season opener at South Bend, Ind.

Garrity, usually a force under the basket, moved to the perimeter to counter Monmouth’s zone defense. He responded by nailing four of five three-pointers.

Purdue 86, Idaho 63--Chad Austin scored 26 points and Brad Miller added 19 at West Lafayette, Ind., leading the Boilermakers in their season opener.

The Boilermakers, three-time defending Big Ten champions, were never threatened after snapping a 4-4 tie. Led by Austin’s two three-pointers, Purdue went on a 13-2 run to lead 17-6 with 13:41 remaining in the first half.

New Orleans 78, Tulane 55--Kwan Johnson scored 23 points, 21 of them in the second half for the Privateers in the Sugar Bowl Classic at New Orleans.

New Orleans shook off Tulane in the final three minutes of the first half, outscoring the Green Wave, 10-4, to take a 40-34 halftime lead as Jason Wright scored 13 of his 17 points.

San Jose St. 66, St. Mary’s, Cal, 64--Marmet Williams’ put-back rebound with six seconds left gave the Spartans a nonconference victory at Moraga.

Williams, standing to the left of the basket, rebounded a shot from the top of the key by teammate Jahi Bacon to give the Spartans the lead.

The Gaels, who fell to 0-2, attempted to inbound the ball with four seconds remaining, but the pass was stolen by San Jose center Rick Taylor.