Waves Aren’t Able to Exorcise Deacons

So much for that first-round upset special. Pepperdine, a popular choice to knock off Wake Forest, probably should have, but didn’t do it Thursday at Arco Arena, losing, 83-74, to the Demon Deacons in a Midwest Regional game decided in the last 21/2 minutes.

The Waves were down by two points with 2:23 to go, but they didn’t score again until there were 37.5 seconds left, outscored, 9-2, down the stretch. Wake Forest thus avoided getting dumped on its backside, as some believed was possible.

“We knew we were the upset special,” guard Broderick Hicks said of the seventh-seeded Deacons. “We played with a chip on our shoulder.”

For the longest time, it appeared that Paul Westphal’s Waves, seeded 10th, were prepared to slap it right off. Despite a lead-footed start that allowed Wake Forest to erect a 17-4 lead, the Waves came back and kept coming back, right until it counted the most.

Devin Montgomery, owner of snazzy blue shoes and a very cool jump shot, scored 18 points for the Waves but took issue with all the upset talk.

“Oh, we heard it,” he said. “But it wouldn’t have been an upset to us.”

Fair enough. Still, Wake Forest will advance to Saturday’s second-round game against Oregon. Craig Dawson had 19 points and made five of nine from beyond the three-point line, but he knew beating the Waves was hardly a breeze.

“We know we’re fortunate to still be playing,” Dawson said.

No one would argue. When Boomer Brazzle knocked down a jumper with 3:24 to go, the Waves were down, 72-70. On Wake Forest’s next trip downcourt, Cedric Suitt swatted away a shot by Darius Songaila, with three seconds left on the shot clock. After a timeout, the ball came in to Dawson, who missed, but Vytas Danelius got the rebound and was fouled by Craig Lewis. He made both foul shots for a 74-70 lead.

Lewis scored on a driving layup to get the Waves closer, but they could do little else.

Montgomery pointed to the Wake Forest possession that led to two free throws even though there were only three seconds on the shot clock.

“That’s the game right there,” he said.

Of course, it wasn’t that simple. Wake Forest scored on its last seven possessions, shot 55.6% in the second half, got into the bonus foul shooting situation way too early for the Waves’ liking and shut down Pepperdine’s shooters at just the right time. Westphal had no problem breaking down the game in the last few minutes.

“They made the plays, we missed our shots,” he said. “The game is as simple as that.”

Wake Forest (21-12) wasn’t exactly on a roll when it showed up at the arena. The Demon Deacons had lost six of their last nine and star forward Josh Howard hadn’t been able to practice for three days because of a sprained ankle. He didn’t start, played only 18 minutes and scored eight points. Coach Skip Prosser said sitting Howard wasn’t that tough a decision.

“I mean, he couldn’t practice,” Prosser said. “It wasn’t like deciding to invade France on D-day.”

Songaila scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half and had his work cut out for him, trying to maneuver inside with the 6-foot-11 Suitt always in the way. Suitt also had nine rebounds and four blocked shots.

In spite of its slow start, Pepperdine pulled itself together in a hurry. Wake Forest changed defenses constantly to keep the Waves’ shooters from getting a rhythm, and it worked for a while. Hicks knocked down a three-pointer for a 32-23 Wake Forest lead, but Pepperdine scored the next seven points--a muscle move inside by Brazzle, a three-point basket off the break and a driving layup.

At the half, Wake Forest’s lead was only 38-35 and Pepperdine took the lead three times after that, the last at 54-52. The Waves certainly managed to get Wake Forest’s attention, but whether it was the Demon Deacons’ experience with four senior starters, good defense (Montgomery didn’t score in the last 14 minutes) or just good luck, they stuck together when it got close.

Hicks, whose rainbow three-pointer gave Wake Forest a 77-72 lead at the two-minute mark, says it’s simply the mark of a good team.

“We’re not really a panicking team,” he said. “We’re a veteran team. If we haven’t seen it all, we’ve seen close to it.”

So too had Westphal, who couldn’t believe his eyes in the first half when a shot by Dawson clanked off the shot clock and the officials didn’t stop play. Antwan Scott got a dunk on the play and a 36-30 lead. That didn’t sit well with Westphal.

“It’s astounding,” he said. “[The officials] just said they didn’t see it .... Everybody in the gym saw it.”

What they also saw was a Pepperdine team that finished with a 22-9 record, losing for only the third time in its last 19 games.

“We’re looking forward to next year,” Westphal said. “We think we’re going to be in this tournament and hopefully go a little farther next year.”

Until then, Montgomery said the Waves are going to have some thinking to do about this game and what happened.

“We just didn’t have it,” he said. “It’s very disappointing. That’s what we talked about, that we didn’t want to be one of those teams that are a one-shot wonder, over and out. But I guess we did it.”