After Thursday’s thrill, Wake crashes hard in NCAAs

By Bud L. Ellis

If Thursday’s overtime victory over Texas to open the NCAA Tournament was the ultimate high for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, then Saturday’s second-round game was the equivalent of crashing back to Earth.

No. 1 seed Kentucky broke open a close game with a 25-9 run during the final 11 minutes of the first half, and the Demon Deacons were finished. Kentucky led by as many as 31 points in the second half in ending Wake’s season with a 90-60 blowout in the East Regional in New Orleans.

Wake (20-11) shot just 32 percent from the field and saw the Wildcats hit on 60 percent of their shots. Leading scorer Al-Farouq Aminu picked up his third foul with 11:39 left in the first half, the score tied at 19. By the time halftime arrived, Wake trailed 44-28 and this one was over.

Aminu finished with a team-high 16 points. C.J. Harris added 11 for Wake, which won a splendid game against Texas in its NCAA opener, 81-80 in overtime on Thursday. But there would be no such luck in this one, as Kentucky did everything it wanted to in the final 30 minutes.

Wake had dropped five of its past six before entering the NCAAs.

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Monday, March 22, 2010 at 9:23 pm by bud

Tags: Al-Farouq Aminu, C.J. Harris, Kentucky, NCAA Tournament, Texas, Wake Forest Demon Deacons