Wake Forest University
So Carolina St
No. 23 Basketball Beats S. Carolina State, 115-75
12/7/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec 7, 2001
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest was able to regain its focus against South Carolina State.
Darius Songaila had 25 points and 10 rebounds as No. 23 Wake Forest beat overmatched South Carolina State 115-75 on Friday night. The Demon Deacons were coming off a road loss to No. 3 Kansas on Tuesday.
"We needed this win, especially coming off a tough loss to Kansas," Songaila said. "This was a very big game for us. How are we going to react? Last year, we had some tough losses and we didn't respond the right way. I think everyone came out with the right mentality."
Antwan Scott added 15, and reserve Vytas Danielus had 13 for the Demon Deacons (6-2), who had their highest points total since a 121-56 victory over SUNY-Buffalo on Jan. 5, 1983.
It was also Wake Forest's largest margin of victory since a 108-61 win over Mount St. Mary's on Nov. 16, 2000.
"This is a game where maybe you have some residue from Kansas and looking ahead to exams or Florida State," coach Skip Prosser said. "If you don't pay attention to detail, this team could slip up on you and hurt you. I thought our kids played very unselfishly. It's definitely a good win to go into exams on."
Last season against South Carolina State, Wake Forest didn't score until more than four minutes into the game and turned the ball over 24 times in a 66-55 victory.
"(Prosser) showed us the tape of the first four minutes of last year's game," said Craig Dawson, who scored 12 points. "We didn't like it at all, and neither did he, and he wasn't here."
Andre Riviera led South Carolina State (1-6) with 24 points in 25 minutes, and Moses Malone Jr. added 20 points and six rebounds.
"They came out at a very high level of energy, and we tried to get our kids ready for that," South Carolina State coach Cy Alexander said. "Our guys did not meet the challenge, and that's what's very disappointing to me. We did not accept the challenge that Wake Forest gave us in the first 10 minutes of the game."
The Demon Deacons, coming off a road loss to No. 3 Kansas on Tuesday, shot 58.1 percent. Songaila, who was held to 10 points before he fouled out against the Jayhawks, had 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks in the first half.
Wake Forest hit seven of its first eight shots and raced to a 17-4 lead. The Deacons pressed on defense, a tactic they hadn't used much since the preseason, and kept the Bulldogs from getting many good looks at the basket. Wake Forest pushed the lead to 41-13 with 7:49 left in the half on Songaila's putback.
"They exploited everything. They outplayed us in every facet. There's nothing that we can take from this game that's positive."
The Deacons starters shot 18-of-25 for 72 percent to build a 56-24 halftime lead, and Wake Forest cruised in the second half.
"With the intensity that we came out and showed tonight, if we can do that every night, hopefully we can have more ball games like this," Dawson said.
