Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest-Auburn Preview
3/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 22, 2003
GAME: No. 10 Auburn (21-11) vs. No. 2 Wake Forest (25-5).
REGIONAL: East, 2nd Round.
TIME: Sunday, 5 p.m. EST.
SITE: St. Pete Times Forum; Tampa, Fla.
Few saw Auburn as a good choice for an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament. Even fewer envisioned a second-round game for the Tigers.
Led by forward Marquis Daniels, 10th-seeded Auburn hopes to reach the regional semifinals for the first time in four years as it faces No. 2 seed Wake Forest.
On Friday, Daniels scored five of his 25 points in overtime as the Tigers pulled out a dramatic 65-63 first-round victory over St. Joseph's.
Auburn coach Cliff Ellis is hoping Friday's win will convince the naysayers that the Tigers belong in the tournament. Critics of Auburn's selection cited the Tigers' weak early season schedule and their 4-8 record against eight teams from the Field of 64.
"We proved our point. We've done it all year," Ellis said. "We beat a good team. That's enough of that."
Daniels averages team highs of 18.1 points and 3.4 assists for the Tigers. The 6-foot-6 senior also is second on the team in rebounding, and shoots 51.1 percent from the field.
Seeing similarities in Wake Forest star Josh Howard, Deacon Deacons coach Skip Prosser is wary of Daniels - particularly his knack of coming through in big situations.
"He's athletic; he takes big shots, makes big shots," Prosser said. "He's a senior, and I think he revels being in that type of situation. He's got a bit of Josh in him in that he does a lot of things. He's not one-dimensional. He drives the basketball well."
Howard, the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year, leads Wake Forest with 19.7 points per game. He also admits that he knows very little about Daniels going into Sunday's game.
"I don't know much about the team, and I don't know to much about him," Howard said. "I heard he's an excellent player and I'm gonna have to approach it like I do every game and go out and play hard against everybody."
Much like Daniels, Howard stepped up late in leading Wake Forest to a 76-73 win over upset-minded East Tennessee State in the first round on Friday.
Howard made two key free throws down the stretch and finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Freshman center Eric Williams led the Demon Deacons with 20 points - 17 in the first half.
Wake Forest, which is making its third consecutive tournament appearance, won its first ACC regular season title since 1962 this season.
The winner advances to the regional semifinals to face either Syracuse or Oklahoma State.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Auburn - F Daniels, F Marco Killingsworth, C Kyle Davis, G Derrick Bird, G Lewis Monroe.
Wake Forest - F Howard, F Jamaal Levy, F Vytas Danelius, C Eric Williams, G Taron Downey.
TEAM LEADERS:
Auburn - Daniels, 18.1 ppg and 3.4 apg. Killingsworth, 6.4 rpg and 3.4 apg.
Wake Forest - Howard, 19.7 ppg and 4.9 apg; Downey, 4.3 rpg
HOW THEY GOT HERE:
Auburn - At-large bid, Southeastern Conference; beat St. Joseph's, 65-63, first round.
Wake Forest - At-large berth, Atlantic Coast Conference; beat East Tennessee State, 76-73.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD:
Auburn - 11-7, 7 years.
Wake Forest - 24-17, 17 years.
