Wake Forest University
Arizona-Preseason NIT (Finals)
No. 1 Wake Forest Defeats No. 18 Arizona, 63-60
11/26/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2004
By JIM O'CONNELL
AP Basketball Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Justin Gray scored 21 points for the second straight game and No. 1 Wake Forest beat No. 18 Arizona 63-60 on Friday night in the championship game of the Preseason NIT.
The Demon Deacons ended an 11-game winning streak at Madison Square Garden for Arizona coach Lute Olson. The Hall of Famer's run started in 1973, when he was coaching at Long Beach State.
Gray, overshadowed in his own backcourt by sophomore sensation Chris Paul, was the only player who scored for the Demon Deacons (5-0) during the first 10 minutes of the second half.
When his teammates started to find their stroke, the Demon Deacons went on a 13-2 run to go up 59-51 with 5:28 left. Arizona (4-1) rallied to get within 61-60 with 1:26 left on a 3-pointer by Hassan Adams.
Gray missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 24 seconds left. Arizona had one timeout left but Olson didn't call it. Shakur dribbled the ball at the top of the key and started his move with 7 seconds left. His jumper from about 8 feet was short.
Eric Williams made two free throws for Wake Forest with 1.2 seconds left and Arizona's chance to tie ended when Adams' turnaround 3-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the rim.
The loss ended Arizona's 15-game winning streak in the Preseason NIT. The Wildcats won the tournament the last three times it participated - 1990, `95 and `99.
It was the first Preseason NIT title for Wake Forest, which finished second in 2001.
Gray, who had 21 points in the semifinal win over Providence, was selected tournament MVP.
Taron Downey had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Wake Forest, which became No. 1 this week for the first time in school history earlier this week, while Jamaal Levy had eight points and 12 rebounds.
Paul, the leading vote-getter on the AP's preseason All-America team, had four points on 2-for-11 shooting as he was hounded all game by Arizona's Mustafa Shakur. Paul had four assists, three during the Demon Deacons' run that gave them the lead in the second half.
Adams had 19 points and eight rebounds for Arizona, while Salim Stoudamire had 16 points.
Arizona opened the game with an 11-2 run and was up 37-29 at halftime. The Wildcats kept the lead until Wake Forest tied it at 46 with 12:48 to go. A 3-pointer by Stoudamire gave Arizona its last lead, 49-46 with 12:09 left.
That's when Wake Forest went on the 13-2 run and the last three baskets all came on assists by Paul.
He threw an alley-oop pass to Trent Strickland for a dunk, found Williams for a dunk with a pass inside and then threw a long pass on the break that Levy dunked for a 59-51 lead with 5:28 to play.
Wake Forest was just 2-for-15 from 3-point range, but shot 42 percent overall. Arizona wasn't able to take capitalize on a 23-16 edge on the offensive boards, shooting just 31 percent from the field.
Shakur, who did such a good job on Paul, was 1-for-12 from the field.
