Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Versus Manhattan Preview
3/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 19, 2004
No. 12 Manhattan (25-5) vs.
No. 4 Wake Forest (20-9).
REGIONAL: East Rutherford, Second Round.
TIME: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. EST.
SITE: RBC Center; Raleigh, N.C.
A heavyweight from the Southeastern Conference didn't bother Manhattan. It remains to be seen if a ranked team from the Atlantic Coast Conference can.
After advancing with an upset of a big-name program, the 12-seeded Jaspers try to do the same when they meet Wake Forest in the NCAA tournament's second round.
Manhattan coach Bobby Gonzales said his team wouldn't feel overwhelmed against Florida in the first round, and it wasn't.
Led by 26 points from guard Luis Flores, the Jaspers defeated fifth-seeded Gators 75-60 Thursday.
"I told the guys ... we're playing an epic team like Florida, this is going to be considered a major upset," Gonzalez said. "But I told them if you come in worried about the name on the other jersey, you really don't have a chance."
Barely beaten in the first round last year by eventual champion Syracuse, Manhattan won its first tournament game since defeating Oklahoma in 1995.
"I know America's going to look at it as an upset, but behind closed doors we don't," Manhattan forward Dave Holmes said. "We know we can play with any team on any night."
Creating, shooting and scoring from everywhere on the floor, Flores showed why he's the nation's fifth-leading scorer. With the Jaspers ahead 38-35 early in the second half, the 6-foot guard had two 3-pointers and a pull-up 16-footer to push the lead to double digits.
Flores was hardly Manhattan's only star. Peter Mulligan finished with 17 points and Holmes had 12 points and 12 rebounds. That pair of undersized forwards easily dominated the inside matchup.
Fourth-seeded Wake Forest pinned its hopes on Chris Paul entering the tournament, and the freshman point guard has come through thus far.
The 6-foot star had 22 points and made several key plays to lead the Demon Deacons past Virginia Commonwealth 79-78 in the first round Thursday.
Paul - the Atlantic Coast Conference's rookie of the year - went 12-for-15 from the line, and had seven assists against two turnovers in 37 minutes.
"Coach (Skip) Prosser and my teammates have the ultimate confidence in me," Paul said. "A lot of times I say they have more confidence in me than I have in myself. At the end of the game, coach kept giving me the ball, so I thought it was my responsibility to come through."
Paul hit four free throws in the final 11.9 seconds left to seal it. Paul also assisted on two of three consecutive 3-pointers by the Demon Deacons, erasing a 63-57 deficit midway through the second half.
"I wouldn't trade him for any point guard in the country," Prosser said. "He possesses a warrior's heart."
Justin Gray scored 15 points to help the Demon Deacons advance to the second round for the third straight year. Jamaal Levy overcame a sprained left knee to add 10 points and 10 rebounds, including the go-ahead basket.
Wake Forest survived its second first-round scare in as many years. Last year, the second-seeded Demon Deacons held off ETSU 76-73 in the East Regional.
This is the first meeting between the teams.
The winner faces top-seeded Saint Joseph's or eighth-seeded Wake Forest in the regional semifinals on Thursday.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Manhattan - F Holmes (12.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg), F Mulligan (10.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg), C Guy Ngarndi (2.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg), G Flores (24.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg), G Jason Wingate (5.3 ppg, 2.6 apg).
Wake Forest - F Danelius (5.8 ppg and 4.6 rpg), F Levy (10.2 ppg and 8.6 rpg), C Eric Williams (12.4 ppg and 5.8 rpg), G Paul (14.4 ppg, 5.8 apg and 2.7 spg), G Gray (17.1 ppg and 2.8 rpg).
HOW THEY GOT HERE:
Manhattan - Beat No. 5 Florida 75-60, First Round;Automatic bid, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion.
Wake Forest - Beat No. 13 VCU 79-78, First Round; At-large berth.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD:
Manhattan - 3-6, 6 years.
Wake Forest - 25-18, 19 years.
