Wake Forest Versus Saint Joseph's AP Preview
3/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 23, 2004
No. 4 Wake Forest (21-9) vs.
No. 1 Saint Joseph's (29-1).
East Rutherford Regional, Semifinals.
Thursday, 10 p.m. EST.
Continental Airlines Arena; East Rutherford, N.J.
If advancing past the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament did not prove Saint Joseph's critics wrong, getting through this one should.
The Hawks hope to silence their detractors, including one in the arena who will broadcast the game for national television, as they meet fourth-seeded Wake Forest in the regional semifinals.
Saint Joseph's was unbeaten before being blown out by Xavier in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament. That loss, along with the Hawks playing in an unheralded conference, left many believing Saint Joseph's did not deserve a No. 1 seed.
However, while top seeds Kentucky and Stanford were both knocked out in the second round, Saint Joseph's made the regional semifinals by defeating Liberty and Texas Tech.
"If we lost to Texas Tech, we'd always have the nay-sayers say, 'See, we told you this, we told you that,"' Hawks coach Phil Martelli said.
Saint Joseph's now faces a significantly tougher test, one that many feel could mark the end of its season.
Playing in what was widely considered the nation's top conference, Wake Forest finished the regular season tied for third in the ACC and went into this tournament ranked 17th in the AP Top 25.
CBS analyst Billy Packer was one of the Hawks' biggest critics when the seedings were announced, saying they did not deserve a No. 1 seed, and that led to a highly publicized spat with Martelli.
Packer played for the Demon Deacons when they beat Saint Joseph's in the 1962 tournament and he'll be working the games this weekend from the East Rutherford regional.
"I silently applauded CBS. They get it. It makes for a good story above and beyond the game," said Martelli, whose Hawks have an 11-6 lead in the all-time series with Wake.
While the Packer-Martelli conflict has made headlines off the court, the best matchup on it is senior point guard Jameer Nelson against freshman counterpart Chris Paul.
Nelson, one of two unanimous All-America selections along with Connecticut's Emeka Okafor, leads all tournament scorers with 57 points. He was among the A-10's top five in scoring, assists and steals.
"He has all the best qualities of all the best guards," Wake coach Skip Prosser said. "If you put all those together, you would have Jameer Nelson."
Paul, the ACC rookie of the year, is fourth in the tournament with 51 points while totaling 13 assists and 11 rebounds.
"This kid can really kill us," Martelli said. "We're going to have to do a tremendous job of building a wall to make sure he can't get in and to the basket and start distributing the ball to their shooters."
The shooting guard matchup also involves players who can get put up points in a hurry - Wake's Justin Gray and the Hawks' Delonte West.
The Deacons have the edge inside, especially if Eric Williams can stay out of foul trouble.
The sophomore center fouled out in each of the first two rounds, averaging just 21 minutes, as he often tried to help stop penetrating guards - exactly what he'll face in Nelson and West.
Williams had a lot of big performances during the regular season, but has averaged just 8.0 points and 5.5 boards in the tournament.
"I don't think he's going to let the last two games affect him," Paul said. "He gets a clean slate for the St. Joe's game - zero fouls, zero points."
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Wake Forest
F Jamaal Levy (10.3 ppg and 8.4 rpg), F Trent Strickland (6.5 ppg and 3.3 rpg)
C Eric Williams (12.2 ppg and 5.7 rpg)
G Chris Paul (14.9 ppg, 5.8 apg and 2.7 spg), G Justin Gray (16.8 ppg and 3.3 rpg).
Saint Joseph's
F John Bryant (3.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg), F Pat Carroll (9.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg)
C Dwayne Jones (6.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg)
G Jameer Nelson (20.6 ppg, 5.2 apg, 2.9 spg), G Delonte West (18.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 4.8 rpg).
HOW THEY GOT HERE:
Wake Forest
At-large berth; beat Virginia Commonwealth 79-78, first round; beat Manhattan 84-80, second round.
Saint Joseph's
At-large berth; beat No. 16 Liberty 82-63, first round; beat Texas Tech 70-65, second round.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD:
Wake Forest
26-18, 19 years.
Saint Joseph's
17-20, 17 years.