Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
Clemson
Wake Wins Regular Season Finale Against Clemson, 70-65
3/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 7, 2010
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Senior Ishmael Smith scored 17 points and dished out seven assists to lead Wake Forest to a 70-65 win over Clemson on Senior Night in Joel Coliseum - the Deacons' 18th consecutive home win over the Tigers.
Wake trailed by as many as seven points early in the game, but took the lead with 12 ½ minutes remaining in the first half. Although the Tigers got as close as two points in the second half, the Deacons would never relinquish the lead.
The Deacons finish the regular season at 21-9, and their 9-7 final record in the ACC is good for a tie for fifth-place with Clemson. By virtue of the head-to-head win over Clemson, Wake Forest will be the No. 5 seed in the 57th annual ACC Tournament held at the Greensboro Coliseum. The Deacs will open the tournament against No. 12-seed Miami on March 11 at 2:30 p.m. Clemson will be the No. 6 seed and will face No. 11-seed NC State in the first round.
On Senior Night it was two underclassmen who came up big for the Deacons. Sophomore Al-Farouq Aminu led the Wake scorers with 18 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds for his 18th double-double of the season and 27th of his career. Freshman C.J. Harris scored in double figures for the second consecutive game, notching 14 points and grabbing five steals - one shy of the Wake Forest freshman record for steals in a game.
But the seniors had a good night too, as in addition to Smith's performance senior Chas McFarland had 11 points and 11 rebounds for his eighth career double-double. David Weaver made his only field goal attempt to finish with two points.
Demontez Stitt led Clemson with 18 points to go with four rebounds. Tanner Smith scored 13 points and David Potter had 11 points.
The Deacons held Clemson to only 39 percent shooting while shooting 42 percent themselves. Wake Forest shot 81.8 percent (18-of-22) from the free throw line, its best mark of the ACC season, while the Tigers made went only 63.2 percent (12-of-19) from the charity stripe.
Wake Forest dominated the boards, outrebounding Clemson 44-33 and scoring 19 second-chance points compared to 12 for the Tigers.
Clemson had the better of the early play, taking an early 7-2 lead. Moments later, Ishmael Smith rebounded his own miss and converted an old-fashioned three-point play to get the Deacons back within two points. After a Clemson basket, Smith made another shot, and on Wake's next possession, Smith dished to Aminu who slammed home a dunk to tie the game 9-9.
Trailing 12-11, Ishmael Smith broke free off an inbounds pass and hit a four-footer to give Wake its first lead at 13-12 with 12:29 to play in the first half. Tony Woods followed with a put back to extend the lead to three.
The teams traded baskets until Clemson's David Potter was called for an intentional foul when he grabbed Aminu from behind as he was going up for a breakaway dunk. Aminu made both free throws, and then tipped in a put back to give the Demon Deacons a 23-16 advantage with 6:50 remaining in the opening period.
The Tigers finished the half on an 8-2 run to cut the Wake Forest lead to 31-29 heading into the break.
The Deacons came out of the locker room inspired, starting the second half on a 14-4 run to extend their advantage to 45-33 with 15:59 remaining. The Tigers scored the next seven points to draw within five at 45-40.
The teams went back and forth over the next nine minutes. Clemson would get as close as 51-47 on a 3-pointer by Potter, but Williams made a layup and Harris sunk an off-balance 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to put the Deacons ahead by nine.
The Tigers roared back with a 9-2 run to draw within two at 58-56 with 4:46 left in the game, but Smith immediately answered with a spin move in the lane to make the lead four once again. The teams traded baskets and Clemson would twice more cut the lead to two, but they would get no closer. Wake Forest made 6-of-8 free throws in the last 2:11 to seal the win.
The No. 5-seeded Deacons will begin play in opening round of the 57th annual ACC Tournament against No. 12 Miami on March 11 at Greensboro Coliseum. The game will be televised on Raycom and can also be heard on the Wake Forest ISP Sports Radio Network.
