ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 24, 1996 TAG: 9603250077
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MINNEAPOLIS
SOURCE: CHARLIE ATKINSON LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
KENTUCKY EARNS a spot in the Final Four by beating the undermanned Demon Deacons 83-63.
In the end for Wake Forest, cunning and heart and tenacity and the skillful maneuverings of its coach weren't enough to overcome a Kentucky team that simply possessed more talent.
The runnin' Wildcats, seemingly destined to capture this year's NCAA Tournament title, overpowered the Deacons 83-63 on Saturday in the Midwest Regional final before a Metrodome crowd of 30,397.
The win sends Kentucky (32-2) to the Final Four where it'll meet Massachusetts next Saturday in the semifinals at the Meadowlands. Wake's season ended at 26-6, tying the school mark set last year for wins in a season.
Afterward, there were no tears in the Wake locker room, not even many somber faces. The Deacs played about as well as they could under the circumstances. Point guard Tony Rutland, sidelined with a knee injury, watched from the bench as coach Dave Odom tried to manufacture a way to beat Kentucky and its vaunted press.
With only six able bodies, the Demon Deacons never had a chance.
Kentucky bolted to a 38-19 lead at intermission and extended it to 28 midway through the second half. Wake went on a 26-9 scoring run late in the game but it came too late. Kentucky guard Tony Delk, the game's top scorer with 25 points, sandwiched seven straight points around a controversial double-foul call to keep Wake from cutting the deficit to single digits.
``We had a chance several times to get under double figures,'' Odom said. ``I would liked to have done that just to see how [Kentucky] would have reacted. I think they would have done just fine, but I would have liked to have seen that.''
The double-foul call came with 2:24 left and Kentucky leading 70-57. Kentucky's Antoine Walker collided with Wake's Ricky Peral. One referee ruled a charge, another a blocking foul.
Neither could agree, so they used Solomon's logic. Clearly, the split decision hurt Wake more because Peral had to go to the bench with five fouls.
``One referee saw it one way,'' Odom said. ``One referee saw it another. Both coaches asked a reasonable question: `Which one of you saw it first?' There was no answer given.''
Though Odom declined to criticize the officiating, he obviously didn't like the way the game was called. In the first half he was whistled for his first technical foul of the season after complaining about Kentucky's rough defensive treatment of center Tim Duncan, who scored his first field goal with 12 minutes left.
``I can't talk about officiating in a public forum,'' Odom said. ``My thoughts on the subject will be channeled through the proper people. That's really all I can say at this time. ... Certainly [the technical] was a factor, there's no question about that. I apologized to the team afterward. Points against Kentucky are difficult enough to come by without that type of thing. But I don't think it was totally out of line. I'm not one of those who tries to get them. But, if I had any thoughts on that, again, they'll be channeled to the proper authorities, and I do have some thoughts. They may not care. But they will hear.''
Duncan finished with respectable numbers - 14 points and 16 rebounds. But 10 points came from the free-throw line, and most came after the outcome had been settled.
``For a while it seemed like [the referees] didn't want to call a foul,'' Duncan said. ``But give Kentucky credit. That's what their coach told them to do. That's how their defense works.''
``[The officiating] was bad,'' Rutland said. ``Timmy was getting pushed around. They trapped down, but they were coming so hard, they pushed and hand checked a lot.''
Kentucky shot 52.8 percent from the floor. Wake managed just 36.2 percent, including a season-low 22.2 percent in the first half. The Wildcats won the turnover battle too, 20-10.
Four Wildcats scored in double figures. Joining Delk were Derek Anderson (12), Anthony Epps (12) and Walter McCarty (10). Walker added nine.
``We did the best job of double down, or X-cutting as we'll call it, than I've seen in a long time,'' Kentucky coach Rick Pitino said.
``We tried to keep [Duncan] out of the lane as much as possible,'' Walker added. ``Everybody did a great job. Our one's, two's and three's did a great job of rotating out.''
The loss ended Wake's eight-game win streak, and was the Deacs most lopsided setback of the year
WAKEFOREST(26-6)-
Peral 3-5 5-5 13, Allen 3-6 1-1 7, Duncan 2-7 10-12 14, LaRue 1-4 0-0 3, Braswell 3-12 2-3 10, Goolsby 4-10 2-2 14, Amonett 0-2 0-0 0, Stringfellow 1-1 0-0 2, Wilson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-47 20-23 63.|
KENTUCKY(32-2)-
Anderson 4-7 3-4 12, Walker 3-11 3-3 9, McCarty 3-4 3-4 10, Delk 9-13 3-3 25, Epps 3-6 6-6 12, Sheppard 3-4 0-1 7, Turner 0-0 0-0 0, Pope 1-4 0-0 2, Mercer 0-1 0-0 0, Edwards 1-2 2-2 4, Simmons 0-0 0-0 0, Mohammed 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 28-53 20-23 83.
Halftime-Kentucky 38, Wake Forest 19. Three-point goals-Wake Forest 9-23 (Goolsby 4-7, Peral 2-3, Braswell 2-6, LaRue 1-4, Allen 0-1, Amonett 0-2), Kentucky 7-11 (Delk 4-6, Anderson 1-1, McCarty 1-1, Sheppard 1-1, Walker 0-1, Epps 0-1). Fouled out-Peral. Rebounds-Wake Forest 35 (Duncan 16), Kentucky 24 (Walker 6). Assists-Wake Forest 11 (Duncan 6), Kentucky 22 (Epps 6). Total fouls-Wake Forest 20, Kentucky 21. Technical-Wake Forest bench. A-30,397.
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Kentucky's Walter McCarty (right) blocks a shotby CNBattempt by Wake Forest's Tim Duncan. 2. Kentucky's Tony Delk
celebrates the Wildcats' Final Four berth on Saturday. color.