The ball goes swish as Ish gets his wish: Shoot don’t dish as Wake wins late

Smith Sinks Longhorns in NCAA Overtime Victory

Ish Smith was on mission late last night, as Wake Forset topped Texas and Smith was all over the court and all over the TV, as Jay Bilas said Smith was one of the quickest guards, that he has seen this season….Smith repeatedly got into the lane and in contrast to what he did in previous seasons and in some cases this year as well, when Smith went to the well last night, he came back with the living water.

Ish Smith, from Concord(Central Cabarrus HS), is an instant celebrity and his teammate CJ Harris from WS Mount Tabor HS(NCHSAA 4-A Champs 2009) hit some key free throws for Wake when the game was on the line and Harris came through for the Deacons when he stepped up to the stripe….Al-Farouq Aminu also played big, as he pumped in 20 points and grabbed 15 rebouonds for the Demon Deacons.(How about that Ari Stewart three-pointer from the corner that cut the lead to one, when it looked like Wake would have to take this ending to the locker room, in defeat…)

If Wake Forset knocks off Kentucky on Saturday and many feel that they will, Dino Gaudio’s job will be safe in Winston-Salem for at least 10 more years….

from www.theacc.com:

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Ishmael Smith’s shot meant former No. 1 Texas would be headed home early, and Wake Forest could dance on to face Kentucky.

Smith’s pull-up jumper from about 17 feet out with 1.3 seconds remaining in overtime gave ninth-seeded Wake Forest an 81-80 win over the eighth-seeded Longhorns in the first round of the NCAA tournament Thursday night.

Texas twice rallied from double-digit deficits, then blew an eight-point lead in overtime, completing a puzzling slide after being ranked No. 1 in the country in January.

It wasn’t the first crucial shot for Smith, who as a sophomore made late pull-up jumpers in the final seconds of wins over Virginia Tech and Miami. Now a senior, he made a running jumper with 19.8 seconds left in overtime to lift Wake Forest to a two-point win over Maryland a couple of months ago.

And now this.

Instead, the Demon Deacons advanced to play top-seeded Kentucky in the second round of the East Regional on Saturday.

It was the third game that went to overtime on a wild first day of NCAA action. Last year, two games went to OT in the entire tournament.

The Demon Deacons (20-10) rallied from a 76-68 deficit in the extra session. They still trailed by four in the final minute, but a 3-pointer by Ari Stewart with 15.9 seconds left made it 80-79.

Gary Johnson then missed two free throws for Texas, giving Smith one more chance.

Smith finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and eight turnovers.