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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- Darius Songaila had an ice pack
around his shooting hand and a gash under his eye, a couple of
rewards for No. 19 Wake Forest's perfect conference record.
Songaila and his frontcourt teammates combined for 46 points
Saturday to lead Wake Forest to a 96-55 rout of Clemson, its
seventh consecutive victory over the Tigers.
The Demon Deacons (13-3, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) won
their fifth consecutive game and kept pace with No. 4 Maryland as
the only undefeated teams in the conference.
Songaila, as the rest of his teammates, said the quick start
means nothing.
"It is very early in the ACC season so all it means is we can
finish 3-13 in this league," he said. "I've seen too many things
happen to a team to get excited about it."
Wake has earned its three victories with ease, beating
conference opponents by an average of 28 points. And Skip Prosser, in his first year at Wake Forest and the only rookie in the ACC, said his team is
only getting better.
After proclaiming the 84-62 victory last week at North Carolina the
best game Wake had played this season, he updated the statement to
make the victory over Clemson his current favorite.
"I think we played better in this one," Prosser said. "We've
been talking about not looking at the scoreboard, to just keep
attacking and attacking, and we did that here."
In listening to the Prosser, Wake ran up its highest point total
in an ACC game since 1993. Clemson coach Larry Shyatt said it could
have been a lot worse.
"These guys got 96 and it was like a freight train that could
have scored well over 100," Shyatt said.
This meeting against the Tigers (11-6, 2-2) was just as lopsided
as the last one, which Wake won 92-60 last year at Clemson.
Antwan Scott led Wake's frontcourt charge with 17 points,
forward Josh Howard scored 16, Songaila had 14 and reserve forward
Vytas Danelius had 11 points and 13 rebounds, the most by any Wake
player this season.
Craig Dawson, who has made at least one 3-pointer in every game
this season and had a career-high seven in the victory Monday over Navy,
hit four and finished with 16 points for Wake Forest.
Jamar McKnight led Clemson with 13 points, while Sharrod Ford
added 11.
The Demon Deacons took control early in the first half, led by
double digits almost the entire game and never stopped pushing the
ball -- even after the starters went to the bench midway through the
second half.
"I'm going to try hard to find something that we were better
at," Shyatt said. "But we're going to have to eat pretty well on
the bus for me to do that."
Wake used a 24-9 run, holding Clemson scoreless for 3:26 of the
span, to open a 33-14 lead with 9:50 to play in the first half.
Clemson, coming off the 68-52 upset Tuesday over Virginia (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today; No. 7 Associated Press),
unraveled during the stretch.
Chris Hobbs, at 6-foot-7 one of the few options the Tigers had to stop Wake's inside game, went to the bench with his third
foul with 10:09 to play in the first half.
"He's a handful for us inside," Prosser said. "So that really
helped our effort that he was in foul trouble."
Songaila, sensing the mismatch, immediately posted up for a
layup on Wake's next possession that drew a foul. Shyatt stomped
onto the court to argue the call, drawing a technical that made him
so upset he backhanded a row of paper cups filled with water off
the scorer's table.
Any chance the Tigers might have had to get back in the game was
lost when Hobbs fouled out with 11:33 to play, leaving Wake's
frontcourt free to dominate. | |
ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Clemson Clubhouse
Wake Forest Clubhouse
RECAPS
Virginia 71 North Carolina 67
Wisconsin 64 Michigan St 63
Georgetown 70 Boston College 43
Florida 95 Vanderbilt 85
Kentucky 51 South Carolina 50
Oklahoma 98 Texas Tech 72
Wake Forest 96 Clemson 55
Miami Fla 77 Virginia Tech 68
UCLA 87 Kansas 77
Mississippi 66 Mississippi St 59
Cincinnati 83 Houston 62
Missouri 81 Kansas St 66
Illinois 94 Michigan 70
Auburn 59 Alabama 56
Oklahoma St 69 Iowa St 66
Oregon 87 Stanford 79
Syracuse 75 West Virginia 69
Butler 68 Youngstown St 50
Notre Dame 56 Pittsburgh 53
Arizona 74 Washington 69
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