play. talk about transition defense, aminu makes a great play on the blocked shot. andrew taylor going to the goal, aminu slap it is away. it's a great plblock because it results in a transition opportunity. jackson knocks the ball away from clark. >> ron: wake forest had 16 blocks in the game versus unc-greens bure unc-greensboro. here comes redford. >> dan: another turnover. >> ron: that's up to five for wake forest. holloway loses it, aminu leads the break. smith, aminu, dunk it! >> dan: the key to that play is aminu gives it up and gets it back. really nice fast break. >> ron: give it to the ball handler. taylor tries to sneak behind the defense. has a wide open look, can't finish it out. mclean battles for the rebound,

but we've got a foul. pretty good looking dunk here. >> dan: give it to smith, you know you're going to get it back. this is outstanding fast break basketball.

>> ron: welcome back to winston-sal winston-salem, north carolina, where tonight it's xavier and wake forest going at it. we are honoring the late skip prosser who passed away a couple years ago and the acc in his honor has put together the skip prosser academic award. a couple recipient, cliff hammonds and jk mcclinton from miami this past season. i remember talking to coach prosser a number of years ago and the wins and losses, how important is that? he looked at me and he said do you know what's important to me? teaching. hence the award for academics. really grasped all of it. 11:18 left to play. 17-14.

along with dan bonnor, jenn hildreth, i'm ron thulin welcoming you inside lawrence coliseum. >> dan: there was a mismatch out on the wing with weaver, and he went by weaver like waver was nailed to the floor. crawford not able to convert it. crawford really impressive taking the ball to the basket. >> ron: he's getting more and more comfortable. he was a transfer from indiana and on the scout team last year, but it's so different working out with the scout team than working with the starters, and coach mack telling us last night that the comfort level has risen every game for crawford. >> dan: and that's now three personal fouls against jason mcfarland. great job recognizing what wake forest is doing defensively. that time it was terrell holloway. he saw mcfarland on him, he went right by. >> ron: mcfarland has got to sit down. tony woods has checked into the lineup for wake forest. aminu has the loose ball. that's a great rebound by smith.

he couldn't get it but he tipped it right to aminu. >> ron: aminu tried to do a little french pastry inside. nice look to williams! >> dan: i think williams figured aminu was going to shoot the ball. what a catch. >> ron: and the lead stretched to five almost halfway home in the first 20 minutes. most of you, a triple-header of basketball. this is the second of three. crawford has got to give the ball up. holloway tries to get it to redford. five turnovers for xavier. >> dan: talked about aminu and he's had trouble handling the ball today, but that time an excellent job in traffic, a great pass to l.d. williams. l.d. williams having a nice half offensively for wake forest. this has certainly been a game of spurts. the score was tied, now wake has scored five in a row. >> ron: here is aminu facing up.

a baseline jumper well off the mark. taylor just tipped it over. keep in mind, the two starting big guys for xavier, frease and love, both on the bench for two personal fouls. and wake is a team that can go big. holloway on the drive. aminu puts the big hands up, already has one block. ball will belong to xavier, last touched by woods. jenn, you have some more on dino gaudio. >> jenn: while the buzz in the arena may be about the offense, the buzz in that huddle was about their defense. he nearly broke a clipboard he was so upset with the way his team was not covering the back screens. >> ron: one of the players told me today, he says coach yawgaud has an obsession with defense. >> dan: that only makes him a coach, all coaches have an obsession with defense. >> ron: how about that? that's a heck of an improvement.

he really stresses it. he stresses contesting every shot, as ishmael smith just did that. that's really a dynamite block. mclean picked up the foul. you know where dino went for advice on how to improve his defense? he went to xavier. he and his staff went to xavier and talked with xavier about how the musketeers, their defensive system, and so they run the same defensive system. >> ron: pat klein defense. dino and pat kelsey, who is now with xavier, met with some of the xavier coaches and got a little lesson in how they do it. >> dan: another missed free throw. that's five in the first half, and i think three of them have been the front end of the 1-1. leaving a lot of points at the line. >> ron: crawford has to give it up to taylor. here is crawford. redford is being shadowed all over the place by clark.

clark not giving him any room at all. 12 to shoot. here comes the double. a little ball fake. aminu puts up the hands. they'll count the basket by mclean and we have a whistle. >> dan: that's not a good foul by al-farouq aminu. that was a really good shot by mclean, but this is a situation, they're in a tough disadvantage defensively, and if you're going to foul the guy, foul him at least sow doesn't put the ball in the basket. a little tap on the elbow. the referee standing right there can see it. al-farouq mip hasaminu has a lo skills, but i think he still has a lot to learn about the game of basketball. he seems to pick up a couple silly fouls every game. >> ron: what did dino gaudio just yell at his team in shoot around?

no conventional three-point fouls. it will be last touched by xavier. wake forest basketball. 9:03 to play in the opening half. >> dan: you know, ron, if you're not going to shoot the ball, that he is no reason for you to leave your feet. ishmael smith got away with one there. >> ron: that's a five-star basketball camp drill, i think. a little jump stop by williams, can't finish it out. whistle, that's going to be a foul against wake forest. so far aminu, he's had a couple highlights in this ball game, the sophomore out of norcross georgia. >> dan: he's a guy you will see highlighted from inside and running the court, making an excellent pass. this is a guy who is a tremendous offensive player, and it's not just an offensive player. the blocked shot leads to a wake forest fast break. >> ron: eight double-doubles this year for aminu. he had four straight prior to the richmond game. one of the lowest outputs of the year as far as field goal attempts. mclean gets the first.

>> dan: we are just talking about al-farouq aminu and his fouls, and he just picked up his second, over the back. there are his numbers. >> ron: and mclean gets them both and the lead is down to one inside of nine minutes to play in the opening half. as dan mentioned, a couple guys from xavier in foul trouble. love is back in though for the musketeers. pulling the trigger, woods from the outside. inside, aminu puts it back off the glass. >> dan: a great offensive rebounder. and love, as you mentioned, back in the game with those two fouls. he couldn't attack him. >> ron: crawford tries to split the defense. what a shot by jordan crawford! >> dan: how in the world did that go in the basket? >> ron: quickly l.d. williams has it rejected by love. xavier with a chance to take the lead. they're down by one. crawford turns on aminu.

gets the roll. >> dan: wow. >> ron: 8-2 run now by the musketeers. they have the lead by one. crawford, 10 points, 4 of 8 shooting already in the ball game. ishmael smith has been quiet since the first couple minutes, dan. woods inside, shuffles the feet, but gets it off the soft touch. >> dan: that's a good play by woods. he knows love has those two personal fouls so he attacks him. >> ron: and wake has the advantage. c.j. harris really talking to redford. aminu pokes it away. takes it himself, fader roll, offensive foul. that will be his third. >> dan: and al-farouq aminu, we showed you that replay before where he gave it up and got it back. that time he didn't give it up,

and what he got was his third foul. >> ron: and he gets it on the drive. redford taking the charge. 7:18 to play in the half. wake with a one-point advantage. ready to unthink the wing? ♪ new kfc fiery grilled wings! marinated then grilled to seal in the one-of-a-kind taste. whoa! try 5 wings or a bucket of 20. ♪ untry sternry 5 wings or a bucket of 20. ♪ tiny rooms that the sun never basemeblessed ♪ent ♪ ♪ so when we needed space for a family ♪ ♪ set our sights on the wide open west ♪

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>> ron: wake forest leads it by one. we talked about al-farouq aminu for wake forest, and he has certainly lived up to his billing early in the game. he has seven points a variety of moves, that an inside basket. jordan crawford has been spectacular at times. this would be a great shot in any horse game in the world. he's got ten points. al-farouq aminu now has three personal fouls. and xavier, despite the fact that they're only shooting 30%, they're only down by one.

7 of 23 and now they have taken the lead back at 24-23. >> dan: they forced some turnovers, and as a result they have six more field goal attempts than wake forest. >> ron: and with aminu out, how much onus goes on ishmael smith right now? >> dan: he's going to have to get into the lane and create things. he did that early in the lane. xavier has shut him off recently, and particularly what he's going to do is get into the lane and find somebody like c.j. harris for a three. >> ron: take a look at our game summary so far. with 6:48 left to play in the first half. you can see crawford already with ten points. aminu three fouls but 7 and 6. wake shooting 44% and being outrebounded by three. >> dan: and i think that's a key stat as l.d. williams knock it is down. xavier was very worried about wake forest's power on the boards. wake forest, you see they're trailing in the rebounding end of things.

>> ron: l.d. williams, larry demetrius williams. when he first met skip processor, he said you need a nickname. let's call you long dunking williams. let's shorten it to l.d. a lot of movement, more by xavier than in the first. but they turn it over. the seventh turnover for them. >> dan: xavier did a nice job getting back that time. >> ron: wake trying to make a move. tossed up, the seventh turnover. holloway uses the body effectively. >> dan: we were just talking about turnovers and extra opportunities for xavier as a result of those turnovers. >> ron: 10 of their 26 points for xavier off turnovers. >> dan: that's what we're talking about with l.d. williams -- or excuse me, ishmael smith, getting into the lane. he has the facility to do that and the talent to get that jump

stop and that little floater. >> ron: and we're tied at 26. dante jackson far side, kenny frease will let it fly from the baseline. last touched by harris. >> dan: xavier, when they can get the turnover, this is a really nice two-on-one break, three-on-one, ishmael smith is back, but he steps away. not much he can do, but offensively we talk about getting into the lane. the jump stop and the bank, and that was an intentional bank shot because he's trying to get it up over the big guys on the inside. he does very well with the floaters in the lane. >> ron: holloway, rejected big time! david weaver with the block. on the other end they lost the handle but we have a whistle and a foul. >> dan: weaver with the block, and ari stewart gets the ball out and does a fabulous job in

transition. ishmael smith makes holloway wait, and that allows weaver to get in and block the shot, and then ari stewart takes the ball down the court and makes a great pass to c.j. harris. >> ron: and the freshman from winston-salem, north carolina, at the line. 82% from the stripe this year. joins the like of chris paul, josh howard, and l.d. williams, all hailing from winston-salem. second one not able to go. straight to the hoop with the two is mark lyons, the red shirt freshman out of ask neglectdy. smith, the other end. off the glass, count the basket! he'll go to the line! >> dan: how did he do that? there were four guys in the lane from xavier. he talk about ishmael smith's quickness. his quickness -- look at him

turn taylor around. holloway tries to strip the ball from him and can't. once again wake needs another at the free-throw line and there's the foul on tony woods. dribbles between the legs, turns one defender around and flies away from holloway while he's shooting the ball. >> ron: i think dante jackson lost sight of him and then the problem ishmael smith is having. he's not good from the free-throw line. last season he shot 79% from the line. >> dan: his first two years his combined free throw percentage was 39%. frease knocks that one down. last year you mentioned smith was 79%. this year he's back to 39% again. >> ron: talking to him today, he's very open about it. he says, you know, i'm not going to shy away from drawing the contact even though i'm having trouble from the line. he says, i know it's going to come around. kenny frease, the sophomore out of ohio, all his numbers are up

from his freshman year. coach was telling us he's really starting to come on for the xavier musketeer team. he gives them the lead. big guy, today. >> dan: big body, rebounds the ball well, too. they don't need a lot offensively from him. >> ron: 12 rebounds versus lsu in his first career start. and he gets that rebound. >> dan: i know weaver has made a couple threes, but i cringe every time he goes out beyond the three-point arc to shoot the ball early in the shot clock. >> ron: taylor has to give up to frease. that's a deep three. that's a deep three made! >> dan: crawford was out there and smith was in front of him. that's how far away from the basket he was. >> ron: 2 of 3 behind the arc. he has 13 points in the ball game and this is xavier's biggest lead at four. >> dan: key moments for wake forest. >> ron: woods trying to force it and he has it stripped.

the spin move by lyons, loses it. here comes wake forest. two-on-nobody. >> dan: ishmael smith blocked that shot, ron. suddenly ishmael smith has become bill russell out there. >> ron: i think that's his second block of the ball game. >> dan: that's at least two. they may not have credited him, but he's bothered a couple shots. >> ron: he's got nine blocks on the year. >> dan: spins around and he blocked that one with his elbow and coming the other way c.j. harris all the way down the court with an easy one. >> ron: it looks like lyons is gripping that left leg. we'll have to get an update on his condition. >> ron: looks like maybe a cramp. >> ron: and the coach is going to have to make a substitution. watch how he comes down on this shot after the block.

oh, my. >> dan: he grabs his knee, ron. that's not a good looking thing. >> ron: this is a young man out of schenectady, new york. started the last five games. he's probably the quickest and probably one of the best athletes on xavier. he's explaining how he came down on it. he's been playing with so much confidence. it would be a huge loss for the musketeers. they have the basketball and a two-point advantage. four minutes left to go in the half. >> dan: there's a great battle going on out there between crawford, 55, and l.d. williams, 42. they are really, really playing hard. >> ron: holloway with smith on him. williams tries to go around the pick from frease. frease left open after the roll, and he jams it. >> dan: those are the kind of things frease can do. they don't need him to score 20 points a game. set a screen, roll to the basket, catch the ball, and make an easy one. made a couple free throws, getting some rebounds.

if they can get ten points and eight rebounds from him every game, they'll be really happen. >> ron: williams over frease, and the lead of xavier cut back down to two. >> dan: that's a really good idea to go inside of frease. he has two personal fouls. holloway has been very quiet tonight. >> ron: very much so. holloway so far tonight, as his team is shooting 39%, he's 1 of 8 from the floor. >> dan: talked about smith's quickness on offense. brings the same quickness to the defensive end of the court. hard to get around. >> ron: ten to shoot. the hesitation, the drive with the left hand, the put-back by mclean. xavier has now scored on their last five possessions, and the lead is back to four. >> dan: go for the blocked shot and you miss, it leaves offensive guys right around the board for tip-ins. nice play by mclean. >> ron: frease jumps out and

shows a double. c.j. harris gives it back to smith. that's a long-range three, nothing but the bottom of the net for ari stewart. >> dan: now, you can play off ishmael smith outside, about you you can't play off ari stewart. >> ron: 43% beyond the arc and that gives the fans here at joel coliseum standing. xavier, one-point lead. they have the basketball, two minutes to play in the half. that's a deep three. offensive rebound, no. whistle and a foul. weaver comes in from the backside. frease with a jam, and then ari stewart answers with the three. 1:57 left to play in the first half. [ male announcer ] the lexus

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champ, xavier, they're leading wake forest by one. 1:57 left to play in the half. along with dan bonnor, jenn hildreth, i'm ron thulin. we talked at the top of the show about the stars. let's chair them. >> ron: jordan crawford 13 points and 4 rebounds. a couple long three-point shots and al-farouq aminu, he's had a nice first half. the big stat for him, however, is he has three personal fouls. at the moment a spot on the bench, and he's going to have to be careful in the second half, aminu has been out eight minutes so far in this ball game. >> ron: we look at the numbers during the break, we can see right now xavier is outrebounding wake forest, but it even goes deeper than that. >> dan: xavier has 10 offensive rebounds, only 4 for wake forest, and that's another area where aminu really helps the deacons. he's an outstanding offensive rebounder. >> ron: mclean gets both the free throws. he has nine points, six rebounds

already in this ball game. 5 of 6 from the line. oh, my, slam it down, ari stewart! >> dan: this is a young man who is not noted for his ability to go to the basket. he has provided a huge dunk off the bench. >> ron: he had a clutch three-pointer with 19 seconds left in overtime versus richmond. the true freshman out of marietta, georgia. wheeler high school. that's produced a couple of pretty good basketball players in their day. >> dan: let's take a look at ari stewart. you figure he's going to shoot the three. stewart goes right by and then frease has those two personal fouls. he can't be overly aggressive. that's a great offensive play by stewart, but then down on the other end, he commits a silly foul against a great free throw shooter. >> ron: we get a report from jenn hildreth. lyons for xavier should come back a little later in the ball

game and that's obviously good news. >> dan: when a guy lands like that, and the knee sort of buckles and he's off-balance, you always think acl. you hope that doesn't happen. >> ron: holloway gets them both. holloway with six points in the ball game and the lead is three. 1:20 left to play in the first half. five ties, seven lead changes in this ball game. >> dan: holloway is a guy who struggled from the field. you don't want to put him on the free-throw line. >> ron: stewart trying to do it all, this time from the outside. xavier with 65 seconds left has a chance to add to their advantage. nice pass inside. mclean can't finish it up, but he'll go back to the line. >> dan: mclean just beat the wake forest big guys down the court. the only guy back there was ishmael smith, and that's two fouls now on smith. so you got aminu already on the bench with three fouls. now smith has two fouls. >> ron: we were watching the lsu game from earlier this week, xavier played, and one thing

that stood out is just what you mentioned, the fact their big guys after a miss or a made basket on the other end, they're first guys down the court. >> dan: both frease and love picked up two fouls early, and chris mack has done a great job alternating those guys in the game with taylor and with mclean, keeping them from getting that third foul and they've been able to play very successfully on the inside. the rebounding numbers we told but before really tell the story. >> ron: xavier 14 of 16 from the line. wake 7 of 8. that's why they've got the five-point advantage with just over 49 seconds left. they'll try to get crawford back in here quickly. redford will sit down. and it will be wake forest ball. ishmael smith triggers it in. >> dan: i'm surprised they haven't got him more in the offense. >> ron: l.d. williams.

usually you get points from him. that's just gravy. >> dan: he's not noted as a jump shooter. >> ron: no. got to credit xavier's defense doing a nice job on smith so far tonight. he has ten points, three assists. a five second difference, six second difference between the shot and game clock. we have a quick time-out. >> dan: you can see the a-10 has won four games and the atlantic coast conference has won four games. temple victory over virginia tech. georgia tech, that was the big upset early in the season. >> ron: virginia tech the winner last night in cancun.

but here inside the joel coliseum we have 21 seconds left. xavier are 8-0 when they lead at halftime. >> dan: we're talking about the a-10 and before the season started, most people thought the a-10 would be dayton and xavier, but you have teams like charlotte and rhode island and temple who have really had good preconference seasons. charlotte at 10-3. temple with that victory over villanova earlier in the year. we showed you the victory over virginia tech richmond has had a fine season. the a-10 much more than dayton and xavier. >> ron: here is redford. you have to stay on him. he's the three-point specialist. >> dan: that's exactly what you have to do to him. >> ron: two to shoot, one to shoot. they're not going to get it off. wake will have it with 5.3 left in the half. >> dan: crawford has some deep range, but i think that was -- >> ron: especially when somebody

is trying to take the feet out from undery you. xavier has been held to 38% shooting in the opening half, however xavier will probably go in with a lead at intermission. what do you think he's going to focus on at halftime? if things stay status quo? >> dan: well, i think for wake forest they have to get al-farouq aminu back in the game and he has to play effectively with those three fouls, and i think what has to happen for wake forest, they've got to figure out a way to continue to get ishmael smith into the lane. he's done it a couple times late in the first half, but smith is not a guy who can score in spurts. he's got to score consistently for wake forest. the story of this game, ron, if you want to boil it down to just one thing, wake forest has been to the free-throw line 16 times, they've made 8. xavier has been to the free-throw line 16 times and

they've made 14, and so that's a six-point difference. the game is a five-point difference. so whenever you get into these tight, tough match-ups, free throw shooting turns out to be the difference in a lot of situations. >> ron: remember their two losses, they were outshot from the line. a little pump fake. c.j. harris is fouled on the play. >> dan: let's see if they rule that a shot and then if they also rule he was beyond the three-point arc. >> ron: 1.7 left to play. coming up at the halftime, the acura halftime report, we'll send it to los angeles for final score. we'll have highlights from the florida/north carolina state game in overtime plus first half highlights and stats from our game and an nfl playoff picture and jenn will have more on skip prosser all coming up on the acura halftime report. >> dan: officials are over at the table. they want to look to see whether that was a two-point attempt or a three-point attempt. >> ron: this will be only the second time this year that wake forest will trail at halftime.

>> dan: it looked like both of his feet were behind the line. >> ron: definitely. the officials taking their time, make sure they got it correctly. a little better angle here. >> dan: that's going to be three. >> ron: once again, as dan mentioned, they're only 8 of 16, only 40% from the stripe -- or 50% from the stripe so far tonight. surprised it's taking so long. >> dan: well, the other thing you have to look at, too, in this situation is how much time is left there. the 1.7, so some time clearly went off the clock after he shot the ball. so it will be interesting to see, it's going to be a three-point shot, if they don't put some time back on the clock. >> ron: well, they're leaving the game clock at 1.7 -- >> dan: also keep in mind, ron, that the clock doesn't stop when the foul occurred. the clock stops when the referee blows the whistle.

you see the contact and blow the whistle and the clock here, given the fact those refs wear those little remote control packs, it's supposed to stop as soon as the whistle blows. there's the free throw comparison we've been talking about. >> ron: c.j. harris will go to the line. he's 82% from the stripe this year. and he is 1 of 2 so far tonight. harris averaging just under 12 points a game this year. second leading scorer on the team. >> dan: if he can get all three of these, this is a big boost for wake forest just before the half. >> ron: he was 10 for 10 the last two games coming into tonight. >> dan: i don't think with 1.7, you can't do anything there. our first game tonight won the game with less time than that left. >> ron: we'll have highlights coming up on the acura halftime report of that. you know, you have to say that

here's chris mack's team, all of a sudden they're with a semi-comfortable five-point lead and now this thing could be trimmed down to just two, as harris hits all three. >> dan: that's really a big play for wake forest. now what they have to do is to avoid fouling down on the other end. >> ron: length of the court. taylor will trigger it in. deep pass, that's going to be picked off, and that's the way the first half will end. xavier shoots only 38%. wake forest shoots 52%, but as they head to the locker room at intermission for only the second time this year, wake trails 43-41. here's jenn with dino gaudio. >> jenn: you were upset with the defense earlier in the half. >> our transition defense has to get better. we've got to do a better job of boxing out. they have too many second shots. >> jenn: how much is the foul trouble from your big guys

affecting the way you're playing the game? >> it's a big factor with mcfarland and aminu sitting. we have to do a better job of guarding in the second half without fouling. >> jenn: thanks, coach. >> ron: thank you very much, jenn. halftime, acura halftime report is straight ahead. dino gaudio and company in the dino gaudio and company in the skip prosser they're running the men's room marathon.

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>> ron: welcome to the acura halftime report. 20 minutes down in winston-salem. the demon deacons now trailing the musketeers by the score of 43-41. and now we welcome you inside our college basketball studios. i'm barry la brock. wake forest not the only acc team to step outside of conference today. amazing finish between nc state and florida. two-point lead with 2.6 seconds left in overtime. they miss the free throw. taylor parsons down two, oh, he hit it. three-quarters court and the gators continue an amazing sports weekend. florida thriller. 62-61. unbelievable. big ten hoops, ohio state visiting ann arbor. wolverines up one. hoop and the foul. michigan up four.

wolverines uni nice pass. pull off the upset. we'll update you on who is in and who is out in the

welcome home, man. some football, vikings need

a win and the eagles loss to secure the number two seat. favre hooking up with wright. looking good for minnesota. the cowboys lead 24-0. steel verse a better shot at making the playoffs. after this one they have the only shot. roethlisberger to miller. we'll show it to you again. yeah. good job. a little fred astaire routine. steelers beat the dolphins 30-24. texans also need a win and some help facing the patriots. new england already in. brady, fourth quarter going deep. pollard right there to pick it off. ensuing drive, foster punching it in from three yards out. texans winners, 34-27 over new england. we're going to clear up the entire playoff picture for you later tonight on "the final score" presented by burger king. we're on following clemson and duke. much more basketball to come,

including second half between xavier and wake forest.

>> ron: welcome back to the acura halftime report where wake forest is trailing xavier 43-41. of course, this is the first

skip prosser classic honoring the late coach. with more on that and an american airlines flashback, here is jenn hildreth. >> jenn: this entire night and the skip prosser classic is certainly a tribute to the former coach both at wake forest and xavier. we had a tremendous impact at both of these schools. you see on the floor was a man ofwar words, his words ever all over the place. and before the game, his family was here, his grandmother, sister, honored in a ceremony and it was an emotional moment and it's very emotional for both head coach who is had a chance to talk to you before the game. >> it's all about the kids, and that's what he was about. it wasn't about you, the coach. it was the kids and doing your best to help them get what they're trying to achieve, whether it was academically or on the basketball court. and he was a great, great person and a great leader of young men. >> tough times don't last, tough people do, and that embodied

what coach was all about and it's tough not having him here today. >> jenn: both head coaches talking about former head coach skip prosser and what he meant to them and their programs. the skip prosser classic will continue with the second half in just a few moments. [ male announcer ] the lexus december to remember sales event.

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oh! blue! i touched the ball before it went out, coach. come on, alex, the ref did not call that! it's the championship game! i touched, it's their ball. don't foul them when they inbound. team! alex! good call.

>> ron: before the game both coaches telling us they're familiar not only with each other but their system. they said there will be no secrets tonight. it's like a conference game. i think it's also no secret if you're wake forest right now, number one, tough rebound the ball better, and you better start hitting your free throws. >> dan: i thought xavier did a really nice job. they got their big guys in trouble, but nonetheless, they outrebounded wake forest and got aminu in foul trouble. >> ron: jenn hildreth caught up with head coach chris mack. >> jenn: tremendous effort by your team on the boards but what are some things you think you need to do better in the second half? >> i think, number one, we have to keep them off the foul line. they shot way too many free

throws and it was our fault. they got to the bonus very early. i think seven minutes in. you can't play like that. you don't play as aggressive. you have to limit those guys getting to the foul line in the second half. >> jenn: thanks, coach. good luck. >> ron: let's look at some of the halftime numbers from the first 20 minutes. you can see wake forest shooting 52% for the ball game, but you go down just a couple notches you see only 11 of 19 from the free-throw line. >> dan: so chris mack was right, wake forest did get to the free-throw line a lot, but nonetheless xavier outstore eou them from the free-throw line. they also outrebounded them, ten offensive rebounds to four for the demon deacons. >> ron: mcfarland is starting the second half for wake forest. love, a little right-handed jump hook. talk about that offensive rebound prior to the lsu game. xavier was getting killed on the offensive words. chris mack said we have to pick it up, and they did that versus

lsu and it's carried over to tonight's game. here is ish smith. pretty good 20 minutes for smith. harris back on top. aminu, three fouls in the first 20 minutes. a couple ball fakes, love up and under. love gets a piece of it. >> dan: aminu has got to be careful. usually guys can be careful on the defensive end, but it's on the offensive end where they sometimes get in trouble with charges. >> ron: lyons, glad he's okay, back in the lineup. can't get the scoop shot to go. here is smith. c.j. harris for three. mcfarland, offensive rebound. tries to spin it around, can't hit it. xavier will have the basketball. no, it's a foul. dino gaudio can't believe it. >> dan: c.j. harris, ron, shot that ball from three feet beyond the three-point arc when there was nobody around him. he didn't have to -- you don't get extra points for moving further back from the three-point arc, as we get a look at our leading scorers. mclean coming off the bench,

just a fantastic first half with frease and love in foul trouble. >> ron: 7 of 8 from the free-throw line for mclean. nice pick by c.j. harris. one-on-one, takes it to crawford, bodying him up. count the basket and krnl will -- c.j. will go to the line. >> dan: that's a great play. jordan crawford never gets his feet planted, so no way it's an offensive foul. never facing the dribbler. c.j. harris goes right into him, draws the foul, and, of course, the demon deacons are happy about that. >> ron: he's 4 of 5 from the line. he averages about four free throws a game, make it 5 of 6. this young man gets to the line frequently and makes them. >> dan: he made the three free throws at the end of the first half and now scores three points to start the second half, and just like that he's got wake forest back in the lead. they trailed by five. >> ron: by one, but they go back on the low side.

lyons again with that little scoop shot. >> dan: lyons only had two points in the first half. he's playing much better than that. >> ron: chas mcfarland can't get it to go. we have a whistle and foul underneath. lyons, nice little drive on the last play. >> dan: he's another one of the guys from xavier who does a nice job getting to the basket. this time he just makes a pass and right here c.j. harris has to be on that side. he doesn't do it. he goes away, and as a result lyons is able to get a real easy shot. >> ron: at the line it will be l.d. williams shooting two. talking to the coaches about l.d. williams, they said he's the ultimate blue guy. say he's an outstanding ath let, does anything for this team. he gets the crowd going. >> dan: he's only 1 for 4 from

the free-throw line tonight. >> ron: coming into the game he's an 86% free throw shooter. >> ron: boy, that hurts. >> dan: that's like a turnover. >> ron: absolutely. >> dan: particularly because chas mcfarland had a two-foot shot and missed it. williams got the rebound and got fouled. so wake forest with a couple great opportunities can't convert. >> ron: lyons has one thing on his mind the last three possessions and that is drive. there is little hesitation. he goes to the hole, uses the body and the glass. and he scores. >> dan: he has scored the last eight points for wake forest. >> ron: here is holloway now. smith comes out to meet him. crawford off-balance shot, and he's going to go to the line and i think that will be on l.d. williams. that will be his second personal foul. >> dan: harris is noted for his three-point shot, but he does not mind taking it to that the basket. that's really a good driving

comie. he likes to go to the goal. >> ron: crawford now with a couple assists. love will sit down for xavier. >> dan: crawford has shown you a lot of different skills. a couple threes, been able to get to the basket, played with his back to the basket, has rebounded the ball. >> ron: he's given xavier the one-point advantage. about 2:30 gone by in the second 20. mcfarland on top, frease meets him. puts the left shoulder down and gets the deuce. >> dan: when aminu gets the ball, you sort of have to surround him. >> ron: that will be another turnover. that will be 11 on xavier. >> dan: al-farouq aminu sees some room. jordan crawford does not get down in time to help out. y