Midwest Region: Cleveland State Upends Wake Forest, Arizona Ousts Utah

MIAMI, March 20 -- The Cleveland State basketball team never looked like it was dreaming too big or playing over its head in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday night. The 13th-seeded Vikings took control in the opening minutes against Wake Forest at American Airlines Arena and simply cruised.

Led by senior spark plug Cedric Jackson, who looked like a dark green blur with his matching wristbands and headband, Cleveland State (25-10) sent Wake Forest back to Winston-Salem, N.C., with an 84-69 defeat in the Midwest Region of the NCAA tournament here.

Jackson did a lot of everything, and at a very high speed. He scored from inside and outside, tallying 19 points. He grabbed seven rebounds. He handed out eight assists. And, oh yeah, he had three steals, too, as Ishmael Smith and other guards struggled to slow him.

Taking a 17-point lead just more than midway through the opening period, Cleveland State at first overwhelmed Wake Forest, then fended off a second-half rally that brought the score to 55-49. But never closer. The Vikings earned a date Sunday with Arizona, a 12th-seed that upset fifth-seeded Utah here in Friday's opening game.

"We had to hit them early in order to be in that game because they are a very, very talented team," Vikings Coach Gary Waters said. "I think what we did was surprise them. It took them a while to figure out what was occurring."

Making its second NCAA tournament appearance, Cleveland State got here by winning the Horizon League tournament. In 1986, 14th-seeded Cleveland State upset the Indiana Hoosiers in the opening round and went on to reach the round of 16.

Wake Forest, meantime, posted a 24-6 record but stumbled against Maryland in the ACC tournament quarterfinals before this quick exit.

The Vikings were cheered on by a small but enthusiastic band of green-shirted supporters, some wearing horned helmets. Though Jackson led the rampage, he got plenty of help. Cleveland State rarely looked overpowering, but received contributions came from all over the place. The Vikings grabbed 10 steals and forced 18 turnovers.

Norris Cole scored 22 points and J'Nathan Bullock added 21 for Cleveland State. James Johnson led the Demon Deacons with 22 points.

"We have an incredibly disappointed locker room right now," Wake Forest Coach Dino Gaudio said.

Wake Forest hit just five of its first 15 field-goal attempts, turned over the ball eight times and fell behind 29-12. During that stretch, the Vikings hit five of seven three-point attempts. The Demon Deacons, however, burst out of their shooting slump late in the period, hitting five of six field goal attempts to chip away at the margin. By halftime, they shaved it to 39-30.

"All we were thinking about was finishing the game," Cole said.

That became apparent. Cleveland State came out of halftime with the same enthusiasm it began the game, pushing the lead back up to 13 before Wake Forest brought it back down into single digits. A reverberating slam dunk by Jackson over Smith with 13 minutes remaining seemed a defining moment.

"I never felt like this in my life," Smith said. "It's a tough feeling. I hate losing more than anything. To taste this, it hurts."

-- ARIZONA 84, UTAH 71: Scorned when they earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament after their lousy finish to an average season, the Arizona Wildcats seemed unlikely to warm many hearts in Friday's game against Utah.

But to anyone who questioned whether Arizona, the 12th seed in the Midwest Region, deserved a spot in the field, Friday's 84-71 first-round victory over fifth-seeded Utah at American Airlines Arena offered a resounding answer.

There was nothing charming about this upset, nothing cute about the Wildcats (20-13), who played with such ferocity they made it clear they intended to be considered a serious contender here, not a surprising Cinderella. When the final buzzer sounded, players walked off the court, coolly slapping hands rather than jumping in celebration.

"We overcame adversity again," guard Nic Wise said. "We proved to everybody we should have been in the tournament."

Using a swarming defense and up-tempo offense, Arizona took an early lead and never relented, even though spurts of hot shooting from Utah kept the Utes (24-10) in it until the end. The Utes, in fact, closed to within 64-62 with five minutes remaining, but Arizona's players responded, hitting critical shots late.

"We thought we were going to come back the entire game until basically the last minute," said Utah guard Tyler Kepkay, who scored 19 points.

Twenty-nine mostly late points from Wise and 20 mostly early ones from Chase Budinger helped Arizona earn a trip to the second round in its 25th straight appearance in the tournament. Forward Jordan Hill added 17, including a resounding slam dunk with a minute left that ended the Utes' hopes.

All three players hobbled into the postgame press conference with ice packs taped to some part of their legs.

Arizona largely shut down Australian big man Luke Nevill, who was born in Perth and, after getting in early foul trouble, finished with just 12 points.

The Utes, who finished with 20 turnovers, finally found their rhythm from the outside late in the first period. After missing their first seven three-point attempts, the Utes hit five of their next 11. Lawrence Borha and Shaun Green each sank a pair of critical threes, helping the Utes close to within 34-29 at halftime.

But in what seemed a signal that Arizona wasn't backing down, Wildcats guard Kyle Fogg stole an errant pass just seconds into the second half, handing it off to Wise for a layin off the break.

"We feel like we are one of the better teams in the tournament," Wise said. "But we like being underdogs."