COL BKB: Wake Forest 81, Texas 80 (OT)

The Demon Deacons took advantage of poor Texas free throw shooting to earn a second-round meeting with top-seeded Kentucky on Saturday.

Wake Forest came into the tournament having lost five out of six, the last of those setbacks being a 21-point whipping at the hands of Miami in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tourney.

Texas saw its once promising season come to a close after having reached the No. 1 spot in the national rankings midway through the campaign. The Longhorns (24-10) made just 20-of-33 from the foul line and their season-long struggles in that department finally proved fatal.

Damion James had a chance to give Texas a one-point lead with 10 seconds left in regulation, but his miss left the game tied at 68-68 and brought about overtime.

The Longhorns then had a one-point lead with 10 seconds left in the extra period when Gary Johnson was fouled by Smith. Johnson, however, missed both attempts and Smith came through with his game-winning shot 8 seconds later.

Texas seemed to have the game wrapped up in the extra period, owning a four-point lead in the final half minute. Ari Stewart, however, hit a 3-pointer for Wake Forest with 19 seconds to go, bringing the Deacons within one and setting up the final sequence.

Al-Farouq Aminu led Wake Forest (20-10) with 20 points and Smith had 19. J'Covan Brown scored 20 for the Longhorns.

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