Demon Deacons

Randolph Childress is the one player Wake Forest can't afford to lose. At least that's what everybody thought until last night. Childress missed an eight-minute stretch of the second half with a shoulder injury, but scored 18 points, and the host Demon Deacons posted their third upset of a top-five team this season, beating No. 5 North Carolina, 68-61. The loss knocked the Tar Heels out of the race for the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title. North Carolina's loss, coupled with Duke's win at Maryland, clinched the ACC regular-season title for the second-ranked Blue Devils.

Dave Odom doesn't believe No. 6 Wake Forest has to start dealing with the stress of success yet. "Let's not get carried away with nine wins. Nine wins is not what this season is all about," the coach of the Demon Deacons said after a 92-52 victory over visiting Radford last night. "Let's focus more on our opportunity to improve and how we improve. I promise you I've never seen a tape yet where a team of mine played a perfect game. We can always teach as we go along. " Josh Howard had a career-high 22 points, and Wake Forest (9-0)

What a time to miss. After making an NCAA-record 50 consecutive free throws, Wake Forest's top free throw shooter missed - with the game tied at 76 and 4 seconds left. And host Florida State didn't give the third-ranked Demon Deacons another chance - winning, 91-83, in overtime last night. "That was a moment where I was probably a little concerned," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "They had hit, what, 50 straight free throws. " But Taron Downey missed after being fouled while making a desperation three-pointer.

With four minutes left in the first half, the Demon had been exorcised from the Deacons. Most of Wake Forest's starters were on the bench, heads bowed, eyes closed, spirits shot. Wake was down 30 to Butler in its first-round Midwest Regional matchup, shooting 12 percent, surrendering the lane so easily it seemed there must have been a "Yield" sign there. Half a court away, Butler coach Thad Matta glanced up at the big overhead scoreboard, where it said his Bulldogs were ahead, 38-8.

The Eagles signed rookie defensive tackle Boo Robinson, an undrafted free agent out of Wake Forest, according to several media reports. The team had no comment Monday night. The 6-foot-1, 295-pound Robinson signed a three-year deal, according to his agent, Albert Elias. Robinson recorded only one sack during his senior year but was hampered by a back injury. He had 145 tackles and 121/2 sacks in his career with the Demon Deacons.

Another 40 minutes of business as usual for No. 2 Duke translated into one of the worst nights on record for Wake Forest. The visiting Blue Devils put on a stifling defensive display last night, scoring 29 points off 20 turnovers on the way to an 88-52 victory over the Demon Deacons. It was Wake Forest's most lopsided loss in 15 years and the Demon Deacons' worst defeat at home in 31 years. "Duke took us out of everything from the first minute on," Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said.

All-America center Tim Duncan announced he will return for his senior season at Wake Forest instead of joining the parade of underclassmen who have declared for the NBA draft. Duncan's decision to play another year for the two-time Atlantic Coast Conference champions should have the Demon Deacons among the top teams in next season's preseason polls. He averaged 19 points and 12 rebounds last season as the Demon Deacons finished 26-6 and fell one step shy of the Final Four.

Wake Forest had a simple plan for beating Maryland - get the ball to Tim Duncan. Duncan scored a career-high 33 points on 12-for-14 shooting as the eighth-ranked Demon Deacons tightened their grip on first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with an 85-78 victory last night over the host Terrapins. "Tim Duncan was immense. We came into the game saying we had to establish the inside at all costs," Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said. That's exactly what happened. Taking a variety of short jumpers, the 6-10 Duncan easily shot over the shorter Terps.

Eric Williams had 22 points and nine rebounds last night to help No. 18 Wake Forest shake off feisty Mississippi Valley State, 78-64, in the first round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic at home in Winston-Salem, N.C. Trent Strickland added 16 points and a career-best 12 rebounds for the Demon Deacons, who have won 12 straight season openers and 17 straight home openers. The 6-foot-9, 280-pound Williams led the way for the Demon Deacons, going 10 for 12 from the field and throwing down seven dunks against the Delta Devils.

Chris Blank, an Inquirer first-team all-South Jersey offensive lineman from Washington Township, has made an oral commitment to attend Wake Forest University. The 6-foot-7, 260-pound Blank made his commitment while visiting the university in Winston-Salem, N.C., last week. According to NCAA rules, football recruits can't officially sign until Feb. 7, the beginning of the signing period. Blank had visited Iowa and Wisconsin, and he said he had canceled a trip to Northwestern after committing to Wake Forest.

Wake Forest 86, North Carolina State 84  - Devin Thomas had 25 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks to help the Demon Deacons (10-8, 3-3 ACC) knock off the No. 18 Wolfpack (15-4, 4-2) in Winston-Salem, N.C. N.C. State led by 16 points in the first half and 12 at halftime only to see Wake Forest rally. Travis McKie who had 16 points for the Demon Deacons, hit two free throws with 3.4 seconds left as Wake Forest held on. No. 3 Kansas outlasts No. 11 Kansas State Travis Releford scored 12 points and No. 3 Kansas held off No. 11 Kansas State down the stretch for a 59-55 victory in Manhattan, Kan., Tuesday night.

WAKE FOREST sophomore point guard Tony Chennault, who played at Ss. Neumann-Goretti High, will transfer at the end of the spring semester, according to Demon Deacons coach Jeff Bzdelik. Chennault said he wanted to play closer to home. He started 31 games this season as Wake finished 13-18, 4-12 in the ACC. "This was a tough decision to leave my teammates at this point in my career, but at the end of the day I have to do what's best for me and my family," Chennault told the Wake Forest sports information office.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said point guard Kyrie Irving would play "significant minutes" in the West Regional semifinal against Arizona. Speaking before boarding a bus to the airport, Krzyzewski said Irving would not start Thursday night in Anaheim, Calif., but is ahead of schedule in his return from a toe injury that cost him most of his freshman season. Irving missed 31/2 months with an injured right big toe but came off the bench in both of the top-seeded Blue Devils' NCAA tournament games.

The Eagles signed rookie defensive tackle Boo Robinson, an undrafted free agent out of Wake Forest, according to several media reports. The team had no comment Monday night. The 6-foot-1, 295-pound Robinson signed a three-year deal, according to his agent, Albert Elias. Robinson recorded only one sack during his senior year but was hampered by a back injury. He had 145 tackles and 121/2 sacks in his career with the Demon Deacons.

It appears Kentucky coach John Calipari, the master program-builder who seems to get out of town just before the NCAA comes snooping, has a good chance to reach the Final Four with his third different school. Regardless of what anyone thinks of the former Massachusetts and Memphis coach, that's quite an accomplishment. Rick Pitino is the only coach to do it. But it's far from a sure thing. The Wildcats are the No. 1 seed in the East Regional, the No. 2 seed overall in the NCAA tourney.

Two months after Wake Forest opted not to renew the contract of baseball coach Rick Rembielak, Germantown Academy pitcher Keenan Kish has backed out of his commitment to the Demon Deacons and orally committed to Florida. "It was a personal decision," said the 17-year-old, who will be a senior this season. "I know Wake Forest's new coaches are going to do a great job for that program, but I wanted to go somewhere where I already knew the coaching staff and would immediately be comfortable at that school.

Trevor Booker scored 21 points, Terrence Oglesby had five 3-pointers and No. 10 Clemson beat No. 4 Duke, 74-47, last night in Clemson, S.C., the first time the Tigers had consecutive wins over the Blue Devils in 13 years. Clemson (19-2, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) used a 20-8 run over the last 8 minutes of the first half to take a 33-21 lead. The Tigers extended the lead to as many as 23 points. Duke (19-3, 6-2) had won 22 straight over Clemson - most in blowout fashion - since the Tigers won three straight in the series in the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons.

James Johnson's layup with 0.8 seconds remaining helped No. 6 Wake Forest beat No. 1 Duke, 70-68, last night. Johnson finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds and freshman Al-Farouq Aminu scored 15 points for the host Demon Deacons (17-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference). They bounced back from last week's home loss that knocked them from No. 1 by leading the Blue Devils for nearly the entire way - before letting a late 13-point lead slip away and recovering just in time to claim the fifth victory over a top-ranked team in school history.

Sam Young pulled out of a three-game slump by scoring 19 of his 22 points in the second half and No. 4 Pittsburgh came back from its first loss of the season, surging shortly after halftime to defeat No. 8 Syracuse, 78-60, at home last night. DeJuan Blair, also coming off a poor game during a 69-63 loss at No. 9 Louisville on Saturday night that ended Pitt's 2-week stay at No. 1, was strong inside with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Blair's toughness keyed a rugged and sometimes intimidating defense that held the Orange nearly 22 points below its scoring average.

Sam Young pulled out of a three-game slump by scoring 19 of his 22 points in the second half as No. 4 Pittsburgh came back from its first loss of the season, surging shortly after halftime to defeat No. 8 Syracuse, 78-60, last night in Pittsburgh. DeJuan Blair, also coming off a poor game during a 69-63 loss at No. 9 Louisville on Saturday night that ended Pitt's two-week stay at No. 1, was strong inside with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Blair's toughness keyed a rugged and sometimes intimidating defense that held the Orange nearly 22 points below their scoring average.