RALEIGH, N.C. - Freshman guard Chris Paul, a favorable alternating possession arrow and an opponent's broken play helped Wake Forest advance to its first NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 since 1996.
The fourth-seeded Demon Deacons ended No. 12 seed Manhattan's surprising run in the tournament with an 84-80 win in Saturday's second round at the RBC Center.
Manhattan, which defeated No. 5 seed Florida on Thursday, battled back from a 13-point deficit Saturday, and said despite the loss it proved it belonged.
"We had the heart of a lion," coach Bobby Gonzalez said.
Trailing 82-80, Manhattan's Dave Holmes tied up Paul with 13 seconds left. The possession arrow went in Wake Forest's favor.
After a timeout, Paul took the inbounds pass, was double-teamed and passed to an open Trent Strickland for a dunk that sealed the win.
"It was a broken play," Gonzalez said. "We were worried about a lob and ball-screen situations. We thought they would bring Paul off the ball screen or come inside. Dave Holmes for some reason just got nervous and overreacted and left his man because he didn't want to give Paul a wide-open shot. ... I don't think it came down to that, to be honest, but they scored when they had to.
"Obviously the alternate possession rule today for us was the worst rule in the history of college basketball," Gonzalez added.
Wake Forest led 48-35 at halftime and seemed in command. With several key players in foul trouble Manhattan backed away from its pressure defense.
But somehow, Manhattan kept coming back. The Jaspers opened the second half with a 16-5 run to pull within 53-51 with 14:19 left.
Wake Forest opened up the lead again, scoring many of its points at the free-throw line where it was 18-for-24. Trailing 70-62, Manhattan put together one last run to pull within two when Holmes converted two of his three free throws with 44 seconds remaining (the Jaspers went 15-of-20 from the line).
"They made a lot of big plays that allowed the game to be competitive right to the very end," Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said. "I think Coach Gonzalez and his kids deserve a lot of credit. I am very proud of our kids. My prevailing emotion right now is one of gratitude, to take myself and our coaches to the Sweet 16 is really a tremendous accomplishment."
Paul scored 16 of his team-high 29 in the first half and had career-high eight rebounds. He also added six assists.
"I am not sure if it was my best game ever," Paul said. "This hasn't happened at Wake Forest since 1996, so we're very happy."
Senior Luis Flores led Manhattan with 20 points, Holmes added 19 and Peter Mulligan had 13.
"It's always hard to lose, especially for us seniors," Holmes said. "But it shows we had fight in us. We worked hard to get back in the game. It came down to one last basket and we needed a stop. I have to tip my hat to Chris Paul. He made a hell of a play and they came away with the win."
DUKE 90, SETON HALL 62: Don't tell Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski there's no advantage to being a No. 1 seed.
He knows otherwise.
Playing in its home state, 15 minutes from its campus and in front of 19,722 Saturday at the RBC Center, Duke avoided any hint of an upset in the first two rounds. "I thought our kids played great this afternoon," Krzyzewski said. "We were fortunate Seton Hall had that late game against Arizona Thursday. No question that had to take something out of them. It's pretty tough to play Arizona and Duke in 36 hours."
Chris Duhon, the senior guard who is playing with severely bruised ribs, finished with nine points, six rebounds and five assists. He has had at least three assists in 98 of his last 102 games. With his one steal Saturday, he has 37 career steals in the NCAA Tournament, ranking him behind only Grant Hill (39) and Kentucky's Wayne Turner (38).
"I think (Chris) Duhon had one of those courageous performances," Krzyzewski said. "He led us so well and I think because he is out there that these kids picked it up. ... That thing is a painful injury. The kid's a tough kid."
Seton Hall scored on the opening basket, a 3-pointer by former Duke player Andre Sweet. The Pirates managed to stay close for all of about eight minutes in the first half.
Duke was up only 20-13, then went on a 15-4 run to take a 35-17 lead with 6:19 remaining in the half.
"When we got that lead there was a set that we were running that they just couldn't defend," Krzyzewski said.
Seton Hall shot 37 percent from the field in the first half and went six minutes without a field goal as the Blue Devils made a concerted effort to shut down senior guard Andre Barrett. Barrett came into the game averaging 17.6 points, but was held to eight on 4-for-11 shooting. He was 0-for-4 from 3-point range. "Some of my shots were in and out and they were shots that I normally would make," Barrett said. "Against a team like Duke, the way they were guarding me, every opportunity that I had, I had to make. They keyed on me. A lot of teams do, but I think they put the zoom in on me."
Seton Hall's 9-2 run late in the half closed the gap with two minutes left, but the Pirates trailed 40-28 at halftime and never threatened. Seton Hall was 3-of-17 on 3-pointers, allowed Duke to shoot 54 percent and was outrebounded 40-22.
"Our defense has been our staple all season; today we struggled," Seton Hall coach Louis Orr said. "Our zone was good to us, but we didn't stop them defensively and they made their foul shots (34 of 38)."
Duke sophomore guard J.J. Redick broke out of a slump, leading all scorers with 21, with Luol Deng (20), Shelden Williams (13) and Daniel Ewing (11) also in double figures.
Kelly Whitney and John Allen led Seton Hall with 14 each.
