Cleve. State shocks Wake Forest

ASSOCIATED PRESS

MIAMI — Some 23 years later, Cleveland State still has a knack for first-round shockers in the NCAA tournament.

The Vikings raced to an early 17-point lead Friday night and stunned one-time top-ranked Wake Forest 84-69. The win was reminiscent of Cleveland State’s only other appearance in the tournament in 1986, when it upset Indiana and Bob Knight in the opening round.

The Vikings (26-10) were seeded 14th then; they’re 13th in the Midwest region this year. On Sunday, they’ll play No. 12 Arizona (20-13), which beat Utah 84-71.

No. 4-seeded Wake Forest (24-7) lost in its first tournament game since 2005. The Demon Deacons won their first 16 games and were No. 1 for a week in January, but they lost their final two games of the season.

Sputtering offense again plagued the Demon Deacons, as it did when they were beaten by Maryland last week in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. They committed 18 turnovers to six by Cleveland State, which held Wake Forest well below its scoring average of 81 points per game.

Demon Deacons season scoring leader Jeff Teague was shut out for the first 13 minutes, totaled two points in the first half and finished with 10, half of his average. James Johnson’s trio of 3-pointers kept Wake Forest in the game in the first half, and he finished with 22 points. Al-Farouq Aminu scored 17.

The only worry for Cleveland State: Guard Cedric Jackson hobbled off the court rubbing his left knee in final minute after scoring 19 points. Backcourt mate Norris Cole had 22, and J’Nathan Bullock scored 21.

Against Wake Forest, Cleveland State had a size disadvantage but found ways to compensate. The section with fans from Ohio erupted in the second half when the 6-foot-3 Jackson dunked after catching an alley-oop inbounds pass from Cole.

By then, much of the arena was rooting on the underdogs.

A three-point play by the Demon Deacons’ David Weaver made it 55-49 with 11 minutes left, but the they could get no closer.

Michigan State 77, Robert Morris 62

MINNEAPOLIS — Raymar Morgan scored 16 points and Goran Suton had 11 points and 17 rebounds as Michigan State bullied 15th-seeded Robert Morris in a 77-62 victory in the first round of the Midwest Regional on Friday night.

Draymond Green added 16 points for the second-seeded Spartans (27-6), who were spotty during the Big Ten season thanks to Morgan’s walking pneumonia and Suton’s gimpy knees. They both looked fine on Friday night against the overmatched Colonials and the Spartans regained the form that led to convincing victories over Kansas, Oklahoma State and Texas earlier in the year.

Jeremy Chappell was the only player in double figures with 11 for Robert Morris (24-11), coached by Boardman High graduate Mike Rice, a commuter school from suburban Pittsburgh making its first NCAA appearance since 1992.