On Thursday night, one player from Wake Forest men’s basketball team was on top in Demon Deacons’ last second victory over Texas longhorns. Seeded ninth in rankings Wake Forest squad defeated eighth-seeded Texas Longhorns by 81-80 through the courtesy Ishmael Smith’s last shot while in the overtime at the opening day of NCAA Tournament.

Though very rare but it happened on March 18, 2010 that as many as three games on the opening day of big challenge i.e. the NCAA Tournament being played at the Dunkin’s Donuts Center, went to overtime. The sports lovers must remember that last during the entire tournament, only two numbers games required to be completed in the overtime. However, the result of the last night’s game revealed that 9-Seeded Deacons were victorious over 8-Seeded Longhorns.

With only 1.3 seconds remaining while the game was already in overtime, a stunning 17-feet pull-up jumper from Ishmael Larry Smith changed the entire course of the game for Longhorns that were praying for the final buzzer to come with scores 80-79 in their favor. When there were 15.9 seconds left in the OT and the Deacons were trailing by four points, Ari Stewart produced a three-pointer and scoreboard read 80-79 followed by Smith’s stunner.

The Longhorns twice survived the double-digit deficits and at a time they were even leading by 8 points but ranked No. 1 in January the Texas Longhorns couldn’t handle the pressure. Gary Johnson for instance, provided Ishmael with yet another chance when he missed as many as two free throws straight. Ishmael Larry Smith finished the game with 19 points under his belt that also included seven assists, eight turnovers and 12 rebounds.

With this particular win in the first round, the Demon Deacons have now advanced to the second round of the tournament and their next opponents are Kentucky the top-seeded squad whom they meet on Saturday.

Wake Forest vs Texas Longhorns