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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Childress Disappears; Oklahoma State Rolls

Associated Press

East Regional

Trailing by three points with time running out Friday night, Randolph Childress had the ball and Wake Forest’s NCAA Tournament fate in his hands, which is exactly where the Demon Deacons wanted it.

And then, suddenly, Childress didn’t have it anymore.

In an instant, he had lost the ball off his dribble, and with it went top-seeded Wake Forest’s last gasp in a 71-66 loss to No. 4 seed Oklahoma State in an East Regional semifinal.

Hounded in the second half by Andre Owens, Childress finished with 22 points - zero in the final 8:01. Still, needing 3 to tie, Oklahoma State figured it knew where Wake was going - right to Childress behind a screen by Tim Duncan.

“They had been running that set play all night,” Owens said. “They ran the same play.”

Bryant “Big Country” Reeves, who had his hands full with Duncan all game, tried to help.

“Country hedged on it and got a hand on it,” Owens said. “Then it went off my leg and off his leg. It was like a tennis thing. I finally picked up the ball.”

Childress said he figured Oklahoma State would double-team him and said he was trying to find Duncan. “I just lost the ball,” he said.

Owens threw the loose ball to Terry Collins for an emphatic dunk.

It was Childress who came out firing at the start of the second half, keying a 14-2 run that carried the Deacons from six points down to a 48-42 lead. He had eight points in the run and nailed two 3-pointers.

OSU wouldn’t go away, as Jason Skaer hit consecutive 3-pointers.

Five straight points by Childress had Wake up 56-50, but OSU stayed in the chase on a 3 by Chianti Roberts and a basket by Owens.

Reeves had 15 points on just 4-for-15 shooting and had nine rebounds. He also had five of his shots blocked, four by Duncan. Duncan had 12 points, 22 rebounds and eight blocks.

Okla. St. 71, Wake Forest 66

OKLAHOMA STATE (26-9)

Pierce 0-7 0-0 0, Collins 2-5 1-4 5, Reeves 4-15 7-8 15, Rutherford 7-14 6-6 23, Owens 2-3 3-5 8, Roberts 6-8 0-0 13, Skaer 2-5 1-2 7. Totals 23-57 18-25 71.

WAKE FOREST (26-6)

Banks 4-10 0-0 8, Peral 0-3 1-2 1, Duncan 6-11 0-2 12, Childress 6-16 7-8 22, Braswell 2-5 0-0 6, LaRue 6-10 0-0 17, Rutland 0-4 0-0 0, Totals 24-59 8-12 66.

Halftime-Oklahoma St. 33, Wake Forest 31. 3-Point goals- Oklahoma St. 7-13 (Rutherford 3-7, Skaer 2-4, Owens 1-1, Roberts 1-1), Wake Forest 10-28 (LaRue 5-7, Childress 3-11, Braswell 2-4, Peral 0-3, Rutland 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Oklahoma St. 38 (Rutherford 11), Wake Forest 39 (Duncan 22). Assists- Oklahoma St. 12 (Collins 5), Wake Forest 15 (Childress 6). Total fouls-Oklahoma St. 10, Wake Forest 16. A-NA.

UMass 76, Tulsa 51

The Minutemen won their third straight blowout, riding the inside power of Marcus Camby and tight defense to beat the Golden Hurricane.

Camby, playing mostly in the blocks to the right of the basket, had 11 of his 20 points during an early spurt.

TULSA (24-8)

Poindexter 1-3 2-4 4, Johnson 3-13 1-2 8, Rollo 2-3 0-0 4, Williamson 2-12 2-2 6, Seals 6-16 6-8 19, Love 0-6 0-0 0, Grawer 1-3 0-0 3, Hernadi 0-0 1-2 1, Maldonado 1-4 1-2 3, Bonner 1-2 1-1 3, Gillin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-63 14-21 51.

MASSACHUSETTS (29-4)

Dingle 1-1 1-4 3, Roe 4-10 0-2 8, Camby 6-15 8-12 20, Padilla 1-2 0-0 2, Kellogg 4-7 2-2 12, Bright 4-6 0-0 8, Travieso 3-9 0-0 9, Weeks 2-4 2-2 6, Norville 2-3 1-3 5, Germain 0-0 0-0 0, Meyer 1-1 0-0 2, Cottrell 0-1 1-2 1, Nunez 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-60 15-27 76.

Halftime-Massachusetts 42, Tulsa 24. 3-Point goals-Tulsa Goals: 3-23 (Johnson 1-2, Grawer 1-2, Seals 1-5, Bonner 0-1, Love 0-5, Williamson 0-8), Massachusetts 5-12 (Travieso 3-8, Kellogg 2-4). Fouled out-Maldonado. Rebounds-Tulsa 39 (Johnson 9), Massachusetts 51 (Camby, Roe 9). Assists-Tulsa 6 (Williamson, Seals 6), Massachusetts 12 (Kellogg 4). Total fouls-Tulsa 19, Massachusetts 18. A-19,689.