Long Beach St. @ Wake Forest preview

Wake Forest held off College of Charleston and is now headed to the semifinals of the Wooden Legacy, where it will face Long Beach State on Saturday in Anaheim, Calif. The Demon Deacons used their superior rebounding to subdue the Cougars and will look to do the same against the Beach, who used a 14-3 run to end the game to shock Providence in the opening round.

Paced by Olivier Sarr, the Demon Deacons were too much for the Cougars on the glass, enjoying a 44-32 edge overall and 13-8 in offensive boards. Danny Manning's team entered the tournament ranked second in the nation in defensive rebounding percentage, having grabbed 83.3 percent of its opponent's misses and that figure only went up after this game after securing 31 rebounds on Charleston's 34 missed shot attempts. Sarr, a junior center from France, had a season-high 14 rebounds and has 39 boards in his last three games for the Demon Deacons, who will play Long Beach State of the Big West Conference for the first time. Michael Carter III scored eight points during the game-ending run, including the final six points for the Beach, who trailed for better than 36 minutes and by 17 points in the second half.

TV: 2 p.m. ET, ESPN2

ABOUT LONG BEACH STATE (3-4): The Beach led 4-3 at the 16:38 mark of the first half and wouldn't do so again until Carter made the last of his three free throws with three seconds remaining. "I was really proud we got down 17 and chained back up as we like to call it and got back into the game," coach Dan Monson told the media. "To see that get rewarded with win will hopefully go a long way with a young team like ours" Carter, a sophomore guard from Seattle, finished with a career-high 23 points, and sophomore guard Chance Hunter (14) and freshman center Joshua Morgan (12) also scored in double figures.

ABOUT WAKE FOREST (4-2): Sophomore forward Isaiah Mucius recorded his first two career double-doubles in the last two games, helping the team rank 25th in rebounding margin at plus-9.4 entering Thursday. Brandon Childress has a solid all-around game with 10 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals. Wake Forest is in the midst of a six straight games away from home - their longest since a six-game road trip in 1974-75.

TIP-INS

1. Manning becomes the first Wooden Award winner, which he won in 1988 as the top player in the country, to coach in the Wooden Legacy.

2. Long Beach State owns 12 wins over major conference teams under Monson, who is in his 13th season at the school and looking to rebound from three straight losing seasons.

3. Prior to Thursday's game, Wake Forest had played 93 straight contests in the Eastern Time Zone - its longest streak since playing 104 straight such games from 1969-1973.

PREDICTION: Long Beach State 80, Wake Forest 74