March 22, 2004

By AARON BEARD
Associated Press Writer

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Eric Williams gives Wake Forest a physical inside presence to balance its three-guard attack - when he can stay on the court and out of foul trouble.

The sophomore center battled foul trouble in both of Wake Forest's NCAA tournament victories last weekend. He fouled out against both Virginia Commonwealth and Manhattan - often by trying to help out on defense - and averaged just 21 minutes.

The fourth-seeded Demon Deacons (21-9) will need more from "Big E" when they face top-seeded St. Joseph's in an East Rutherford Regional semifinal Thursday night.

"Part of it is not his fault," Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said Monday. "Sometimes we get blow-bys by our guards and they put him in an untenable position. But he also has to be more judicious about fouling jump shooters and things like that."

When the 6-foot-9, 275-pound Williams get rolling, he can be tough to stop. During the regular season, he had big performances in wins over North Carolina and Duke, averaging 20 points and 9.5 rebounds, playing more than 30 minutes and picking up just three fouls in each game.

But in the NCAA tournament, Williams is averaging eight points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting just 6-for-10 in a combined 41 minutes. The Demon Deacons held on in both games, getting outstanding performances from freshman point guard Chris Paul to beat the Rams 79-78 and the Jaspers 84-80.

"Foul trouble's going to come and go," Williams said. "I had it last game, and I think we showed that even though the primary big man's on the bench, we can still pull some things off."

For the season, Williams averaged 12.2 points and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 54 percent from the floor.

Having him on the floor full-time against St. Joseph's would be a welcome sight for Paul, Justin Gray and Taron Downey on the perimeter.

"If 'Big E' is in there, we're going to go to him. If not, we've got to keep playing," Downey said. "But we're definitely going to need him."

Foul trouble has followed Williams all season, so much so that Prosser didn't start him for seven games last month in an effort to keep him from picking up an early foul.

Williams returned to the starting lineup for the regular-season finale against North Carolina State, and had 18 points with seven rebounds while picking up just one foul in 28 minutes.

Prosser said he hadn't decided whether he would bring Williams off the bench against the Hawks.

"I told him any decision is cool with me, because I understand where he's coming from," Williams said. "It's a real good idea. I think it's the right way to go, personally."

Paul said he expects Williams to bounce back from his two foul-abbreviated NCAA games.

"He gets a clean slate for the St. Joe's game - zero fouls, zero points," Paul said.