The senior forward helped the Friars overcome foul trouble by Austin Croshere with a 33-point performance that sent Providence to a 98-87 victory over Duke in Yesterday's second round of the NCAA tournament's Southeast Regional.
Tenth-seeded Providence (23-11) advanced to the round of 16 for the first time since the 1987 Friars made it to the Final Four. This year's Southeast Regional finals are being played in Birmingham, Ala., the site where the Friars began their last run to the Final Four.
Brown, who made 12 of 16 field-goal attempts, also had 10 rebounds.
Second-seeded Duke (24-9) was looking for a chance at its eighth Final Four berth in 17 years under coach Mike Krzyzewski. Instead, the Blue Devils failed to make the round of 16 for the fourth time in five years.
Jeff Capel closed his Duke career with 26 points, including 19 in the second half.
Croshere, coming off a career-high 39 points in an opening-round victory over Marquette, found the going much tougher Sunday, when he spent four-plus minutes on the bench in each half because of foul problems. Croshere wound up with 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including a pair of airballs on 3-point attempts and a baseline jumper that banged off the side of the backboard.
Rebounding continued to be a problem for the Blue Devils, who came in having won nine of 12 since switching to a smaller lineup in late January. Providence had a 43-24 edge on the boards. The Friars had 15 offensive rebounds, including six by Brown.
Brown, a 6-foot-6 junior college transfer who had been averaging 17 points, gave Providence a needed boost on a day when Croshere, a first-team all-Big East selection, picked up his second personal foul less than seven minutes into the contest. He was assessed his fourth on a charging call with 16:14 remaining in the game and went to the bench.
Croshere came back in with 11:57 left and the Friars leading by a point. Providence responded with an 11-5 run, getting a layup and two rebounds by Brown in the surge, to go up 72-65, the Friars' biggest lead to that stage.
But Capel hit a 3-pointer to start a 9-2 run for the Blue Devils. Capel added two more baskets in the surge, which tied it at 74 with 5:34 remaining.
Croshere put the Friars ahead to stay when he banked in a 14-footer from the right wing at the 5:13 mark. The basket started an 11-1 run that decided it.
Brown followed with a layup on a difficult pass across the lane by Jamel Thomas, and Brown capped the run with a fast-break layup that made it 85-75 with 2:50 left.
The Blue Devils got no closer than six the rest of the way.
Thomas added 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and the Friars also got 12 points and nine assists from God Shammgod.
Trajan Langdon and Roshown McLeod contributed 15 apiece for Duke and Chris Carrawell had 12.
Stanford 72, Wake Forest 66
Brevin Knight finally got the best of Tim Duncan, and Stanford ended the Wake Forest All-American's quest for a national championship Sunday.
The Cardinal, led by their second-team All-America point guard, outlasted Duncan and Wake Forest, 72-66 in the NCAA tournament's West Regional. Knight, who roomed with Duncan with the U.S. under-22 team last summer and was beaten soundly in their video games rivalry, displayed the cool collectiveness of an NBA veteran all game long.
Duncan, meanwhile, had fits of frustration in the second half, when he scored just four points and pulled down only four rebounds.
It was the first time in six games at Tucson that a lower seed won. Stanford, which had not advanced beyond the second round since winning the NCAA title in 1942, was seeded sixth and Wake Forest (24-7) was third.
The Cardinal advanced to the regional finals at San Jose to play Utah, which beat North Carolina Charlotte 77-58 in the opener Sunday.
Duncan, who returned to Wake Forest rather than turn pro after his junior season - he is almost certain to be the top pick in the NBA draft - clearly was befuddled in the second half. He drew double and even triple coverage when he got the ball down low and went 11:14 without scoring.
A one point, after his pass went off the hands of a teammate out of bounds, he waved his arms in disgust.
That just played into the hands of the Cardinal (22-7), who won their sixth in a row. Knight had 19 points.
At the end of his magnificent college career, Duncan hugged Knight and Stanford coach Mike Montgomery, who coached the under-22 team. He then walked off the court, his head down, as the Stanford players celebrated around him.
Wake staged a late comeback, fueled by Jerry Braswell, who hit three 3-pointers and scored eight straight Deacons points in one stretch. A 3-point play by Tony Rutland made it 58-53 with 3:24 to go.
The teams traded baskets and free throws until Rutland's two foul shots brought Wake Forest to 68-64 with 23.3 seconds to go. Knight was fouled by Braswell and the senior point guard calmly sank both free throws.
The first 10 minutes were about as ugly as college basketball can get, particularly for sloppy Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons had only three points until eight minutes into the game, and they got virtually nothing from anyone but Duncan.
Stanford, despite several questionable officiating calls, jumped ahead 19-7 after 12 minutes off steals and quick penetrations. Knight picked up the pace whenever he could, leaving defenders in his wake; the Demon Deacons had nobody in the backcourt who could keep up with him and sidekick Arthur Lee who scored 14 points.
Only Duncan's hard work kept Wake Forest close. He drew nine fouls in the first half, scoring six of his 14 points from the free throw line. He also had 15 rebounds at the half as he lifted Wake within 25-19, even though the Deacons shot 30 percent and missed all seven 3-point attempts.
Stanford gave the Pacific-10 four teams in the final 16 of the tournament. The others are conference champion UCLA, California and Arizona.