SACRAMENTO, Calif.�€"Ken Tutt
(Garland, Texas) scored a game-high 19 points, but third-seeded
Washington State�€™s strong second half was the
difference in a 70-54 win over 14 seed Oral Roberts University in
the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Thursday at ARCO Arena.
The
Cougars (26-7) advance to face Vanderbilt in
Saturday�€™s second round. The Golden Eagles
(23-11) saw their season come to an end.
Tutt
was 7-of-16 from the field, but was the only Golden Eagle who
showed any consistency on the offensive end. The Cougars limited
ORU to 35.8 percent shooting for the game, including just 6-of-21
from 3-point range.
But
despite the poor shooting, the Golden Eagles enjoyed a strong first
half. ORU never trailed in the first half, and led by as many as
eight points when a Moses Ehambe (Arlington,
Texas) 3-pointer put the Golden Eagles ahead 26-18 with 1:59 to
play.
But
Washington State out-scored the Golden Eagles 10-2 over the final
two minutes, and the Cougars scored four points in the final four
seconds. Taylor Rochestie hit an off-balance jumper in the lane
over Shawn King�€™s (Bequia, St.
Vincent) out-stretched arms, and Kyle Weaver stole the inbounds
pass and scored on a dunk just ahead of the buzzer to help WSU pull
within 28-26 at halftime.
The
Cougars maintained the momentum into the second half, opening with
a 9-0 run and taking a 35-28 lead on a dunk by Ivory Clark with
17:27 remaining.
Washington State pushed the lead as many as 12 points before the
Golden Eagles clawed their way back in it. Trailing 49-37 with
12:10 left, the Golden Eagles went on an 8-2 run, pulling within
51-45 on Marchello Vealy�€™s
(Oklahoma City, Okla.) layup with 9:24 to go.
The
Golden Eagles closed to within six points once more when
Caleb Green�€™s (Tulsa, Okla.)
layup made it 53-47 with 8:34 left. But that was as close as ORU
would get.
Washington State shot 47.4 percent for the game, including 59.3
percent in the second half. The Cougars committed just six
turnovers owned a slight edge in rebounding, 36-34.
Green
scored 13 points with eight rebounds and four assists in his final
game, but was just 4-of-16 from the field and 5-of-9 from the line.
Midway through the second half, Green eclipsed the 2,500-point
mark, making him just the 18th player in NCAA history
with 2,500 points and 1,000 rebounds.
Ehambe
chipped in with 10 points off the bench for the Golden Eagles.
Clark
led Washington State with 19 points, grabbing six rebounds and
blocking five shots. Rochestie scored 15 points, Derrick Low added
12 and Weaver chipped in 10.
--ORU--
