Sacramento, Calif. – Kelvin Sampson’s players bought into his no-nonsense system after hearing the first-year Indiana coach tell them again and again it eventually would pay off.
How about a second-round NCAA Tournament date with Pac-10 regular-season champion UCLA as proof?
Roderick Wilmont scored 22 points and hit six of his team’s nine 3-pointers, and the Hoosiers avenged a loss to Gonzaga last March with a 70-57 victory Thursday night in a West Regional matchup.
“I like the way we won,” Sampson said. “We’re not an offensive juggernaut, so we have to win games on the defensive end.”
Wilmont shot 8-for-16 and added seven rebounds, three assists and a steal to extend his senior season for seventh-seeded Indiana (21-10), which was eliminated by the Zags 90-80 in a second-round meeting a year ago.
“I think they have a better team than last year, and they were in the championship game,” Sampson said of UCLA.
UCLA 70, WEBER STATE 42
Arron Afflalo put an awful game behind him in UCLA’s impressive tournament opener.
Shaking off a terrible performance in last week’s Pac-10 Tournament, Afflalo had 22 points and eight rebounds to lead the Bruins over Weber State in the West Regional.
Darren Collison had 14 points and eight assists while playing on a sprained ankle, and Josh Shipp added 12 points for the Bruins (27-5).
WASHINGTON STATE 70, ORAL ROBERTS 54
Desperate to do something after a long stint on the bench, Washington State’s Kyle Weaver told himself to read Yemi Ogunoye’s eyes.
Ogunoye made it easy – his inbounds pass went straight into Weaver’s hands.
The Cougars’ star stole the ball beneath his own basket and dunked to barely beat the halftime buzzer, and Washington State rode that momentum swing right into the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“I got a good one,” Weaver said, smiling in a businesslike locker room. “That was big-time for us, having that momentum.”
Reserve Ivory Clark scored 19 points and Weaver had 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists to help the third-seeded Cougars (26-7) win their first NCAA Tournament game in 24 years with a victory over 14th- seeded Oral Roberts (23-11).
Washington State pulled away with 59 percent shooting and one turnover in the second half.
VANDERBILT 77, GEORGE WASHINGTON 44
Vanderbilt unveiled a top talent to the nation in a blowout win over George Washington – and it wasn’t Derrick Byars, the SEC’s player of the year.
Shan Foster was the shouting, shooting star of the show as the Commodores (21-11) rolled.
Foster scored 18 points and led Vanderbilt’s impressive defensive effort in a victory over George Washington in the East Regional.
George Washington (23-9) missed its first six shots and didn’t get a field goal for nearly 6 1/2 minutes. The Colonials then endured another 11 1/2-minute stretch without a basket, falling behind by 29 late in the first half.
WASHINGTON STATE 70, ORAL ROBERTS 54
ORAL ROBERTS (23-11)
Ogunoye 0-0 1-2 1, Green 4-16 5-9 13, King 3-4 0-1 6, Tutt 7-17 2-2 19, Liberty 1-5 1-1 3, Sango 0-0 0-0 0, Vealy 1-4 0-0 2, Ehambe 3-7 1-1 10. Totals 19-53 10-16 54.
WASHINGTON STATE (26-7)
Weaver 5-8 0-0 10, Cowgill 3-8 1-2 7, Baynes 1-5 0-0 2, Low 5-7 0-0 12, Rochestie 6-14 2-2 15, Hopson 0-2 0-0 0, Harmeling 2-4 0-0 5, Clark 5-9 8-8 19. Totals 27-57 11-12 70.
Halftime – Oral Roberts 28-26. 3-point goals – Oral Roberts 6-20 (Ehambe 3-7, Tutt 3-10, Vealy 0-1, Liberty 0-2), Washington St. 5-13 (Low 2-4, Harmeling 1-2, Clark 1-3, Rochestie 1-4). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – Oral Roberts 34 (Green, Vealy 8), Washington St. 36 (Weaver 8). Assists – Oral Roberts 11 (Green 4), Washington St. 12 (Rochestie 4, Weaver 4). Total fouls – Oral Roberts 13, Washington St. 16.
VANDERBILT 77, GEORGE WASHINGTON 44
GEORGE WASHINGTON (23-9)
Koundjia 0-3 7-10 7, Akingbade 2-5 1-4 5, Hollis 2-8 1-1 5, Elliott 2-9 4-4 8, Rice 1-9 0-0 3, King 4-6 0-0 9, Diggs 1-5 1-2 3, Del Favero 0-0 0-0 0, Opoku 0-0 1-4 1, Lee 0-0 0-0 0, Wilmore 1-2 0-0 3, Laplante 0-0 0-0 0, Green 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-48 15-25 44.
VANDERBILT (21-11)
Foster 7-14 0-0 18, Neltner 1-2 0-0 2, Gordon 2-4 4-4 10, Byars 5-14 0-0 12, Cage 2-8 0-0 6, Beal 1-3 2-4 4, Rodriguez 0-0 1-2 1, Metcalfe 2-3 4-4 8, Hammond 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 1-3 0-0 2, Drake 3-6 0-0 8, Skuchas 2-4 2-2 6. Totals 26-61 13-16 77.
Halftime – Vanderbilt 45-20. 3-point goals – George Washington 3-14 (Wilmore 1-2, King 1-2, Rice 1-5, Koundjia 0-1, Hollis 0-1, Green 0-1, Elliott 0-2), Vanderbilt 12-31 (Foster 4-10, Drake 2-2, Gordon 2-3, Byars 2-6, Cage 2-8, Metcalfe 0-1, Beal 0-1). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – George Washington 36 (Akingbade 9), Vanderbilt 41 (Byars 7). Assists – George Washington 6 (King 2), Vanderbilt 22 (Byars 5). Total fouls – George Washington 16, Vanderbilt 22. A – N/A.
UCLA 70, WEBER STATE 42
WEBER STATE (20-12)
Valeika 2-5 1-2 5, Patten 1-6 7-10 9, Henry 2-6 3-6 7, Harris 3-5 4-4 10, Silveira 3-9 0-0 7, Turner 0-0 0-0 0, Van Brocklin 0-1 0-0 0, Davis 1-2 0-0 2, Panos 1-2 0-0 2, Billings 0-2 0-0 0, Sparrow 0-0 0-0 0, Burningham 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-38 15-22 42.
UCLA (27-5)
Mata 3-5 0-2 6, Mbah a Moute 2-7 0-0 4, Shipp 5-10 0-0 12, Collison 5-6 2-2 14, Afflalo 8-15 3-3 22, Westbrook 1-3 0-0 3, Keefe 1-3 0-0 2, Aboya 0-0 1-2 1, Roll 2-7 0-0 6, Wright 0-0 0-0 0, Dragovic 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-58 6-9 70.
Halftime – UCLA 37-19. 3-point goals – Weber St. 1-6 (Silveira 1-3, Patten 0-1, Billings 0-1, Harris 0-1), UCLA 10-20 (Afflalo 3-5, Collison 2-3, Shipp 2-4, Roll 2-5, Westbrook 1-1, Mbah a Moute 0-1, Dragovic 0-1). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – Weber St. 26 (Henry 4, Van Brocklin 4), UCLA 34 (Afflalo 8). Assists – Weber St. 8 (Davis 2, Harris 2), UCLA 18 (Collison 8). Total fouls – Weber St. 13, UCLA 18. A – N/A.
INDIANA 70, GONZAGA 57
GONZAGA (23-11)
Kuso 2-7 0-0 4, Mallon 4-10 2-2 11, Pargo 1-7 5-7 7, Bouldin 2-6 3-4 8, Raivio 4-10 2-2 12, Downs 1-5 0-0 3, Pendergraft 5-10 0-1 12, Altidor-Cespedes 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-56 12-16 57.
INDIANA (21-10)
M. White 0-1 0-0 0, D.White 6-13 4-4 16, Bassett 2-8 4-4 9, Wilmont 8-16 0-1 22, Calloway 3-7 5-5 11, Ratliff 2-6 0-0 6, Stemler 2-6 2-2 6, Shaw 0-1 0-0 0, Keeling 0-0 0-0 0, Allen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-58 15-16 70.
Halftime – Indiana 34-29. 3-point goals – Gonzaga 7-18 (Pendergraft 2-5, Raivio 2-6, Mallon 1-2, Bouldin 1-2, Downs 1-2, Pargo 0-1), Indiana 9-24 (Wilmont 6-10, Ratliff 2-5, Bassett 1-3, Calloway 0-2, Stemler 0-4). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – Gonzaga 31 (Mallon 6), Indiana 44 (D. White 10). Assists – Gonzaga 14 (Pargo, Raivio 4), Indiana 15 (D. White 4). Total fouls – Gonzaga 17, Indiana 15. A – N/A.
