State Advances, Zags Going Home

Washington State 70, Oral Roberts 54: Oral Roberts was the trendy upset pick--nearly 25% of ESPN users expected Wazzu to Coug it (by comparison, less than 5% had #3-seed Oregon losing)--but our faith in Wazzu didn't waver. Though it was close at halftime, we predicted that Wazzu would play their typical strangling defense to open the second half, and they proved us right, holding O-Rob to one field goal in the first six minutes of period two. The Cougs won going away. Wazzu continued their terrific offensive efficiency, committing only six (!) turnovers. Only Bobby Knight's Texas Tech Red Raiders committed as few on the tourney's first day, which should give you some insight into how good a coach Tony Bennett is.

Cougars Pull Away from Oral Roberts [Spokane Spokesman-Review]

Indiana 70, Gonzaga 57: The Zags really missed Josh Heytvelt in this one, who instead of bodying up on Indiana's D.J. White, spent the day being the butt of the Sports Guy's jokes. White dropped a 16-10 game on the Zags, who were outrebounded by 13. You can't really hope to win an NCAA tournament game when you give Sean Mallon 28 minutes, can you. Micah Downs, who'd been so good for the Zags down the stretch, hardly played at all (19 minutes) and we're not entirely sure why. He shot only 1-5, but he'd had five boards and boards were what the Zags needed. Maybe he was hurt? We were at a bar that didn't play the game audio.

Cold-shooting Gonzaga Falls to Indiana [Spokane Spokesman-Review]

Join Seattlest Seth tomorrow at Spitfire Grill in Belltown. First game is at 9:15. $5 Bloody Marys and $3 Rolling Rocks all day when you mention Seattlest.