On to the 2nd Round
March 17, 2006 05:55 PM | General
March 17, 2006
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Kevin Pittsnogle scored 18 points to lead No. 22-ranked West Virginia to a 64-46 victory over Southern Illinois Friday afternoon in an NCAA tournament first-round game at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich.
 |
||
| West Virginia's Patrick Beilein flips in two of his nine points in the first half of an NCAA tournament first-round game at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich. WVU defeated Southern Illinois 64-46.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
“We didn’t get many easy ones but what we did do is dribble drive and find each other,” said Coach John Beilein, now 4-1 in NCAA tournament games at West Virginia. “I just thought that every jump shot we took had a chance of going in.”
It was a complete team effort for the Mountaineers (21-10), which didn’t get a point from second leading scorer Mike Gansey until the 10:25 mark of the second half. Also at that point starting point guard J.D. Collins was sitting on the bench after picking up his fourth foul with 11:39. Backup Darris Nichols wound up playing 22 minutes, scoring 7 points and grabbing three rebounds.
The bench really made a difference for the Mountaineers, getting 21 points in all from Patrick Beilein (9), Nichols (7), Alex Ruoff (3) and Rob Summers (2). West Virginia’s bench out-scored SIU, 21-3.
“The bench was a major difference for us today,” Beilein said.
The Mountaineers took control of the game midway through the first half, using a 14-0 run to turn a 20-17 lead into a 14-point advantage. Ruoff got things going with a 3 from the wing and another 3 from Collins off a Ruoff missed free throw put the Mountaineers up nine, 26-17.
On the next possession Collins shook free of SIU guard Bryan Mullins and slipped a pretty pass into Rob Summers’ lap. The junior was able to put in the basket to put West Virginia up by double digits. A 3 from the wing by Frank Young forced Saluki coach Chris Lowery to call timeout, but following the stop in action Pittsnogle knocked down another 3 from the top of the key that used the entire basket.
Seven straight points by Southern Illinois (22-11) pulled the Salukis to within 10 before a driving lay up by Beilein stopped the run. The Mountaineers led 36-24 at the break.
SIU got the deficit down to 10, 40-30, on a Matt Shaw baseline jumper, but Nichols responded with a big 3 from the wing to make it 43-30.
A key stretch in the game came after Collins received his fourth foul and was on the bench. Gansey scored his first basket of the game on a driving lay up, and later Gansey was able to follow a Nichols miss to put the Mountaineers up 14. Later a Gansey steal out on the wing turned into a Frank Young basket to put the Mountaineers up by 16.
“When was the last time we’ve had a 2 on 1 fast break?” Beilein asked. “Our offensive transition had become anemic and we didn’t want to run. You’ve got to be tough to run and we were able to do that.”
Back to back 3s by Beilein and Gansey put West Virginia up by 22 with less than five minutes to go.
“When you’re up 20 with 2 minutes to go even I can’t blow this lead,” Beilein joked. “It was good to get Kevin and Mike out of there and just let them enjoy (the last few minutes). Usually they’re gut-wrenching finishes.”
Gansey finished the game with 10 after shooting just 4 of 11.
“It took a while for Mike to get untracked but he got himself going as well,” Beilein said.
The Mountaineers were 22 of 50 overall for 44 percent including 11 of 32 from 3-point distance for 34.4 percent. WVU had 11 turnovers or two more than its season average, but only turned the ball over three times in the second half. The Mountaineers were 9 of 11 from the free throw line, all in the first half.
Frank Young led West Virginia with seven rebounds; WVU out-rebounded the Salukis 31-26.
Jamaal Tatum and Matt Shaw scored 12 points each to lead the Southern Illinois, the Missouri Valley Conference champion. It’s the second straight year West Virginia has defeated the MVC tournament champion in an NCAA tournament first round game.
“That team is a good a defensive team that we’ll see all year long,” said Beilein. “Two of the best shooters in the country (Pittsnogle and Gansey) didn’t have good nights but we’ll take it.”
West Virginia’s 18-point victory was the third largest in the school has ever registered in NCAA tournament play and the most since the Mountaineers beat Temple by 30, 82-52, in 1998.
The Mountaineers advance to the second round in back-to-back years for the first time since the 1959 and 1960 seasons. West Virginia will play No. 14 seed Northwestern State (26-7), which upset Big Ten champion Iowa earlier today on a Jermaine Wallace 3-point basket with just 3 seconds left. Luke Rogers led the Demons with 18 points
“All I know is if Northwestern State beats Iowa then they’ve got to be a heck of a team,” Beilein said.
The two teams will plat at approximately 2:45 on Sunday afternoon with the winner advancing to Atlanta for the “Sweet 16.”
The Big East, after seeing all three of its teams lose first-round games yesterday, rebounded nicely today by winning all three. Georgetown downed Northern Iowa and Villanova outlasted Monmouth.
