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Washington State Outlasts ORU in NCAA Tournament First Round, 70-54

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Click Photo to Enlarge Caleb Green

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--