A Lot of Size Goes Long Way for Stanford

Stanford, a school known for its brains, used its brawn to win a trip back to the NCAA tournament’s round of 16.

With Arthur Lee scoring from the outside and Tim Young and Mark Madsen using their size and strength to control the inside, the Cardinal overcame Western Michigan’s quickness and beat the Broncos, 83-65, in the Midwest Regional on Sunday.

“Our inside players clearly established and allowed us to have a place to go where Western Michigan simply couldn’t handle us,” Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery said. “It was a blend of inside-outside, big and little.”

Western Michigan, seeded 11th in the Midwest, saw its chances of pulling off a second consecutive upset end with 12:03 to play when Rashod Johnson fouled out after he was assessed a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct, minutes after picking up his third and fourth personals.

Stanford (28-4) scored seven consecutive points in the sequence to take a 14-point lead.

Johnson, who scored 32 points with eight three-point baskets in the first round against Clemson, finished with only 13 points on four-of-14 shooting.

Western Michigan (21-8), making its second-ever NCAA tournament appearance and first since 1976, got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.

With or without Johnson, Stanford was playing tough perimeter defense and working the ball inside on offense. The Cardinal had a 41-25 rebounding edge.

Lee finished with 24 points. Young, the Cardinal’s 7-foot-1 center, scored 19 points and had 13 rebounds, and 6-8 Madsen had 19 points and 10 rebounds as Stanford matched the school record for most victories in a season.

Western Michigan’s tallest starter was only 6-7.

Purdue 80, Detroit 65--Fear of failure is a great motivator, especially for Purdue, which all too often has been victimized by the kind of upsets that have taken place throughout the NCAA tournament this year.

Purdue, the Midwest’s second-seeded team, defeated Detroit at Chicago and advanced to the third round for only the third time in Coach Gene Keady’s 18 seasons.

“It was a little bit nervousness and a little bit being scared,” said Brian Cardinal, who scored eight of his 11 points in the first 13 minutes as Purdue took a 24-8 lead. “A lot of teams have been upset and we didn’t want to be part of that. We want to go out and set the tone. And we want to do it all the way to the Final Four.”

First, the Boilermakers (28-7) will have beat Stanford on Friday at St. Louis. Chad Austin scored 20 points and Brad Miller 18 for the Boilermakers.

Detroit (25-6) missed 18 of its first 21 shots.

“We probably missed 10 layups. It was just amazing,” Coach Perry Watson said. “It’s not like they played so great in the first half. It wasn’t like they were taking us apart.”

Detroit closed to 33-22 by halftime, but Purdue began the second half with an 11-3 run and was never seriously threatened.