March 18, 2008
No. 13 Winthrop (22-11) vs. Washington St (24-8)
DENVER (Ticker) -- Last season, Notre Dame was upset by Winthrop in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Fourth-seeded Washington State hopes to avoid a similar fate on Thursday when it meets the 13th-seeded Eagles in an East Region contest.
Washington State is an 8 1/2-point favorite and the 'total' is hovering around 112 1/2.
The Cougars, who finished behind UCLA and Stanford in the rugged Pac-10 Conference, are appearing in consecutive tournaments for the first time in school history.
"To make it to the NCAA Tournament again is real neat," Washington State guard Derrick Low told the Seattle Times. "We were all expecting to be in the 6-7-8 range of seeding, so to see your name pop up No. 4, I thought that was real cool."
The Cougars (24-8) will be facing a tournament-tested team that is appearing in the "Big Dance" for the eighth tournament in 10 years. Last season, the Eagles surprised Notre Dame as a No. 11 seed.
Winthrop (22-11) relies on its defense, shooting only 44 percent from the field. The Eagles also struggle from the line, shooting just 59.5 percent, which ranks 327th in Division I.
"I think it's a great matchup for us," first-year Winthrop coach Randy Peele said. "We're clones of each other. We both play very good half-court, man-to-man defense. The difference is, they're bigger than us."
If Winthrop pulls off another upset, it could get a rematch with the Fighting Irish. The Washington State-Winthrop winner faces the Notre Dame-George Mason survivor in the second round on Saturday.
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