Atlanta Region – Second Round: No. 2 Texas manhandled No. 10 North Carolina State 75-54, outscoring the Wolfpack 33-17 during the last 15 minutes. P.J. Tucker and Daniel Gibson each scored 17 points to lead the Longhorns, who held the three-point happy Wolfpack to 3-of-22 shooting from beyond the arc. With a significant height advantage, Texas collected most of those rebounds, giving up only five offensive boards in the game. Texas advances to play No. 6 West Virginia in the Sweet 16.
After building a 22-point halftime lead, No. 6 West Virginia ground out a tough 67-54 win against No. 14 Northwestern State, which had upset No. 3 Iowa two days earlier. The Mountaineers built a large lead early in the game by forcing turnovers and hitting shots. The Demons finished with 24 turnovers despite making a second-half rally to cut the lead to single digits. Kevin Pittsnogle led the Mountaineers with 14 points, sending them into the Sweet 16 against Texas. West Virginia lost to the Longhorns by a point earlier in the season. [3/19/06]
