Washington Stops Pesky Montana 88-77

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Posted 6:10PM on Thursday, March 17, 2005

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- The Washington Huskies were annoyed that no one thought they deserved a No. 1 seed. A harder-than-expected victory over Montana probably isn't going to help. Washington charged out to a 20-point lead in the first nine minutes and played well enough the rest of the way to open the NCAA tournament with an 88-77 victory over Montana on Thursday. Brandon Roy had 17 points, Tre Simmons added 15, and Washington (28-5) shot 55 percent to win an NCAA tournament game for the first time since reaching the round of 16 in 1998. The Huskies move on to face Pacific, a 79-71 winner over Pittsburgh, in the second round Saturday. Montana (18-13) won the Big Sky Conference to get into the NCAA tournament, but beating the Pac-10 champion was probably a little too much to ask. Led by Kamarr Davis' 24 points, the Grizzlies at least gave it a try, rallying from a dismal start before fading against the bigger, more athletic Huskies. Montana didn't stand much of a chance - no 16th seed has ever won a tournament game - and it didn't help that Washington had extra incentive. The Huskies finished eighth in the final AP poll, the lowest for a No. 1 seed since the field expanded to 64 in 1985. They took umbrage with those who said the only reason they got the top spot in the Albuquerque Regional was because Kentucky and Arizona slipped in their final games. Washington said it had something to prove and played that way early, pouring it on against the overmatched Grizzlies. Washington scored the game's first 13 points and kept coming at Montana in waves, rotating players off the bench like it was a hockey game, pressuring the Grizzlies into mistakes and pushing the pace at every turn. Montana didn't score until Davis hit a turnaround jumper 4:10 in and was down 28-8 before the game was nine minutes old. But after withstanding Washington's initial surge, the feisty Grizzlies fought back. Forcing Washington into bad shots and staying patient offensively, Montana cut the lead to 32-23 with a 15-5 run. Davis capped the rally with a two-handed dunk that brought the large contingent of Grizzlies fans to their feet. Washington got the lead back to 17 points at halftime after Simmons hit a 3-pointer from the corner. But Montana wouldn't quit. Led by Davis' physical play inside, the Grizzlies trimmed the Huskies' lead to 52-43 with 13 1/2 minutes left. Washington followed with a 9-0 run, only to see Montana cut the lead to 67-57 with eight minutes left, leading to a chant of "Overrated! Overrated!" from the Grizzlies' side. Montana never got closer, but it didn't matter - the Grizzlies had left doubts about Washington's choice as a top seed.