Southern Illinois Tops Virginia Tech, 63-48

Tatum, Missouri Valley Conference player of the year, scores 21 points in win

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 RESULTS  First Round - March 15 No. 4 Maryland 82, No. 13 Davidson 70 No. 7 BC 84, No. 10 Texas Tech 75 No. 6 Louisville 78, No. 11 Stanford 58 No. 2 Georgetown 80, No. 15 Belmont 55 No. 3 Wash. State 70, No. 14 Oral Roberts 54 No. 5 Butler 57, No. 12 Old Dominion 46 No. 3 Texas A&M 68, No. 14 Penn 52 No. 6 Vanderbilt 77, No. 11 G.W. 44 No. 9 Michigan St. 61, No. 8 Marquette 49 No. 1 Ohio St. 78, No. 16 CCSU 57 No. 2 UCLA 70, No. 15 Weber St. 42 No. 11 VCU 79, No. 6 Duke 77 No. 3 Pitt 79, No. 14 Wright St. 58 No. 7 Indiana 70, No. 10 Gonzaga 57 No. 1 UNC 86, No. 16 E. Kentucky 65 No. 9 Xavier 79, No. 8 BYU 77 First Round - March 16 No. 4 Virginia 84, No. 13 Albany 57 No. 7 UNLV 67, No. 10 Georgia Tech 63 No. 2 Memphis 73, No. 15 North Texas 58 No. 11 Winthrop 74, No. 6 Notre Dame 64 No. 5 Tennessee 121, No. 12 LBSU 86 No. 8 Nevada 77, No. 9 Creighton 71 No. 2 Wisconsin 76, No. 15 TAMU-CC 63 No. 3 Oregon 58, No. 14 Miami (Ohio) 56 No. 1 Kansas 107, No. 16 Niagara 67 No. 9 Purdue 72, No. 8 Arizona 63 No. 4 Texas 79, No. 13 New Mexico State 67 No. 4 S. Illinois 61, No. 13 Holy Cross 51 No. 8 Kentucky 67, No. 9 Villanova 58 No. 1 Florida 112, No. 16 Jackson State 69 No. 5 USC 77, No. 12 Arkansas 60 Second Round - March 17 No. 1 Ohio State 78, No. 9 Xavier 71, OT No. 5 Butler 62, No. 4 Maryland 59 No. 3 Texas A&M 72, No. 6 Louisville 69 No. 2 Georgetown 62, No. 7 Boston College 55 No. 6 Vanderbilt 78, No. 3 Washington State 74, 2OT No. 3 Pittsburgh 84, No. 11 VCU 79, OT No. 1 North Carolina 81, No. 9 Michigan State 67 No. 2 UCLA 54, No. 7 Indiana 49 Second Round - March 18 No. 7 UNLV 74, No. 2 Wisconsin 68 No. 1 Florida 74, No. 9 Purdue 67 No. 1 Kansas 88, No. 8 Kentucky 76 No. 2 Memphis 78, No. 10 Nevada 62 No. 3 Oregon 75, No. 11 Winthrop 61 No. 4 Southern Illinois 63, No. 5 Virginia Tech 48 No. 5 USC 87, No. 4 Texas 68 No. 5 Tennessee 77, No. 4 Virginia 74 Third Round - March 22 No. 1 Kansas 61, No. 4 Southern Illinois 58 No. 2 Memphis 65, No. 3 Texas A&M 64 No. 2 UCLA 64, No. 3 Pittsburgh 55 No. 1 Ohio State 85, No. 5 Tennessee 84 Third Round - March 23 No. 1 Florida 65, No. 5 Butler 57 No. 2 Georgetown 66, No. 6 Vanderbilt 65 No. 3 Oregon 76, No. 7 UNLV 72 No. 1 North Carolina 74, No. 5 USC 64 Fourth Round - March 24 No. 1 Ohio State 92, No. 2 Memphis 76 No. 2 UCLA 68, No. 1 Kansas 55 Fourth Round - March 25 No. 1 Florida 85, No. 3 Oregon 77 No. 2 Georgetown 96, No. 1 North Carolina 84 Fifth Round - March 31 No. 1 Ohio St. 67, No. 2 Georgetown 60 No. 1 Florida 76, No. 2 UCLA 66 National Championship - April 2 No. 1 Florida 84, No. 1 Ohio State 74

March 18, 2007

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The team that no one wants to play is still playing - thanks to its suffocating defense.

Southern Illinois got three big 3-pointers from Jamaal Tatum and pulled away from Virginia Tech 63-48 Sunday in a West Regional second-round game.

Tatum, the Missouri Valley Conference player of the year, scored 21 points. The Salukis have won 15 of 16, and set a school record for victories in a season.

They advance to meet the Kansas-Kentucky winner in a regional semifinal on Thursday night in San Jose, Calif. Rest assured that neither team wants to face a team so dedicated to floor burns and gritty defense.

Tony Young added 17, Bryan Mullins 11 and Randall Falker 10 for Southern Illinois (29-6), which surpassed its victory total from the 2000-01 team that also made it to the round of 16.

Jamon Gordon had 16 points and Deron Washington added 15 for fifth-seeded Virginia Tech (22-12), which hadn't been held to fewer than 54 points all year. Zabian Dowdell, a first-team All-ACC choice who came in averaging 18 a game, had just seven.

Tatum had hit the decisive 3 to break a late tie when the teams met back in November at a tournament in Florida, a game the Salukis won 69-64. Virginia Tech piled up a season-high 19 turnovers in that game.

They did better holding onto the ball this time around, but never were able to solve the Salukis' pressure defense.