Stanford Schools W. Michigan 83-65

Stanford's, a school known for its brains, used its muscle 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 Mongtomery said. "It was a blend of inside-outside, big and little."

Western Michigan, the No. 11 seed in the Midwest, saw its chances of pulling off a second straight upset ended with 12:03 left when Rashod Johnson fouled out after he was assessed a technical foul, minutes after picking up his third and fourth personals.

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

"We were going to go at him (Johnson) to get his fifth but he accommodated us with the technical and it hurt them," Montgomery said.

Johnson, who scored a career-high 32 points with eight 3-pointers in the first round against Clemson, finished with just 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting.

Apparently upset with a non-call seconds earlier, Johnson continued to argue after Stanford's Young was fouled by Western's Isaac Bullock as the Stanford center made a layup.

"The official said it wasn't what I said. He said he didn't like my reaction to the call," said Johnson, an emotional player on the floor, who bowed to the crowd and swayed his arms during the Clemson game.

"I don't know how I reacted and I don't know what he disliked about my reaction. I grabbed the ball and I looked to the referee who blew the whistle and I gave him the ball. So I don't know," Johnson added.

The explanation from official Zelton Steed was "unsportsmanlike conduct."

After the technical, Young hit a free throw to complete the three-point play, Lee made two free throws on the technical foul and when the Cardinal maintained possession, Kris Weems banked in a shot to put Stanford up 14.

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.

"It was a pivotal point in the game," said Western guard Jason Kimbrough, who scored 17 to lead the Broncos.

"We understand that in order for our team to have a chance at winning, three of us (Kimbrough, Johnson and Saddi Washington) have to be on the floor playing together," he said. "We lost Rashod and we had to go with more inexperienced players and that was difficult to do."

With or without Johnson, Stanford was playing tough perimeter defense and working thball 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 added 19 points and 10 rebounds as Stanford (28-4) matched the school record for most victories in a season.

Western's tallest starter was just 6-7.

"Our objective in the second half was to get it down low because we had an obvious advantage down there. That was pretty much the key," Young said.

Stanford, the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region, will now play Purdue or Detroit on Friday in St. Louis.

"We feel like we can take this thing a long way, granted we play well," Madsen said. "We have a chance to do some serious damage."

The Broncos couldn't maintain the shooting they showed against Clemson, hitting just 39 percent for the game and 10-of-25 on 3-pointers. Johnson had made 8-of-15 on 3-pointers in the upset of Clemson but was just 2-of-7 on Sunday.

Lee scored eight points in the final 48 seconds of the first half, hitting two 3-pointers and then a jumper at the buzzer, as the Cardinal took a 42-39 lead.

Young had 13 points and nine rebounds at the half as the Cardinal held a 19-8 rebounding edge.

Western, moving the ball well and penetrating the lane with Kimbrough, led by as many as seven.

Stanford then outscored the Broncos 19-9 in the final five minutes of the half.

For the game, the Cardinal shot 57 percent, hitting 30-of-53 field goal attempts, including 8-of-9 from Madsen and 8-of-11 from Young.

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