Pacific reaches round of 32 for second straight year

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- Pacific coach Bob Thomason described the Tigers' first half against Pittsburgh as nearly perfect.

The second half? Well, it was good enough.

The Tigers held off the Panthers 79-71 Thursday to advance in

the Albuquerque Regional after letting a 15-point halftime lead

dwindle to five in the final few minutes.

"I just thought we played a sensational first half," Thomason

said.

Christian Maraker led Pacific with 17 points, coming back after

hitting his head hard on the court in the first half and Mike Webb

scored a career-high 15 points for Pacific (27-3).

The Tigers advanced to the second round for the second straight year, where they will face top-seeded Washington on Saturday.

"Being here last year and knowing what it takes to get a

victory definitely helped this team. Hopefully it will help us in

the next round on Saturday," said David Doubley, who scored 11 of

his 17 in the second half for Pacific.

Webb hadn't scored more than 10 points since transferring from

Antelope Valley College, but topped that by halftime after going

4-for-4 from 3-point range.

"I knocked down the first and the second and it just kept

rolling after that," Webb said. "I like the big games. Every

player lives for that."

Pacific was seeded No. 8 in the regional after losing to Utah

State in the championship of the Big West tournament. Pittsburgh

turned out to be a tough draw, thanks to Carl Krauser's 27 points,

25 of which came in the second half as the Panthers (20-9)

furiously tried to make up for a dismal first half.

"We just dug too deep a hole in the first half," Pitt coach

Jamie Dixon said.

The Panthers had made the round of 16 the last three years, but

couldn't recover from Pacific's 58 percent shooting in the first

half. It took 19 hours Tuesday to reach Boise because of mechanical

problems with the team charter, and the Panthers were erratic all

game.

"We did lose a day of practice, but it still shouldn't have

affected us because we had a good practice yesterday," Pitt senior

Chevon Troutman said.

Krauser's five 3-pointers helped Pitt stay in it, but his total

was more than double what any other Panther scored and the rally

came up short.

Chris Taft had 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Troutman and

Antonio Graves scored 12 for the Panthers.

Troutman, who averaged more than 15 points this season, scored

just three in the first half.

"Shots I usually make just weren't falling today. I may have

been rushing it a little bit," Troutman said.

Nonetheless, Pittsburgh had a small chance in the end.

Krauser made two free throws with 3:43 remaining to get Pitt

within 64-59, but that was as it would get. Doubley answered with

two free throws, Maraker hit a crucial 3-pointer and fed a pass to

Guillaume Yango for a dunk.

After going 15-for-26 from the field in the first half, Pacific

was just 11-for-29 in the second, when the Tigers committed eight

of their 12 turnovers but were still able to hang on.

"We were lucky to survive the first four minutes," Thomason

said.

Maraker was perfect on his two 3-pointers in the first half

despite missing a few minutes on the bench after slamming his head

on the court when he got tangled up with one of the Panthers.

"I was out for a few seconds," said Maraker, who remained in

the floor for a minute or two before going to the bench to let his

head clear. "It feels fine now and I just wanted to get back into

the game and keep playing. We were playing so good in the first

half, you just wanted to stay out there."