March 15, 1998

Box Score

CHICAGO (AP) - Stanford's size and a game-swaying technical foul that became a seven-point possession helped the Cardinal win a trip back to the NCAA tournament's round of 16.

Arthur Lee scored 24 points and Stanford had a 41-25 rebounding edge Sunday to overcome Western Michigan's quickness and beat the Broncos 83-65 in the Midwest Regional.

Tim Young, the Cardinal's 7-foot-1 center, scored 19 points and had 13 rebounds and forward Mike Madsen added 19 points and 10 rebounds as Stanford (28-4) matched the school record for most victories in a season.

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

Jason Kimbrough led Western Michigan (21-8), the No. 11 seed, with 17 points and Saddi Washington had 16.

The Broncos suffered a major loss when guard Rashod Johnson - the star of their first-round upset of Clemson - fouled out with 12:03 left after he was called for a technical foul.

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

He was whistled for the technical just minutes after he'd picked up his third and fourth personals.

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

The technical was a double whammy for the Broncos - they lost one of their two best players and Stanford turned it into a seven-point possession.

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 61-47.

Western Michigan, making its second-ever NCAA tournament appearance and first since 1976, got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.