After being abused in the Pac 10 for so many seasons, the Washington State Cougars enjoyed being on top. The Cougars beat Winthrop 71-40 in the East Regional tournament, 19 points and 8 rebounds thanks to Aron Baynes.

Robbie Cowgill and Kyle Weaver both scored 14 points and Derrick Low got 11 for the Cougars. Washington State will be up against the winner of the Notre Dame-George Mason game in the second round. Washington State are 51-16 broke open a halftime tie with a 23-4 run getting their 2nd consecutive opening round win in the NCAA tournament.

The Eagles missed their first 7 shots after making 4 of 8 from beyond the arc in the first half. Winthrop had 17 points and ended with a breakaway score at 13:19 left. Michael Jenkins made his first and only bucket at 12:43 for the Eagles to pull Winthrop to 40-33. Even though Jenkins lead the Eagles with a 14.3-point average, they ended with a tie. Jenkins ended up with 2 fouls with 12:19 left before the half.

Chris Gaynor and McCullough got a trio of 3-pointers, including an off-balance shot that popped the net at the buzzer. Gaynor finished with 15 points, all on 3s, including one in the waning seconds that allowed the Eagles to avoid a single-digit second half. Baynes made all of his 9 shots in the first half. The Eagles were out scored 42-11 after halftime. The game ended a difficult season for the Eagles.

Washington State finished last in the Pac 10 but the Cougars ended their decade long losing steak after winning 26 games which got them to the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament. There they lost a double overtime game against Vanderbilt. This season they posted the team's 1st consecutive 20 win year since the 1940s.