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Surging Huskies roll past Lobos

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SAN JOSE, Calif. --- Quincy Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas danced to Washington's timeout huddle after finishing yet another second-half fast break with a basket and a bellowing vocal flourish.

Washington guard Isaiah Thomas (right) drives to the basket during the Huskies' win over New Mexico. He had 15 points.  Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press
Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press
Washington guard Isaiah Thomas (right) drives to the basket during the Huskies' win over New Mexico. He had 15 points.

In their wake, the weary New Mexico players huffed and puffed to the bench, their shoulders sagging.

The rest of the NCAA Tournament's East Regional had better listen to all that barking. When these surging Huskies are running in unison, they're no ordinary 11th seed -- and not even third-seeded New Mexico can keep up.

Pondexter scored 18 points, Thomas added 15 and Washington extended its incredible late-season roll all the way to the regional semifinals with an 82-64 second-round victory Saturday.

Matthew Bryan-Amaning had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Huskies (26-9), who have won nine in a row, including the Pac-10 Tournament and wins over two higher-seeded opponents at the Shark Tank.

Washington ran right past the Lobos (30-5), who simply couldn't keep up with the breakneck offensive pace in their second loss in three games, falling behind by 23 points midway through the second half.

"We did a great job of forcing our tempo on them," said Pondexter, who didn't need another last-second tiebreaker as he did in beating Marquette two days earlier. "We wanted to show that we have another level of fast break and defensive intensity. That's what really wore them down."

Washington advanced to next week's regional semifinal in Syracuse, N.Y., against the winner of second-seeded West Virginia's meeting with Missouri today. The Huskies are in the round of 16 for the third time since 2005.

Dairese Gary matched his career high with 25 points and Darington Hobson had 11 points and nine rebounds for New Mexico, which had a 15-game winning streak and a No. 8 national ranking before losing in the Mountain West tournament final last weekend.

The Lobos, who barely beat 14th-seeded Montana in their opener, have never won consecutive games in the NCAA Tournament, missing their chance to make the round of 16 for the first time since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

KENTUCKY 90, WAKE FOREST 60

In New Orleans, Darius Miller scored a career-high 20 points and Kentucky made easy work of No. 9 Wake Forest during a rout in their second- round meeting.

Miller scored 16 points in the first half to help the Wildcats (34-2) build an early double-digit lead that ballooned to 31 in the second half.

DeMarcus Cousins added 19 points for Kentucky, while John Wall scored 14 and Eric Bledsoe 13.

Al-Farouq Aminu had 16 points for Wake Forest (20-11), which was down by 16 at halftime and never mounted a credible comeback attempt during the final 20 minutes. C.J. Harris added 11 points for the Demon Deacons.

Kentucky moves on to the East Regional semifinals in Syracuse, N.Y., where they'll play the winner of today's second-round game between 12th-seeded Cornell and No. 4 Wisconsin.

Kentucky scored 52 points in the paint and shot 60 percent. The Wildcats outrebounded Wake Forest 42-34.

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