Long time coming

Vandy cruises in second half to get first tourney win since '93

Mario Moore lit up Western Michigan as Vanderbilt avoided the upset. AP Pick one, any one moment from Vanderbilt point guard Mario Moore's 18-point second half, and you have to be impressed. By Gene Menez PHOENIX REGIONAL First Round: Various Sites Thursday, March 18 • (4) Maryland 86, (13) UTEP 83 • (8) Alabama 65, (9) Southern Illinois 64 • (5) Syracuse 80, (12) Brigham Young 75 • (1) Stanford 71, (16) UT-San Antonio 45 • (2) Connecticut 70, (15) Vermont 53 • (7) DePaul 76, (10) Dayton 69 Friday, March 19 • (3) N.C. State 61, (14) La.-Lafayette 52 • (6) Vanderbilt 71, (11) Western Michigan 58 Second Round Saturday, March 20 • (5) Syracuse 72, (4) Maryland 70 • (8) Alabama 70, (1) Stanford 67 • (2) Connecticut 72, (7) DePaul 55 Sunday, March 21 • (6) Vanderbilt 75, (3) N.C. State 73 Regional Semfinals America West Arena Thursday, March 25 • (2) Connecticut 73, (6) Vanderbilt 53 • (8) Alabama 80, (5) Syracuse 71 Regional Finals Saturday, March 27 • (2) Connecticut 87, (8) Alabama 71 More from SI.com • Updated bracket | Daily schedule • SI.com Writers: Inside the tournament • E-mail Alerts | Hoops Bracket Challenge • Complete NCAA tournament coverage

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Mario Moore's outside shooting allowed Vanderbilt to turn a struggle into a rout.

Moore scored a career-best 26 points and hit six 3-pointers, the last breaking open a close game, to lead the sixth-seeded Commodores past Western Michigan 71-58 in the first round of the Phoenix Regional on Friday.

"We just needed something to create some separation," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said.

It was the first NCAA tournament win for Vanderbilt since reaching the round of 16 in 1993.

The Commodores advanced to play No. 3 seed North Carolina State on Sunday. The Wolfpack beat Louisiana-Lafayette 61-52.

It wasn't easy, however. Vanderbilt (22-9) led by only two after 35 minutes and the game seemed destined to go down to final seconds.

That's when Moore drained his fourth 3-pointer of the half, putting the Commodores up 58-53. After a miss by the Broncos, Matt Freije sank another 3 to stretch the lead. Freije finished with 13 points.

"As long as it's a one-possession game, both teams are in there, sort of playing in a comfort zone," Stallings said. "But all of a sudden, when you take it to two or three possessions, now there's additional pressure on the team that's behind.

"Shooting gets harder, passing gets harder when that happens."

Western Michigan (26-5) may have started to feel that pressure. The Broncos missed seven of their next eight shots, and the Commodores took advantage. Moore hit a pair of jumpers and Vanderbilt took control with a 16-2 outburst.

Moore made all seven of his shots after the break, finishing 10-for-16.

"I was just trying to get open touches," said Moore, whose previous scoring high was 25. "I wouldn't say that I was demanding the basketball. We just ran the offense and luckily I was able to get the ball in a place to score."

Vanderbilt sank 11 of 19 3-pointers, making up for 17 turnovers, an 18-8 deficit on offensive rebounds and an 8-for-18 performance at the free throw line.

"Fortunately, we made plays before they did," Stallings said. "Then once we made a few plays, we really got going."

Western Michigan, the Mid-American Conference champion which equaled a school record for wins, failed to reach the second round for the first time in three tournament appearances.

"We had a heck of a year and a heck of an effort," Broncos coach Steve Hawkins said. "But Vanderbilt, quite simply, was the better team."

Mike Williams, the MAC's player of the year, led Western Michigan with 24 points. But he scored only eight after the break

"They made adjustments on the way they were playing me, and it worked," said Williams, who missed six of his last seven shots to finish 10-for-20.

The Broncos shot 35 percent, 9-for-26 in the second half. They made only one 3-pointer in 18 tries until Reggie Berry hit one with 4 seconds to play.

"Our fastbreak is a good part of our offense, but you can't run when you're taking the ball out of the net," Hawkins said. "We tried to push every button we could push to get something going offensively."