Johnson accepts blame

Stanford coach Trent Johnson blamed himself for being ejected in the first half of the Cardinal’s 82-81 overtime victory over Marquette in an NCAA tournament game on Saturday in Anaheim, Calif.

“Basically, I was out of line,” said Johnson, who was tossed after getting two technical fouls for unsportsmanlike conduct. “The bottom line, I was trying to fight for my kids. There was no profanity or anything like that used, but I had been warned prior to that, and I put our team in a bad situation, and it’s unacceptable.

“The bottom line was, the responsibility was on me, and I was out of line,” Johnson said. “Just leave it at that if you would, please.”

The officials had warned Stanford’s bench to sit down earlier in the half.

Johnson drew the technicals in quick succession after officials called Stanford’s Lawrence Hill for a foul on Marquette’s Lazar Hayward with 3:36 remaining.

The first technical was assessed by David Hall as the teams went to a timeout.

Johnson received the second technical, and the ejection, from Curtis Shaw when he walked toward the officials near the top of the key with his hands on his hips.

Pac-10 shines

The Pac-10 had three teams playing in the second round Saturday – UCLA, Stanford and Washington State – and they all won to give the conference the early lead in the Sweet 16. That’s all the teams the Pac-10 can get, however, since the other three teams it had in the field lost in the first round.

The Big East had four teams going Saturday, but only West Virginia moved on with the upset of Duke. Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Marquette all lost. The conference, which tied its record with eight teams in the field, has three teams going today, as does the Southeastern Conference.

Only the Big 12, which had Kansas win Saturday, can also get three in the round of 16 as Texas and Oklahoma play today.

Two bad for Duke

Duke’s 73-67 loss to West Virginia meant that for the 12th straight year all four No. 2 seeds failed to advance to the third round.

The other No. 2 seeds – Tennessee, Georgetown and Texas – all play today.

The last time all the second-seeded teams moved on to the regional semifinals was 1996. Since then, three moved on three times, including last season; two went on six times; and only one advanced to the third round in 1999 and 2000.

The last time the four No. 1s failed to advance to the third round was 2004 when Saint Joseph’s and Duke moved on and Kentucky and Stanford didn’t.