ARIZONA SPEEDS TO EASY TRIUMPH.

Byline: Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Arizona, a team accustomed to quick exits from the NCAA Tournament, might be in it for the long haul this time.

The reason: its quickness.

The Wildcats, losers in the first round in three of the past four seasons, advanced to the round of 16 with an 87-73 victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes Sunday in the West Regional at the University Activity Center at Arizona State. They play Kansas in Denver on Friday.

"That is a very, very quick, athletic team," Iowa coach Tom Davis said. "They're as quick as you're going to see in this tournament."

The Wildcats' quickness was evident in the ease with which they handled Iowa's press.

The Hawkeyes used their pressure defense to rally from a 17-point deficit in the second half against George Washington on Friday. They tried the same thing yesterday when they trailed by 16 with 10 minutes remaining, but this time, it didn't work.

"We are a good team against the press, and it's going to be strength vs. strength when they do that," Arizona coach Lute Olson said.

Despite the pressure, Arizona committed just 12 turnovers. Point guard Reggie Geary had just one miscue to go along with 16 points, 13 assists, two steals and two blocks.

"Thirteen assists with one turnover is incredible," Olson said. "That's unbelievable."

The Wildcats did more than just handle the press. They also attacked it, pushing the ball up the floor to create fast-break opportunities. In one span in the second half, after the Hawkeyes had mounted a mild threat and got within 10, Arizona got dunks from Michael Dickerson, Ben Davis (game-high 17 points) and Geary in a span of four possessions.

"They did break it a lot of times, and got some baskets in transition," Hawkeyes guard Andre Woolridge said. "We were a step behind."

The Wildcats said watching the Hawkeyes' incredible rally against the Colonials helped prepare them.

"We saw how George Washington got keyed up against their press," Geary said. "We wanted to attack it and put pressure on them."

Kansas 76, Santa Clara 51: To fully appreciate the dominance of Kansas point guard Jacque Vaughn against Santa Clara, don't bother looking at his line in the boxscore.

Look instead at the statistics of his counterpart, Steve Nash.

Nash, who had 28 points in a first-round win over Maryland, missed his first eight shots and finished with seven points on 1-of-11 shooting as Kansas opened a 12-0 lead and never was threatened by the Broncos.

"I'm the prototype point guard," said Vaughn, who had two points and six assists. "I'm not going to worry about the points."

The game was billed as a showcase for two of the nation's top point guards. But with Vaughn shutting down Nash in the opening half and Kansas center Raef LaFrentz dominating inside, it quickly turned into a rout.

"I thought Jacque did a great job on him," LaFrentz said. "Jacque is one of the best defensive point guards in the country, and he made it real difficult for them."

Kansas coach Roy Williams said the key was stopping Nash's penetration, a job Vaughn handled well.

"Everything goes back to the first 10 minutes. We really took it under the chin early," Nash said. "They got some inside baskets. I had a chance to answer with outside shots. That's what my job is, and I didn't do it."

LaFrentz hit his first seven shots and scored 19 points as the Jayhawks reached the Round of 16 for the fourth straight year. Santa Clara has not reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament since 1954.

LaFrentz finished 9 for 10 from the field in the West Regional game. Jerod Haase added 12 points for the Jayhawks, who held Santa Clara to 25 percent shooting.

Kevin Dunne, the only Santa Clara player in double figures, had 10 points. The Broncos never scored two straight unanswered baskets in the game.

"Defensively, we were sensational," said Williams, whose team faces Arizona in the regional semifinal Friday in Denver. "The first half was about as well as we've played all season."