Stanford suffers first loss

Washington pinned first loss on the Cardinal.

The Stanford Cardinal never got a chance to pull off another last-second victory.

The top-ranked Cardinal lost for the first time this season Saturday, falling 75-62 to Washington two days after rallying to beat Washington State on a buzzer beater.

"Nobody likes to lose, especially when you have 26 wins straight," Stanford center Rob Little said. "We can't always have a miraculous comeback."

The first loss for the Cardinals after 26 victories came on a day when five schools had their tickets punched for the NCAA tournament with automatic bids.

Among those earning an NCAA berth was Murray State, which beat Austin Peay 66-60 in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship.

Also earning NCAA bids with tournament championship wins were Central Florida in the Atlantic Sun Conference; East Tenessee State of the Southern Conference and Liberty in the Big South Conference. Princeton clinched the Ivy League regular-season title and that league's automatic berth.

Stanford's loss left No. 2 Saint Joseph's (27-0) as the only undefeated team in the country.

"I thought it would be great if we could knock off the No. 1 team and get into the tournament," said Washington coach Lorenzo Romar, the former St. Louis University coach who has the unranked Huskies at 17-10 and second in the Pac-10 Conference. "It's awfully exciting to be in this position."

While Washington is not in yet, Murray State is.

The second-seeded Racers (28-5) earned their fifth NCAA berth in the last eight years, and first since 2002 by winning their eighth straight game. They did it by handing regular-season champ Austin Peay (21-9) its first loss to a league opponent this season.

Cuthbert Victor had 13 points and nine rebounds for Murray State.

The Austin Peay women's team won its fourth straight Ohio Valley Conference tournament title and automatic berth in the NCAA tournament by beating Eastern Kentucky 65-51. Gerlonda Hardin had 23 points and 12 rebounds for the Governors.

-- From wire reports