(1) WASHINGTON 88, (16) MONTANA 77

The Washington Huskies were annoyed that no one thought they deserved a no. 1 seed. A harder-than-expected victory over Montana probably isn’t going to help.

Washington charged out to a 19-point lead in the first nine minutes and played well enough the rest of the way to open the NCAA tournament with an 88-77 victory yesterday. They’ll take on the Pacific Tigers, who downed Pittsburgh yesterday, in the second round.

Brandon Roy had 17 points, Tre Simmons added 15, and Washington (28-5) shot 55% to win an NCAA tournament game for the first time since reaching the round of 16 in 1998.

Montana (18-13) won the Big Sky Conference to get into the NCAA tournament, but beating the Pac-10 champion was probably a little too much to ask. Led by Kamarr Davis’s 24 points, the Grizzlies at least gave it a try.

Washington scored the game’s first 13 points, and Montana didn’t respond until Davis hit a turnaround jumper 4:10 into the game. But after withstanding Washington’s initial surge, the feisty Grizzlies fought back.

Forcing Washington into bad shots and staying patient offensively, Montana cut the lead to 32-23. Washington got the lead back to 17 points at halftime, but Montana wouldn’t quit.

Montana then cut the lead to 67-57 with eight minutes left, but they never got closer.

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(8) PACIFIC 79, (9) PITTSBURGH 71

A 15-point halftime lead was just enough for Pacific. The Tigers survived a sloppy second half and advanced by holding off Pittsburgh 79-71 yesterday. Christian Maraker came back after slamming his head to the floor in the first half and scored 17 points, including a late 3-pointer that helped clinch it and get the Tigers (27-3) through the first round for the second straight year.

Mike Webb scored a career-high 15 points, going 4-for-4 from beyond the arc to help the Tigers to a 45-30 halftime lead that held up through several Pitt rallies in the second half.

Carl Krauser scored 25 of his 27 points in the final 20 minutes while the Panthers (20-9) trimmed the lead to five in the final 4 minutes, but Maraker’s only 3-pointer of the second half put the Tigers back up 69-61 and Pacific held on from there.

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(2) WAKE FOREST 71, (15) CHATTANOOGA 54

Wake Forest guard Chris Paul returned from a one-game suspension and the second-seeded Demon Deacons shook off a horrible first half for a 70-54 win over Chattanooga. Wake will take on West Virginia, who downed Creighton last night, in the second round.

Paul scored 20 points and added six rebounds and five assists to pace Wake Forest (27-5), which didn’t play like one of the pre-tourney favorites until midway through the second half.

The Demon Deacons struggled with the Mocs (20-11), who threatened to become just the fourth no. 15 seed to win a first-round game since the tournament expanded in 1985.

Paul made sure that didn’t happen, making several big plays in a game-closing 32-16 run. The sophomore was back on the floor for the first time since March 6, when he punched North Carolina State’s Julius Hodge in the groin during the final regular-season game.

The Mocs led 38-35 when Paul hit a 3-pointer,and Wake Forest started to do its damage from long range. Trent Strickland hit a 3-pointer and Taron Downey made a pair of 3’s on consecutive trips as the Demon Deacons went up 53-45.

Chris Brown scored 14 points and Alphonso Pugh 13 for Chattanooga, which doomed itself with 22 turnovers.

(3) GONZAGA 74, (14) WINTHROP 64

Fourteenth-seeded Winthrop almost did to the Bulldogs what third-seeded Gonzaga has done to several top teams over the years before the ‘Zags grabbed control late and won 74-64 last night.

The loss snapped Winthrop’s 18-game winning streak, longest in the nation. Gonzaga (26-4) won its 13th straight. The ‘Zags will take on Texas Tech, who dispatched UCLA, in the second round.

Neither team led by more than eight points until the end of the game, and it was tied four times in the second half. Winthrop led by six points three times in the first half.

Adam Morrison led Gonzaga with 27 points and Ronny Turiaf added 13 points and 13 rebounds. Torrell Martin scored 22 points and hit six 3-pointers for the Eagles (27-6), who are 0-5 in the NCAA tournament.

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(7) W. VIRGINIA 63, (10) CREIGHTON 61

Tyrone Sally blocked Nate Funk’s 3-point attempt, then raced downcourt for a fast-break dunk with 2.9 seconds to go, leading West Virginia to a 63-61 victory over Creighton.

Kevin Pittsnogle had 17 points for West Virginia (22-10), which went 8-of-20 from behind the arc. Funk had 23 for Creighton (23-11) , which was 8-of-21 on 3-pointers.

Creighton established a 40-36 lead early in the second half. Their lead fluctuated between two and five points for the next 12 minutes, until Mike Gansey’s fast-break dunk put West Virginia up 55-53 after a 3-pointer. There were three more lead changes before Sally’s two free throws tied it again at 61 with 42 seconds to go.

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(6) TEXAS TECH 78, (11) UCLA 66

Ronald Ross scored 28 points and Texas Tech shot a season-high 62% in a 78-66 win over 11th-seeded UCLA.

Texas Tech (21-10) improved to 2-2 in NCAA tournament games since coach Bob Knight came to Lubbock four seasons ago. Knight, meanwhile, is 44-23 in 27 NCAA appearances.

UCLA (17-12), with its lowest seed ever, never led but stayed close until a 12-2 run put Texas Tech up 76-61.

Jarrius Jackson scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half for Texas Tech. Devonne Giles added 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds.