NCAA TOURNAMENT : Georgetown Tops Lehigh in Opener; St. John’s Wins : Hoyas Start Fast and Then Coast to 68-43 Victory

Top-ranked Georgetown began defense of its national title Thursday with a 68-43 first-round victory over Lehigh in the NCAA basketball tournament, behind the sharpshooting of Reggie Williams and David Wingate.

The Hoyas, 31-2 and winners of the Big East Conference tournament, bolted to a 28-point halftime lead, then coasted in the second half of their East Regional victory at Hartford, Conn.

Lehigh, the only team in the field of 64 with a losing record (12-19), got within 63-41 with 2:26 left but never threatened the powerful Hoyas.

“After we got up, it was difficult to maintain a certain level of concentration,” Hoyas Coach John Thompson said. “It’s tough when you have a lead like that to keep that team-oriented defense.”

In the second round Saturday, the Hoyas face Temple, a 60-57 first-round winner over Virginia Tech.

In the Southeast Regional at South Bend, Ind., Kansas defeated Ohio University, 49-38, and Auburn beat Purdue, 59-58. Ohio State defeated Iowa State, 75-64, and Louisiana Tech beat Pittsburgh, 78-54, in the Midwest Regional at Tulsa, Okla. In the West Regional at Salt Lake City, St. John’s defeated Southern University, 83-59.

Here’s what happened in early Thursday’s games:

East

Williams and Wingate each had 14 points, and Patrick Ewing added 11 for Georgetown. The 7-foot Ewing had four blocked shots by halftime as Georgetown dominated the Engineers, whose tallest player is 6-7. Mike Polaha scored a game-high 20 points for Lehigh.

Georgetown scored the game’s first basket, a short turnaround by Ewing, and raced to a 31-7 lead with 7:23 left in the half by scoring 13 straight points.

Granger Hall scored 22 points and had 13 rebounds as Temple held off a late Virginia Tech rally. Temple, 25-5, winner of the Atlantic 10 tournament, used a combination of zone defenses to hold the 20-9 Hokies nearly 25 points below their scoring average.

Guard Nate Blackwell scored 13 points and forward Charles Rayne added 12 for Temple. Virginia Tech, of the Metro Conference, was paced by Dell Curry with 13 points.

Perry Young, the Hokies’ leading scorer, was benched at the game’s outset for disciplinary reasons, another starter was injured, and Young said that “was a factor” in the loss.

Southeast

Calvin Thompson’s 12 points led Kansas past Ohio University, which took advantage of the NCAA’s decision not to use a shot clock in the tournament to play a spread offense almost the entire game.

“Our game plan was to come in and take a 40-minute game and make it a 25-minute game,” Bobcats Coach Danny Nee said.

Kansas had averaged 76-points per game this season, but the Jayhawks did not begin to pull away from the Mid-American champions until the second half. Kansas took only 12 shots in the first half and led, 18-15, at intermission.

Kansas led by as many as 17 points twice in the second half as Ohio went scoreless for four minutes. Vic Alexander had 15 points for Ohio, 22-8.

The Jayhawks, 26-7, meet Auburn in the second round Saturday.

Chris Morris hit a tie-breaking free throw with 14 seconds to lift Auburn over Purdue. Morris scored 19 points, and Chuck Person led the Tigers with 20.

Purdue rallied to tie the score at 58-58 on a basket by freshman Troy Lewis with 55 seconds left. After an Auburn timeout, the Tigers held for one shot, and Morris was fouled by Purdue’s Mark Atkinson.

Morris missed the second of his two shots, giving Purdue a final chance. But James Bullock of the Boilermakers missed a short turnaround jumper with two seconds left.

Steve Reid had 18 points for Purdue, 20-9. Auburn, winner of the Southeastern Conference tournament, is 21-11.

Midwest

Ronnie Stokes’ three-point play with 17:26 to play ignited a 10-2 Ohio State run that carried the Buckeyes past Iowa State. Ohio State led only 39-37 at halftime.

Ohio State forward Dennis Hopson scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half on 6 of 6 from the field. For the game, Stokes had 21, Troy Taylor 17 and Brad Sellers 14 for the Buckeyes. Barry Stevens had 24 points and Jeff Grayer 21 for the Cyclones, 21-13, who were making their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1944.

Ohio State faces Louisiana Tech in Saturday’s second round.

Robert Godbolt scored 17 points and Willie Bland 16, leading Louisiana Tech over Pitt. The Bulldogs, 28-2, went ahead 37-20 at halftime, then ran off 14 straight points to take a 67-32 lead with 10:32 gone in the second half.

Louisiana Tech controlled the boards to smother Pitt in the second half. Karl Malone and Willie Simmons each had 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs, 28-2, of the Southland Conference.

Pitt finished at 17-12.

West

Walter Berry scored 24 points as St. John’s overcame a slow start to beat Southern University. Bill Wennington added 23 points, and All-American Chris Mullin had 21 for the Redmen of the Big East Conference. Donevan Hoskins had 17 points for Southern, 19-11.