NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : Wyoming Falls Into Loyola Trap : The Lions Quickly Erase Early Deficit for 119-115 Victory : WEST REGIONAL AT SALT LAKE CITY

Opposing coaches, and everyone else who hasn’t seen Loyola Marymount this season, say Paul Westhead is turning the game of basketball upside down.

In the opening round of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. West Regional Thursday, the Lions turned Wyoming every which way but loose, producing an almost typical 119-115 victory.

The Cowboys lassoed Loyola early, then found they had a coiled rattlesnake on their hands. Wyoming built an early lead of 13 points, but quicker than Wyatt Earp on the draw, Loyola ran off to an 11-point advantage at halftime. The Lions scored 6 points in the last 16 seconds before intermission when Wyoming was trying to hold the ball for one shot.

What was Wyoming Coach Benny Dees thinking at halftime?

“Go home,” he said. “It’s no magic act. . . . We couldn’t defend ‘em. I thought they had an incredible night shooting from long distance.”

He said of the spurt before halftime: “It did us in. We’re supposed to be going for one, we shoot a three-pointer, miss it, and all hell breaks loose.”

Dees, a veteran coach, said he hasn’t seen another team play Loyola’s style so successfully. Neither has his talkative star, Fennis Dembo, who had a subpar 14 points in his college finale.

“You start running with them, they outshine you,” he said. “They was possessed tonight. I ain’t never played nobody like ‘em.”

The victory advanced the Lions to Saturday’s second-round game against second-seeded North Carolina at 1:30 p.m., PST. Tar Heel Coach Dean Smith said: “I think it will be a close game. I hope they don’t blow us out.”

Loyola’s 25th straight victory, which raised its record to 28-3, was the first for a West Coast Athletic Conference team in the tournament since 1982. It was nearly a blowout.

Wyoming successfully went to center Eric Leckner at the start. He scored the Cowboys’ first 6 points as Wyoming built a 27-14 lead.

Loyola came back on its three-point shooting and some unexpected early scoring from Mark Armstrong, who made 11 of his 15 points while Loyola was coming back to take a 43-42 lead at the 5:43 mark.

A three-pointer by Jeff Fryer built the lead to 55-50. Near the end of the half, Wyoming held for one shot but took an ill-advised long one. Mike Yoest made two free throws for a 59-52 margin, then Fryer stole the inbound pass and made a jump shot, and Yoest stole the next inbound pass and scored at the buzzer. The lead was suddenly 63-52.

“They’re playing for that spurt where you make a few mistakes and they hammer it to you,” Dees said.

The Lions quickly expanded the lead to 77-59 early in the second half, and this group of Cowboys was headed out of town by sundown.

The game bogged down in fouls in the final minutes as five Cowboys fouled out, but the Lions sank just enough free throws to hold them off. Yoest made 15 of 17 from the line for most of his 25 points.

Loyola had five players in double figures, led by Bo Kimble’s 29, and shot 51%. Hank Gathers added 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Fryer got 17. Wyoming knew it was in trouble when it was shooting 67% at halftime--and losing.

Leckner finished with 23 points and 8 rebounds. Guard Robyn Davis added 19. Loyola forced 23 Cowboy turnovers.

“I really expected our guard play to be better,” Dees said. “I thought we fell into their trap and played at a pace we didn’t want to play at. The one thing that hurt us was we played so many deliberate teams in a row. And you can’t simulate what (the Lions) do in practice.”

Wyoming finished at 26-6.

Westhead said his team was tired at the higher altitude, but when the Lions “needed to make a real move, our guys were up for it. . . . I thought our shooting was adequate. I never said we have great shooters. We shoot often.”

Asked why nobody else plays his style, Westhead said with a grin: “I guess nobody’s as crazy as yours truly.”

Credibility could come quickly with a good game Saturday.

Gathers said: “We expected to win this game. Maybe we were the only ones in the United States. I know there’s a lot of disbelievers out there who didn’t think we could beat Wyoming and don’t think we can beat North Carolina. We’ve got news for them: We’re coming to play ball.”