NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : EAST REGIONAL AT HARTFORD, CONN. : Richmond Wins, Ending Indiana’s Chance to Repeat

Keith Smart, the hero of last season’s National Collegiate Athletic Assn. championship basketball game, watched his jump shot--and Indiana’s chance to repeat--bound off the rim with 20 seconds left Friday at Hartford, Conn.

“I hit one to win it all last year and I took one to lose it all this year,” Smart, a senior guard, said after Richmond’s 72-69 upset of the Hoosiers in an NCAA East Regional first-round game. Rodney Rice’s jumper just inside the three-point line, 34 seconds before Smart missed the 12-footer, put Richmond ahead, 70-69.

Rice, who scored 21 points, grabbed the rebound of Smart’s shot and threw the ball downcourt to start a 3-on-1 break that resulted in a layup by Ken Atkinson.

Indiana’s Joe Hillman missed one final desperation three-pointer from the corner with two seconds left, ending Indiana’s unlikely dream of two consecutive championships.

“I said before the game that we were evenly matched,” Hoosier Coach Bob Knight said. “I’m not surprised that we lost.”

It was the first time since 1981 that the defending national champion has been eliminated in its first tournament game the following year.

The victory, Richmond’s eighth straight, sent the Spiders (25-6) into a second-round game Sunday against Georgia Tech, which defeated Iowa State, 90-78, in the first of four games at the Hartford Civic Center.

Richmond has beaten Georgia Tech the two times they played in the past two regular seasons.

The loss stopped a six-game NCAA tournament winning streak for Indiana, which finished its season 19-10.

Temple 87, Lehigh 73--After sitting out most of the first half, Tim Perry scored 17 of Temple’s 18 points in a decisive second-half stretch to lead the top-ranked Owls over Lehigh, the East Regional’s lowest-seeded team.

Temple Coach John Chaney kept Perry, his top rebounder and third-leading scorer, on the bench for the last 12 minutes of the first half, which ended with the Owls holding a 38-35 lead.

But the 6-foot 9-inch forward dominated his shorter opponents inside in the second half and led Temple with 27 points. He also had 8 blocks, an NCAA record for first- and second-round games, and 12 rebounds.

Temple, 30-1 after winning its 16th consecutive game, will play Georgetown in the second round Sunday. The Owls have lost in the second round in each of the last four seasons.

Temple, which never trailed, got 24 points from Mark Macon, 18 of them in the first half.

Lehigh, which fell to 21-10, was led by Mike Polaha with 27 points and Daren Queenan, the nation’s second-leading scorer, with 21.

Georgetown 66, LSU 63--After a subpar season marked by inconsistent shooting and a few scuffles, Georgetown will take a victory any way it can get one.

Friday night, Charles Smith banked in a three-point shot at the buzzer.

“He put a prayer up and it went off the backboard and went in,” Coach John Thompson said.

It was the only basket of the second half for Smith, who finished the game with 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting. He led Georgetown with a 16-point average in the regular season.

LSU, making its fifth-straight NCAA appearance, finished its season 16-14.

Georgia Tech 90, Iowa State 78--Georgia Tech sank 16 foul shots while outscoring Iowa State, 18-6, in the final 4:30 and, behind Tom Hammonds’ career-high 33 points, advanced to the second round against Richmond.

With the score tied, 72-72, Dennis Scott hit two free throws to start the run during which the Yellow Jackets got the first nine points.

The victory broke a three-game losing streak for Georgia Tech (22-9), while Iowa State ended its season 20-12.