NCAA East Regional at Providence, R.I. : Iowa Strong-Arms Rutgers, 87-73

In the first 13 minutes of the second half, Rutgers stopped B.J. Armstrong. In the next four minutes, Armstrong stopped Rutgers’ season.

Armstrong matched his career-high 35 points and teamed with backcourt partner Roy Marble to lead a 19-0 second-half run that carried 14th-ranked Iowa to an 87-73 victory Friday in the first round of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. East Regional at Providence, R.I.

Armstrong had 22 points in the first half, but only two in the second half before hitting a short shot with 6:58 left in the game. With 3:31 to go, he had 13 in the second half, and Iowa had control.

Iowa (23-9) will play 19th-ranked North Carolina State Sunday.

After Armstrong made six three-point shots in the first half, Rutgers switched to a zone defense with one player assigned to Armstrong “to let us back in” the game, Scarlet Knight Coach Bob Wenzel said.

But Iowa didn’t panic after its 16-point lead late in the first half faded into a 62-62 tie on Emory Ward’s bank shot with 10:12 left.

Marble’s two free throws began the 19-point spurt, during which Armstrong had nine points and Marble six. It gave Iowa an 81-62 lead with 4:54 left, and the margin never dropped below 12 points after that.

N.C. State 81, South Carolina 66--This NCAA tournament started out quite differently for the 19th-ranked Wolfpack than the last two, and North Carolina State looked nothing like it did just a week ago when it lost to Maryland in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

The Wolfpack (21-8), who lost first-round NCAA games the last two seasons, took control early as Rodney Monroe’s outside shooting opened up the inside for some easy baskets. The Gamecocks shot just 38% in the first half, 9 for 24.

Monroe was the leading scorer for the Wolfpack with 22 points.

“We certainly wanted to make up for our performance last Friday,” Wolfpack Coach Jim Valvano said. “I always said for us to win we had to shoot 55%, control the tempo and have Rodney hit from the outside to open the inside for Chucky Brown.”

South Carolina (19-11), making its first NCAA appearance since 1974, led, 58-50, with six minutes left.

But Kelsey Weems made two free throws, sandwiched around a layup by Monroe, and the Wolfpack, which was plagued by foul trouble in the second half, led by at least 10 points the rest of the way.

“Some of our inexperience came through when we made it close near the end,” South Carolina Coach George Felton said. “Our man-to-man defense got us back to a fighting chance, but we could never recover from their junk defenses that kept Brent Price’s shooting from being a factor.”

Said Valvano: “We utilized changing defenses early because we didn’t want Price (younger brother of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Mark Price) to get his outside game going. We never stayed in the same defense for more than two baskets.”

Price made just four of eight shots for the game and got off only one shot in the first half.

Terry Dozier led South Carolina with 22 points.

Notre Dame 81, Vanderbilt 65--Joe Fredrick scored 20 points, and LaPhonso Ellis added 17 as the Irish ended the 32-year college coaching career of Vanderbilt’s C.M. Newton.

Newton, who takes over as Kentucky’s athletic director April 1, saw his team sputter after getting within 40-36 with 16:49 left.

Notre Dame (21-8) will meet second-ranked Georgetown Sunday.

Newton, who coached Vanderbilt for eight seasons, finished his career with a 509-375 record.