NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : MIDWEST REGIONAL : Carril’s Princeton Comes So Close, Again

Last year, after Princeton had scared the power rating out of Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson spoke to John Thompson, the Hoya coach, about the game. Thompson had a warning.

“He said, ‘Whatever you do, you don’t want to play him,’ ” Richardson recalled.

Most college basketball programs are known by the athletes they recruit. But Princeton is just him , a rumpled little coach named Pete Carril. He teaches the kind of patient, precision basketball that can, on a given night, make Ivy League players the equal of highly recruited thoroughbreds, and his teams have developed a habit of showing the world what they can do at tournament time.

In a game reminiscent of their one-point loss to Georgetown in the NCAAs a year ago, the Tigers terrorized Richardson’s Razorbacks Thursday night before falling, 68-64, in a Midwest Regional first-round game in the University of Texas’ Erwin Center.

Princeton, the region’s 13th-seeded team, rallied from a 13-point deficit with 13:20 remaining in the game to lead by one with 6:24 left. But fourth-seeded Arkansas, as Georgetown did last year, managed to get rid of the Tigers in the end.

The Razorbacks (27-4) will face Dayton, which scored an opening-round upset of Illinois, 88-86, in the second round Saturday. Top-seeded Oklahoma, the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, had some tough moments with Towson State, the region’s 16th seed, in the first round before winning, 77-68, to move into a second-round matchup with North Carolina. The Tar Heels advanced with an 83-70 victory over Southwest Missouri State.

Perhaps nobody was happier to see the first round pass than Richardson, who watched Princeton (21-8) use its mix of three-point bombs and backdoor layups to hang in against a highly rated opponent for the second consecutive year.

“They just lull you to sleep, backdoor you, lull you to sleep, three-point you,” Richardson said later.

The Tigers were able to play their keep-away style effectively in large measure because they got off to a quick start. They hit their first five shots, three of them three-pointers, and led by 11 points 8:21 into the game.

Arkansas, which had rallied to lead by three at the half, led by 13 on Todd Day’s three-pointer with 13:20 left. But then the Tigers found their rhythm again, using a 16-2 run to take a one-point lead with 6:24 to play.

The Razorbacks pushed back ahead but couldn’t put Princeton away. Up by two with 56 seconds left, Arkansas seemed to be on shaky ground when sophomore center Oliver Miller missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity. But the Razorbacks’ Lenzie Howell, playing with an eye infection, picked off the rebound and made both ends of a one-and-one to end the suspense.

“It was just a great comeback,” Carril said. “It’s just a damn shame that at the end we had some self-destruct plays.”

In other first-round games:

Dayton 88, Illinois 86--The Flyers, seeded 12th, built an 11-point lead midway through the second half, saw it melt away and hung on to win against the fifth-seeded Illini, who reached the Final Four a year ago.

Dayton went ahead, 68-57, on Ray Springer’s three-point shot with 9:48 remaining. But Illinois came back to tie at 75-75 on Kendall Gill’s jumper at 4:51.

Down three with 17 seconds left, the Illini (21-8) lost their chance to send the game into overtime when Steve Bardo’s three-point attempt missed with 12 seconds remaining.

The Flyers (22-9), who have won 11 consecutive games, made 10 of 25 three-point shots, with guards Negele Knight (27 points) and Springer hitting 7 of 15 between them.

Oklahoma 77, Towson State 68--For the second year in a row, a first-round game that was supposed to be easy for Oklahoma turned into a struggle.

The Sooners (27-4), who escaped with a 72-71 victory over East Tennessee State in the first round last year, played one of their sloppiest games of the season against Towson State (18-13).

Oklahoma hit only 13 of 27 free throws--six of 16 in the first half--and turned the ball over 20 times. The Sooners also were unable to stop the Towson State guards from driving inside for baskets. Kurk Lee, a 6-3 senior, was particularly rough on Oklahoma, scoring 30 points.

Still, the Sooners had enough to win the game. Forward Jackie Jones (19 points, 9 rebounds) was productive inside, and, when Towson State put together a 10-2 run to make it a two-point game with 6:43 remaining, guards Terry Evans and Smokey McCovery hit back-to-back three-point shots to give OKlahoma room to breathe.

North Carolina 83, Southwest Missouri State 70--The Tar Heels, with more size and depth than the Bears, took over the game in the final five minutes.

Scott Williams, the 6-11 senior from Hacienda Heights, scored 18 points on nine-of-14 shooting to lead North Carolina (20-12), and Rick Fox contributed 17 points, including two critical three-pointers in the final 8:17.

The Tar Heels, seeded No. 8 in the Midwest, also got 22 points off their bench, compared to 11 for Southwest Missouri State (22-7), seeded ninth.