NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : MIDWEST REGIONAL : Oklahoma Struggles to Shed Towson State in Opener

Top-ranked Oklahoma, fighting for its tournament life against No. 16 seed Towson State, survived a sluggish effort Thursday for a 77-68 victory over the Tigers in the opening game of the NCAA Midwest Regional.

Jackie Jones scored 19 points for the Sooners (27-4), who advance to Saturday’s second round Saturday against the winner of Thursday’s North Carolina and Southwest Missouri State game. Towson State, winner of the East Coast Conference tournament, ended its season 18-13.

A year ago, a top-seeded Sooners’ team received a major scare in the Southeast Regional, rallying from a 17-point deficit to beat East Tennessee State 72-71 in a first-round game.

Against Towson State the Sooners never trailed, but there were some anxious moments.

Trailing by 12 at halftime, Towson State outscored the Sooners 6-2 to move within 47-39. Later, a three-minute scoring drought by Oklahoma allowed the Tigers to come within 58-54 with 8:14 left.

Kurk Lee, who finished with 30 points, scored 14 of the Tigers’ first 25 points after halftime, including six in a row as they climbed to 60-58 with 6:45 remaining.

But 3-pointers by Terry Evans and Smokey McCovery widened the Sooners’ lead to 66-60 with 5:21 left, and Evans added another 3-pointer with 1:41 left that made the score 73-67. Towson State got no closer than five after that.

This was the first appearance in the NCAA tournament for Towson State. Oklahoma is making its eighth straight tournament appearance, a Big Eight Conference record.

Oklahoma led 45-33 after a first half that saw the Sooners commit 11 turnovers and miss 12-of-18 free throws. Towson State shot 34 percent and was assessed two technicals -- one against Lee for hanging on the rim after missing a dunk, and one against Coach Terry Truax for arguing a charging call.

That call erased a dunk by Chuck Lightening that would have brought the Tigers within eight points with four minutes left in the half.

Oklahoma looked early as though it would roll over Towson State, taking a 12-2 lead in the first 3 minutes, 30 seconds. But the Tigers settled down and scored the next nine points.

An 19-6 run by the Sooners during the next seven minutes, however, gave them a 31-17 lead. The run could have been greater, but Oklahoma missed six straight free throws.

North Carolina 83, Southwest Missouri State 70--Fat chance. That’s what North Carolina coach Dean Smith says his Tar Heels have against top-ranked Oklahoma in the second-round of the NCAA Midwest Regional.

The Tar Heels’ win over Southwest Missouri State in Thursday’s opening round was barely over before Smith appraised Oklahoma.

“They could blow us out,” Smith said of the Sooners, seeded first in the Midwest and ranked No. 1 in the nation. “A lot of people won’t give us a chance. I’d rather have been in the eastern regional. It will be interesting to see if the (Texas) fans really dislike Oklahoma.”

Rick Fox scored 17 points, including a pair of key 3-pointers, and Scott Williams provided the inside punch as the Tar Heels (20-12) advanced to a second-round meeting with the Sooners on Saturday.

“This game should do a great deal for our confidence,” Smith said of the victory, which gave the Tar Heels 20 straight 20-victory seasons. “We’ll need it going against the No. 1 team.”

Williams had 18 points for the Tar Heels and played a strong defensive game before fouling out with 2:25 left.

“We had planned to pound it inside and use our size advantage,” Smith said.

The Tar Heels, bounced out of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in the first round, built a 64-58 lead with 8:20 left on a 3-pointer by Fox. But the Bears cut the deficit to 66-63 before Fox struck again for a 3-pointer with 4:51 remaining.

“I thought Rick hit two very big baskets,” Smith said. “They were very important.”

Fox said he got room because the Bears sagged on Williams.

“I’d work it inside and if Williams was cover he’d just pop it back outside,” Fox said. “We played like a team. We had to be patient.”

Jeff Ford led the Bears (22-7) with a career-high 25 points. But he had only six in the second half due to foul trouble. Ford missed almost six minutes after being tagged with his fourth foul with 14:25 remaining.

“I was guarding Williams and I was worn out by the end of the game,” Ford said. “He’s 6-6 and I’m 6-11. It was hard to force him out.”

“It hurt us when Ford fouled out,” coach Charlie Spoonhour said. “He got those fouls trying to guard bigger people. North Carolina is very good. That really shouldn’t be a secret.”