NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : Minnesota Beats UTEP in Overtime

Minnesota showed Friday how to win when you make only a third of your shots.

All you have to do is take more of them.

With Melvin Newbern and Richard Coffey leading a defense that forced 23 turnovers, and Newbern and Kevin Lynch taking care of the shooting, the 20th-ranked Gophers beat Texas El Paso, 64-61, in overtime in the first round of the NCAA Southeast Regional at Richmond, Va.

They will face Northern Iowa, which upset Missouri, 74-71, in the second round Sunday.

“It wasn’t a real pretty game from a spectator standpoint,” Minnesota Coach Clem Haskins said in one of the day’s understatements. “Northern Iowa is a really outstanding team and we’ve got to be able to play a much better game than we played today.”

The Gophers (21-8) made only 22 of 66 shots, but they took 19 more shots than the Miners (21-11). More important, they forced turnovers at key moments, such as on three of the Miners’ first five possessions in overtime, allowing them to jump off to a quick five-point lead. Newbern and Coffey caused two turnovers during an 8-1 run that erased a 47-42 Texas El Paso lead--the biggest for either team in regulation.

His three-point basket with 55 seconds left broke a 50-50 tie and, after Henry Hall’s three-point shot 34 seconds later sent the game into overtime, Newbern gave the Gophers a quick lead with a running one-hander. He also scored the final points of the game on a layup after the Miners closed within one point. Newbern finished with 15.

“They weren’t the only ones struggling out there,” said Norm Ellenberger, the acting Miner coach while Don Haskins remains home with laryngitis. “We wanted to play our game and they forced us to struggle the whole 45 minutes. We got beat by a team that will probably go a long way in this thing.”

It was the third overtime victory for the Big Ten in the NCAA tournament--Ohio State and Michigan State won in overtime Thursday.

No. 6 Syracuse 70, Coppin State 48--The Orangemen, who played a sloppy first half, used a 14-0 run in the second half to pull away from the Eagles.

Stephen Thompson led second-seeded Syracuse (25-6) with 19 points and also spent much of the game guarding Coppin State’s Reggie Isaac, who was averaging 21.7 points but was held to six.

Coppin State (26-7), the 15th-seeded team after winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament, lost in its first NCAA tournament game.

Syracuse, playing in its eighth consecutive NCAA tournament, went more than three minutes between baskets in the second half, allowing the Eagles to close to within 39-33 with 12:02 left. But Thompson scored six of the next 14 points as Syracuse opened a 53-33 lead at the 7:41 mark.

Virginia 75, Notre Dame 67--John Crotty scored 28 points and Bryant Stith added 21 to help extend the coaching career of Terry Holland at least one more game as the Cavaliers beat the Fighting Irish.

The seventh-seeded Cavaliers (21-10) face Syracuse on Sunday. Holland, who has coached for 16 years at Virginia, is moving on to Davidson, his alma mater, to become athletic director.

The Fighting Irish, the only independent in the 64-team tournament field, finished at 16-13. That’s the fewest victories of anyone in the tournament.