COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : North Carolina Does Scramble Way to Usual Round-of-16 Spot : East: Defensive switch befuddles Villanova, quelling uprising in 84-69 victory. Eastern Michigan beats Penn State.

North Carolina rolled into the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament Sunday for the 11th year in a row, defeating Villanova, 84-69, in a second-round game before 17,523 in the Carrier Dome.

Only UCLA, which never failed to reach the regional semifinals in 14 seasons between 1966 and 1981, made more consecutive appearances in the round of 16 than the Tar Heels, who are the top-seeded team in the East Regional and seem to be peaking as they head to East Rutherford, N.J.

A 22-point winner over Duke in the championship game of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament last week at Charlotte, N.C., North Carolina opened the NCAA tournament with a 35-point rout of Northeastern.

Led by forward George Lynch, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds, the Tar Heels raced to an 18-point second-half lead against Villanova before the Wildcats rallied to cut the deficit to 66-59 with 8:24 to play.

“I was aware of those comebacks they had against Boston College and Syracuse and, believe me, it entered my mind when they cut it to seven,” Tar Heel Coach Dean Smith said of the Wildcats, who overcame deficits of 10 points in the last 2 1/2 minutes against Boston College and 16 points in the second half against Syracuse during the Big East Conference tournament. “We called time out . . . and seemed to stop the bleeding.”

Huddling with his players on the sideline with 8:13 remaining, Smith ordered the Tar Heels into their trapping “scramble” defense, which produced turnovers on Villanova’s next four possessions.

At the other end, Lynch scored on a layup, King Rice made a free throw, Pete Chilcutt made a short turnaround jump shot, Lynch scored on a follow shot, and North Carolina (27-5) was back in control.

“Until that time, we had pretty much been (playing) a straight man-to-man,” Smith said. “All of a sudden, it was (like) a Syracuse crowd. They were making a lot of noise (in support of Villanova).

“We just took the challenge. We aren’t going to get scared. We’re away from home, and we were going to show what we were made of. It was tremendous at that point to see us turn it on like we did.”

How to explain the Tar Heels’ scramble defense?

“What it is, you show them a man-to-man (defense), then when a man begins a dribble or (makes) a first pass, depending on which we call, we (switch to) a zone press,” Smith said. “They’re running a man-to-man offense, which is not good against a zone press. I get paid big money for clinics, but that’s the shortest (explanation) I can give.”

Coach Rollie Massimino of Villanova had an even shorter explanation for what transpired.

“Their athleticism took over,” Massimino said.

North Carolina outshot the Wildcats, 52.5% to 41.4%.

Hubert Davis scored 18 points for the Tar Heels. Rick Fox had 14 points and eight assists and King Rice had nine assists.

Lance Miller scored 17 points for Villanova (17-15).

Eastern Michigan 71, Penn State 68--The Nittany Lions, upset first-round winners over UCLA, lost to the Mid-American Conference regular season and tournament champions in overtime.

Eastern Michigan, extending its winning streak to 11 games, made four of six shots in overtime, overcoming the loss of center Marcus Kennedy and forward Kory Hallas, who fouled out on consecutive Penn State possessions less than two minutes into the five-minute overtime period.

“I think it showed the character of our team to win with our big guys on the bench,” Huron Coach Ben Braun said.

Kennedy led the way as Eastern Michigan (26-6) rallied from a four-point halftime deficit, scoring 17 of his 21 points after halftime. The Mid-American Conference player of the year scored 10 points during a 14-5 run that turned a 46-42 deficit into a 56-51 Huron lead with 6:53 to play.

Eastern Michigan didn’t make another shot in regulation and Penn State (22-11), making its first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 1965, rallied to send the game into overtime.

The Nittany Lions had a chance to break a 58-58 tie at the end of regulation, but James Barnes missed the second of two free throws with 1:03 to play, and Monroe Brown missed the front end of a one-and-one with 36 seconds remaining.

The rebound of Brown’s miss was tapped back out to Brown, but Penn State lost the ball before it could attempt a shot. A wild shot at the buzzer by Eastern Michigan’s Charles Thomas wasn’t close.

In the overtime, Eastern Michigan scored the first four points before Kennedy fouled out with 3:50 to play.

Penn State opened a 63-62 lead with 3:04 left on a three-point play by Barnes, who drew a disqualifying foul on Hallas, but Eastern Michigan rallied behind point guard Lorenzo Neely, who scored 18 points and was brilliant in a quarterback role.

“Lorenzo Neely took over the game down the stretch,” Braun said. “There’s not a player that I’ve seen who can better handle that pressure down the stretch. He wants the ball and wants that challenge.”

Eastern Michigan outscored the Nittany Lions, 8-3, before Barnes made two free throws for Penn State with 14 seconds left.

Penn State had its chances to force another overtime, but Freddie Barnes missed two three-point shots in the last 10 seconds.

The Nittany Lions’ coach, Bruce Parkhill, was asked to compare Eastern Michigan to UCLA, which lost to Penn State, 74-69.

“They’re totally different teams,” Parkhill said. “UCLA didn’t really have a power game on the blocks, so offensively it was a different look. And Eastern Michigan has a very, very effective defense.”

Also, Eastern Michigan is still alive in the tournament.

The Hurons are the second team from the Mid-American Conference to reach the round of 16 in as many seasons. Last season, Ball State advanced to the regional semifinals before losing to Nevada Las Vegas, 69-67.