COLLEGE BASKETBALL / TEAM-BY-TEAM LOOK AT NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : EAST REGIONAL

DUKE

Record: 28-2. Seeding: 1.

Coach: Mike Krzyzewski.

Key Player: Guard Bobby Hurley runs this team, pure and simple. Laettner might be its top scorer, Grant Hill its most versatile player, Thomas Hill its most athletic and Brian Davis its best defensive specialist, but Hurley is the guy who makes it all work. The Blue Devils, with Grant Hill at point guard, were very good. With Hurley, Duke is great.

Little-known Fact: How classy is Krzyzewski? When Virginia’s Bryant Stith broke the Cavalier scoring record on Duke’s court, Krzyzewski presented the Virginia star with the game ball. He also encouraged the Blue Devil crowd to give Stith a well-earned ovation.

Outlook: When healthy, the obvious favorite to win a second consecutive national championship. If not, a Final Four nominee. Duke has all the ingredients, including the best coach in the business.

KENTUCKY

Record: 26-6. Seeding: 2.

Coach: Rick Pitino

Key Player: The 6-8, 240-pound Jamal Mashburn is, for all intents and purposes, the entire Kentucky inside attack. When the Wildcats are hitting their three-point shots--of which they take many--Mashburn is especially dangerous. Otherwise, Mashburn finds himself the victim of sagging zones or double coverage.

Little-known Fact: Philadelphia Daily News reporter Dick Weiss is spending the season with the Wildcats for a book project.

Outlook: Kentucky’s lineup has obvious weakness. There is no true center and if the Wildcats don’t hit their three-point shots, they usually lose. But Kentucky plays tough defense, runs well and has Pitino, one of the best coaches in the country.

MASSACHUSETTS

Record: 28-4. Seeding: 3.

Coach: John Calipari.

Key Player: Senior guard Jim McCoy was Calipari’s first recruit at UMass. In return, McCoy has provided the Minutemen with 2,323 points, a school record.

Little-known Fact: Massachusetts is the only team in the country with four starters who have scored 1,000 or more points in their careers.

Outlook: The 28 victories, most in the nation, are no fluke. The Minutemen beat Oklahoma once and West Virginia twice. They are capable of at least one NCAA victory, maybe two.

SETON HALL

Record: 21-8. Seeding: 4.

Coach: P.J. Carlesimo.

Key Player: Guard Terry Dehere was hurt earlier in the season, but still has managed a solid season. He averages about 18 points, shoots about 41% and is an excellent free-throw shooter (about 83%).

Little-known Fact: Sophomore forward Arturas Karnishovas got his big break when fellow Lithuanian Sarunas Marciulionis, now with the Golden State Warriors, recommended him to Carlesimo.

Outlook: Sophomore center Luther Wright was supposed to be a star by now. He isn’t. Still, the Pirates, after struggling earlier in the year, have done well and seem positioned to do well in the tournament. They surprised people last year, and they could do the same thing in 1992.

MISSOURI

Record: 20-8. Seeding: 5.

Coach: Norm Stewart.

Key Player: Guard Anthony Peeler, who averages about 23 points and six rebounds, can dominate games. At times, he is like Harold Miner, as evidenced by a 43-point performance against Kansas last Sunday. The Jayhawks, no slouches when it comes to team defense, tried everything against Peeler, but nothing worked. He is one of the best players in the country.

Little-known Fact: Stewart, whose teams have won nearly 600 games, has been to seven NCAA tournaments but only advanced to the final eight once. He has the worst tournament record (7-11) of any coach with seven or more NCAA appearances.

Outlook: If nothing else, Missouri has the talent to win two games and possibly a third. After that, the Tigers will need something special from Peeler and sophomore Jevon Crudup.

SYRACUSE

Record: 21-9. Seeding: 6.

Coach: Jim Boeheim.

Key Player: Junior forward/guard Dave Johnson and freshman guard Lawrence Moten are equally important. Both score nearly 20 points and are the main reasons for Syracuse’s surprising success. Johnson is among the Big East leaders in rebounds, points, steals and three-point shooting. Moten, the conference’s freshman of the year, shot 51%.

Little-known Fact: Moten also was recruited for football by a handful of Division I programs.

Outlook: Who knows? Last year, with two NBA first-round picks in the lineup (Billy Owens and LeRon Ellis), the Orangemen were upset by Richmond in the opening game of the tournament. This season, with a less-talented team, Syracuse probably will advance to the field of 32. For all the valid criticism Boeheim endured after the loss to Richmond, he deserves--win or lose this week--a round of applause.

NORTH CAROLINA CHARLOTTE

Record: 23-8. Seeding: 7.

Coach: Jeff Mullins.

Key Player: Guard Henry Williams is one of the best-kept secrets in the country. Williams can do everything well: shoot, defend, rebound. He loves to try the three-pointer. His five three-pointers helped beat Virginia Tech in the Metro Conference quarterfinals.

Little-known Fact: Mullins isn’t afraid to schedule top 25 opponents. In the last two years, North Carolina Charlotte has played Syracuse, Duke, Alabama, East Tennessee State and Clemson, among others.

Outlook: The 49ers scored several significant early season upsets. Now then, can they do it in the NCAA tournament? With Williams and Jarvis Lang, North Carolina Charlotte certainly has the offensive stars to advance at least one round.

TEXAS

Record: 23-11. Seeding: 8.

Coach: Tom Penders.

Key Player: Albert Burditt set a school record for blocks and Dexter Cambridge set a school record for controversy, but the real attention should be paid to freshman guard Terence Rencher. Rencher, who averages 19.4 points, was arguably the best player in the Southwest Conference. He scored in double figures in 26 of Texas’ 27 regular season games. Eleven times he scored 20 or more points. Houston Coach Pat Foster called him “phenomenal.”

Little-known Fact: Not everyone shed a tear when Arkansas fled the SWC for the Southeastern Conference. Penders was 1-8 against the Razorbacks.

Outlook: The Longhorns have lots of talent, but they played in such an awful conference, who knows how good they are? We’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say they’ll advance to the 32.

IOWA

Record: 18-10. Seeding: 9.

Coach: Tom Davis.

Key Player: Iowa’s best player at the end of last season has remained Iowa’s (and one of the Big Ten’s) best in 1991-92. Acie Earl, who averages about 19.4 points, plays bigger than 6-10 and is equally dangerous as a low-post scorer and shot blocker (he has 106 blocks).

Little-known Fact: Davis’ teams have always been known to use a full-court press. He said he decided to adopt the defensive philosophy after attending a tournament at Milwaukee in 1964. The team that caught his attention? John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins. One other note: Davis, who earned a doctorate at Wisconsin-Platteville, wrote his thesis on “Sports in Colonial America.”

Outlook: Better than the chances of anyone ever wanting to read his thesis. The Hawkeyes can cause all sorts of matchup problems, and if their press is working, Iowa could slip into the second round.

IOWA STATE

Record: 20-12. Seeding: 10.

Coach: Johnny Orr.

Key Player: Guard Justus Thigpen was the unknown quantity in Iowa State’s rebuilding process. One of the few players with experience as a starter, Thigpen delivered. He averages about 16 points and isn’t a bad three-point shooter.

Little-known Fact: The Cyclones almost didn’t earn an NCAA invitation this year, thanks partly to Orr’s decision to restructure his schedule. In 1990-91, Orr said his team suffered because of a schedule that was too strong (Indiana, North Carolina and Syracuse, for instance). Iowa State finished 12-18. This season the Cyclones’ non-conference opponents included Maryland Eastern Shore, Morningside, Drake, Texas Arlington and assorted other stiffs. Iowa State won games, but its power rating--closely observed by the Tournament Selection Committee--suffered.

Outlook: The sixth-best team in the Big Eight won’t last longer than the first round.

PRINCETON

Record: 22-5. Seeding: 11.

Coach: Pete Carril.

Key Player: Sean Jackson, a 5-11 shooting guard, was the Ivy League player of the year. He is the school’s all-time leading three-point shooter and is ranked in the top 20 nationally in three-point shooting percentage. He leads low-scoring Princeton with a 11.6 average.

Little-known Fact: It hasn’t been confirmed, but Princeton officials say that the Tigers are the only team without a player averaging more than 12 points per game.

Outlook: The Tigers are ranked No. 1 in scoring defense (48.1)--the ninth time in the last 16 seasons they have led the nation in that category--and No. 2 in field goal percentage defense (37.6%). For Princeton to give Carril an NCAA tournament victory, the Tigers have to make their share of three-pointers and not falter on defense.

WEST VIRGINIA

Record: 20-11. Seeding: 12.

Coach: Gale Catlett.

Key Player: Guard Chris Leonard averages 16.9 points and shoots 45.5% from the three-point line. The senior also shoots an impressive 84% from the free-throw line.

Little-known Fact: Catlett passed the career 400-victory mark this year (410- 187). This is his sixth NCAA appearance.

Outlook: The Mountaneers should be happy just to be invited to the tournament. They faltered heading down the stretch and probably won’t survive their first-round game. Next season, though, watch out.

LASALLE

Record: 20-10. Seeding: 13.

Coach: Speedy Morris.

Key Player: Guard Randy Woods is listed at 6-feet but isn’t. Not that it matters. Woods averages 27.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.2 assists.

Little-known Fact: Anyway, Morris is the first coach to go directly from a Division I women’s program to a Division I men’s program.

Outlook: The Explorers love to shoot the three-point shot. They have outshot opponents, 804-518, from the three-point line. Against Oregon, they made 18 three-pointers. Unless the Explorers have similar success in the NCAA Tournament, they won’t be around long.

FORDHAM

Record: 18-12. Seeding: 14.

Coach: Nick Macarchuk.

Key Player: Fred Herzog, a 6-9 senior forward, was doing just fine as the Rams entered the Patriot Conference tournament. During the previous 22 games he had averaged 17.9 points and 6.3 rebounds. But in the three-game tournament, Herzog averaged 24 points, shot 61% and was named MVP.

Little-known Fact: Fordham is 15th on the NCAA all-time victory list. Tied for No. 14 is Princeton and UCLA.

Outlook: Grim. The Rams don’t have a starter taller than 6-9.

OLD DOMINION

Record: 15-14. Seeding: 15.

Coach: Oliver Purnell.

Key Player: Ricardo Leonard, the team’s leading scorer (21-point average), won four games for the Monarchs on last-second shots.

Little-known Fact: In only his first season at Old Dominion, Purnell led the Monarchs to an NCAA appearance. In 1986, the last time Old Dominion earned a bid, Tom Young did the same thing in his rookie season.

Outlook: The Monarchs shoot 43% as a team, but allow opponents to shoot 50.1%. An early out.

CAMPBELL

Record: 19-11. Seeding: 16.

Coach: Billy Lee.

Key Player: Forward Joe Spinks, the Big South freshman of the year in 1990-91, helped lead Campbell from worst to first in the Big South Conference.

Little-known Fact: Are you kidding? Everything about this team is little known. For starters, the nearest stoplight is three miles away from the Buies Creek, N.C., campus. Also, for reasons unknown, the school adopted a new nickname in the mid-1930s--from Hornets to Fighting Camels.

Outlook: Enjoy the moment, fellas.