Michigan State Avoids Upset : Midwest: Playmaker Montgomery gets scoring assist as Spartans rally past Southwest Missouri State, 61-54.

Mark Montgomery has proven he’s good at getting the ball to the open man. For a change, that was him.

Montgomery, an assists specialist who averages only seven points per game, scored five points during a decisive 7-0 run that helped Michigan State beat Southwest Missouri State, 61-54, Friday in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional.

Dwayne Stephens, who led the Spartans (22-7) with 17 points, scored on a rebound follow with 3:22 left to break a 50-50 tie and give Michigan State the lead for good. Then Montgomery, the Big Ten leader in assists the last two years, took over.

Montgomery hit the back end of a two-shot foul with 2:49 remaining to give Michigan State a 53-50 lead. After Southwest Missouri missed a shot, the Spartans worked the clock until Montgomery hit a 14-foot jumper for a 55-50 lead.

“I really didn’t want to shoot the shot, I wasn’t having a great day,” said Montgomery, who missed six of his seven previous shots. “The option was for Kris (Weshinskey) to create the shot, but he didn’t have a shot and flipped it over to me.”

After another miss by the Bears, Montgomery was fouled in the backcourt and hit both shots for a seven-point lead. Southwest Missouri never got closer than five points again.

Jackie Crawford scored 16 points for the Bears (23-8), who won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.

Southwest Missouri State led, 24-23, at halftime despite hitting just seven of 28 shots in the first 20 minutes. Michigan State wasn’t much better, hitting 10 of 25 shots.

The Bears led, 44-41, after a jumper by Johnny Murdock with 9:02 remaining. But Michigan State scored the next seven points, including four by 6-foot-10 center Mike Peplowski. Peplowski was held out of the starting lineup because of an ankle injury, had nine points in 25 minutes.

Cincinnati 85, Delaware 47--The Blue Hens got a double dose of pressure in its first NCAA tournament appearance.

Cincinnati succumbed to Cincinnati’s pressing defense with 33 turnovers.

“I disappointed we didn’t play one of our better games,” Delaware Coach Steve Steinwedel said. “I know we’re a better team than that. Cincinnati is very good. But we caused a lot of problems for ourselves. We didn’t execute like we’re capable.”

Delaware (27-4) had won its last 20 games, longest streak in the 64-team field. But the Blue Hens hadn’t played any of the entries during the regular season.

“They put more pressure on us than any team we’ve played this year,” Delaware guard Mark Murray said.

Cincinnati, which will play Michigan State on Sunday, used a trapping defense throughout the game that prevented Delaware from getting the ball inside with any consistency.

Delaware made only 17 of 43 shots.

Jeff Scott hit a free throw that gave Cincinnati a 28-17 lead in the first half and started a 9-0 run by the Bearcats. Scott also hit a 12-foot bank shot and finished the spurt with a tip-in for a 36-17 advantage with 1:18 remaining.

Cincinnati held Delaware scoreless from the field for nearly eight minutes in the second half while forcing five turnovers. The Bearcats built the lead to 79-44 on Tarrance Gibson’s three-pointer with 1:54 left.

Nick Van Exel had 18 points for Cincinnati.

Anthony Wright had 15 points for Delaware.