EAST REGIONAL : Moten Leads Syracuse Over Princeton, 51-43

Syracuse freshman Lawrence Moten almost single-handedly ended Princeton’s run of near upsets in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Princeton had scared Georgetown, Arkansas and Villanova in consecutive years in the tournament, but Moten made sure this one wasn’t even close as Syracuse defeated Princeton, 51-43, Friday night in the first round of the East Regional.

Moten scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half for Syracuse (22-9).

Princeton (22-6), the Ivy League champion, scored only 20 points in the second half.

“We didn’t want to be the one to lose to them,” Moten said. “To be honest, there was never a point where I thought we’d lose.”

Moten, a 6-foot-5 swingman, scored the first of 14 consecutive points with a dunk that gave Syracuse a 35-26 lead with 12:57 to play. When Moten’s personal run was over, the Orangemen had a 47-34 lead with 4:25 left.

“I wasn’t saying ‘Give me the ball’ or anything,” Moten said. “The other guys were struggling and they needed me to step up.”

Syracuse made one shot in the final 6:43, a dunk by Conrad McRae with 10 seconds to play. The Orangemen could have won in much easier fashion but made only four of 12 free throws down the stretch.

McRae scored 11 points for Syracuse.

Sean Jackson led Princeton with 13 points.

David Johnson, Syracuse’s leading scorer with a 20.2 average, made only one of 10 shots and finished with three points.

Massachusetts 85, Fordham 58--Thirty years after their only NCAA tournament game, the Minutemen extended their winning streak to 13 games with runs of 20-6 and 19-3 in their rout of the Rams.

Massachusetts (29-4) led, 22-18, when it began the 20-6 run that ended with the score 42-24 with 18:18 to play.

Fordham (18-13) trimmed the margin to 49-38 on a layup by Dewey Stinson with 11:25 left. But Tony Barbee of Massachusetts made a three-point shot with 9:47 left to start the 19-3 surge. It ended with 4:53 left when freshman Louis Roe made a jump shot from the baseline, increasing the lead to 68-41.

The lead ranged from 24 to 28 the rest of the way.

Five Massachusetts players scored more than 10 points. Roe scored 19 points, Will Herndon had 13, Harper Williams and Anton Brown each had 11 and Barbee had 10.

Fred Herzog scored 16 points for Fordham.

Kentucky 88, Old Dominion 69--The Wildcats, in their first tournament appearance since 1988, went on a 15-2, five-minute run in the second half to secure the victory.

Kentucky (27-6) led, 62-59, before Richie Farmer started the deciding run with a fast-break layup. John Pelphrey, who led all scorers with 22 points, made an off-balance jump shot from the foul line as the shot clock expired.

Dale Brown made a free throw for Kentucky. Deron Feldhaus and Brown made three-point shots, and Pelphrey finished the run with a steal and dunk and two more free throws.

Old Dominion’s only points in 3:39 then came on a rebound basket by Petey Sessoms, who scored 21 points.

Old Dominion (15-15), which had the worst record in the 64-team field, managed only one of four shots and committed three turnovers in the run.

Kentucky made seven of 27 three-point shots. The Wildcats forced 30 turnovers, 17 in the second half.

Sean Woods added 16 points and eight assists for Kentucky. Feldhaus, Jamal Mashburn and Brown each had 11 points.

Iowa State 76, North Carolina Charlotte 74--The Cyclones nearly blew a nine-point lead with less than two minutes left, but they held on for the victory over the 49ers.

Iowa State’s 66-57 lead was trimmed to 71-69 when sophomore center Rodney Odom, who had missed his three previous three-point shots in his college career, made one with 45 seconds to play.

Iowa State (21-12) increased the lead to 74-69 with 31 seconds to play on two free throws by Ron Bayless and one by Fred Hoiberg. But Cedrick Broadhurst’s layup with 17 seconds remaining pulled North Carolina Charlotte (23-9) to within 74-71.

Iowa State took the ball out under the 49ers’ basket. Justus Thigpen, who led the Cyclones with 20 points, threw a long pass to Hoiberg for a dunk with 12 seconds to play.

Henry Williams, who scored 21 points, made a three-point shot with 2.4 seconds left.