COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA TOURNAMENT: THE FIRST ROUND : MEN’S TOURNAMENT / TODAY’S GAMES : Seton Hall, Arizona Riding High on Momentum

It takes a six-game winning streak to win the NCAA basketball championship, and two of the teams starting that quest today come into the tournament hotter than most.

Seton Hall, seeded second in the Southeast Regional, goes into its first-round game against Tennessee State with an 11-game winning streak, including three in a row during the Big East tournament.

In the West Regional, Arizona, also seeded No. 2, has won 22 of its last 23 games. The Pacific 10 Conference champion opens against Santa Clara in what it hopes will be the first of four victories that will get it to the Final Four in New Orleans the first weekend in April.

Other highly regarded teams opening tournament play today are North Carolina, Kansas, Vanderbilt and Duke, the two-time defending NCAA champion.

Seton Hall (27-6) hasn’t lost since Feb. 6, when it was defeated by Boston College, 63-62.

That defeat was the Pirates’ fourth in five games. The winning streak started with a 91-63 victory over Pittsburgh and includes a 92-73 victory over St. John’s that clinched the Big East regular-season title and a 103-70 rout of Syracuse in the conference tournament final.

Seton Hall hopes an injury-free Bryan Caver will help stretch that winning streak to 17 games and a first-ever national title for the school.

A severely sprained left ankle sidelined Caver for nine games during December and January. Then came the death of his father, Limmie. It was no coincidence that as Caver returned to the lineup, Seton Hall took off.

“I’m definitely getting back,” Caver said. “I’m working hard to get back and the guys are helping me out.”

Six good games and a national title could help Caver forget the injury and the missed games. And, of course, there’s his father.

“I’m dedicating my entire life to him,” Caver said. “He did a lot for me. That’s the least I can do for him.”

Arizona (24-3) lost two of its first four games, but the Wildcats’ only defeat in their last 23 games came on March 4, when they lost to California, 74-71, at Oakland. Coming up big for Arizona all season has been Chris Mills, who ended up in the Pac-10 because of a money scandal at Kentucky.

He almost ended up at UCLA.

“I knew that UCLA was a good team,” said Mills, who is averaging 20.4 points and eight rebounds and was the Pac-10 player of the year. “But I just felt that I would fit in the best here, and I’ve never regretted it ever since I made that decision.”

Seton Hall and Arizona are both expected to advance.

Tennessee State (19-9) and Santa Clara (18-11) got into the tournament as conference champions and are seeded 15th in their regions. Only once since the tournament expanded to 64 teams has a second-seeded team lost to a 15th-seeded team--two years ago, when Richmond defeated Syracuse.