COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : EAST REGIONAL : New Mexico State Rolls Behind Crawford

Sam Crawford, who did not make any All-America teams despite leading the nation in assists, says he is out to make a name for himself.

That’s exactly what he did Friday night, collecting an NCAA first-round record of 16 assists in New Mexico State’s 93-79 victory over Nebraska in the NCAA East Regional.

“I just want to be looked at as one of the best,” Crawford said. “I just want to be in that class.”

Crawford also scored 20 points as New Mexico State (26-7) advanced to Sunday’s second round against Cincinnati, the regional’s second-seeded team.

Nebraska (20-11) has not won in four NCAA tournament appearances.

Crawford’s assist total was one better than DePaul’s Kenny Patterson had against Syracuse in 1985. Keith Smart of Indiana matched the total in a second-round game against DePaul in 1987.

The NCAA tournament single-game record is 18 assists by Mark Wade of Nevada Las Vegas in a Final Four loss to Indiana in 1987.

Eric Piatkowski scored a career-high 29 points for Nebraska.

Massachusetts 54, Pennsylvania 50--Mike Williams returned from a five-game absence after breaking his shooting hand and made three crucial three-pointers for the third-seeded Minutemen (24-6) against the Ivy League champion Quakers (22-5).

The 6-foot-2 Williams, who broke his right hand Feb. 27 against West Virginia and was expected to be sidelined at least three weeks, played with the hand heavily taped. It didn’t seem to bother him as he made three of eight three-point shots and scored 13 points.

Two of those long jump shots came during a 16-2 run that gave the Minutemen a 42-32 lead with 11:17 to play.

Penn (22-5), which had won its previous 13 games, extended the Ivy League’s five-year streak of giving higher-seeded teams a tough time in the opening round. Princeton, seeded 16th, established the reputation in 1989, losing to top-seeded Georgetown, 50-49.

The Quakers pulled to within 51-48 with 1:49 to play on a three-point play by Shawn Trice. Penn missed two three-pointers and Massachusetts’ Lou Roe missed the front end of a one-and-one before Williams made a foul shot with 14 seconds to play to give the Minutemen a four-point lead.

Virginia 78, Manhattan 66--Cory Alexander equaled a career high by scoring 27 points for Virginia.

The Cavaliers, who used their inside muscle to repeatedly limit the Jaspers to one shot per trip downcourt, also got 17 points from Junior Burrough.

Virginia never trailed and held at least a six-point lead throughout the second half.

Manhattan (23-7) last appeared in the NCAA tournament in 1958, when the Jaspers defeated Jerry West’s top-ranked West Virginia team. The 35-year intermission from the tournament was the longest absence of any team that has appeared in the tournament.

Cincinnati 93, Coppin State 66--The second-seeded Bearcats (25-4) overcame a sluggish start to win easily.

Cincinnati trailed, 27-24, before rallying for a 44-35 halftime lead.

The upset dreams of 15th-seeded Coppin State (22-8) came to an end--as did the Eagles’ 16-game winning streak--when the Bearcats used a 22-5 run to open a 68-45 lead with 9:54 to play.

Cincinnati, which advanced to the Final Four before losing to Michigan last season, was led by Erik Martin’s 18 points.