WEST REGIONAL

* Drexel’s victory over fifth-seeded Memphis was the biggest first-round upset Thursday until later in the day, when Princeton knocked off UCLA as the Dragon players gathered in Coach Bill Herrion’s hotel room to watch. The result had them first cheering, then dreaming of another giant-killing today against Syracuse. The game will feature a frontcourt matchup of Drexel’s Malik Rose, who averages 18.8 points and is the third-leading NCAA rebounder in modern times, against John Wallace, who had 18 points in a first-round victory over Montana State and has NBA scouts’ tongues wagging.

* Was Purdue, the top-seeded team in the region but asleep since the last week of the Big Ten season, sufficiently awakened by a near-miss against Western Carolina to deal with Georgia, a team that starts five seniors and has a rookie coach in Tubby Smith? Unlike Thursday’s game, this one looks remarkably even, which means the Boilermakers will have to play even better defense against Georgia, which gets balanced scoring, led by Katu Davis (15.9 points per game), Shandon Anderson (14.6) and Carlos Strong (13.7).