String of Upsets in NCAA Tourney
March 16 -- Seeded low and lightly regarded, Hampton, Georgia State and UtahState rocked the NCAA tournament.
Upsets and close calls filled the first half of the tournament'sopening round Thursday, with 15th-seeded Hampton punctuating a wildfour-game set in Boise, Idaho, in West Regional games.
Maryland Avoids Upset
Last year, three teams seeded 10th or lower won first-roundgames. With just half the first round completed, five double-digitseeds have advanced to the second round.
Hampton beat second-seeded Iowa State 58-57. No. 11 GeorgiaState beat sixth-seeded Wisconsin 50-49, and 10th-seeded Georgetownstopped No. 7 Arkansas 63-61. Third-seeded Maryland avoided anupset, holding on for a 83-80 win over George Mason.
The combined seven-point margin of victory in the Boisesubregional shattered the previous record for the closest four-gameregional. The four games at the 1998 East Regional in Washington,D.C., were decided by 17 points, as was the 1986 Midwest Regionalin Minneapolis.
In other first-round upsets, No. 13 Kent State beatfourth-seeded Indiana 77-73 in a West Regional game in San Diego,and No. 12 Utah State stopped No. 5 Ohio State 77-68 in overtime inan East Regional game in Greensboro, N.C.
Pirates Storm the Cyclones
Tarvis Williams flipped in a 4-footer in the lane with 6.9seconds remaining as Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championHampton stunned Iowa State.
Jamaal Tinsley missed a layup with 1.2 seconds to go, settingoff a celebration as the Pirates (25-6) and their fans stormed thefloor.
Hampton, making its first NCAA tournament appearance, became thefourth 15th seed to beat a No. 2 since the tournament expanded to16 seeds per region in 1985.
"It was a great win. I thought our kids persevered," coachSteve Merfeld said. "They took control of the game, but we justhung in there and hung in there."
The Cyclones (25-6), who came within one game of the Final Fourlast season, left the court in shock.
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