Unheralded Belmont pushes Duke to the brink

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By Steve Ginsburg

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three-times national champion Duke survived a heroic performance by unheralded and outmanned Belmont to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.

A length-of-the-floor driving lay-up by Duke's Gerald Henderson with 11.9 seconds left provided the winning margin and allowed the West Region's second seed to escape 71-70.

"We played against a team that played an amazing game," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told reporters. "You won't hear any of our players say that we overlooked them -- there's no way.

"Watching them on tape they looked really good. Watching them in person they're even better."

Belmont's valiant effort provided a boost for the 64-team single-elimination tournament, known as "March Madness" for its dramatic flare and potential for giant-killing performances.

Until Duke was pushed to the brink, the tournament's first day was decidedly a ho-hum affair, the top seeds convincingly rolling into the second round.

Midwest region number one Kansas crushed Portland State 85-61 in Omaha, while the West's top seed UCLA sent Mississippi Valley State packing 70-29 in Anaheim.

Big 12 champion Kansas, seeking its first title in two decades, led 49-26 at intermission and was never threatened.

"I thought we played very well the majority of the first half, shot the ball great and got off to a pretty good start," said Kansas Coach Bill Self. "That was good because I thought we'd have some first-game jitters."

Other opening-day winners included Stanford, Xavier, Marquette, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Purdue and Nevada-Las Vegas.

The biggest upset of the day occurred in the Midwest, where 11th seeded Kansas State beat number six Southern California, 80-67, holding the Trojans' freshman sensation O.J. Mayo to 20 points on six-of-16 shooting from the floor.

While Duke (28-5) advanced to a second-round match-up with West Virginia, 15th-seeded Atlantic Sun champion Belmont (25-9) remained searching for its first NCAA Tournament victory.

A potentially game-winning 35-foot shot at the buzzer by Belmont's Justin Hare bounced off the rim, triggering groans from the crowd of 20,000 at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C.

"I don't think there is really much you can say after a game like that," said Belmont junior guard Alex Renfroe. "You just have to sit back and think of what it could have -- or should have -- been."

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