The sign behind the North Carolina bench said it all: "The 11th Commandment - Thou Shalt Not Beat Dean Smith."
Liberty University, a Baptist-oriented school founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell, came within 10 minutes of violating that commandment in Friday's opening round of the NCAA tournament's East Regional.But then Liberty, playing in its first-ever NCAA tournament game, fell victim to the team whose leader has won more games than anyone in college basketball's showcase event.
"God loves us all," a smiling Smith said after his defending national champion Tar Heels used a late 16-0 run to pull away to a 71-51 victory over the Flames.
The victory kept alive North Carolina's bid to make the tournament's round of 16 for the 14th consecutive season, and it improved Smith's all-time record in the tournament to 56-23, nine more victories than John Wooden.
The top-ranked and top-seeded Tar Heels (28-6) held the Flames scoreless for nearly seven minutes down the stretch.
Until that point, Big South Conference champion Liberty (18-12) appeared to be in prime position to pull off the biggest upset in NCAA tournament history.
No top seed has ever lost in the opening round, but there were the Flames, leading 46-45 with less than 10 minutes left.
"You can't measure heart, and Liberty has a lot of players with heart," said Matt Hildebrand, who led the Flames with 20 points, including five 3-pointers. "I think we showed the nation today."
Temple 61, Drexel 39
Aaron McKie bounced back from a listless first half, and he carried Temple with him.
McKie outscored the entire Drexel team in the second half, getting 21 points in the final 18:20 to lead the Owls to a 61-39 victory over their Philadelphia neighbor in the opening round of the East Regional.
The third-seeded Owls (23-7) held Drexel to a season-low 27 percent shooting and defeated the Dragons for the sixth consecutive time. Temple leads the series 25-8.
The North Atlantic Conference champion, 13th-seeded Drexel (25-5) was making just its second appearance ever in the NCAA field. The Dragons also lost in the first round in 1986.
This time, Drexel managed just 20 points in the second half. The Dragons' final point total was 24 below their previous worst outing this season.
McKie, a 6-foot-5 senior guard who came in averaging 18.7 points, took four first-half shots and missed them all. But he more than made up for it in the second half, making eight of 11.
Temple, which had just five turnovers, also got 15 points from Eddie Jones and 10 points and 10 rebounds from Derrick Battie.
Cornelius Overby led the Dragons with nine points. Malik Rose, Drexel's top inside threat, was hampered by foul trouble and wound up with just five points and four rebounds.
After missing a shot on Temple's opening possession of the second half, McKie hit five in a row, including a pair of 3-pointers, as the Owls stretched their lead to 39-26 with 13:43 remaining. McKie had 12 of Temple's points in the 16-7 run.
Drexel got no closer than 12 after that.
Boston College 67, Wash. St. 64
Gerrod Abram and his three senior teammates at Boston College waited four years for this particular day, and it wasn't going anything like they envisioned.
BC trailed by 12 in the first half Friday and by four late in the game, yet the Eagles rallied behind their fourth-year players and beat Washington State.
Abram and seniors Bill Curley, Howard Eisley and Malcolm Huckaby were all instrumental in the victory. The Eagles (21-10), playing in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1985, will next face top-ranked North Carolina on Sunday.
For a while, it appeared the seniors would end their careers much earlier than planned. Boston College trailed 38-28 at halftime after missing 20 of 31 shots and committing nine turnovers.
"That's when we finally realized that we were down 10 and this could be our last game. We can't go out like this," Abram said. "We just came back and tried to fight hard, just to give ourselves an opportunity to win."
The Eagles quickly made up the deficit, then fell behind again. But Abram broke a tie by making two free throws with five seconds remaining, and Boston College survived.
"More than anything, it came down to the determination of our senior class," Eagles coach Jim O'Brien said. "We persevered."
Curley had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Eisley scored 17 and Huckaby started the final comeback.
The Cougars led 63-59 before Huckaby hit a 3-pointer with 1:17 to go. Curley then followed a Washington State miss with a basket in the lane to put the Eagles up 64-63 with 13 seconds left.
Tony Harris' foul shot tied it with 8.8 seconds to go, but Harris then fouled Abram, who sank both shots. After Harris rushed a shot and missed from just inside the midcourt line, Eisley made a free throw to give Boston College its final margin.
Indiana 84, Ohio U. 72
Alan Henderson had 34 points and 13 rebounds as Indiana finally won an East Regional game for coach Bobby Knight, ending Ohio University's 13-game winning streak.
Knight and the Hoosiers had lost three straight first-round games in the East - in 1986, '88 and '90. Those are the only first-round NCAA tournament losses in Knight's 23-year career at Indiana.
The Hoosiers (20-8) will play John Chaney and Temple in the second round Sunday. It will be the first matchup between the two outspoken coaches.
Henderson was simply too much for Ohio, the Mid-American Conference champion. The 6-foot-9 junior made 14 of 21 shots, added seven free throws and had two assists.
Henderson had 19 points before halftime and twice helped the Hoosiers hold off Ohio's bid to get back in the game in the second half. First, he reeled off five consecutive points after the Bobcats closed to 52-46 with 14:34 left.
Then, after Ohio cut the margin to four points, Henderson made a 15-footer during a 6-0 run that gave Indiana a 10-point cushion with eight minutes remaining.
Ohio (25-8) never got closer than seven points after that. Chad Estis led the Bobcats with 23 points, matching his career high, and Gary Trent had 18 points and 12 rebounds.