Regional Contests Go Down To Buzzer

Buzzer-beaters carried UCLA, Georgetown and Memphis into the NCAA tournament’s round of 16 on Sunday and sent Missouri, Weber State and Purdue packing for home.

And defending champion Arkansas needed overtime to escape an upset.

UCLA, ranked No. 1 in the nation and seeded No. 1 in the tournament, escaped an upset when Tyus Edney dribbled the length of the court and scored to beat Missouri 75-74 at the buzzer.

Georgetown’s Don Reid turned a brick into a basket against Weber State, grabbing Allen Iverson’s airball and putting it in for a 53-51 victory that sent the Hoyas to the Southeast Region semifinals.

Reid’s winning basket was reminiscent of North Carolina State’s dramatic victory over Houston in the 1983 national championship game.

David Vaughn’s winning basket for Memphis was a more conventional rebound with 1.1 seconds left as the Tigers eliminated Purdue 75-73. That left the Big Ten conference, which had six teams in the tournament, with no representatives in the regional semifinals.

Arkansas nipped Syracuse 96-94 in overtime.