COLLEGE BASKETBALL / DAILY REPORT : TODAY’S NCAA GAMES : Santa Clara Knows About Upsets

What do Santa Clara and Miami of Ohio have in common? Both have knocked Arizona out of the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Miami did it Thursday and Santa Clara did it in 1993 as a 15th-seeded team, only the second time in tournament history that a No. 15 beat a No. 2.

Today, the Broncos (21-6), seeded 12th in the West Regional, will try to knock off fifth-seeded Mississippi State (20-7) at Boise, Ida.

In 1993, the Broncos won an automatic berth by winning the West Coast Conference tournament. This year, they won the WCC regular-season title, then lost in the first round of the tournament to Loyola Marymount. But they were given an at-large berth.

Mississippi State, ranked 18th in the final regular-season poll, leads the nation in field-goal percentage defensively at 37.9%.

In another West Regional first-round game today at Boise, Missouri (19-8) faces Indiana (19-11), with the winner facing UCLA on Sunday, providing the Bruins get past Florida International tonight.

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Two weeks ago, St. Peter’s upset Manhattan, 80-78, in overtime in the final of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament at Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, N.Y. Today, in the first round of the East Regional at the same arena, St. Peters (19-10), seeded 15th, will try to knock off No. 2 Massachusetts (26-4), the Atlantic 10 champion.

In today’s East Regional opener, North Carolina Charlotte (19-8) meets Stanford (19-8), followed by UMass-St. Peter’s. The evening doubleheader features Villanova (25-7) against 14th-seeded Old Dominion (20-11), and sixth-seeded Tulsa (22-7) against No. 11 Illinois (19-11).

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The defending champion Arkansas Razorbacks (27-6), coming off a 95-93 overtime loss to Kentucky, face Texas Southern (22-6) today in the first round of the Midwest Regional at Austin, Tex.

Southern Illinois (23-8) and Syracuse (19-9) open play in the regional. The night games at the Frank Erwin Center will match Memphis (22-9) against Louisville (19-13) and Big Ten champion Purdue (24-6) against Wisconsin Green Bay (22-7).

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Michigan State Coach Jud Heathcote, who is retiring, said he expects his team to do well in the Southeast Regional at Tallahassee, Fla. The Spartans (22-5) play Weber State (20-8) today in the first round. In other games, Iowa State (22-10) faces Florida (17-12) in the opener, followed by North Carolina (24-5) against Murray State (21-8). In the day’s final game, Georgetown (19-9) takes on Xavier of Ohio (23-4).