NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : Midwest Regional : Notre Dame Is Upset by Arkansas Little Rock, 90-83

No matter what they tried, Notre Dame’s 10th-ranked Irish could not fight off an upset loss to the Trojans of Arkansas Little Rock in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regionals Friday at Minneapolis.

“They didn’t force too many shots,” Notre Dame Coach Digger Phelps said after his team’s 90-83 loss. “Even when we pressed them at the end and went up one, they came back and scored. They just smelled it and went after it. They shot 79% in the second half. That’s what I’m talking about.”

Arkansas Little Rock Coach Mike Newell said that before the game he told his team they could win.

“We felt like we matched up very well with them,” he said. “It’s just one of those games where we wanted it bad and just played an excellent, excellent basketball game.”

Pete Myers scored 29, Michael Clarke 27 and Myron Jackson 22 for the Trojans (23-10), while guard David Rivers scored 25 points for Notre Dame (23-6).

Arkansas Little Rock will play North Carolina State in Sunday’s second round.

North Carolina St. 66, Iowa 64--Chris Washburn scored 18 points and ignited a 10-0 spurt midway through the second half that gave the Wolfpack the lead for good en route to their first-round win.

Roy Marble, whose layup made it 65-64, had an opportunity to put Iowa (20-12) ahead with 12 seconds to go but missed a one-and-one.

Nate McMillan closed out the scoring with a free throw, but the Wolfpack (19-12) didn’t clinch the game until Moe’s desperation 35-footer at the buzzer fell short.

Iowa St. 81, Miami (Ohio) 79--Jeff Hornacek’s 23-foot whirling jumper at the overtime buzzer gave the Cyclones the victory and Iowa State’s Johnny Orr a chance to coach against his former school, Michigan, in Sunday’s second round.

With the score tied, 79-79, the Cyclones (21-10) inbounded the ball to the corner from midcourt and passed back to Hornacek, who turned and put up the shot before the buzzer.

Miami finished at 24-7.

Michigan 70, Akron 64--Roy Tarpley, benched at the start for disciplinary reasons, made a three-point play and a key block late in the game, helping the Wolverines to victory.

The 6-foot-10 center sat out the first 5:25 and then the first 3:01 of the second half for what Coach Bill Frieder termed a “minor infraction.”

Tarpley had 13 points. Freshman Glen Rice led the Wolverines (28-4) with 14.

Akron finished at 22-8.