BOSTON -- On the eve of second-seeded Miami's first-round NCAA game, swing player Johnny Hemsley -- during a brief practice -- took a particular liking to the FleetCenter.
"I felt good during the shoot-around," said Hemsley, a product of Baltimore's Southern High. "I told one of my teammates, 'These are the types of rims that I like.' "
It turns out that Hemsley grew a liking to rims he would never touch, as he tied an East Regional record with nine three-pointers to lead the second-seeded Hurricanes to a 75-54 win over No. 15 seed Lafayette (22-8) last night.
In victory, Miami (23-6) recorded its first win in NCAA tournament history and tied the school record for most wins in a season.
"It appears everything we do this year has never happened before at the University of Miami," said coach Leonard Hamilton. "The win is significant in the fact that to advance to a chance at the national title, you have to win the first game."
Hemsley hit five of seven three-point attempts in the first half, scoring 15 points in helping Miami to a 34-29 halftime lead. Miami broke the game open with a 12-0 run to start the second half and coasted to an easy win.
In addition to tying the East Regional record (set by Michigan's Garde Thompson in 1987), Hemsley set a school record for three-pointers in a game. He moved into second place on Miami's all-time list for three-pointers, nine short of the school record.
After making his seventh three-pointer, Hemsley looked toward the Lafayette fans, threw his hands into the air and shook his head.
"I felt good in shoot-around, but I never thought I'd have this kind of day," Hemsley said. "My teammates did a good job getting me the ball.
"That's what you live for, to make it here and play in front of a packed gym. It's just a great feeling to have this type of game in this type of atmosphere. I'm just happy our team got its first NCAA win here in Boston."
Temple 61, Kent 54: There was a good reason Temple point guard Pepe Sanchez was so wide-open in his team's NCAA opener against Kent. His shooting percentages in his five previous games were so horrible -- 16.9 percent from the field and 12.9 percent from beyond the three-point arc -- that Sanchez seemed afraid to shoot at the start of the game.
"I was arguing with him, saying, 'You can't be wrong for taking an open shot,' " said Temple coach John Chaney. "Even if you miss them all, if you're open you have to take them."
Sanchez started taking -- and making -- his shots. In a nearly flawless performance, the junior scored a season-high 15 points to go with nine assists and no turnovers to help the sixth-seeded Owls beat 11th seeded Kent.
With the win, the Owls (22-10) advanced to tomorrow's second-round game against No. 3 seed Cincinnati, a 72-48 winner over George Mason. It will mark the third time in five years that Temple and Cincinnati have met in the NCAA tournament. Cincinnati has won the previous two.
"The ring I have here," said Chaney, pointing to his wedding band, "it's almost like I'm married to [Bearcats coach Bob Huggins]."
Chaney may have a chance at victory against Huggins if he gets another solid effort from Sanchez, who hit five of eight shots -- including three of six three-pointers.
At the start of the game, a wide-open Sanchez held the ball so long he appeared to be pleading for Kent defenders to cover him. Forced to shoot, he hit four of seven shots in the first half when he scored 11 points. He took only one attempt in the second half, when his role turned to that of a more traditional playmaker.
Temple led by as many as 15 points with just over six minutes left in the game, but Kent (23-7) made it interesting by making four straight three-pointers. The last, by Nate Meers with 31 seconds left, pulled Kent to 59-54.
But the Golden Flashes simply ran out of time, hurt by shooting a season-low 34.4 percent. And Temple won despite a sub-par outing by leading scorer Mark Karcher (St. Frances Academy), who fouled out with six points -- ending a 15-game streak in which he scored in double figures.
Purdue 58, Texas 54: Low-scoring Cameron Stephens hit a jumper with 4.8 seconds remaining as the Boilermakers overcame a strong game by 7-foot Chris Mihm and beat the Longhorns.
Stephens, averaging just 3.3 points per game, took a pass from Tony Mayfield and, with Mihm jumping out at him in the right corner, made just his second basket of the game.
Texas' Gabe Muoneke then threw the inbounds pass off teammate Kris Clack and Mayfield finished the scoring with two free throws with 4.1 seconds to play.
The Longhorns' last slim chance ended when Brian Cardinal intercepted another inbounds pass by Muoneke and threw the ball toward the ceiling as time ran out.
Tenth-seeded Purdue (20-12) had lost five of its previous six games, while seventh-seeded Texas (19-13) was 16-4 in its previous 20.
The game was close throughout as neither team led by more than four points in the last 27 minutes. And there were four lead changes in the last six minutes.
Purdue was led by Cornell with 18 points and Cardinal with 14. Mihm had his 16th double double in 21 games with 21 points and 14 rebounds.
Cincinnati 72, George Mason 48: George Mason claimed it was a mirror image of Cincinnati.
The third-seeded Bearcats made it look more like one-way glass in their victory over the 14th-seeded Patriots.
The only thing the teams had in common was that they both struggled offensively for the opening 10 minutes. After that it was all Cincinnati (27-5), which was led by forward Pete Mickeal's 18 points.
The Patriots (19-11) had their worst shooting game of the season, going 18-for-66 (27.3 percent) and George Evans, the 28-year-old Gulf War veteran and Colonial Athletic Association player of the year, was held scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting.
Pub Date: 3/13/99