Smith tied Adolph Rupp as the winningest NCAA coach when North Carolina beat Fairfield, 82-74, in the opening round of the East Regional. But Smith's 876th victory wasn't nearly as easy as everyone predicted.
Fairfield (11-19), which had the worst record in the 64-team field and no starter over 6-foot-6, made a strong bid to become the first No. 16 seed ever to beat a No. 1 seed in the tournament.
The Stags led by seven at halftime and stayed with the Tar Heels (25-6) until the final minute before the pro-North Carolina crowd.
The victory gave Smith an 876-253 record in his 36th season at North Carolina. Rupp had an 876-190 record in 41 years at Kentucky. Smith will try to top Rupp on Saturday when North Carolina plays Colorado, which beat Indiana 80-62. Vince Carter led the Tar Heels with 22 points, while 7-foot-3 Serge Zwikker added 19.
California 55, Princeton 52
Tony Gonzalez scored all five of Cal's points in the final minute. Gonzalez gave the Bears the lead for good at 52-50 with a fadeaway 12-foot jumper with 58 seconds left. He made the front end of a 1-and-1 with 33 seconds left for a three-point lead. Brian Earl scored on a backdoor cut with 15 seconds left to bring the 12th-seeded Tigers (24-4) within one, but Gonzalez made two free throws with 14 seconds left to make it 55-52.
Princeton, which knocked defending national champion UCLA out in the first round last year, had a final chance. But Gabe Lewullis' 3-point attempt with three seconds left was blocked by Alfred Grigsby.
Villanova 101, Long Island 91
LIU, the nation's highest scoring team, got a lesson in fast-paced basketball. The fourth-seeded Wildcats (24-9) used an 8-0 run to end the first half and a 19-1 barrage in the opening 3 1/2 minutes of the second half to blitz the Blackbirds.
Freshman Tim Thomas had 28 points and 15 rebounds, while Jason Lawson added 21 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks. Charles Jones, the nation's leading scorer, had 37 to lead No. 13 seed LIU.
College of Charleston 75, Maryland 66
Stacy Harris scored 22 points as the College of Charleston upset Maryland, making it the ninth straight year a No. 12 seed has beaten a fifth-seeded team.
Charleston (29-2), making only its second NCAA tournament appearance, also extended the nation's longest winning streak to 23 games with its first tourney victory. Keith Booth, Maryland's leading scorer, finished with 18 points.
Arizona 65, S. Alabama 57
Arizona outscored South Alabama 22-4 in the final 7 1/2 minutes to overcome a 10-point deficit.
Miles Simon scored nine of his 11 points during that late stretch. The rally allowed Arizona (20-9) to avoid losing in the first round for the fourth time in six years.
Cincinnati 86, Butler 69
Darnell Burton carried the Bearcats until All-American Danny Fortson got untracked. Burton scored 19 points, including five 3-pointers, and Cincinnati used a 22-5 first-half run to beat Butler.
Fortson led the third-seeded Bearcats (26-7) with 24 points - 16 in the second half.
Iowa St. 69, Illinois St. 57
Kelvin Cato scored a career-high 29 points, had 12 rebounds and broke a Midwest Regional record with eight blocks, leading Iowa State. Dedric Willoughby added 21 points for the sixth-seeded Cyclones (21-8).
Rico Hill led Illinois State (24-6) with 14 points.
Xavier 80, Vanderbilt 68
James Posey and Gary Lumpkin scored Xavier's final 20 points as the Musketeers held off Vanderbilt. Posey finished with a career-high 22 points.
Austin Bates scored 21 for Vandy and Drew Maddux had 16. Pax Whitehead, Vandy's leading scorer at 15.8 ppg, was held without a field goal until midway through the second half and finished with eight points.
UCLA 109, Charleston Southern 75
UCLA scored the first 11 points of the game and Jelany McCoy and J.R Henderson had 21 points apiece for the Bruins.
The Bruins were in control from the start against the 15th-seeded Buccaneers (22-7). Brett Larrick led Charleston Southern with 32 points.
St. Joseph's 75, Pacific 65
Rashid Bey and freshman Arthur Davis hit consecutive 3-pointers that helped St. Joseph's hold off Pacific.
After Pacific pulled to 52-50 with 7:20 left, Davis hit a 3-pointer and Bey followed with another off a turnover to swing the momentum back to St. Joseph's (25-6), making its first NCAA tournament appearance in 11 years.Bey finished with 22 points and Davis had 19. Tim Bowman scored 18 points for Pacific (24-6).
AP PHOTO
College of Charleston's Sedric Webber drives past Maryland's Keith Booth (left) and Obinne Ekezie during Charleston's upset of the Terrapins last night.