Favorites enjoy good start to March Madness

NEW YORK (Reuters) - March Madness opened in subdued fashion on Thursday when tops seeds Ohio State and North Carolina led a parade of Favorites into the second round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

There were no major upsets on the opening day of the 64-team event, a sharp contrast to prior years when traditional powers are often stunned by unheralded rivals.

Big Ten champion Ohio State whipped Central Connecticut State 78-57 in the South Region, while Atlantic Coast Conference winner North Carolina breezed by Eastern Kentucky, 86-65 in the East Region opener.

Ohio State freshman sensation Greg Oden scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds, while junior Jamar Butler added 17 points. The Buckeyes knocked down 11 of 20 three-pointers to subdue the Northeast Conference champions.

"We didn't go into the game saying, 'Let's knock down out threes,'" Ohio State coach Thad Matta told reporters.

"They were just kind of there. The guys were open and they just did a good job of knocking them down."

Butler, who hit five of six from beyond the arc, said the key was Ohio State's ability to move inside on the Blue Devils' zone and then kick the ball outside.

"We penetrated their zone, got in the paint and found the open man," he said. "We stepped up and knocked down the shots."

DUKE LOSES

In other games, Big East champion Georgetown (27-6) blew past 15th-seeded Belmont 80-55 in the East Regional on the back of 20 points by sophomore guard Jessie Sapp, while third seeded Washington State beat number 14 Oral Roberts 70-54 in the East.

Third-seeded Texas A&M knocked off number 14 Pennsylvania 68-52 in the South, and over in the Midwest fourth-seeded Maryland overcame an eight-point second-half deficit to down number 13 Davidson 82-70.

In a minor West Region upset, sixth seeded Duke lost to Colonial Conference champion Virginia Commonwealth, 79-77, behind 22 points by guard Eric Maynor, including a 15-foot jumper with 1.8 seconds remaining.

North Carolina coach Roy Williams set an NCAA record by winning at least one NCAA tournament game for the 18th straight year, but the Tar Heels saw an early 27-point lead reduced to just four early in the second half.

But led by Tyler Hansbrough's 21 points and 10 rebounds, UNC rebounded to again take control in the final 10 minutes and easily pull away.

Next up for North Carolina is ninth seeded Michigan State, who beat Marquette 61-49, while Ohio State faces number nine Xavier, a 79-77 winner over Brigham Young.

Georgetown trailed 11-4 in the early going but ultimately wore down the champions of the Atlantic Sun Conference with their superior athletic ability.

In the second round, Georgetown will face seventh-seeded Boston College, who bounced Texas Tech 84-75 behind 26 points from sophomore guard Tyrese Rice.

Florida, hoping to become the first back-to-back champion since Duke in 1991-92, plays its first game on Friday against Jackson State.