North Carolina Runs Away From Indiana, 101-86

North Carolina 101, Indiana 86

North Carolina keeps on scoring and keeps on winning and the Tar Heels are one victory from their first Final Four in seven years.

Marcus Paige started the Tar Heels' impressive shooting performance with four early 3-pointers and he finished with 21 points as North Carolina continued its offensive prowess, moving to the Elite Eight for the 20th time since 1975 with a 101-86 victory over Indiana on Friday night in the East Regional.

The top-seeded Tar Heels (31-6) will meet sixth-seeded Notre Dame on Sunday, determining one of two guaranteed Atlantic Coast Conference spots in the Final Four. The Fighting Irish beat Wisconsin 61-56 on Friday.

Syracuse 63, Gonzaga 61

Michael Gbinije made a go-ahead layup with 22 seconds left, and Syracuse advanced to its 10th Elite Eight under Boeheim with a 63-60 victory over Gonzaga in the Midwest Regional semifinals.

Tyler Lydon sealed the win with a block on Josh Perkins' runner in the final seconds. Lydon then grabbed the ball and made two foul shots before Domantas Sabonis' desperate fling was well off at the buzzer.

Next up is an all-ACC matchup with Virginia on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four.

Virginia 84, Iowa State 71

Anthony Gill finished with a season-high 23 points, Mike Tobey came off the bench to score 18, and top-seeded Virginia beat Iowa State 84-71 in the Midwest Region semifinals on Friday night.

The Cavaliers (29-7) withstood a second-half push by the fourth-seeded Cyclones (23-12) after grabbing a big lead in the early going and advanced to their first regional final since 1995.

Virginia will head to the Elite Eight on Sunday. A win would send the Cavaliers to their first Final Four since 1984, when coach Tony Bennett was a teenager.

Notre Dame 61, Wisconsin 56

Demetrius Jackson stripped the ball and scored the go-ahead layup with 14.7 seconds left and Notre Dame advanced to the brink of its first Final Four in 38 years with a 61-56 win over Wisconsin on Friday night in the East Region semifinal of the NCAA Tournament.

Jackson sealed the win with a pair of free throws to send the Irish (24-11) into a regional final for the second straight season.

Notre Dame lost to Kentucky a year ago. This year, the Irish will get a shot advance to the Elite Eight on Sunday.

Kansas 79, Maryland 63

Perry Ellis scored 27 points to match a season high, Wayne Selden Jr. added 19 and Kansas topped No. 5 Maryland for a 79-63 South Region semifinal victory Thursday night. The win put the Jayhawks back into the Elite 8 for the first time since 2012, when they went on to reach the NCAA championship game before losing to Kentucky.

It took time for the Jayhawks (33-4) to get going. Once they finally seized the lead late in the first half, everything else fell into place for their 17th straight victory. They emerged from the break by making their first six shots and steadily took control behind Ellis, who made 10 of 17 from the field.

"They just tell me to be more aggressive, and that's what I try to do," said Ellis, who also scored 27 against Oklahoma on Jan. 4.

Selden was right there with 7-of-16 shooting to help Kansas earn a berth in Saturday night's regional final against Villanova.

Oregon 82, Duke 68

After taking down mighty Duke with remarkably little drama, the high-flying Oregon Ducks are on the brink of the Final Four.

Dillon Brooks scored 22 points and Oregon advanced with an 82-68 victory over the Blue Devils on Thursday night in the West Region semifinal of the NCAA Tournament.

Elgin Cook had 16 points and nine rebounds for the top-seeded Ducks (31-6), who will meet Oklahoma on Saturday.

Oklahoma 77, Texas A&M 63

Four days after staging the biggest last-minute comeback in NCAA Division I history, the third-seeded Texas A&M Aggies were blown out 77-63 by Jordan Woodard, Buddy Hield and the rest of the second-seeded Oklahoma Sooners in the Sweet 16.

Woodard scored 22 points and Hield had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Tyler Davis scored 17 for A&M (28-9), which reached the Sweet 16 with a thrilling double-overtime victory against Northern Iowa after rallying from 12 points down in the final 44 seconds of regulation.

The Sooners blew open a close game by going on a 19-4 run during the last 7:42 of the first half to take a 45-26 lead. The Sooners forced the Aggies into bad shots and turnovers, and Woodard was the catalyst on the offensive end.

The Sooners (28-7) advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2009. They'll play Saturday against Oregon, which beat Duke Thursday night.

Villanova 92, Miami 69

Villanova's latest performance has put them into the Elite Eight for the first time since 2009.

Ryan Arcidiacono and Kris Jenkins each scored 21 points and No. 2 seed Villanova never trailed in routing third-seeded Miami 92-69 Thursday night in the South Region semifinal of the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats turned in their best shooting performance yet in this tournament, shooting 62.7 percent.

The Wildcats (32-5) earned their third trip to the regional final with coach Jay Wright and seventh overall, coming through with former coach Rollie Massimino, who led Villanova to the 1985 national championship, sitting nearby.

Villanova will play top-seeded Kansas on Saturday in the regional final. It's redemption after losses on the opening weekend each of the past two NCAA Tournaments.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us