Friday's NCAA Tournament Summary
EAST REGIONAL
North Carolina 81, Marquette 63.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Tyler Zeller had 27 points and 15 rebounds, and North Carolina left no doubt that it's back with a 81-63 dismantling of Marquette in the East Regional semifinals on Friday night.
John Henson added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Harrison Barnes added 20 points and 6 rebounds as the second-seeded Tar Heels (29-7) moved to within a game of reaching the Final Four for the third time in four years with a dominate effort on both ends of the court.
This latest success comes a year after the Tar Heels failed to make the NCAA tournament. The Tar Heels showed the whole package on Friday night at the Prudential Center, limiting No. 11 seed Marquette (22-15) to 15 first-half points while opening a 25-point lead.
Kentucky 62, Ohio State 60.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Brandon Knight knocked down a jumper with 5.4 seconds remaining as the fourth-seeded Wildcats stunned top-seeded Ohio State 62-60 on Friday in the East regional semifinals.
Senior center Josh Harrellson held his own against Ohio State super freshman Jared Sullinger, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds as the Wildcats (28-8) advanced to play North Carolina on Sunday for a trip to the Final Four.DeAndre Liggins added 15 points for the Wildcats, who beat Ohio State for the first time in the NCAA tournament behind a suffocating defense that limited the Buckeyes to 32 percent shooting.
Sullinger led Ohio State (34-3) with 21 points and 16 rebounds, but the Buckeyes fell in the regional semifinals for a second straight season.
SOUTHWEST REGIONAL
Kansas 77, Richmond 57.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Brady Morningstar scored 18 points and Kansas played like a dominant No. 1 seed in a historic NCAA regional full of underdogs, beating 12th-seeded Richmond 77-57 Friday night. The Jayhawks (35-2) are one win from returning to the Final Four for the first time since their 2008 championship. They play 11th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth in Sunday's Southwest regional title.
The Southwest regional is the first in NCAA history with three double-digit seeded teams. But the Spiders (29-8) looked jittery in the school's second round-of-16 appearance.
The Jayhawks? They were calm and confident in reaching a fourth regional final under coach Bill Self. Justin Harper led Richmond with 22 points.
Virginia Commonwealth 72, Florida State 71, OT
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Bradford Burgess made a layup off an inbounds pass with 7.1 seconds left and Jamie Skeen blocked a shot at the buzzer, giving Virginia Commonwealth a 72-71 victory over Florida State in overtime in a Southwest Region semifinal Friday night.
In the first NCAA tournament game between teams seeded 10 and 11, the lower seeded Rams blew a nine-point lead by scoring only three points in the final 7:37 of regulation. They never trailed by more than four all night, but found themselves down 71-70 when Burgess scored the kind of basket that will live in NCAA tournament lore.
The Rams (27-11) are among the final eight for the first time. Having already ousted high-profile programs from the Pac-10 (Southern Cal), Big East (Georgetown), Big Ten (Purdue) and now the ACC, they will try adding the Big 12 to their hit list, facing top-seeded Kansas. The Jayhawks advanced with a 77-57 rout over Richmond.
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