After all four No. one seeds advanced to the Elite Eight, only Texas was able to advance to next weekend’s Final Four in New Orleans. Texas defeated fifth-seeded Connecticut in the Sweet Sixteen 82-78 and seventh-seeded Michigan State 85-76 in the South Regional Final.
T.J. Ford, the regional MVP, scored 13 points and had nine assists against Connecticut and 19 points and 10 assists against Michigan State. Brandon Mouton scored 27 points to lead the Longhorns against Connecticut.
Michigan State got to the regional finals by defeating sixth-seeded Maryland 60-58. Freshman Paul Davis hit a leaning bank shot with 4.7 seconds left and Maryland’s Steve Blake had his three-point attempt at the buzzer bounce off the back rim to send the Spartans to the final. Davis led the Spartans in both games, getting 13 points and five rebounds against Connecticut and 15 points and seven rebounds against Texas.
In the Midwest Region, third-seeded Marquette stunned top-seeded Kentucky 83-69 to end Kentucky’s 26-game winning streak and advance to the Final Four. Regional MVP Dwyane Wade led the Golden Hurricanes, scoring 29 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and dishing out 11 assists. It was only the third triple-double in NCAA tournament history. Only Utah’s Andre Miller and Michigan State’s Magic Johnson have also achieved this feat.
Marquette got to the Regional final by beating second-seeded Pittsburgh 77-74. Wade again led the Golden Hurricanes, scoring 22 points. Kentucky made the final by beating fifth-seeded Wisconsin 63-57. Marquis Estill led the Wildcats scoring a career-high 28 points. Against Marquette, Kentucky was led by Gerald Fitch and Keith Bogans, with 15 points each.
Second-seeded Kansas defeated top-seeded Arizona 78-75 in the West Regional Final. Kirk Hinrich led the Jayhawks with 28 points and blocked Arizona’s Jason Gardner’s three-point attempt at the buzzer to preserve the win. Gardner led the Wildcats with 23 points.
Kansas and Arizona reached the final by beating third-seeded Duke 69-65 and fifth-seeded Notre Dame 88-71 respectively. Nick Collison led Kansas against Duke, scoring a career-high 33 points and pulling down 19 rebounds. Against Notre Dame, it was again Gardner leading the way with 19 points and six assists.
In the East Regionals, top-seeded Oklahoma defeated 12th-seeded Butler 65-54 in the semifinals to end the Bulldogs Cinderella run. Ebi Ere, who played with a broken bone in his wrist, led the Sooners with 25 points. In the other semifinal, third-seeded Syracuse got out to an early 17-point lead and then hung on to defeat 10th-seeded Auburn 79-78. Freshman sensation Carmelo Anthony led the Orangemen with 18 points and eight rebounds.
In the regional final, Syracuse used their patented 2-3 zone defense to keep Oklahoma off-balance and shot 52 percent from the floor on the way to a 63-47 victory. Anthony, who led the Orangemen with 20 points and 10 rebounds, was named the Regional MVP. Freshman DeAngelo Alexander led the Sooners with 14 points and six rebounds.
On Saturday, Marquette will take on Kansas, and Syracuse will take on Texas. Tip-off times are 6:05 pm and 8:35 pm respectively. The winners will play on Monday; tip-off is at 9:18 pm.
