Kansas 60, N.C. State 57
ST. LOUIS — Thomas Robinson had 18 points and 15 rebounds, Jeff Withey blocked 10 shots to finish one shy of the NCAA tournament record, and the Jayhawks held off No. 11 seed North Carolina State in the Midwest Regional semifinals.
The win set up a showdown between the Jayhawks and North Carolina, led by former coach Roy Williams.
Kansas (30-6) squandered an eight-point lead in the final few minutes, and didn’t wrap up the win until Richard Howell’s off-balance heave at the buzzer came up well short.
C.J. Leslie had 18 points to lead N.C. State (24-13), despite sitting much of the second half with four fouls. Scott Wood finished with 12 points on 2-for-10 shooting, though his biggest mistake wasn’t a missed shot but the shot he never even got to attempt.
N.C. State had a chance to tie it, but Wood stepped out of bounds when he tried to pull in a high pass, giving the ball back to Kansas with 5 seconds remaining.
Kentucky 102, Indiana 90
ATLANTA — Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 24 points and Kentucky shook off a quiet night by freshman star Anthony Davis, pulling away from Indiana in a showdown of storied programs for a victory Friday in the South Regional semifinals.
Davis wasn’t a huge factor after picking up two early fouls, but the top-seeded Wildcats (35-2) had five other players in double figures.
Christian Watford had 27 points to lead the Hoosiers (27-9), whose comeback season ended two wins shy of the Final Four. Indiana, which won a total of 28 games the previous three seasons, has regained its usual place among the college basketball bluebloods.
But Big Blue is moving on to its third straight regional final. Kentucky faces Baylor on Sunday for a trip to the Final Four.
North Carolina 73, Ohio 65
ST. LOUIS — Harrison Barnes scored five of his 12 points in overtime, and top-seeded North Carolina held off Ohio on Friday night to avoid a huge upset.
The Bobcats, only the seventh team seeded 13th or worse to reach the regional semifinals, had a chance to convert a three-point play with 25 seconds left in regulation that would have given them the lead. Walter Offutt missed from the line, though, the only free throw the Bobcats botched all night. Then they went 0 for 6 from the field in overtime.
Tyler Zeller finished with 20 points and 22 rebounds for North Carolina (32-5), which sorely missed dazzling point guard Kendall Marshall, who is day to day with a broken right wrist.
Offutt led the 13th-seeded Bobcats (29-8) with 26 points, including 18 from 3-point range, and Nick Kellogg added 14. But D.J. Cooper, who had averaged 20 points in the first two NCAA tournament games, finished with just 10 on 3-of-20 shooting.
North Carolina plays the winner of N.C. State-Kansas on Sunday.
Baylor 75, Xavier 70
ATLANTA — Quincy Acy, the only senior in Baylor’s starting lineup, had a double-double to help the Bears hold off Xavier on Friday night and advance to its second regional final in three years.
Baylor faces the Kentucky-Indiana winner in Sunday’s South Regional final.
Acy had 20 points and 15 rebounds. He sank two free throws with 31 seconds remaining after Xavier cut the Bears’ lead to six points.
Baylor, wearing bright neon-green uniforms, never trailed and led by 18 points less than 8 minutes into the game.
Xavier played from behind all night, but never quit. The Musketeers cut the lead to just three, 71-68, with 22 seconds remaining.
Pierre Jackson had 16 and Perry Jones III had 14 for the Bears (30-7).
Tu Holloway led Xavier with 22 points.
Xavier was hurt by poor shooting, especially from beyond the 3-point arc. The Musketeers were 0-for-11 on 3-pointers before Justin Martin ended the drought with 2 minutes remaining. He added another trey 40 seconds later, and Holloway’s 3-pointer with 22 seconds remaining cut the lead to 71-68.
Holloway added another basket, but Baylor’s Brady Heslip made four consecutive free throws in the final 17 seconds to protect the lead.
Heslip, coming off his career-high 27 points on nine 3-pointers against Colorado, had only one trey against Xavier and finished with 11 points.
Baylor also won three NCAA tournament games in 2010 before losing to eventual national champion Duke.
Xavier (23-13) couldn’t advance after making the round of 16 for the fourth time in five years.
Kenny Frease had 18 points and Mark Lyons had 16 for the Musketeers.
With Xavier stretching its defense and Baylor working the clock, Jackson sank a 3-pointer with 2:50 remaining to give the Bears their biggest lead of the half at 65-54. Following a missed free throw by Lyons, Acy’s basket pushed the lead to 13 points — too much for the Musketeers to overcome.
Heslip surprised the Musketeers by scoring on two drives to the basket in the opening minutes. Heslip added a 3-pointer before a jumper by Quincy Miller stretched Baylor’s lead to 22-4.
Xavier needed 10 minutes to reach double figures, but a flagrant one foul by Acy on Frease helped the Musketeers recover from their slow start.
Acy, who scored a combined 11 points in the Bears’ first two wins in the tournament, knocked Frease to the floor when he hit the 7-foot center from behind with 5:08 remaining in the half. The officials reviewed a video replay before ruling on the severity of the foul.
Frease made both free throws and then scored three seconds later as Xavier retained possession. It was the start of 13 unanswered points as Xavier cut Baylor’s lead from 33-16 to 33-29. Jackson ended the run with a 3-pointer to give the Bears a 36-29 halftime lead.
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