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Gonzaga, Purdue, Texas Tech, Virginia Advance to Elite 8

The top-seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs beat Florida State 72-58 in a Sweet 16 rematch Thursday night that moved Gonzaga to a regional final for the fourth time.

 

Gonzaga's Brandon Clarke had 15 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots.

 

Gonzaga led most of the game but Florida State rallied to pull within four with less than four minutes to play. The Bulldogs closed the door though with a 12-2 run as Florida State missed six of seven from the field.

 

Norvell Jr.'s 3-pointer with 3:06 remaining made it 63-56 and ended any hopes of a comeback.

Trent Forrest led Florida State with 20 points.

 

Gonzaga will face Texas Tech on Saturday for the first spot in the Final Four.

 

 

 

Lamonte' Turner bumped into Carson Edwards after he released the shot and the Big Ten's leading scorer went to the line for three free throws with 1.7 seconds left. Edwards missed the first, steadied himself, and knock down the next two to force overtime.

 

Edwards finished with 29 points as Purdue advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000, beating Tennessee 99-94 on Thursday night after blowing an 18-point lead.

The third-seeded Boilermakers (26-9) will play top-seeded Virginia.

 

Grant Williams' dunk with 8.8 seconds left made it 82-80 and had second-seeded Tennessee (31-6) on the verge of its second Elite Eight berth all-time. Williams also blocked Edwards' layup attempt in the closing seconds out of bounds. 

 

Purdue scored nine of the first 11 points in OT.

 

Williams and Admiral Schofield scored 21 apiece for Tennessee. Jordan Bowden had 16, Turner 15 and Jordan Bone 15.

 

 

 

Jarett Culver's 22 points were a mere subplot in third-seeded Tech's 63-44 takedown of No. 2 Michigan in the West Region on Thursday night - a victory that set up an intriguing Elite Eight showdown against Gonzaga, which boasts the country's leading offense.

 

The Raiders held an efficient-if-not-spectacular Michigan (30-7) offense to 16 field goals, 32 percent shooting and only a single 3-point basket on 19 attempts. 

 

Only five players scored for Michigan, which was led by its brash playmaker, freshman Iggy Brazdeikis, who finished with 17, most of which came well after the game was out of hand.

 

 

 

Ty Jerome gave the Cavaliers a three-point lead with 3:34 remaining, and then they used their trademark defense to smother the Ducks and make it stand.

 

No. 1 seed Virginia reached its second regional final in four years with a 53-49 victory over 12th-seeded Oregon on Thursday night in the NCAA Tournament. The Cavaliers face third-seeded Purdue in the South Regional finals Sunday for a trip to the Final Four.

 

The Cavaliers (32-3) shot 36 percent and matched a season low in scoring, but got baskets when needed to outlast the Ducks (25-13). Jerome's 3 was the biggest as he took Kihei Clark's pass and converted from deep to make it 48-45.

 

Virginia clamped down from there holding Oregon scoreless for more than five minutes after the Ducks went ahead, 45-42, on Louis King's 3 with 5:43 left.

 

Clark tied it with a 3 with 5:21 left and De'Andre Hunter got free for a layup for 24 seconds left for a five-point edge that was enough to stop Oregon's 10-game winning streak.

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