Cheeseheads Done in by Chiozza
UNDATED (AP) — Sunday's NCAA regional finals are set. It will be North Carolina taking on Kentucky in the South Region at Memphis, and surprising South Carolina battling Florida in the East final at Madison Square Garden.
The No. 7 Gamecocks have continued their surprising tournament run with a 70-50 rout of third seed Baylor. Sindarius Thornwell led the way with 24 points, while DJ Dozier and Chris Silva each added 12 points to help South Carolina reach the Elite Eight for the first time.
The Bears missed 12 of their first 13 shots and finished 30 percent from the field. Johnathan Motley had 18 points for Baylor, which absorbed its worst NCAA Tournament loss.
In New York, Chris Chiozza (chee-AH'-zah) went coast-to-coast before nailing a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Florida an 84-83 win over Wisconsin. Chiozza scored five of his eight points in the final half-minute to steal the thunder from teammate KeVAughn Allen, who poured in a game-high 35 points.
Chiozza's game-winning bucket came after Nigel Hayes hit two free throws with four seconds remaining to put Wisconsin ahead. Hayes finished with 22 points for the Badgers, who wiped out a 12-point deficit in the final 4:15 of regulation and forced overtime on Zak Showalter's 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in regulation.
The top-seeded Tar Heels have advanced by hammering Butler, 92-80. Joel Berry II finished with a team-high 26 points for North Carolina, which led by as many as 20 in the first half. Justin Jackson had 24 points, while Luke Maye chipped in 16 points and 12 rebounds in the Tar Heels' 30th win.
Andrew Chrabascz led the fourth-seeded Bulldogs with 21 points and seven rebounds.
No. 2 Kentucky picked up its 14th straight win and earned a spot in the Elite Eight by knocking off third seed UCLA, 86-75. De'Aaron Fox poured in a career-high 39 points, including the Wildcats' first eight of the game. He outplayed UCLA freshman Lonzo Ball, who finished with eight assists but just 10 points on 4 of 10 shooting.
Malik Monk scored 21 points for Kentucky, which is in a regional final for the sixth time in seven years.