MyFox NCAA Tournament Roundup: Gators Eye Final Four Return
NEW ORLEANS -- Al Horford and the defending champion Florida Gators are headed back to the round of 16, three wins from a shot at a second straight NCAA title. They'll have one less high-seeded opponent standing in their way after Wisconsin was sent home Sunday by a UNLV squad led by the father-son duo of Lon and Kevin Kruger.
"From Day 1, we've talked about putting UNLV back on the map," guard Kevin Kruger said.
Super freshman Kevin Durant and the Texas Longhorns were also relegated to spectators after being routed by Southern California. Durant, the front-runner for national player of the year, sidestepped questions after the loss about whether he'd leave college for the NBA.
"I don't think that's an appropriate question right now," Durant said. "I'm just worried about this team and what we can be next year as a team."
Coming off a national title, the veteran Gators knew they'd be in position to make another run. Their tournament experience paid off against plucky Purdue Sunday as Horford and Corey Brewer each scored 17 points and Florida (31-5) withstood an admirable effort by the Boilermakers 74-67 in the Midwest Regional.
"We knew we had to make plays down the stretch to win," said Brewer, who finished with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Purdue played just about how it wanted against the Gators -- slowing down the tempo, rebounding with a smaller lineup and keeping the game close much of the way. But the top-seeded Gators never panicked and made several clutch shots down the stretch.
Horford, who added nine rebounds, had three big buckets in the final minutes, and Brewer hit a spinning jumper and then made six consecutive free throws to seal Florida's 14th consecutive postseason win.
"I guess they felt like they were going to make Al score 1-on-1," Brewer said. "They made a bad decision."
Carl Landry led Purdue (22-12) with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Florida, hoping to become the first team to repeat as champions since Duke in 1992, will take on fifth-seeded Butler (29-6) in St. Louis on Friday. The winner will face whoever comes out of the matchup between UNLV (30-6) and Oregon (28-7).
The Runnin' Rebels stunned No. 2 seed Wisconsin 74-68 as the Badgers (30-6) became the highest-seeded team to lose in the tournament, so far.
"There will be some doubters. Some people will say we were lucky, but we don't really care," Kevin Kruger said. "We're going to the Sweet 16 and nobody can argue with that."
Wisconsin's Kammron Taylor sank a 3-pointer and converted a three-point play with 59 seconds to go to get the Badgers within three at 70-67. Curtis Terry had a free throw and a little jumper in the lane to give the Runnin' Rebels a five-point cushion with 29 seconds to go.
"It took a team to go 10-for-20 from '3' to get us out," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "And to their credit, they were able to do that."
Kruger, who transferred from Arizona State to play his final season for his father, delivered. After his three 3-pointers, he was fouled on another long-range attempt and made all three free throws to make it 64-56 with a little more than 3 minutes left.
"I kept telling him, 'You are going to make some shots,'" said Wendell White, who led UNLV with 22 points. "He did. That's what happened."
At Spokane, Wash., Aaron Brooks scored 22 points and third-seeded Oregon smothered Winthrop to eliminate the last remaining double-digit seed from the NCAA tournament with a 75-61 victory.
The 11th-seeded Eagles (29-5), who upset Notre Dame in the first round, lost for the first time in 20 games to end their most successful tournament in seven tries.
The Ducks were 11-for-23 shooting from 3-point range, and Tajuan Porter, the shortest man on the floor at 5-foot-6, scored 14 points. He hit his first four shots of the second half, all from long range, in the game's decisive spurt. The win sent Oregon into the round of 16 for the first time since 2002.
EAST REGIONAL
USC 87, Texas 68
At Spokane, Wash., Durant scored 30 points and added nine rebounds for fourth-seeded Texas, but never came close to dominating this game. Many times when he got the ball, the offense ground to a halt for the Longhorns (25-10), who fell behind by 17 early in the second half and never made a serious run.
Nick Young led USC (25-11) with 22 points, while Daniel Hackett scored 20 and freshman Taj Gibson added 17 points and 14 rebounds.
Second-year coach Tim Floyd's Trojans will make their first trip to the regional semis since 2001 -- and second since 1979 -- where they'll play North Carolina at East Rutherford, N.J. With their 25th win, the Trojans set a program record.
WEST REGIONAL
Kansas 88, Kentucky 76
Chicago native Julian Wright returned home and scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, Brandon Rush added 19 and top-seeded Kansas romped.
Mario Chalmers added 16 for the Jayhawks, who shot 57 percent to win their 13th in a row. Kansas (32-4) will play fourth-seeded Southern Illinois on Thursday in the semifinals in San Jose, Calif.
The eighth-seeded Wildcats (22-12) lost for the seventh time in 11 games. Randolph Morris finished with 22 points, including 14 from the line, and Bobby Perry added 21.
Southern Illinois 63, Virginia Tech 48
At Columbus, Ohio, Southern Illinois got three big 3-pointers from Jamaal Tatum and pulled away from Virginia Tech.
Tatum, the Missouri Valley Conference player of the year, scored 21 points for the fourth-seeded Salukis, who have won 15 of 16. Tony Young added 17 for Southern Illinois (29-6), which reached the round of 16 for the first time since 2001.
Jamon Gordon had 16 points and Deron Washington added 15 for fifth-seeded Virginia Tech (22-12), which hadn't been held to fewer than 54 points.
SOUTH REGIONAL
Tennessee 77, Virginia 74
At Columbus, Ohio, JaJuan Smith scored 16 points and led a second-half comeback, Chris Lofton scored 20 points and the Volunteers held off Virginia.
Fifth-seeded Tennessee (24-10) reached the round of 16 for the first time since 2000 under second-year coach Bruce Pearl.
Sean Singletary missed a 3-pointer with 1 second left for Virginia (21-11), which missed a chance to get to the round of 16 for the first time since 1995.
Tennessee will play No. 1 Ohio State in the South Regional on Thursday in San Antonio.
Memphis 78, Nevada 62
At New Orleans, Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 16 points before leaving with a sprained ankle and his high-flying, versatile teammates took over from there for a victory over Nick Fazekas and Nevada.
Memphis will take the nation's longest winning streak -- 24 games -- to San Antonio for a showdown Thursday against third-seeded Texas A&M.
The second-seeded Tigers (32-3) hadn't played a team as good as the Wolf Pack (29-5) since their last loss to Arizona on Dec. 20. They showed they were up to the task by never trailing after going down 2-0, and shutting out the Wolf Pack the final 6:17.
Fazekas, the three-time Western Athletic Conference player of the year, missed his first six shots but finished 7-of-18 for 20 points with seven rebounds.
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