No. 1 seed Villanova bounces WVU
BOSTON — Villanova’s 3-point party rolled past the pressure of West Virginia to bring the Wildcats to the doorstep of another Final Four two seasons after winning a national championship.
The top-seeded Wildcats continued their outside feast, downing the fifth-seeded Mountaineers 90-78 on Friday night to earn their second trip to the regional finals in three seasons.
Jalen Brunson led Villanova with 27 points and Omari Spellman had 18 with eight rebounds as Villanova overcame the West Virginia press by hitting 13 of 24 shots from 3-point range.
Jevon Carter and Sagaba Konate each at 12 points to lead West Virginia.
Villanova (33-4) has now made 47 3-pointers for the tournament. The outside shots helped the Wildcats overcome 16 turnovers.
Villanova’s Sweet 16 plan for the team nicknamed “Press Virginia”: Attack the stifling defense head-on.
The Wildcats struggled at times, especially in the first half, but dug out of a six-point hole in the second half with an 11-0 run.
“What a game, man. I hope that looked as good as it did from the bench, man,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “That was the most physically demanding, mentally draining 40 minutes we’ve played in a long time. They are so relentless.”
The Mountaineers (26-11) stayed close throughout the night, ramping up the pressure and making Villanova play faster than it wanted to early. But foul trouble throughout the second half was too much for West Virginia to overcome after it gave up the lead.
Carter was called for his third with 17:33 left in the game. That was followed by Daxter Miles being whistled for his third and fourth fouls over a two minute stretch that sent him to the bench with 15 minutes remaining.
Kansas 80, Clemson 76
OMAHA, Neb. — No crazy comeback story here.
Top-seeded Kansas brought at least a temporary halt to the insanity this March, withstanding a wild comeback from fifth-seeded Clemson for a too-close-for-comfort, 80-76 victory on Friday.
Malik Newman led the Jayhawks (30-7) with 17 points in a one-time runaway that got much closer and, quite frankly, won’t mean much if KU can’t finish the job in the regional final Sunday.
For the third straight year as a No. 1 seed, KU made its way through the Sweet 16. Getting to the Final Four has been a different story — and the Jayhawks are on the doorstep once again.
As a top seed the last two seasons, Kansas made it through the regional semifinals, only to flop a game shy of the Final Four both times. In fact, this is the sixth time Bill Self’s team has been seeded first since winning it all in 2008; the Jayhawks haven’t made the Final Four one of those times.
Duke 69, Syracuse 65
Duke is back in the Elite Eight for the first time since its 2015 team won it all after holding off a late charge from rival Syracuse 69-65 on Friday night in the Midwest Region semifinals.
Marvin Bagley scored 22 points and Wendell Carter Jr had 14 with 12 rebounds for the Blue Devils (29-7), who will face top-seeded Kansas —a rare matchup of bluebloods in a tournament defined by chaos— on Sunday in Omaha.
Texas Tech 78, Purdue 65
Keenan Evans scored 16 points to lead the Reed Raiders, who never trailed in the second half.
Carsen Edwards scored 30 points to lead Purdue.
