Arizona 93 Duke 77
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Derrick Williams scored a career-high 32 points and his Arizona teammates showed they’re not just a one-man team, upsetting defending national champion Duke 93-77 Thursday night to reach the final eight for the first time since 2005.
The top-seeded Blue Devils (32-5) were sent packing from a regional semifinal for the second time in three years. Coach Mike Krzyzewski, with 900 wins, will have to wait until next season to resume his pursuit of Bob Knight’s record as the winningest men’s coach in Division I history.
Williams scored 25 of his points in the first half before his teammates came up big in the final 20 minutes. Lamont Jones added 16 points and Solomon Hill 13.
Butler 61 Wisconsin 54
NEW ORLEANS — Wisconsin’s normally suffocating defence could not slow Matt Howard and Butler’s run toward a second straight Final Four appearance. If anything, the Bulldogs may be gaining momentum.
After narrowly surviving its first two NCAA tournament games by margins of two points or less, Butler led by 20 points before holding on for a 61-54 victory over the Badgers on Thursday night.
Howard had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Shelvin Mack scored 13 points and Shawn Vanzant 10 for the eighth-seeded Bulldogs (26-9), who upset top-seeded Pittsburgh by one point in the second round and now have knocked off another higher seed in fourth-seeded Wisconsin.
The victory sent Butler into the Southeast regional final, where the Bulldogs meet second-seeded Florida (29-7) on Saturday for a trip to the Final Four.
Jordan Taylor scored 22 for Wisconsin (25-9), which shot 30.4 per cent (17 of 56). Jon Leuer, normally one of the Badgers’ top offensive forces with 18.7 points per game coming in, was 1 of 12 shooting and finished with three points.
Florida 83, BYU 74
Alex Tyus scored 19 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to help Florida chase Jimmer Fredette and the Cougars (32-5) out of the NCAA tournament.
While Fredette was the star attraction, scoring 32 points on 11 for 29 shooting in the final game of his college career, Florida countered with balance.
Kenny Boynton added 17 points while Erving Walker and Chandler Parsons both scored 16. Boynton and Parsons each hit 3-pointers in overtime as Florida (29-7) outscored BYU 15-6.
Fredette made just 3 of 15 from 3-point range and had to work for his points against Florida’s physical defence. By the end of the game, he had a bandage on his chin from a blow in the second half, but the baskets kept coming until he was held scoreless in overtime. When the outcome became apparent with one minute remaining, BYU coach Dave Rose subbed out Fredette, bringing a standing ovation.
Connecticut 74, San Diego State 67
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Kemba Walker scored 22 of his 36 points in another dynamic second-half performance, and Connecticut moved to the brink of its fourth trip to the Final Four.
Freshman Jeremy Lamb added 24 points and hit a clutch 3-pointer with 1:43 left for the third-seeded Huskies (29-9), who needed five wins in five days to capture the Big East tournament before advancing to an NCAA regional final for the 10th time.
D.J. Gay scored 16 points for the second-seeded Aztecs (34-3), who couldn’t quite catch up to Walker during a scintillating second-half stretch run.