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2B – Daily News – Saturday, March 26, 2011 Sweet 16 cuts down to Elite 8 4 Kentucky 62 1 Ohio State 60 NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Brandon Knight did it again. Knight knocked down a jumper with 5 seconds remain- ing as the fourth-seeded Wildcats stunned top-seeded Ohio State 62-60 on Friday in the East regional semifinals. Senior center Josh Harrellson held his own against Ohio State super freshman Jared Sullinger, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds as the Wildcats (28-8) advanced to play North Carolina on Sunday for a trip to the Final Four. Knight, who knocked down a game-winner in Ken- tucky’s second-round win over Princeton, shrugged off another sluggish performance to drill the biggest shot of his career. Kentucky coach John Calipari opted not to call timeout after Ohio State’s John Diebler hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 60 with 21 seconds remaining, and Knight delivered a silky 15-foot jumper. Ohio State rushed down the floor, but William Buford’s 3-pointer clanked off the rim and the rebound was tapped out of harm’s way. The Wildcats, who struggled to win close games earlier in the season, rushed onto the floor as the buzzer sounded. DeAndre Liggins, like Harrellson a leftover from Billy Gillispie’s days at Kentucky, hopped atop a table and pound- ed his chest as Knight stood at halfcourt and soaked in the moment. Liggins added 15 points for the Wildcats, who beat Ohio State for the first time in the NCAA tournament behind a suffocating defense that limited the Buckeyes to 32 percent shooting. Sullinger led Ohio State (34-3) with 21 points and 16 rebounds, but the Buckeyes fell in the regional semifinals for a second straight season. The win gives Kentucky a chance to avenge a loss to the Tar Heels earlier in the season. The Wildcats fell 75-73 in Chapel Hill in December, a game in which they gave away several chances to win. Those days seem long gone. Kentucky has won nine straight and developed the kind of grit Calipari knew would come if he stayed patient with his freshmen-laden roster. 12 Richmond 57 1 Kansas 77 SAN ANTONIO (AP) — In an NCAA regional full of underdogs, Kansas played like the dominant No. 1 seed it is. Brady Morningstar scored 18 points and the Jayhawks knocked off 12th-seeded Richmond 77-57 Friday night get one win from returning to the Final Four for the first time since their 2008 championship. They await the winner of 11th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth and 10th-seeded Florida State. The Southwest regional is the first in NCAA history with three double-digit seeded teams. But the Spiders looked jit- tery in the school's second round-of-16 appearance. The Jayhawks? They were calm and confident in reach- ing a fourth regional final under coach Bill Self. Justin Harper led Richmond with 22 points. The Spiders (29-8) passed up open shots, bounced balls into the Kansas bench and found themselves down 31-9 with more than six minutes still left in the first half. It belied the bluster Richmond appeared to show during a chippy confrontation with Kansas players before tipoff. The Spiders were bouncing around the tunnel of the Alamodome, firing themselves up, when Kansas players brushed past them on their way to the court. Some apparent contact set off an exchange of words and shoves, and secu- rity stepped between the teams. MCT photo Richmond forward Kevin Smith battles Kansas forward Thomas Robinson for the ball. Before Kansas (35-2) filed back to the locker room at halftime — with a 41-22 lead — Self held his players back and waited for Richmond to exit first. He told TBS during a halftime interview that he wanted his players to go through the tunnel after the Spiders. Self said he wasn't after separation at that moment. But on the scoreboard, the Jayhawks already had it. Thomas Robinson had 12 points and 14 rebounds, and Marcus Morris scored 13 for Kansas. The Jayhawks have yet to be tested so far this tournament, winning by an aver- age of nearly 18 points. Kansas is riding an easy-looking path toward the Final Four. The Jayhawks can make it to Houston next week with- out having beaten a seed higher than nine. If that happens, Kansas will join Michigan State in 2001 and North Carolina in 1991 as the only schools to get that far without having to beat a seed higher than nine. And only five teams have reached the Final Four by feasting on teams seeded eighth or lower, according to STATS LLC. One of those schools? The 2008 Jayhawks. That run ended in the Alamodome with Self winning his first title at Kansas. Three years later, the Jayhawks looked every bit at home in San Antonio. When Robinson dunked over a pair of Richmond players to make it 31-9, Kansas players on the bench jumped to their feet and laughed. The Jayhawks shot 48 percent from the floor and made 9 of 19 3-pointers. Kevin Anderson scored 13 points for the Spiders. He and Harper were the only Richmond players in double figures. Anderson, who hit the winning shot to upset Vanderbilt in the tournament opener, averaged 26.2 points in Rich- mond's previous five wins over ranked teams. But the senior was 5 of 17 from the floor in his final game and missed all six of his 3-pointers. The loss stopped Richmond from reaching the first regional final in school history. Coach Chris Mooney sought to inspire his players this week by showing them Rich- mond's stunning win at Allen Fieldhouse in 2004 during Self's first season at Kansas. That win ended Kansas' 52-game home unbeaten streak against unranked opponents. But these Jayhawks never looked in trouble this time. Morningstar was 7 for 11 from the floor, including four 3-pointers. Josh Selby added nine points for Kansas. 11 Marquette 63 2 North Carolina 81 NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — North Carolina is back and put the whole package — offense, defense and toughness — on display while dismantling Marquette. Just a year after missing the NCAA party, the kids from Chapel Hill stole the show at their East Regional semifinal. Tyler Zeller had 27 points and 15 rebounds, and North Carolina took control early for a change, rolling to an 81- 63 victory on Friday night at the Prudential Center. John Henson added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Harrison Barnes added 20 points and six rebounds as the second-seeded Tar Heels (29-7) moved to within a game of reaching the Final Four for the third time in four years. Wow might have been the best word to describe the effort by a team that doesn’t start or really play a senior. The Tar Heels limited No. 11 seed Marquette (22-15) to 15 first-half points while opening a 25-point lead. Those 15 first-half points were the second-fewest allowed by North Carolina in a half in 144 NCAA tournament games, and the Golden Eagles’ 20 percent shooting from the field came on 6-of-30 shooting was the lowest allowed in a half by North Carolina in an NCAA tournament game. Davante Gardner led the Golden Eagles with 16 points and six rebounds. Jimmy Butler added 14 in his final game for a team that three weeks ago looked like it wouldn’t make the tournament after getting blown out by sub .500 Seton Hall in this same building. Marquette, however, played well enough in the Big East Conference tournament to make it in, then knocked off Xavier and fourth-seeded Syracuse to reach the round of 16. Going against North Carolina was a mismatch, at least on Friday. Unlike the ACC tournament when they had to rally from double-digit deficits, the Tar Heels played a physical game against their tough-minded Big East Conference opponent for the opening eight minutes and then took con- trol. Trailing 10-8 with 12:43 to go, North Carolina went on a 19-0 run, forcing Marquette to miss 14 straight shots. The game was just about over at that point. Kendall Marshall started the North Carolina run with a shot in the lane, and Zeller gave the Tar Heels the lead for good, grabbing two offensive rebounds on the same pos- session and putting the second one in. Marshall, who had seven assists, hit another jumper in the lane and then made a crosscourt pass to Henson for an alley-oop dunk that had the powder blue-clad North Car- olina fans jumping out of their seats. When Dexter Strickland hit a jumper on a fastbreak, Marquette coach Buzz Williams called a time out with his team down 18-10. He would call three in the run, sensing his team was losing contact. It just didn’t work. Henson hit two layups, Barnes hit a 3-pointer and Leslie McDonald scored on a rebound follow to push the lead to 27-10 with 4:41 to go in the half. Marquette’s futility finally ended when Butler hit a jumper with 3:54 to go, ending a nearly nine-minute scor- ing drought for the Golden Eagles, who scored five points in the final 12:42 of the half to fall behind 40-15. There was a derisive cheer from the crowd when the ball went in. North Carolina added to Marquette’s misery in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring the first six points to open a 46-15 lead. After the second basket, Williams called another time- out. Strickland then stole the inbound pass and scored on a fastbreak to further embarrass the Golden Eagles. MCT photo North Carolina’s John Henson blocks a shot by Marquette’s Dwight Buycks, Friday night. 11 Virginia Commonwealth 72 10 Florida State 71 OT