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Underdogs take a break
as 'Elite Eight' finalized
By The Associated Press
Round Two, Day Two
The favorites finally had their way in the NCAAs.
No. 1-seeded teams Maryland and Kansas, along with second-seeded
Connecticut and Oregon, won Friday night to move into the final eight,
stemming the run of stunners in the tournament.
Even with All-American Juan Dixon held to four points over the final 14
minutes, Maryland defeated fourth-seeded Kentucky 78-68 to reach the East
Regional final.
Maryland's opponent Sunday will be UConn, which stopped 11th-seeded
Southern Illinois' upset run by beating the Salukis 71-59.
Kansas held Frank Williams to 15 points and beat No. 4-seeded Illinois
73-69. The Illini eliminated the Jayhawks in the round of 16 last year as
Williams scored 30.
Now Kansas which has never been to the Final Four as a No. 1 seed under
coach Roy Williams will play Oregon in the Midwest Regional final Sunday.
Oregon beat sixth-seeded Texas 72-70 on Freddie Jones' basket with 2.8
seconds left.
In Saturday's regional finals, it will be Indiana against Kent State in
the South, and Oklahoma against Missouri in the West.
On Thursday, fifth-seeded Indiana knocked off defending national champion
Duke, while 10th-seeded Kent State beat Pittsburgh. No. 12 Missouri became
the lowest seeded team to reach a regional final by beating UCLA.
Midwest Regional
At Madison, WI
Kansas 73, Illinois 69
Aaron Miles held Williams in check and scored 13 points as part of an
outstanding effort by three Kansas freshmen.
Keith Langford scored 15 points, including two free throws with 2.8
seconds left that sealed the victory, and Wayne Simien added seven points
and six rebounds for the Jayhawks (32-3). Big 12 player of the year Drew
Gooden had 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Robert Archibald had 15 points and 10 rebounds for fourth-seeded Illinois
(26-9).
Oregon 72, Texas 70
Jones' winning layup was just his second basket of the night for Oregon
(26-8), which hadn't won three games in the same NCAA tournament since it
won the national title in 1939.
Sixth-seeded Texas (22-12) was down 41-28 at halftime, but the Longhorns
used a 13-0 run highlighted by Brian Boddicker's three 3-pointers to
pull even at 51 with about 12 minutes to play.
Still, for every Texas run, the Lukes as in Luke Jackson and Luke
Ridnour seemed to have an answer.
Jackson led the Ducks with 25 points, and Ridnour added 20, carrying the
team for stretches while Jones, who had been averaging 18.6 points,
struggled.
James Thomas led Texas with 15 points, including an inside basket that
tied it at 70 with 23.2 seconds left.
East Regional
At Syracuse, NY
Maryland 78, Kentucky 68
Despite a quiet second half from Dixon, Maryland moved within a victory
of its second straight Final Four.
Maryland (29-4) beat UConn 77-65 in Washington on Dec. 3.
Dixon, the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year, finished with 19
points.
Maryland's 16th victory in 17 games ended the up-and-down season of
fifth-seeded Kentucky (22-10), which got only 17 points from senior star
Tayshaun Prince 24 fewer than he scored in a second-round victory over
Tulsa.
Connecticut 71, Southern Illinois 59
Caron Butler scored 19 points, and Emeka Okafor provided big plays at
both ends to put 1999 national champion UConn back in the final eight.
Led by transfer Rolan Roberts, who scored 24 points, the Salukis hung
around, despite trailing by as many as 12 points. The Salukis surprised No.
6 Texas Tech and No. 3 Georgia in the first two rounds.
UConn (27-6) held the Salukis to 1-of-14 on 3-pointers.
Copyright 2001
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
02/23/2007 10:46:33 AM
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