More from March Madness: Kentucky advances to the Sweet 16, holding off Wichita State 65-62. Wichita State finishes 31-5.
indianapolis» Bam Adebayo timed it perfectly, slapping the shot away with his right hand less than a second before the buzzer sounded. For the 13th game in a row, Kentucky’s fabulous freshmen had their hands all over another win.
And the Wildcats moved right into the Sweet 16.
The youngest team in March Madness grew up in the closing minutes on Sunday and sent Wichita State to yet another second-round heartbreak, 6562 in the NCAA Tournament .
“They’re young, but they have a will to win and play with courage and are skilled basketball players and great kids who share,” coach John Calipari said.
The freshman trio made all of the significant plays in the final minutes.
De’Aaron Fox had 14 points, including a late steal and dunk. Malik Monk blocked a shot and made two free throws in the final 13 seconds. Adebayo had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and he finished it off by swatting away Landry Shamet’s 3-point attempt as it left his hand with less than a second left.
“He pump-faked, and I knew he had to shoot it so I just went up and tried to block it,” Adebayo said. As simple as that. Kentucky (31-5) moved into the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in nine years. The Shockers (31-5) were wiping away tears after another crushing secondround loss.
(3) UCLA 79, (6) Cincinnati 67
B sacramento, calif.» Lonzo Ball scored 18 points to lead all five UCLA starters in double figures as the Bruins rallied from a threepoint halftime deficit to advance.
(1) North Carolina 72, (7) Arkansas 65 B
greenville, s.c.» Kennedy Meeks had 16 points and a huge tip-in with 44.2 seconds left to help North Carolina barely avoid a huge upset.