The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Michigan upsets second-seeded Louisville
Moe Wagner scored a careerhigh 26 points and spurred a furious second-half rally to send Michigan past secondseeded Louisville 73-69 on Sunday in Indianapolis and into the Sweet 16.
The seventh-seeded Wolverines (26-11) have won seven straight — six since a frightening plane accident before the Big Ten Tournament. They also earned a ticket to the Midwest Regional in Kansas City, Missouri, their first since 2014.
Donovan Mitchell scored 19 points and Deng Adel had 16 points to lead Louisville (25-9), which had made the Sweet 16 in its last four NCAA Tournament appearances.
But Wagner bailed out the Wolverines from a poor game.
Trailing 45-36 with 16:09 to play, the German native scored on a layup to start a 17-6 run that gave Michigan its first lead since the opening minutes. And after Wagner’s 3-pointer broke a 55-55 tie with 6:39 to go, the Wolverines led the rest of the way. KANSAS 90, MICHIGAN STATE 70>> At Tulsa, Oklahoma, Josh Jackson scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half to help Kansas pull away late and reach the Sweet 16 for a second straight year with a 90-70 victory over Michigan State on Sunday.
Frank Mason III added 20 points for the top-seeded Jayhawks (30-4), who have advanced to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament in nine of coach Bill Self’s 14 seasons.
Devonte’ Graham added 18 points and Landen Lucas had 10 for the Jayhawks, who shot
53.1 percent (34 of 64) in the win.
South region
KENTUCKY 65, WICHITA STATE 62 >> At Indianapolis, Bam Adebayo had a double-double and swatted away the final shot on Sunday as Kentucky sent Wichita State to yet another second-round heartbreak, 6562 in the South region.
The youngest team in the NCAA Tournament grew up in the closing minutes. NORTH CAROLINA 72, ARKANSAS 65 >> At Greenville, South Carolina, Kennedy Meeks had 16 points and a huge tip-in with 44.2 seconds left to help North Carolina barely avoid a huge upset.
Justin Jackson added 15 points for the Tar Heels (297), including the dunk that capped a game-closing 12-0 run by the South Region’s No. 1 seed to help it survive a wild game.
Midwest region
OREGON 75, RHODE ISLAND 72 >> At Sacramento, California, Tyler Dorsey hit a contested go-ahead 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 38.4 seconds to play, E.C. Matthews airballed a long 3 in the waning moments trying to force overtime, and third-seeded Oregon rallied in the second half to beat upstart No. 11 Rhode Island.