Champion Villanova knocked out of NCAA

WISCONSIN 65 VILLANOVA 62

BUFFALO, New York — Top-seeded Villanova was bounced from the NCAA Tournament by eighthseeded Wisconsin, which overcame foul trouble for two of its stars in the second half Saturday to upset the defending champion 65-62 in the East region.

Nigel Hayes scored 19 points, dropping a layup in traffic with 11.4 seconds left to put Wisconsin ahead 64-62, and Bronson Koenig added 17 for the tournament-toughened Badgers (27-9), who are going back to the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight year. They will play next week at New York’s Madison Square Garden after knocking off Villanova (32-4), which never found its traction in snowy Buffalo.

Josh Hart scored 19 to lead the Wildcats, but the senior guard was stripped by Wisconsin centre Ethan Happ on a drive in the final seconds. Wisconsin’s Vitto Brown split a pair of free throws with four seconds left, but Villanova couldn’t get off a final shot.

When the horn sounded, Wisconsin’s red-clad fans erupted in celebration and the Badgers stormed the floor after taking down a No. 1 seed for the third time in four years. Wisconsin beat Arizona in 2014 and Kentucky in 2015.

Flushed with pride, Wisconsin coach Greg Gard hugged his wife and children as the Badgers’ pep band played their hearts out.

For Villanova, it’s a bitter end to a great season by the Big East champions, who came into the tournament expected to at least escape the East’s bracket but had their hopes busted and will have to relish those moments from last year when they won their first title since 1985.

Wildcats coach Jay Wright was concerned about Wisconsin, calling them a “great number eight” seed. As it turned out, the Badgers were more than that.

WEST VIRGINIA 83 FIGHTING IRISH 71

Led by Jevon Carter’s 24 points, the West Virginia Mountaineers outshot the Fighting Irish in an 83-71 win on Saturday to clinch their third Sweet 16 berth since 2010.

“They thought of us as defensive players,” Mountaineers guard Tarik Phillip said. “But the coaching staff instilled a lot of confidence in us, helped us develop our offensive game, and we became pretty good offensive players.”

The Mountaineers topped 80 points for the 18th time, while also breaking the single-season school scoring record set by the Jerry West-led 1958-59 squad. Daxter Miles scored 18 points, and Esa Ahmad had nine rebounds. Carter led the way in matching a season high, while going 8 of 15, including 4 of 5 in 3-pointers.

His last 3-pointer all but finished the fifth-seeded Fighting Irish (26-10) as they attempted one final comeback bid.