Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
SUNDAY’S ROUNDUP
SOUTH Kentucky 65, Wichita State 62:
Bam Adebayo had a doubledouble and swatted away the final shot as the Wildcats (31-5) sent the Shockers (31-5) to yet another second-round heartbreak.
The youngest team in the tournament grew up in the closing minutes. Kentucky’s freshman trio did it all.
Adebayo had 13 points and 10 rebounds. De’Aaron Fox had 14 points, including a late steal and dunk. Malik Monk blocked a shot and made a pair of free throws in the final 13 seconds. Adebayo clinched it by blocking Landry Shamet’s 3-point shot at the buzzer.
Kentucky is in the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in nine years.
North Carolina 72, Arkansas 65:
Kennedy Meeks had 16 points and a huge tip-in with 44.2 seconds left to help the Tar Heels barely avoid a huge upset by rallying to beat the Razorbacks.
Justin Jackson added 15 points for North Carolina (29-7), including the dunk that capped a game-closing 12-0 run to help the Tar Heels survive a wild game.
North Carolina led by 17 points after a dominating start, blew that lead and trailed 65-60 with about 31⁄2 minutes left then came up with a response befitting its veteran experience.
Isaiah Hicks came up big late, too, with a dunk and four free throws in the final 2 minutes to help UNC survive.
Daryl Macon scored 19 points to lead Arkansas (26-10).
MIDWEST Michigan 73, Louisville 69:
Moe Wagner scored a careerhigh 26 points and spurred a furious second-half rally to send the Wolverines into the Sweet 16.
Michigan (26-11) has 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, Mo., 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.
Trailing 45-36 with 16:09 to play, Wagner 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, Michigan led the rest of the way.
Kansas 90, Michigan State 70:
Josh Jackson scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half to help the Jayhawks pull away late and reach the Sweet 16 for a second straight year.
Frank Mason III added 20 points for Kansas (30-4), which has 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.
Miles Bridges scored 22 points to lead Michigan State (20-15) despite leaving briefly in the first half with an injury. Nick Ward also finished in double figures with 13 points and Joshua Langford had 10 for the Spartans.
Oregon 75, Rhode Island 72:
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 the Ducks rallied in the second half to beat the rams and reach the Midwest Regional.
Dorsey also tied the game with a 3 with 1:45 remaining on the way to 27 points before teammate Dillon Brooks took a charge on the other end for Oregon (31-5).
With Oregon’s season on the brink of an early tournament exit, Brooks found his shooting stroke as he typically does and scored 19 points despite a 7-for-20 shooting day.
Dorsey connected on 9 of 10 shots, including four 3-pointers.
Rhode Island nearly scrapped and hustled its way into the next round, with Stanford Robinson matching his career high of 21 points.
The Rams (25-10) had their nine-game winning streak snapped to end the season.