The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Arkansas, Houston send No. 1 seeds to sidelines
For 40 frenzied minutes, JD Notae, Jaylin Williams and Arkansas played a maddening, muscular style on both ends that took Gonzaga out of its game — and right out of the NCAA Tournament.
Notae scored 21 points despite missing 20 shots and the determined, fourthseeded Razorbacks dashed the No. 1 overall seed Bulldogs’ title hopes with a 74-68 win in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night in San Francisco.
“We’ve been disrespected the whole year, so it’s just another thing for us,” Williams said. “We saw everything they were saying; we felt like they were dancing before the game. That was disrespect for us. We just came into the game playing hard and we had a chip on our shoulder.”
When the final buzzer sounded, Notae tossed the game ball into the air, while Williams flexed and roared near midcourt. Coach Eric Musselman made his way into the stands to find his mother, Kris, for a celebratory embrace after she watched her son in person for the first time coaching the Razorbacks.
Notae finished with six rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Razorbacks (28-8), who reached the Elite Eight for a second straight year and will face second-seeded Duke today, hoping to deny retiring coach Mike Krzyzewski one last trip to the Final Four.
No. 2 Duke 78, No. 3 Texas Tech 73:
Two key defensive stops and two late baskets by Jeremy Roach moved Krzyzewski within one victory of his record-setting 13th trip to the Final Four with a win over Texas Tech in San Francisco.
Roach hit two jumpers during a 7-0 run as the steady sophomore came through in the clutch for a second straight game to send second-seeded Duke (31-6) into an Elite Eight matchup against Arkansas.
Paolo Banchero led Duke with 22 points, Mark Williams scored 16 and Roach added 15 as the Blue Devils made their final eight shots from the field to hold off thirdseeded Texas Tech (27-10) and give Coach K his 100th NCAA Tournament victory.
South No. 5 Houston 72, No. 1 Arizona 60:
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson gritted his teeth and raised his arms before emphatically pounding his right fist into his left hand 11 times while celebrating with ecstatic Cougars fans who were not too far from home in San Antonio.
Another No. 1 seed is out, and Houston is one win away from playing in its second straight Final Four after leading throughout in a victory over Arizona in an NCAA South Regional semifinal.
Jamal Shead, a 19-year-old
second-year guard, scored a career-high 21 points and experienced guard Kyler Edwards had 19 points with five 3-pointers.
The No. 5 seed Cougars (325) will face second-seeded Villanova in the South Region final today in San Antonio.
No. 2 Villanova 63, No. 11 Michigan 55: The Villanova Wildcats have made quite a second home for themselves in the Alamo City, where they won a national championship in 2018 and are carving a path toward another.
Jermaine Samuels scored 22 points, Collin Gillespie scored 12 and made a key 3-pointer late, and Villanova controlled Michigan in a Sweet 16 victory.
Samuels and Gillespie were freshmen in that title run a few years ago. Now, they are grizzled veterans and longtime starters who are still around because of the extra season of eligibility due to the pandemic.
They’re also the driving force for second-seeded Villanova (28-7), which advanced to the South Region final, where it will face No. 5 seed Houston.