Phil Booth, left, and Jalen Brunson of the Villanova Wildcats celebrate defeating the Texas Tech Red Raiders to advance to the Final Four at TD Garden in Boston, Mass., on March 25, 2018.Elsa
The Final Four will feature three teams that need no introduction and one from out of nowhere.
Although this year's NCAA Tournament produced the biggest upset in the history of the event along with a seemingly endless string of unexpected results, the season's last weekend will look a lot like it has over the past handful of years.
In one of Saturday's semi-finals, it's a barnburner of a matchup between top-seeded programs with rich histories: Villanova vs. Kansas.
In the other, it's an upstart vs. another school that knows this road: No. 11 Loyola-Chicago vs. No. 3 Michigan.
Remarkable as Loyola's run has been, this will mark the fifth time in the past six seasons that three teams seeded 1 through 4 have been joined by another seeded 7 or higher.
Villanova 71, Texas Tech 59
The Wildcats will have a chance at their second national championship in three seasons, courtesy of a 71-59 win over Texas Tech in Sunday's East regional final.
Jalen Brunson led the Wildcats (34-4) with 15 points. Eric Paschall finished with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
Donte DiVincenzo and Mikal Bridges each added 12 points.
Villanova came into the game with 44 three-pointers for the tournament. It had four threes in Sunday's win, but it was their defence that stood out in this one.
The Wildcats outrebounded the Red Raiders 51-33, including grabbing 31 defensive rebounds. They also had six steals.
Keenan Evans led Texas Tech with 12 points.
Villanova led 36-23 at the half, holding the Red Raiders to a season-low for first half points.
The Red Raiders (27-10) were playing in their first Elite Eight and came out on fire, notching and early 9-1 lead. They got as close as 56-51 with less than five minutes to play, but Villanova closed the game on a 15-8 run.
Kansas 85, Duke 81 (OT)
Malik Newman and top-seeded Kansas got past their Elite Eight road block on Sunday, knocking off second-seeded Duke 85-81 in overtime in a thrilling Midwest Region finale that clinched the Jayhawks' first trip to the Final Four since 2012.
Newman scored all 13 of the Jayhawks' points in overtime and finished with a career-high 32 to lead Kansas (31-7). The Jayhawks will face fellow top seed Villanova in San Antonio on Saturday after snapping a two-game losing skid in the regional finals.
This was college basketball at its best – two blue bloods trading blows for 45 minutes in what was arguably the best game of the tournament so far, one that featured 18 lead changes and 11 ties. But Newman drilled his fifth and final three from the corner to make it 81-78 with 1:49 left. Newman followed with four straight free throws, and the Jayhawks defence stiffened enough to knock the favoured Blue Devils out of the tournament.
Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ says Toronto’s decision to name him opening day starter is a vote of confidence from the club. The Jays open their season at home on March 29.
The Canadian Press