CLEVELAND — Guard Andrew Harrison hit two free throws with six seconds remaining and the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats advanced to the Final Four with a 68-66 victory over the third-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Midwest Regional final on Saturday night.
Kentucky (38-0) will face Wisconsin (35-3) in the national semifinals next Saturday.
Forward Karl-Anthony Towns led Kentucky with 25 points and guard Devin Booker added 10.
Notre Dame (32-6) was led by forward Zach Auguste with 20 points and guard Steve Vasturia with 16.
Guard Jerian Grant’s 3-pointer gave Notre Dame a 66-64 lead with 2:35 remaining before Towns’ basket tied the score with 1:12 left.
After a Notre Dame shot clock violation with 33 seconds remaining, Andrew Harrison drove to the basket, was fouled and calmly made both free throws.
Grant’s desperation 3-pointer from the corner missed and the Wildcats, who rallied from a 61-56 deficit with 5:22 remaining, survived.
The score was tied 31-31 at halftime.
The first half was tight throughout, with 13 lead changes and 10 ties. Kentucky’s biggest lead was 2-0 and Notre Dame’s biggest was 26-22 late in the half.
Forward Bonzie Colson’s three-point play with 25 seconds remaining in the first half gave the Irish a 31-29 lead, but Wildcats forward Trey Lyles’ tip-in beat the buzzer to tie it.
Kentucky was 10 of 12 at the free-throw line and Notre Dame made all four of its foul shots in the opening half.
The Wildcats were coming off a 78-39 rout of West Virginia in the semifinals, a game they put away with a 16-0 run early in the first half. But they ran into much more resistance from the Irish.
NOTES: Kentucky G Aaron Harrison started despite dislocating his left ring finger Thursday. He was injured diving for a loose ball. … Notre Dame finished 14-4 in the ACC after winning six conference games last season. … The Wildcats are the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament for the 12th time. … Notre Dame defeated Kentucky 64-50 in the last meeting in 2012. … The Irish’s winning streak included three victories in the ACC tournament and NCAA wins over Northeastern and Butler.
Wisconsin 85, Arizona 78
LOS ANGELES — Forward Frank Kaminsky scored 29 points and top-seeded Wisconsin advanced to the Final Four again with an 85-78 victory over second-seeded Arizona in the NCAA West Regional championship game on Saturday at the Staples Center.
Forward Sam Dekker scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half as the Badgers (35-3) eliminated the Wildcats in the regional final for the second year in a row.
Forwards Brandon Ashley and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson scored 17 points apiece to lead the Wildcats (34-4), who had their 14-game winning streak snapped.
The Badgers benefited from 3-point shooting in the second half and advanced to their second straight Final Four. It’s the first time in school history that Wisconsin has appeared in back-to-back Final Fours.
Wisconsin converted 12 of 18 shots from 3-point range, 10 of those coming in the second half. Arizona managed just 2 of 6 on 3-pointers.
The Badgers dictated the action in the second half before the Wildcats made a late run. A 3-pointer by guard Gabe York brought Arizona within 76-71 with 2:22 remaining, but Dekker answered with a 3-pointer 30 seconds later.
Arizona sliced the margin to five again but got no closer.
Wisconsin used a 14-3 run to open the second half for a 44-36 advantage after forward Duje Dukan’s 3-pointer with 16:38 left. Arizona cut the deficit to 44-42 after McConnell scored on a drive with 14:59 remaining.
After a tip-in by Hollis-Jefferson pulled Arizona within 50-48, Wisconsin scored seven straight points, capped by a Kaminsky layup for a nine-point cushion with 10:55 remaining.
The Badgers pushed the lead to double digits (62-51) on a layup by guard Josh Gasser with 8:49 left.
Wisconsin started strong. The Badgers bolted to a 10-2 lead after a 3-point basket by Gasser less than four minutes into the game. However, the Wildcats bounced back, using their defensive pressure to spark a 12-4 surge.
A jumper by Ashley tied the score at 14 with 9:07 remaining in the first half. The Wildcats grabbed their first lead on a bucket by York with 3:18 left.
At the break, Arizona led 33-30.
Kaminsky scored 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field in the first half to lead all scorers. He also had five rebounds.
Hollis-Jefferson paced the Wildcats with eight points.
Arizona outshot Wisconsin 54.5 percent to 38.5 percent from the floor. The Wildcats committed six turnovers to four for the Badgers in the first half.
NOTES: Wisconsin has won five of seven meetings between the schools. … The Wildcats led the nation in free throw attempts (944) entering the game and ranked second in makes (672). … Arizona has a 9-1 record and Wisconsin is 17-2 against tournament teams this year. … Wisconsin G Josh Gasser played 109 minutes in the tournament with only one turnover entering Saturday’s game.