Kentucky's Knight sinks Ohio State

Brandon Knight did it again.

So did Ohio State.

The Kentucky freshman guard added to the Buckeyes' March misery by knocking down his second game-winner of the postseason, a 15-footer with 5 seconds left to lift the Wildcats to a 62-60 victory on Friday in the East regional semifinals in Newark, N.J.

Kentucky (28-8) will face North Carolina on Sunday for a trip to the Final Four.

"When it comes to crunch time, couple seconds left, the game is on the line, I just try to make good decisions," Knight said.

Regardless of how the previous 39 minutes went. Knight missed seven of his first nine shots and spent most of the night getting hounded by Ohio State counterpart Aaron Craft.

It hardly mattered in the end.

Ohio State's Jon Diebler hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 60 with 21 seconds remaining, but rather than call timeout Kentucky coach John Calipari opted to trust his players.

Knight, who knocked down a game-winner in Kentucky's second-round win over Princeton, drove to his right then knocked down a silky 15-foot jumper.

"I think Brandon does it on purpose," said Kentucky guard Doron Lamb. "I think he misses every shot in the first half then hits the game winner. If he keeps hitting the game-winner we'll take that."

Ohio State rushed down the floor, but William Buford’s 3-pointer clanked off the rim and the rebound was tapped out of harm’s way.

Senior center Josh Harrellson held his own against Ohio State super freshman Jared Sullinger, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds as the Wildcats sent the seemingly dominant Buckeyes home early again. The loss marked the third straight year the Buckeyes failed to advance to the regional final.

Ohio State coach Thad Matta has called this team a special one capable of getting the program back to the Final Four for the first time since 2007. Yet it ended with the Buckeyes trudging off the floor in disbelief.

Kentucky, which struggled to win close games earlier in the season, rushed onto the floor as the buzzer sounded. DeAndre Liggins, like Harrellson a leftover from Billy Gillispie’s days at Kentucky, hopped atop a table and pounded his chest as Knight stood at halfcourt and soaked in the moment.

Sullinger led Ohio State (34-3) with 21 points and 16 rebounds, but the Buckeyes fell in the regional semifinals for a second straight season. Sullinger said in the aftermath he expects to return for his sophomore year, if only to wash out the taste of a bitter end to an otherwise spectacular season.

“I’m definitely coming back next year,” Sullinger said. “I need to work on a lot of things. I have to come back. I’m coming back to win.”

North Carolina 81, Marquette 63: Tyler Zeller had 27 points and 15 rebounds, and North Carolina left no doubt that it’s back with a dismantling of Marquette.

John Henson added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Harrison Barnes added 20 points and 6 rebounds as the second-seeded Tar Heels (29-7) moved to within a game of reaching the Final Four for the third time in four years with a dominate effort on both ends of the court.

This latest success comes a year after the Tar Heels failed to make the NCAA tournament.

The Tar Heels showed the whole package at the Prudential Center, limiting No. 11 seed Marquette (22-15) to 15 first-half points while opening a 25-point lead.

Davante Gardner led the Golden Eagles with 16 points and six rebounds.

SOUTHWEST

VCU 72, Florida State 71: At San Antonio, Bradford Burgess made a layup off an inbounds pass with 7.1 seconds left and Jamie Skeen blocked a shot at the buzzer, giving Virginia Commonwealth a victory over Florida State.

In the first NCAA tournament game between teams seeded 10 and 11, the lower seeded Rams blew a nine-point lead by scoring only three points in the final 7:37 of regulation. They never trailed by more than four all night, but found themselves down 71-70 when Burgess scored the kind of basket that will live in NCAA tournament lore.

The Rams (27-11) are among the final eight for the first time. Having already ousted high-profile programs from the Pac-10 (Southern Cal), Big East (Georgetown), Big Ten (Purdue) and now the ACC, they will try adding the Big 12 to their hit list, facing top-seeded Kansas.

Kansas 77, Richmond 57: Brady Morningstar scored 18 points and Kansas (35-2)played like a dominant No. 1 seed in a historic NCAA regional full of underdogs, beating 12th-seeded Richmond.

The Spiders (29-8) looked jittery in the school’s second round-of-16 appearance.