SAN JOSE, Calif. (CBS/AP) — Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points while orchestrating Gonzaga’s efficient offense, and the Zags finally shook their overrated tag by routing Xavier 83-59 on Saturday to reach the Final Four for the first time.

Gonzaga (36-1) has been dogged by criticism through the years despite winning consistently, in part for playing in a weak conference but also for never making the Final Four.

On the cusp of history, the Zags took it head on with a superb all-around game to give coach Mark Few the one missing piece of his resume.

Gonzaga found the range from the perimeter after struggling the first three NCAA games, making 12 of 24 from 3-point range. The defense, a soft spot in the past, shut down the underdog and 11th-seeded Musketeers (24-14) to win the West Region.

The Zags will face the winner between South Carolina and Florida in next week’s Final Four in Arizona.

The Musketeers brought their turn-the-page jar of ashes to the NCAA Tournament, where they burned through a string of upsets to reach their third Elite Eight and first since 2008. They beat Maryland, Florida State and took down No. 2 Arizona in the regional semifinals, setting up a matchup of small Jesuit schools seeking their first Final Four.

The Final Four was the only thing missing on Few’s resume, which includes 18 straight NCAA Tournaments, eight trips to the Sweet 16 and a third Elite Eight after surviving West Virginia’s constant pressure in the regional semifinals.

The Zags struggled to find an offensive rhythm against the Mountaineers — who doesn’t? — but had it flowing against Xavier.

Gonzaga came into the Elite Eight hitting 29 percent of its 3-point shots after making 37 percent during the season. The Zags found the range early against Xavier, hitting 8 of 13 from the arc in the first half, mostly against the Musketeers’ zone or on kick-outs from center Przemek Karnowski.

Xavier got off to a good start offensively by working the ball around, but hit a dry spell and made 1 of 5 from 3-point range as Gonzaga stretched to lead to 49-39 by halftime.

Halftime did little to slow the Zags, who pushed the lead to 59-42 on 3-pointers by Williams-Goss and Jordan Mathews. Gonzaga kept the machine rolling in the second half, continuing to make shots while its defense prevented the Musketeers from making any kind of run.

Xavier should have a good foundation next season from its Elite Eight, losing only senior guard Malcolm Bernard from its starting lineup.

Gonzaga played like a No. 1 seed and can erase all those overrated calls now that it is finally in the Final Four.

The first half ended with a strange sequence that started with Gonzaga accidentally knocking the ball into its own basket while fighting for a rebound. RaShid Gaston was credited with the basket after the ball bounced off the floor and the backboard into the basket.

Williams-Goss then hit a floater in the lane and Macura followed with an 80-foot shot that banked in, but was ruled too late after an officials’ review.

Gonzaga faces the winner between South Carolina and Florida in the Final Four. </s> San Jose, Calif. (CBS/AP) — Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points while orchestrating Gonzaga’s efficient offense, and the Zags finally shook their overrated tag by routing Xavier 83-59 on Saturday to reach the Final Four for the first time.

Gonzaga (36-1) has been dogged by criticism through the years despite winning consistently, in part for playing in a weak conference but also for never making the Final Four.

On the cusp of history, the Zags took it head on with a superb all-around game to give coach Mark Few the one missing piece of his resume.

Gonzaga found the range from the perimeter after struggling the first three NCAA games, making 12 of 24 from 3-point range. The defense, a soft spot in the past, shut down the underdog and 11th-seeded Musketeers (24-14) to win the West Region.

The Zags will face the winner between South Carolina and Florida in next week’s Final Four in Arizona. </s> With 33.2 seconds left in Saturday’s game, Xavier cleared the bench. The result was decided. Gonzaga was going to the Final Four for the first time ever.

And the ensuing scene was . . . shall we say, notable. This was a big Zaggy deal. As you could tell by the way Gonzaga’s coach, Mark Few, hugged every man, woman and life form inside SAP Center following the final horn.
• NCAA West Regional final: No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 11 Xavier
• Watch: Bill Murray goes nuts over his son’s Sweet 16 victory in San Jose “I mean, he’s at a small Jesuit school,” said Xavier coach Chris Mack of Few. “And it’s in a league that gets one or two teams to the NCAA tournament. That’s why I took so long in the handshake line. He’s a friend of mine. I’m happy for him.”

All of us in the Pacific Time Zone should be happy for Few. Happy for his team, too. By winning the West Regional at SAP Center on Saturday in an 83-59 romp , the talented and tenacious Bulldogs became the first team from the West to reach the Final Four since 2008 when UCLA did it. Gonzaga is also the first team from the West Coast Conference to reach the Final Four since the University of San Francisco in 1957. That’s right. Sixty years ago.

You might also say the Zags are spearheading a grand 2017 revival of Left Coast basketball, as was proved later Saturday when Oregon defeated Kansas in the Midwest Regional title game. This marks the first time since 1998 (with Stanford and Utah) that the West has sent two teams to the Final Four in the same year.

After Oregon’s victory in Kansas City, Ducks guard Tyler Dorsey pointedly told reporters that too many people have been “sleeping on West Coast” basketball.

That’s not a problem in a certain European country, where basketball fans are staying awake every time Gonzaga plays. Poland is the home nation of 7-foot-1 Bulldogs center Przemek Karnowski, who controls the paint and facilitates the offense for point-producers Johnathan Williams and Nigel Williams-Goss. They’ve all got many followers back in Karnowski’s homeland who postpone their bedtimes to watch his team live on streaming television.

“Today’s game was at 11:10 p.m.,” Karnowski said. “I know a lot of people are watching. They know what the NCAA tournament is. They know what the Final Four is.”

“Polish dogs are served and pretty strong beer,” Few said. “They have a good time at 11 p.m. watching Gonzaga.”

So maybe we can annex Warsaw and Krakow as honorary West Coast cities for the next week.

It definitely does make for an interesting sports bar debate, the idea of West Coast basketball vs. the rest of the country. Once upon a time, during the reign of UCLA as college basketball overlord from 1967-76, the West was totally dominant. Then the region fell into a slump until 1998. Then the West slumped again, with basically just UCLA and Arizona carrying the Pacific Time Zone hoops banner with Gonzaga ascending. Now, you’d have to say the West is defnitely back. But is it by happenstance? Or by plan?

“I don’t know, I think it’s just cyclical,” Few said in pondering the trend. “We’ve certainly been good enough that time to get there and we just didn’t get it done. And these guys did.”

Then he nodded toward his players. Few has had the Zags close so many times before, with five previous trips to the Sweet Sixteen and one to the Elite Eight as recently two years ago. In reflection, Few spoke about how in certain years, a raft of players can leave college early for the NBA draft in other parts of the country but not in the west, and vice versa.

“So it’s luck and breaks and matchups and then just if it’s not your night,” Few said. “The cool thing about our guys, though, is that sometimes we’ve made it our night when it wasn’t.”

Saturday, it was. It definitely was. Let’s not minimize one iota the accomplishment of the Zags in this particular year. To reach the Final Four, they completed a virtual geographic sweep by vanquishing teams from the Summit League (South Dakota State), the Big Ten (Northwestern), the Big 12 (West Virginia) and the Big East (Xavier).

Of these, Saturday’s victory over the Musketeers was easily the most impressive. There were several pregame subplots afoot before tipoff. One was the close friendship of the two head coaches, as Mack mentioned. Another was the fact that Gonzaga and Xavier are private Catholic Jesuit universities with mult-level connections. Xavier’s president, Father Michael Graham, is even on the Gonzaga board of trustees.

But the basketball matchup was the most salient and riveting plot entering Saturday’s game. Gonzaga was the heavy favorite with just one loss on its resume. Xavier with its 13 defeats had been the scrappy underdog that had way overachieved as a No. 11 seed in the West–capped by Thursday night’s big upset of Arizona.

Against Gonzaga, however, the Musketeers never got traction. They threw Mack’s usual grab-bag (or mish mash, if you prefer) of zone defenses at the Bulldogs in hopes of slowing down their offense. Nope. Didn’t happen. As Mack noted, it’s a chore to get an inside-out game going against the Zags. When an opponent drives the lane against them, each of Gonzaga’s big men can protect the middle on his own, with no double-team help from perimeter defenders — which in this case meant that any driving Musketeer could kick out the ball to open teammates out on the three-point line because those teammates were being guarded, too. Xavier only scored 20 points in the second half.

“I don’t think we played our best,” said Xavier’s Mack. “But had we played our best, it still would have been a tough out. They’re really, really good. Sometimes you just lose to a better team. They’ve proven it all year long. They lost one game. They play an incredible schedule. Their record’s their record for a reason.”

Just as the West is best for a reason in 2017. There are good teams out here. The way the bracket shapes up, two of them could meet in the championship game a week from Monday. Don’t be stunned if it happens. </s> Gonzaga players celebrate after beating Xavier, 83-59, to advance to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament on March 25.

Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points while orchestrating Gonzaga's efficient offense, and the Zags finally shook their overrated tag by routing Xavier, 83-59, on Saturday to reach the Final Four for the first time.

Gonzaga (36-1) has been dogged by criticism through the years despite winning consistently, in part for playing in a weak conference but also for never making the Final Four.

On the cusp of history, the Zags took it head on with a superb all-around game to give coach Mark Few the one missing piece of his resume.

Gonzaga found the range from the perimeter after struggling the first three NCAA games, making 12 of 24 from 3-point range. The defense, a soft spot in the past, shut down the underdog and 11th-seeded Musketeers (24-14) to win the West Region.

The Zags will face the winner between South Carolina and Florida in next week's Final Four in Arizona.

The Musketeers brought their turn-the-page jar of ashes to the NCAA Tournament, where they burned through a string of upsets to reach their third Elite Eight and first since 2008. They beat Maryland, Florida State and took down No. 2 Arizona in the regional semifinals, setting up a matchup of small Jesuit schools seeking their first Final Four.

The Final Four was the only thing missing on Few's resume, which includes 18 straight NCAA Tournaments, eight trips to the Sweet 16 and a third Elite Eight after surviving West Virginia's constant pressure in the regional semifinals.

The Zags struggled to find an offensive rhythm against the Mountaineers — who doesn't? — but had it flowing against Xavier.

Gonzaga came into the Elite Eight hitting 29 percent of its 3-point shots after making 37 percent during the season. The Zags found the range early against Xavier, hitting 8 of 13 from the arc in the first half, mostly against the Musketeers' zone or on kick-outs from center Przemek Karnowski.

Xavier got off to a good start offensively by working the ball around, but hit a dry spell and made 1 of 5 from 3-point range as Gonzaga stretched to lead to 49-39 by halftime.

Halftime did little to slow the Zags, who pushed the lead to 59-42 on 3-pointers by Williams-Goss and Jordan Mathews. Gonzaga kept the machine rolling in the second half, continuing to make shots while its defense prevented the Musketeers from making any kind of run. </s> Sean Farnham describes the pride and support the community gives to the Gonzaga basketball program and how coach Mark Few has been able to prove the naysayers wrong. (1:35)

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The criticism dogged Gonzaga wherever it went, no matter how much it won.

The Zags run up their record by beating up on teams in a weak conference, then always seemed to come up short as the calendar went deep into March. Few outside of Spokane believed the program Mark Few helped build from scratch belonged in the national powerhouse conversation.

Overrated no more, Gonzaga is finally headed to the Final Four.

The Zags took the pressure of history head on with a performance worthy of their No. 1 seed, rolling to a dominating 83-59 win over Xavier in the West Region final on Saturday that should silence those critics.

"Just an incredible feeling of elation and satisfaction," Few said. "It's been a long, hard journey to get this program here."

Few and the Zags have won the West Coast Conference Tournament 16 times, been regulars in the NCAA Tournament since 1999, reached the Sweet 16 eight times.

The Final Four was the only missing piece to their resume.

The Zags (36-1) claimed their spot in Arizona and history with a superb all-around game, showing off their usual offensive efficiency while flexing the smothering type of defense that had previously been the chink in their armor.

Gonzaga made 12 of 24 shots from 3-point range after struggling the first three NCAA Tournament games. The Zags were No. 1 in defensive efficiency during the regular season and shut down the underdog and 11th-seeded Musketeers (24-14) to become the first WCC team to reach the Final Four in 60 years.

Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points while orchestrating Gonzaga's efficient offense after struggling against West Virginia. Johnathan Williams added 19 points and center Przemek Karnowski, who was still recovering from back surgery a year ago, created open perimeter looks with his deft passing out of the post.

Now the Zags are headed to the desert, where they'll play the winner between South Carolina and Florida in next week's Final Four.

"The Final Four doesn't validate or discredit a season. It's not an end-all, be-all," Williams said. "Gonzaga has been a great program and we're just happy to keep carrying the torch."

The Musketeers brought their turn-the-page jar of ashes to the NCAA Tournament, where they burned through a string of upsets to reach their third Elite Eight and first since 2008.

Their bid for the program's first Final Four ran into a buzz saw.

Xavier played well offensively early to hang with the Zags, giving super fan Bill Murray and the rest of their supporters a glimmer of hope. Once Gonzaga got rolling, the Musketeers had no answer.

"They're really good. Sometimes you just lose to a better team," Xavier coach Chris Mack said. "They've proven it all year long."

The Zags struggled to find an offensive rhythm against West Virginia in the regional semifinals- who doesn't? -- but had it flowing against Xavier.

After hitting 29 percent of its 3-point shots its first three NCAA games, Gonzaga found the range against Xavier, hitting 8 of 13 from the arc in the first half, mostly against the Musketeers' zone or on kick-outs from Karnowski .

Xavier had a good offensive start, only to hit a dry spell as Gonzaga stretched to lead to 49-39 by halftime.

Halftime did little to slow the Zags, who pushed the lead to 59-42 on 3-pointers by Williams-Goss and Jordan Mathews. Gonzaga kept the machine rolling in the second half, continuing to make shots while its defense prevented the Musketeers from making any kind of run.

"They were just locked in," said Xavier's Trevon Bluiett, who had 10 points. "They were a discipline type of team and we just didn't execute well enough."

BIG PICTURE

Xavier should have a good foundation next season from its Elite Eight, losing only senior guard Malcolm Bernard from its starting lineup.

Gonzaga played like a No. 1 seed and can erase all those overrated calls now that it is finally in the Final Four.

WEST IS WON

Gonzaga is the first WCC team since San Francisco in 1957 to reach the Final Four and first from the West since UCLA did it three straight years from 2006-08.

WILD SEQUENCE

The first half ended with a strange sequence that started with Gonzaga accidentally knocking the ball into its own basket while fighting for a rebound. RaShid Gaston was credited with the basket after the ball bounced off the floor and the backboard into the basket.

Williams-Goss then hit a floater in the lane and J.P. Macura followed with an 80-foot shot that banked in, but was ruled too late after an officials' review.

UP NEXT

Gonzaga faces the winner between South Carolina and Florida in the Final Four next Saturday.

---

For more AP college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-Top25 </s> The Latest on the NCAA Tournament (all times Eastern):

Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points and Johnathan Williams added 19 to send top-seeded Gonzaga to its first Final Four with an 83-59 victory over No. 11 seed Xavier in the West Regional final.

After 19 straight tournament trips, eight Sweet 16 appearances and a third Elite Eight, the Bulldogs (36-1) took the final step with a convincing victory against the overmatched Musketeers.

Gonzaga will play the winner of the game Sunday between South Carolina and Florida next week in the national semifinals.

Halftime did little to slow down Gonzaga’s shooting success.

Nigel Williams-Goss and Jordan Mathews each hit 3-pointers early in the second half to help the top-seeded Bulldogs build a 59-42 lead over No. 11 seed Xavier in the West Regional final.

Gonzaga has hit 10 of 16 3-pointers so far in the game to build the big lead

The Bulldogs are doing the rest on the defensive end where the Musketeers have missed 11 of their last 15 shots from the field.

The get-in-the-door price for tickets to see top-seeded Kansas play third-seeded Oregon for a spot in the Final Four was about $250 about 90 minutes before tipoff.

Folks trying to buy a seat can thank the location for that.

With the Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City about 40 minutes from the Jayhawks’ campus in Lawrence, tickets have been in high demand. Seats in the lower bowl were going for several times that much, according to those scalping tickets in the vicinity of the arena.

Nearby, the Power and Light District of restaurants and bars was packed with fans wearing red and blue colors, making it a veritable road game for the Ducks.

Xavier’s J.P. Macura gave the crowd at the West Regional final a collective gasp when his shot from three-quarters court banked in at the end of the first half of the Musketeers’ game against Gonzaga.

Macura ran off the court in celebration but a replay review determined the shot got off just after the buzzer and the officials waved it off. That sent Gonzaga into the half with a 49-39 lead.

The Bulldogs did most of their damage from deep by hitting eight 3-pointers and adding three more points when Jordan Mathews was fouled on a 3. Josh Perkins hit three from long range, Nigel Williams-Goss had two 3-pointers and three other players hit one.

Williams-Goss leads Gonzaga with 13 points and Johnathan Williams has 12.

Xavier fell behind with a 1-for-9 shooting stretch late in the half against Gonzaga’s tough defense. Trevon Bluiett leads the way with 10 points.

Members of the U.S. soccer team came onto the court at halftime of the West Regional final to be recognized, a day after their 6-0 win over Honduras in World Cup qualifying.

Clint Dempsey, who scored his second career hat trick, waved to fans along with Jozy Altidore, Jermaine Jones, DaMarcus Beasley and a handful of other players, some in shorts, some in sweats.

The U.S. team was scheduled to fly to Panama late Saturday night for Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier in Panama City.

Gonzaga center Przemek Karnowski has taken just one shot but is still making a big impact at the offensive end.

With Xavier sending a second and sometimes third defender at Karnowski almost every time he catches the ball in the post, the Bulldogs have gotten plenty of open looks from 3-point range.

Gonzaga has shot 6 of 11 on 3-pointers so far in the first half to take a 35-29 lead. Two of those 3-pointers came directly off passes from Karnowski.

It’s been a rough weekend so far for Gonzaga star guard Nigel Williams-Goss.

The West Coast Conference player of the year has made just 2 of 7 shots with no assists to start the West Regional final against Xavier. Williams-Goss shot 2 for 10 with five turnovers in the Sweet 16 win over West Virginia.

The Bulldogs have survived the struggles and lead 27-23, thanks a boost from two 3-pointers by Josh Perkins and another from Silas Melson.

Xavier is doing something no one has done all season against Gonzaga: run an efficient offense.

The Musketeers have made 8 of their first 16 shots with only one turnover early in the Elite Eight matchup against the top-seeded Bulldogs. Gonzaga still leads 22-19.

No opponent made half its shots in a game against Gonzaga all season, with San Francisco posting the top mark of 46.9 percent.

In the first three games of the tournament, Gonzaga allowed opponents to shoot just 33.2 percent.

Gonzaga is relying on the outside shot to start the West Regional final against Xavier.

The top-seeded Bulldogs have taken seven of their first eight shots from behind the 3-point line in the opening minutes. They made three of them, including two by Josh Perkins, to take an early 12-10 lead over the Musketeers.

Gonzaga made just four 3-pointers all game in the Sweet 16 win over West Virginia. The Bulldogs were shooting just 29 percent from 3-point range in the NCAA Tournament before today.

Xavier has done all its work closer to the basket, with all seven shots coming inside the arc and five of them at the rim.

With fan favorite Arizona eliminated in the Sweet 16, there are plenty of empty seats at tip off for the West Regional final between top-seeded Gonzaga and No. 11 seed Xavier.

The Wildcats had the biggest contingent on hand Thursday night but lost 73-71 to the Musketeers, leading to the big blocks of empty seats in the top level of SAP Center.

Either Xavier or Gonzaga is about to earn its first Final Four berth in school history.

Gonzaga and Xavier are both making their third appearances in regional finals Saturday, but neither school has ever advanced beyond that stage. They face off Saturday in the West Regional in San Jose, California.

Oregon is meanwhile seeking its first Final Four appearance since its 1939 national championship. Oregon faces Kansas in the Midwest Regional championship at Kansas City, Missouri.

In each of its previous two regional final appearances, Gonzaga lost to the eventual national champion (Connecticut in 1999, Duke in 2015). Xavier lost to Duke in a 2004 regional final and fell to UCLA in a 2008 regional championship.

Oregon lost to Oklahoma in a regional final last year.

For more AP college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25 </s> LAS VEGAS (AP) — Xavier came up just short of the Final Four a year ago, losing to eventual finalist Gonzaga in the Elite Eight.

The Musketeers could be poised to break through this season.

Following one of the best regular seasons in program history, Xavier earned its first NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeding despite losing in the Big East Tournament semifinals.

The Musketeers (28-5) are No. 1 in the West Region and will face the First Four winner between North Carolina Central and Texas Southern on Thursday in Nashville.

Xavier overcame losing point guard Edmond Sumner to a torn ACL midseason to make an improbable run to the Elite Eight a year ago, knocking off Maryland, Florida State and Arizona before losing to the Zags.

Sumner went on to the NBA and athletic guard Trevon Blueitt considered leaving before deciding to stay in Cincinnati for another season.

Blueitt's return was a huge boon to the Musketeers. He averaged 19.5 points and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 42 percent from 3-point range to become one of the front-runners for national player of the year.

Behind Blueitt, Xavier reached the program's highest ranking at No. 3 in the AP Top 25 and set a school record for conference victories with 15 on the way to the Big East regular-season title.

Now, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

CAROLINA CLOSE TO HOME: It's become an NCAA Tournament tradition: North Carolina opening close to home.

The Tar Heels, the No. 2 seed in the West, will face No. 15 seed Lipscomb in Charlotte on Thursday despite losing 10 games.

North Carolina opened last year's NCAA Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina, on the way to the national title and played its first two games in Raleigh in 2016. The Tar Heels are 33-1 in NCAA Tournament games in their home state, the only loss coming in 1979.

North Carolina (25-10), No. 12 in the AP Top 25, tied for third during the ACC regular season at 11-7 and won nine of 11 before losing to top-ranked Virginia in Saturday's ACC title game.

POTENTIAL UPSETS: The West Region has three games that will be popular upset picks.

One comes in Charlotte on Thursday, when No. 10 Providence faces No. 7 Texas A&M. The Friars (23-10) had one of the conference-tournament season's biggest upsets, taking down Xavier in overtime of the Big East semifinals. The Aggies (20-12) have been inconsistent this season, matching the program's highest ranking by reaching No. 5 in the AP Top 25 before going 9-9 through the SEC.

No. 5 seed Ohio State could have its hands full with No. 12 South Dakota State in Boise.

Due to the early start of the Big Ten tournament this season, the Buckeyes (24-8) will have a 12-day gap between games before facing the Summit League-champion Jackrabbits. Ohio State also must find a way to stop South Dakota State's 6-foot-9 forward Mike Daum, the conference player of the year after averaging 23.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game.

Also keep an eye on No. 6 Houston and No. 11 San Diego State in Wichita, Kansas. The Aztecs had some struggles earlier in the season but will carry a nine-game winning streak into the NCAA Tournament after beating New Mexico in the Mountain West Conference Tournament. Houston, No. 21 in the AP Top 25, knocked off Wichita State before losing to Cincinnati by one in the American Athletic Conference title game Sunday.

ZAGS IN BOISE: Gonzaga will have a short trip for its opening game as it tries to get back to the national title game.

The Zags are the No. 4 seed in the West and will open at UNC-Greensboro on Thursday in Boise.

Gonzaga lost key players from last year's national runner-up team, but won the West Coast Conference regular-season title for the 18th time in 19 seasons and crushed BYU to win its sixth straight conference tournament title.

Expect to see a few Zags fans in Boise.

For more AP college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> March 12 (The Sports Xchange) - Defending champion Villanova was the overall top seed and one of four number one seeds in the NCAA basketball tournament field announced on Sunday.

The Wildcats (31-3), who beat Creighton in the Big East tournament championship game on Saturday, will play in the East Regional.

The other number one seeds were Kansas (28-4) in the Midwest, Gonzaga (32-1) in the West and North Carolina (27-7) in the South.

The 68-team NCAA men's tournament, nicknamed March Madness, begins on Tuesday with the championship game on April 3.

Kansas won the Big 12 regular-season championship before being upset by TCU in the conference tournament.

Gonzaga, the West Coast Conference regular-season and tournament champion, lost only to Brigham Young this year.

North Carolina won the Atlantic Coast regular-season title before losing to Duke in the ACC tournament semi-finals.

In the East bracket, the other top four seeds after Villanova were number two Duke (27-8), number three Baylor (25-7) and number four Florida (24-8).

In the West, seeded behind Gonzaga were Arizona (30-4), Florida State (25-8) and West Virginia (26-8).

The South top four seeds included number two Kentucky (29-5), number three UCLA (29-4) and number four Butler (23-8).

In the Midwest, the second through fourth seeds were Louisville (24-8), Oregon (29-5) and Purdue (25-7).

Northwestern (23-11) made the NCAA field for the first time in school history. The Wildcats were the number eight seed in the West Regional. </s> The Final Four is set. And in an unusual bit of geography, it'll be schools from neighboring states out west (Oregon, Gonzaga) against schools from neighboring states in the east (North Carolina, South Carolina).

The national semifinals in Phoenix will feature No. 1 seeds in the Bulldogs and Tar Heels, a No. 3 seed in the Ducks and the surprising 7-seed Gamecocks.

The first game Saturday will be South Carolina-Gonzaga, tipping off at 6:09 p.m. EDT. Oregon-North Carolina will follow roughly 40 minutes after the completion of that game.

For the Tar Heels, it's a record 20th trip to the Final Four. Meanwhile, it's the first Final Four trip for Gonzaga coach Mark Few, Oregon coach Dana Altman and South Carolina coach Frank Martin.

Maye hits late jumper to lift North Carolina to Final Four

Luke Maye hit a jumper with 0.3 seconds left, and top-seeded North Carolina held off Kentucky 75-73 to earn the Tar Heels' second straight trip to the Final Four and 20th all-time in Sunday's showdown of college basketball's elite in the South Regional.

 

 The Tar Heels (31-7) will play Midwest champ Oregon on Saturday in Phoenix in the national semifinal.

 

 North Carolina took control with a 12-0 run within the final 5 minutes. Kentucky's freshmen De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk hit three quick 3s, the last two by Monk and his second with 7.2 seconds left tied it up at 73.

 

 Theo Pinson brought the ball down, passed back to Maye. The sophomore from Huntersville, North Carolina, knocked it down for the win with his feet on the 3-point line.

 

 The Wildcats had one last chance, but Derek Willis' inbound pass went out of bounds on the far end.

 

 Kentucky (32-6) will miss out on the Final Four for the second straight year.

Sindarius Thornwell scored 26 points and South Carolina earned its first trip to the Final Four with a 77-70 victory over Florida on Sunday.

 

 The seventh-seeded Gamecocks (26-10) used their trademark swarming defense and some solid free throw shooting to beat their fellow Southeastern Conference Gators (27-9) in the East Regional final at Madison Square Garden.

 

 South Carolina will face Gonzaga, the No. 1 seed from the West Regional, in the Final Four on Saturday at Glendale, Arizona.

 

 The game was as close as expected until the final minute. There were 14 lead changes and 10 ties. The last lead change came on two free throws by Thornwell with 2:24 left that made it 65-63. Florida managed just three field goals over the final 3:55.

Gonzaga beats Xavier 83-59 to reach first Final Four

Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points while orchestrating Gonzaga's efficient offense, and the Zags finally shook their overrated tag by routing Xavier 83-59 on Saturday to reach the Final Four for the first time.

 

 Gonzaga (36-1) has been dogged by criticism through the years despite winning consistently, in part for playing in a weak conference but also for never making the Final Four.

 

 On the cusp of history, the Zags took it head on with a superb all-around game to give coach Mark Few the one missing piece of his resume.

 

 Gonzaga found the range from the perimeter after struggling the first three NCAA games, making 12 of 24 from 3-point range. The defense, a soft spot in the past, shut down the underdog and 11th-seeded Musketeers (24-14) to win the West Region.

 

 The Zags will face South Carolina in next week's Final Four in Arizona.

Oregon is in the Final Four.

 

 Tyler Dorsey scored 27 points and Jordan Bell was two blocks away from a triple-double as Oregon upset No. 1 seed Kansas 74-60 in the Midwest Regional final.

 

 Joining Oregon in the Final Four is Gonzaga, which trounced Xavier 83-59 in the West Regional championship.

 

 Two more Final Four invitations go out Sunday. North Carolina takes on Kentucky in the South Region, and South Carolina meets Florida in an all-Southeastern Conference East Region final.

Oregon watched an 18-point lead get whittled to 66-57, but time was on the Ducks' side as they held on against Kansas to advance to the Final Four in Arizona. They will face off with the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday.
The first two places in the Final Four are decided. In the West Region in San Jose, California, Gonzaga defeats Xavier 83–59, advancing to the first Final Four in the program's history.