Sporting News' team of college basketball writers provide instant analysis of Friday's Sweet 16 games in the NCAA Tournament:
South Region: No. 1 Kentucky 102, No. 4 Indiana 90Box score
DeCourcy column on Kentucky's two big shifts
ATLANTA With 6:15 left in the first half, Kentucky coach John Calipari noticed forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist being left unguarded on the right wing as the Wildcats gradually advanced the ball. He also was well aware it had been awhile since MKG had played at the level that made him a Sporting News second-team All-American.
In first two NCAA Tournament games, Kidd-Gilchrist scored a combined 11 points, and that was on top of a five-point clunker in the SEC Tournament final against Vanderbilt. So Calipari shouted to point guard Marquis Teague and essentially called no more complicated a play than: Get MKG the ball.
Kidd-Gilchrist caught it and stuck a 14-foot jumper, and that simple act seemed to reinvigorate him. Next time down, he drove for a tough reverse later up. He fought for a tough offensive rebound a minute later that earned him two free throws. Inside the final two minutes, he scored on a strong drive and later pinned reserve Tom Pritchard in the post and scored on a sizzling spin move, drawing a foul he turned into a three-point play.
He scored all 11 of his first-half points in the final 6:08 all with All-American center Anthony Davis sitting on the bench waiting for his chance to play again.
Kidd-Gilchrist continued his assault on the Hoosiers throughout the second half. He finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds. He made 10-of-10 from the line, part of a record free throw performance for the Wildcats. Their 35-of-37 shooting represents a 94.6 percentage that is the best in tournament history for a minimum of 30 attempts.
He was again the player he d been through so much of the regular season: attacking relentlessly, never yielding ground. He was MKG, again.
Mike DeCourcy
Midwest: No. 2 Kansas 60, No. 11 N.C. State 57Box score
ST. LOUIS Thomas Robinson had 18 points and 15 rebounds, Jeff Withey blocked 10 shots to finish one shy of the NCAA Tournament record, and Kansas held.
The Jayhawks (30-6) advanced to play top-seeded North Carolina for a spot in the Final Four when Richard Howell's off-balanced heave at the buzzer came up well short.
Elijah Johnson added 11 points for the Jayhawks, including a layup off an inbound pass from Tyshawn Taylor with 13.5 seconds remaining that gave them a calming cushion. N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried called a timeout to set up a play, but Scott Wood stepped out of bounds while fielding a cross-court pass with 5 seconds left that kept one of the nation's best 3-point shooters from getting off a shot.
C.J. Leslie had 18 points for the Wolfpack (24-13), despite sitting much of the second half with four fouls. Wood finished with 12 points on 2-for-10 shooting.
Midwest: No. 1 North Carolina 73, No. 13 Ohio 65 (OT)Box score
ST. LOUIS North Carolina, playing without injured star point guard Kendall Marshall, couldn't control the ball or the tempo but ultimately found a way to hold off the upstart Ohio Bobcats in overtime.
North Carolina almost became the second No. 1 seed to fall in as many nights, less than 24 hours after Louisville took out Michigan State in the West Region. Instead, the Tar Heels advance to Sunday's Elite Eight game against the N.C. State-Kansas winner.
Ohio forced 24 turnovers, but it wasn't freshman backup point guard Stilman White who was the main culprit. Center Tyler Zeller and forward Harrison Barnes each had five turnovers apiece.
"Probably the ugliest win I've ever been a part of," UNC's Reggie Bullock said. "But we won the game and, hopefully, we'll do better on Sunday."
Zeller and Barnes compensated for their turnovers woes but putting the ball in the basket. Zeller had a team-high 20 points and 22 rebounds for UNC. Barnes scored five of his 12 in overtime.
Guard Walter Offutt hit 6-of-10 3-pointers and led Ohio with 26 points before fouling out with 38 seconds left in overtime. Nick Kellogg and star D.J. Cooper also hit double figures, although Cooper struggled mightily (3-of-20 shooting).
South: No. 3 Baylor 75, No. 10 Xavier 70Box score
DeCourcy's instant analysis
ATLANTA Quincy Acy is Baylor s heart. The punctuation mark on Acy s brilliant night was not one of his thundering dunks and he had some beauties but rather his decision to step up in the lane and deny the path of Xavier junior guard Mark Lyons to the rim.
Baylor was up 60-50 with 3:45 left, and a Musketeers score there might have been the impetus for a strong final push. But Lyons made up his mind too early, and Acy knew it, and he set himself firmly to accept a charge. Lyons was flying so high it appeared as though his sneakers hit Acy in the chest.
This was one of those don t-show-up-in-the-box-score contributions for Acy, but he had plenty of others that were tangible. Acy was credited with 20 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and shot 8-of-11 from the floor all of that despite being mostly guarded by 7-foot center Kenny Frease.
Mike DeCourcy
Saturday's Elite Eight matchupsWest: Louisville (29-9) vs. Florida (26-10), 4:30 p.m. Fagan column
East: Syracuse (34-2) vs. Ohio State (30-7), 7:05 p.m. Deveney column
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