NCAA Latest: Michigan, Loyola In Final Four; Bluebloods Next
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The bluebloods will take center stage Sunday to determine the last two entrants in the Final Four.
No. 1 seed Kansas and No. 2 seed Duke will face off in the Midwest Region final in the only region that got its top two seeds to the regional final. Duke has won five national titles and Kansas has won three NCAA Tournament titles.
In the other Elite Eight game, No. 1 seed Villanova will face No. 3 seed Texas Tech in the East Region final. Villanova won national titles in 1985 and 2016. Texas Tech, the outlier in Sunday's action, is in the Elite Eight for the first time.
Two of the slots have already been filled.
Loyola-Chicago, a No. 11 seed out of the Missouri Valley Conference, defeated No. 9 seed Kansas State 78-62 in the South Region final. Loyola will face Michigan, a 58-54 winner over Florida State in the West Region final.
Michigan
Mighty Michigan is rolling all the way back to the Final Four.
Charles Matthews scored 17 points and Michigan earned its first Final Four berth since 2013 with a 58-54 victory over Florida State on Saturday night in the West Region final.
Moe Wagner scored 12 points as the Wolverines (32-7) earned their 13th consecutive victory by persevering through a defense-dominated second half and holding off a late charge from the Seminoles, who had already knocked off three higher-seeded teams in the NCAA Tournament.
Michigan advanced to San Antonio next weekend to face the underdog heroes of Loyola-Chicago (32-5), who stunned the sport by winning the South Region.
Phil Cofer scored 16 points for the ninth-seeded Seminoles (23-13), who knocked off three higher-seeded opponents on their school's longest NCAA Tournament run since 1993.
Loyola-Chicago
Loyola-Chicago continued its improbable postseason run, beating Kansas State 78-62 on Saturday night to advance to its first Final Four in 55 years.
Extending its winning streak to 14 games, Loyola enjoyed strong shooting against a Kansas State team which relied on strong defense in the NCAA Tournament.
Led by Ben Richardson's 23 points, the Ramblers shot 57.4 percent from the field in the NCAA South regional final. Richardson made six of seven 3-pointers.
Loyola will play in its first Final Four since 1963, when the Ramblers won their only championship. Kansas State was denied its attempt to return to the Final Four for the first time since 1964.
The Ramblers took a big lead of 23 points in the first matchup of No. 11 and No. 9 seeds in a regional final.
As the No. 11 seed, Loyola matches the lowest seed to play in the Final Four. Louisiana State (1986), George Mason (2006) and VCU (2011) also were No. 11 seeds.
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