Iowa's underdog run continues
No. 9 seed eliminates Nebraska; Purdue, Illinois, Arizona advance
Nebraska guard Sam Hoiberg, left, loses the ball to Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras during the second half of their
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT| SWEET 16
HOUSTON — Alvaro Folgueiras converted a critical three-point play when Nebraska only had four defenders on the floor, and ninth-seeded Iowa continued its unpredictable NCAA Tournament run under first-year coach Ben McCollum, beating Nebraska 77-71 in a South Region semifinal on Thursday night.
Bennett Stirtz scored 20 points and Folgueiras had 16 for the Hawkeyes, who knocked off top-seeded Florida in the second round and will face Illinois on Saturday for a spot in the Final Four. McCollum has led Iowa to its fifth Elite Eight and first since 1987.
Fourth-seeded Nebraska took an early 10-point lead against its Big Ten rival, and Iowa tied it four times but never led until Stirtz buried a 3-pointer to make it 68-65 with 2:10 to go. Sage Tate hit another 3 to cap a 9-0 run and put Iowa ahead 71-65.
The Cornhuskers got within three on a second-chance 3 by Braden Frager, but they were disorganized on the inbound play, leaving Folgueiras unguarded near the rim. He slammed it home and was fouled, converting the free throw for a six-point lead.
Illinois 65, Houston 55
David Mirkovic had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and third-seeded Illinois flexed its defensive muscles to eliminate last year's national runner-up.
The second-seeded Cougars were thrilled to be playing a game just over two miles from their campus. But their poor shooting gave Houston fans little to cheer about.
Star freshman point guard Kingston Flemings, who expected to be an NBA lottery pick, had 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting and Milos Uzan made just 2 of 11 shots.
WEST
Purdue 79, Texas 77
Trey Kaufman-Renn tipped in a miss by Braden Smith with 0.7 seconds left, and No. 2 Purdue edged hobbling Texas star Tramon Mark and the 11th-seeded Longhorns in the West Region in San Jose, Calif.
Texas tied it moments earlier when Dailyn Swain made a driving layup, was fouled and converted the three-point play with 11.9 seconds to go. Smith had scored on his own drive with 38 seconds remaining and finished with 16 points.
Kaufman-Renn hit his first seven shots on the way to 20 points.
Texas had subbed 7-foot center Matas Vokietaitis out of the game with 11 seconds left, giving Purdue a better opportunity in the paint, and Kaufman-Renn got himself right under the front of the rim after Smith missed on his drive.
Arizona 109, Arkansas 88
Arizona finally got over the Sweet 16 hurdle under coach Tommy Lloyd, getting 23 points from Brayden Burries and a dominant offensive effort.
Fellow freshmen Koa Peat added 21 points and Ivan Kharchenkov had 15 as the top-seeded Wildcats (35-2) won their 12th straight game overall and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2015.
Jaden Bradley, Motiejus Krivas and Tobe Awaka all scored 14 points as Arizona became the first team in NCAA Tournament history with six players scoring at least 14 points in a game.
Freshman Darius Acuff Jr. scored 28 points for fourth-seeded Arkansas (28-9) in what might be the final college game for the talented freshman who scored 88 points in three tournament games.
BRIEFLY
LSU: LSU fired fourth-year coach Matt McMahon on Thursday and rehired former Tigers coach Will Wade from NC State, where Wade was in only the first of a six-year contract with the Wolfpack.
DUKE: Duke coach Jon Scheyer said point guard Caleb Foster will try to play in Friday night's Sweet 16 matchup against St. John's. Foster broke his right foot in Duke's regular-season finale and missed the first two rounds. He was on the court Thursday during practice.
BOSTON: Boston College has hired UConn assistant Luke Murray as coach of a slumping men's basketball program that has gone 17 years without an NCAA Tournament appearance. Murray, the son of actor Bill Murray, will be a first-time head coach.
