Sports

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) ― North Carolina went from running it up to locking it down. Now the Tar Heels are a step away from the Final Four again, hoping they can avoid another collapse like last year.

Tyler Hansbrough scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half Thursday night and the top-seeded Tar Heels, not known for their defense, held Washington State to 32-percent shooting in a 68-47 win in the East Regional semifinals.

North Carolina is back to the NCAA round of eight for the second straight season.

Danny Green had 15 points to help the Tar Heels (35-2) set a school record for victories in a season while continuing their dominant tournament run. The No. 1 overall seed will play the Louisville-Tennessee winner Saturday with a clear home-court advantage, playing in an arena located about two hours from its Chapel Hill campus.

When it was over, North Carolina had improved to 24-1 in NCAA games played in its home state, including 7-0 in Charlotte Bobcats Arena. Now the Tar Heels can focus on erasing the lingering memories from last year's final game: a blown double-digit lead late in the second half in an overtime loss to Georgetown in the regional finals.

For the first time in this tournament, the Tar Heels didn't crack 100 points. It didn't matter. Nor did it matter that Hansbrough struggled much of the way. Instead, facing a deliberate Washington State team that had completely shut down its first two tournament opponents, the Tar Heels looked determined to prove they could play some tough defense, too.

Fourth-seeded Washington State missed shot after shot — sometimes open, more often not — while the Tar Heels kept pushing forward with their slowed-but-effective transition attack. The Cougars (26-9) got little from the perimeter, with Derrick Low, Kyle Weaver and Taylor Rochestie scoring a combined 26 points on 10-for-37 shooting.

Meanwhile, the Tar Heels kept the pressure on, gradually getting more runouts in transition and increasing the pace to steadily build the lead. North Carolina led 35-21 at halftime on a 3-pointer from Ty Lawson just before the horn, then got a quick six-point burst to push the lead to 47-27 on Alex Stepheson's three-point play with 11:45 left.

The Cougars had allowed a combined 81 points in its tournament wins against Winthrop and Notre Dame, but the Tar Heels had just too many weapons for Washington State's methodical offense to keep pace.

Xavier 79, West Virginia 75
West Regional, Phoenix

Three-pointers saved Xavier. Missed free throws doomed West Virginia. B.J. Raymond made two 3-pointers in the last 1:18 of overtime Thursday night and the Musketeers advanced to the West Region final with a 79-75 victory over coach Bob Huggins' Mountaineers. Third-seeded Xavier (30-6) rallied from a six-point deficit in overtime, and will seek its first Final Four appearance when it plays the UCLA-Western Kentucky winner on Saturday.

Raymond, who had made only one field goal all night, hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Musketeers ahead 75-74 with 1:18 to play. He then shook loose on an inbounds play, took a crosscourt pass and made a 3 with the shot clock expiring with 30 seconds to go for a 78-74 lead.

Josh Duncan scored a career-high 26 points despite foul trouble to lead Xavier. Raymond's eight points all came in overtime.

Xavier, which led by 18 early in the game, rallied from a 71-65 deficit in overtime.

Joe Alexander scored 18 and had 10 rebounds for the Mountaineers (26-11).

West Virginia missed four of six free throws in the overtime. Alexander missed one with 14.2 seconds left in regulation that would have given his team a 65-64 lead.

Xavier shot 11-for-19 on 3s while West Virginia was 1-for-11 from long range. The Mountaineers had only one worse performance on 3s this season, going 1-for-22 in a loss to Cincinnati.

Duncan was 3-of-4 on 3s, Lavender 3-of-6 and Raymond 2-of-4. Da'Sean Butler added 16 points, 14 in the second half. Alexander and Butler both fouled out in the overtime.

Xavier has been in a regional final only once, in 2004.

Louisville 79, Tennessee 60
East Regional, Charlotte

Louisville's suffocating defense has coach Rick Pitino a step away from a sixth trip to the Final Four.

Earl Clark scored 17 points and had 12 rebounds, and Pitino's mix of defenses made life miserable for Tennessee in a 79-60 victory Thursday night to put the third-seeded Cardinals in the East Regional final.

Pitino, who has won an NCAA title, coached in two championship games and taken three schools to the Final Four, has Louisville playing its best basketball of the season when it counts most. After Louisville's two blowout wins last weekend, Pitino's signature zone and pressure limited the high-scoring Volunteers to 34-percent shooting. The veteran coach improved to 8-0 in regional semifinals and secured a date with top-seed North Carolina on Saturday night.

Terrence Williams and Andre McGee each added 13 points and David Padgett had 10 points and eight rebounds for Louisville (27-8), which nearly blew all of a 16-point first half lead, only to take control midway through the second half and keep alive its hopes for a second Final Four berth in four years.

Chris Lofton scored 15 points for No. 2 seed Tennessee, but was 3-for-15 in his final game with the Volunteers (31-5), who have never advanced beyond the round of 16.

After a horrible start, Tennessee got within 37-36 early in the second half. But then the springy Clark, who has come on in the NCAA tournament, had a driving layup, hit a baseline jumper and converted a three-point play in a 13-5 run.

Louisville's defense didn't allow Tennessee to get back in it again, and the Cardinals hit all nine free throws over the final 5 minutes to keep Tennessee at bay.

JaJuan Smith added 12 point and Tyler Smith had 11, but the Volunteers continued their NCAA tournament shooting slump.

Tennessee hit only 5 of 20 3-pointers, finishing 11-for-58 in three games. It was another disappointing end for coach Bruce Pearl, who in his third season hasn't been able to get Tennessee into the round of eight.

The Volunteers, who were outrebounded 43-28, dropped to 0-5 in regional semifinals.

UCLA 88, Western Kentucky 78
West Regional, Phoenix

Nothing comes easy for UCLA these days. With Kevin Love scoring a career-high 29 points, the Bruins nearly frittered away a 21-point halftime lead and hung on to defeat Western Kentucky 88-78 in the NCAA West Region on Thursday night. Top-seeded UCLA (34-3) will play No. 3-seeded Xavier on Saturday for a trip to its third consecutive Final Four.

Love also had 14 rebounds. He hit 10-of-14 shots from the floor and helped rescue the Bruins for the second time in as many games.

Love wasn't the only Bruin to notch a double-double. James Keefe had 18 points and 12 rebounds, both career highs, and Russell Westbrook had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Tyrone Brazelton scored 31 points — 25 in the second half — and Courtney Lee added 18 for 12th-seeded Western Kentucky (29-7).

Early on, the Bruins bore little resemblance to the bunch that sweated out a two-point victory over Texas A&M in the second round, blitzing the Hilltoppers with a 23-4 run midway through the first half.

UCLA led 41-20 at halftime, but Western Kentucky wouldn't go away. The Hilltoppers began pressing, and the Bruins started to unravel. They had 12 turnovers in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

Taking advantage of sloppy play by the Bruins, the Hilltoppers went on a 19-6 run to whittle the lead to 61-57 with 6:50 to play. Tyrone Brazelton capped the run by scoring eight unanswered points in less than a minute, on back-to-back 3-pointers and a layup.

The Bruins appeared in trouble when point guard Darren Collison fouled out — for the first time this year — with 5:39 to play.

But then Love scored from close range and Josh Shipp, an erratic long-range shooter, hit a 3-pointer to push UCLA's lead to 68-59 with 4:30 to play.

UCLA coach Ben Howland was so desperate to stem the tide that he called his final timeout. Steadied, the Bruins did not let the Hilltoppers draw closer than six points the rest of the way.

Perhaps it was no surprise that UCLA let the scrappy Hilltoppers back in the game. The Bruins rolled into the desert on a 12-game winning streak, but they hadn't been dominant. Five of their last eight wins had been by three points or less, and another came after they forced overtime.

The Hilltoppers had won eight straight games and reached the round of 16 for the first time since 1993, when coach Darrin Horn was a sophomore guard. At No. 12, Western Kentucky was the lowest remaining seed in the tourney, along with Villanova.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)