Florida, Wisconsin, Kentucky and UConn punch tickets to 2014 Final Four

March 31, 2014

In the closing seconds of the game, Connecticut Huskies guard Shabazz Napier (13) celebrates at the end of the NCAA Tournament's East Regional final. The Connecticut Huskies defeated the Michigan State Spartans, 60-54, at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday, March 30, 2014. (Richard Messina/Hartford Courant/MCT) — In the closing seconds of the game, Connecticut Huskies guard Shabazz Napier (13) celebrates at the end of the NCAA Tournament’s East Regional final. The Connecticut Huskies defeated the Michigan State Spartans, 60-54, at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday, March 30, 2014. (Richard Messina/Hartford Courant/MCT)

With three seconds left in the Midwest Regional Final, Kentucky freshman Aaron Harrison knocked down a game-winning 3-pointer to give the eighth-seeded Wildcats a 75-72 upset victory over No. 2 seed Michigan on Sunday to advance to the Final Four to take on Wisconsin.

The Wildcats’victory was propelled by a balanced effort from their starters and bench. No player scored more than 16 points and Kentucky had four players in double figures, with three others scoring eight points each. Kentucky shot over 60 percent from behind the arc with Harrison and James Young combining for seven made shots on 10 total attempts. Trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, Kentucky worked its way back and only lost its lead once before the final buzzer sounded. Nik Stauskas shined for the Wolverines with 24 points while making 10-of-11 free throw attempts.

Kaminsky spearheads a Wisconsin in OT

Frank Kaminsky was everything that Wisconsin needed and more as he led the Badgers to a 64-63 overtime victory over Arizona in the Elite Eight.

Kaminsky led all scorers with 28 points, including six in overtime and collected seven offensive rebounds to go along with one turnover in 37 minutes of play.

The Wildcats trailed by two points with less than 40 seconds left in the game and evened the score after Rondae Hollis-Jefferson grabbed the offensive rebound from Nick Johnson’s missed jump shot and dunked the ball to tie the game at 54.

With 30 seconds left to play in a back-and-forth overtime, Arizona had two opportunities to either win the game off attempts by T.J. McConnell.

Florida ends Dayton’s run

On Saturday evening, Florida, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, beat 11-seeded Dayton 62-52 to advance to the Final Four. Scottie Wilbekin led the with 23 points and three steals. Dayton got within eight points with three minutes remaining in the game, but was unable to complete the rally. Florida sealed the win at the free-throw line, making five of its last six shots from the charity stripe.

Dyshawn Pierce of the Flyers scored 18 points, and five assists in only 28 minutes of play.

Florida will take on the Connecticut in the Final Four on Saturday following the seventh-seeded Huskies’ 60-54 win over Michigan State on Sunday. The Huskies defeated the Gators on a last second shot earlier this season.

Matthew Zackman can be reached at [email protected].