March Madness: Top seeds Florida, Arizona reach Elite Eight

Florida 79, UCLA 68

MEMPHIS, Tenn. Michael Frazier II hit five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points as Florida beat UCLA 79-68 Thursday night to reach its fourth consecutive NCAA regional final.

The Gators (35-2) also extended the best winning streak in school history to 29 straight in reaching the South Regional final. The tournament's overall top seed will play 11th-seeded Dayton on Saturday night for a trip to the Final Four.

Scottie Wilbekin added 13 points for Florida, which is back where the last three Gators seasons ended. Casey Prather had 12 points, and Dorian Finney-Smith had 10. Kasey Hill had 10 assists.

UCLA (28-9) was back in a regional semifinal for the first time since 2008 under first-year coach Steve Alford.

Jordan Adams led the Bruins with 17 points, Kyle Anderson had 11 and five assists with nine rebounds. Travis Wear added 14.

Arizona 70, San Diego State 64

ANAHEIM, Calif. Nick Johnson scored all of his 15 points in the last 2:45, after missing his first 10 shots, and Arizona rallied to beat San Diego State 70-64 Thursday night and advance to the final eight of the NCAA tournament.

Aaron Gordon and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson scored 15 points each for the top-seeded Wildcats (33-4). They next play Wisconsin in the West Regional final Saturday.

Xavier Thames scored 25 points and Dwayne Polee added 13 points for the Aztecs (31-5). Those two tried to bail out SDSU in the final minute, each hitting 3-pointers before Thames' basket cut the deficit to 65-61 with 38 seconds left.

Dayton 82, Stanford 72

MEMPHIS, Tenn. Jordan Sibert scored 18 points, Kendall Pollard added a season-high 12 and Dayton rolled past Stanford 82-72 on Thursday to make the NCAA tournament's Elite Eight for the first time since 1984.

No. 11 Dayton (26-10) continued its underdog run and this one wasn't particularly close. The 6-foot-4 Sibert was spectacular, slashing to the basket and draining 3-pointers, to help the Flyers lead for almost the entire night.

Dayton showed its depth early, using 12 players in the first half to slowly wear Stanford down.

No. 10 Stanford (23-13) had the superior post play, but it wasn't enough. Chasson Randle led the Cardinal with 21 points, but shot 5 of 21 from the field. Dwight Powell of Toronto added 17 and Thornhill, Ont., native Stefan Nastic who fouled out with more than five minutes left had 15.

Dayton plays the winner of UCLA-Florida on Saturday.

Wisconsin 69, Baylor 52

ANAHEIM, Calif. Frank Kaminsky scored 19 points and blocked six shots, and Wisconsin romped into the West Regional final with a dominant 69-52 victory over Baylor on Thursday night.

Ben Brust hit three 3-pointers and scored 14 points for the second-seeded Badgers (29-7), who jumped to a 14-point lead in the first half and never let up on the overmatched Bears (26-12).

The 7-foot Kaminsky and his disciplined teammates shredded the Baylor zone defence that played so well in the first two games. Wisconsin also methodically shut down Baylor's talented offence while moving into its second regional final in 13 years under Bo Ryan, who has never reached a Final Four in a 700-win coaching career.

Cory Jefferson scored 15 points for the sixth-seeded Bears, who did little with their third Sweet 16 trip in five years.