In the South Region final, Virginia’s Mamadi Diakite hit a jumper
at the buzzer to send the game to overtime and the Cavaliers topped
Purdue 78-75 in the extra session despite Carsen Edwards’ 42
points. Ty Jerome made one of two from the free throw line with six
seconds remaining, but Virginia came up with the offensive rebound,
giving Diakite the chance to tie it. Edwards made 10 of his 19
3-point attempts, but had a miss and a turnover in the
Boilermakers’ last two possessions in overtime as Purdue fell
short. The Cavaliers last reached the national semifinals in 1984.
The other spot in the Final Four was set earlier as Texas Tech
defeated top-seeded Gonzaga 75-69 to win the West Region. Davide
Moretti scored 10 of his 12 points in the last four minutes to send
the Red Raiders into the Final Four for the first time in program
history. Texas Tech’s second-ranked defense locked down the Zags’
top-ranked offense down the stretch to book its trip to Minneapolis.