NCAA Basketball: UCLA defeats Kansas, Ohio State holds off Memphis

March 24, 2007

National Semi-Final Round of the 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

Ohio State Buckeyes 92, Memphis Tigers 76
The Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Memphis Tigers to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 1999 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Ron Lewis led the Buckeyes in scoring with 22 points, and freshman Greg Oden added 17. Jeremy Hunt led the Tigers in scoring with 26 points, 17 of which came in the first half. Memphis hung around through the first half by converting 7 of 10 three-point shots. However, they could not keep the same consistency through the second, scoring on only 3 of their 12 shots from behind the arch.

Memphis failed to advance to the Final Four after advancing to the Elite Eight for the second strait year. The Buckeyes, along with ending the Tigers season, snapped a 25 game winning streak for Memphis. Ohio State hopes to win their first championship since 1960, but will have to defeat either North Carolina or Georgetown, depending on the outcome of that game for a chance to advance to the National Championship game in Atlanta.

The North Carolina Tarheels will play the Georgetown Hoyas tommrow at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

UCLA Bruins 68, Kansas Jayhawks 55
Aaron Afflalo turned in the biggest game of his career, scoring 24 points, to lead the UCLA Bruins to their second-strait trip to the Final Four at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. Kansas was the first #1 seed to be elimanated from the tournament, with Florida and North Carolina still to play, and Ohio State advancing earlier in the evening. Brandon Rush led the Jayhawks in scoring with 18 points off the bench. UCLA had a 54% field goal percentage while Kansas only managed 41%.

UCLA may be in for a rematch if the Florida Gators can defeat the Oregon Ducks tommrow at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri.