SEC's elite feat

Monk, Fox send UCLA, Ball home

Kentucky’s Malik Monk, a Lepanto native who played at Bentonville High School, scored 21 points as the Wildcats defeated UCLA on Friday night in the South Regional semifinals, becoming one of three SEC teams to advance to the Elite Eight.
Kentucky’s Malik Monk, a Lepanto native who played at Bentonville High School, scored 21 points as the Wildcats defeated UCLA on Friday night in the South Regional semifinals, becoming one of three SEC teams to advance to the Elite Eight.

SOUTH REGION

KENTUCKY 86, UCLA 75

MEMPHIS -- De'Aaron Fox scored a career-high 39 points as the Kentucky Wildcats beat UCLA 86-75 on Friday night in a showdown between two of college basketball's goliaths for a spot in the South Regional final.

The only No. 2 seed to survive and advance, the Wildcats (32-5) won their 14th consecutive game. Now the NCAA's winningest program will play another of basketball's titans Sunday in No. 1 seed North Carolina with a trip to yet another Final Four on the line.

The No. 3 seed Bruins (31-5) still have the most national titles, yet they leave their third Sweet 16 under Coach Steve Alford short of the Elite Eight.

Fans lustily booed Kentucky Coach John Calipari in his first game in Memphis since leaving in April 2009 for the Wildcats, but Calipari's latest crop of talented freshmen put Kentucky into a regional final for the sixth time in eight years.

Malik Monk -- a Lepanto native who played at Bentonville High School -- scored 21 points for Kentucky, and Dominique Hawkins added 11.

This was the fourth time these powerhouses have met in the past three seasons, and UCLA upset then-No. 1 Kentucky in Rupp Arena with a 97-92 victory Dec. 3.

Fox didn't play his best in that game, taking 20 shots to get 20 points. That wasn't a problem with Kentucky fans making the FedExForum as comfortable as Lexington. Fox scored the first eight points for Kentucky and was all over the court, forcing turnovers or diving to the floor to force a jump ball.

He outplayed UCLA freshman Lonzo Ball, who finished with 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting. Ball handed out eight assists but also had four turnovers.

Freshman TJ Leaf and Isaac Hamilton each had 17 points for UCLA.

Kentucky shut down the nation's top scoring team, holding UCLA well below its average of 90.2 points a game and just a point off its season-low.

Maybe it was nerves or so many freshmen, but Kentucky led 36-33 at halftime after a first half that wasn't close to the fast pace expected.

By the second half, the Wildcats were running up and down the court.

Monk also started scoring. The SEC player of the year had only seven points in the first half, but he hit four of his first five shots, including a pair of three-pointers, within the first five minutes of the second. He scored off the fast break, and his second three-pointer with 15:52 left gave Kentucky a 50-44 lead.

Thomas Welsh hit a short jumper, then Bryce Alford hit a three-pointer to pull UCLA within 50-49. That was as close as the Bruins would get as Kentucky pushed its lead to as much as 14 in the final couple of minutes.

Six different Bruins averaged in double figures during the season, and four got there. But Welsh fouled out with 5:58 left. The Bruins turned the ball over 13 times, and Kentucky outscored UCLA 14-2 off the mistakes.

The Wildcats won despite not getting much from another freshman, Bam Adebayo. The 6-10 forward had been averaging a double-double during Kentucky's winning streak, but he finally scored his lone bucket off a dunk with 3:17 left.

NORTH CAROLINA 92, BUTLER 80

MEMPHIS -- Joel Berry scored 26 points and Justin Jackson added 24 as No. 1 seed North Carolina moved to the Elite Eight with a victory over Butler.

Luke Maye recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, helping fuel a quick start for Carolina (30-7). The Tar Heels never let their lead get under double digits in the second half.

Andrew Chrabascz led the fourth-seeded Bulldogs (25-9) with 21 points and seven rebounds, while Kelan Martin finished with 16 points for Butler, which struggled shooting early and did not recover.

Carolina, which reached the Elite Eight for the 27th time, will face the winner of Friday's second game between UCLA and Kentucky. The Tar Heels connected on 54.4 percent of their shots, while Butler was at 43.5 percent.

The Tar Heels broke out of the gate early, building a double-digit lead and really weren't threatened after halftime, although Butler did get within 10 at one point.

North Carolina used early accurate shooting to build a 16-point lead as the Tar Heels connected on 13 of their first 18 shots, including missing only one of seven from outside the arc.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs were suffering through a scoring drought the stretched beyond four minutes.

That helped Carolina build the advantage to 30-14 when Maye connected on a three-pointer near the midway point of the first half.

The Tar Heels lead would stretch the lead back to 20 near the 12-minute mark of the second half, but Butler didn't exactly allow North Carolina to coast home. A 13-4 Bulldog run made a dent in the advantage as Martin had seven in the stretch with Avery Woodson connecting on a 3-pointer. Martin closed out the run with another 3-pointer to pull Butler within 71-60.

But while the Bulldogs would cut the Carolina advantage to 10 points 2 minutes later, they would get no closer the rest of the way. Chrabascz led the Bulldogs with 11 points.

Sports on 03/25/2017

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