The first two Men’s Regional Semifinals were close but the higher seeded schools prevailed. Top seeded Kansas overcame a fiesty Southern Illinois squad to post a 61-58 win, advancing to the West regional Final where they’ll await the winner of the second game between second seeded UCLA and third seeded Pittsburgh. Expect a similar kind of score with the Bruins prevailing.

The Jayhawks got off to a quick 8-2 start on the fourth seeded Salukis but never could pull away. Southern Illinois used their stifling trademark D and slower pace to frustrate Kansas. The teams exchanged three point leads with the Jayhawks taking a 27-24 lead into the locker room.

Southern Illinois would come out strong in the second half scoring the first eight to take a five point lead. But Kansas would comeback to tie it at 45.

Down the stretch, it looked like the higher seeded Jayhawks had it won when they made three of four free throws to go up 58-53 with 1:23 to go. However, the Salukis’ leading scorer Jamaal Tatum (game high 19) hit a stepback trey from the corner to pull them within two with over a minute remaining. After Mario Chalmers split a pair of free throws, Tatum hit a tough 17 foot fadeaway on the baseline to slice it to one with just over 46 ticks left. With an 11 second differential between shot and game clock, Kansas’ forward Brandon Rush hit a driving layup to make it a three-point lead again with 25 seconds remaining. He was the only Jayhawk into double figures with 12, making all six of his field goals.
After a timeout, Tatum’s three from the left wing would fall off with eight left. Teammate Randal Falker got the offensive rebound but hesitated before turning it over, forcing them to foul Wright with 2.2 left. With a chance to seal it, Wright missed both but Tony Young’s desperation 40 footer was well off the mark allowing Kansas to hold on for the three point win.

In the first South regional semi, No.2 seeded Memphis cameback to edge third seeded Texas A & M 65-64. Both teams exchanged leads all game. When star point guard Acie Law IV putback his own rebound to put the Aggies up 63-61 with 3:26 left, the momentum was with Texas A & M in comfortable surroundings in San Antonio.

With both teams struggling at the line, the Aggies held a 64-63 lead with 47 seconds to play. They needed to get a quick shot due to only eight left on the shot clock, going the length of the court. Going long for Law, it looked like he would convert in transition but he missed the layup on his off arm short, giving Memphis a golden opportunity. It finished a tough night for the senior guard who went just 6-for-17 from the field with 13 points in his final game.

Trailing by one, the Tigers missed a three but got two offensive rebounds including one from Antonio Anderson, who was fouled with only 3.1 left. A 64 percent free throw shooter who was 1-of-4 on the night, Anderson calmly sank both to put his team up one.

After an A & M timeout, some controversy followed when an inbounds pass deflected off a Tiger and out of bounds. The clock didn’t start, forcing the officials to huddle and watch replays to determine how much time went off. Initially, it looked like only a couple of tenths would come off giving the Aggies 2.9 to work with to get off a shot from 70 feet out. But replays confirmed that the ball after hitting a Memphis player hit the floor and then went out, meaning that 1.1 was taken off giving the Aggies just two seconds to work with.

Dominique Kirk’s desperation heave from inside halfcourt fell short allowing the Tigers to escape with a hard fought one point victory. Jeremy Hunt paced John Calipari’s club with 19, making three of their five three’s. Playing on a hobbled ankle, star guard Chris Douglas-Roberts chipped in with 15. The Aggies were paced by center Antanas Kavaliauskas’ 17 and eight boards.

For the Tigers, they silenced many critics by advancing to the Elite 8 including this space which had them out in the second round. Now they’re just one win away from the Final Four.

In the two late games, UCLA leads Pitt by eight with under six minutes to play while top seeded Ohio State is down four to Tennessee with under 12 left after trailing by as many as 20.