Texas Tech beats Gonzaga to reach 1st Final Four in school history
Gonzaga joins North Carolina as No. 1 seeds eliminated from tournament; Virginia outlasts Purdue in OT
Texas Tech is heading to its first Final Four thanks to a kid from Italy who made the big shots and a defense that refuses to rest.
Moretti also made all four of his free throws down the stretch to wind up with 10 of his 12 points over the final 1:50.
The first of them —a spot-up three-pointer from the side of the arc— gave third-seeded Texas Tech (30-6) a six-point lead, its biggest of the night, with 1:50.
Six might not seem like much. But then again, not every defense is like the one coach Chris Beard draws up, and demands, out of the transfers and second-choice players he started bringing to Lubbock when he arrived three seasons ago.
With Texas Tech leading 68-62 and less than a minute remaining, Owens swooped over to the sideline to reject Gonzaga's NBA-bound star, Rui Hachimura, and put an exclamation point of sorts on a celebration that was just getting warmed up.
Moretti did the honors — sinking the technical free throws, then two more after Gonzaga fouled in desperation.
Jarrett Culver led the Red Raiders with 19 points, and Mooney, a transfer from South Dakota State, had 17.
But, as usual, the biggest stats came on defence. Texas Tech held the Bulldogs' nation-leading offense to 42 percent shooting and forced it into 16 turnovers — nearly six more than their season average.
Virginia beats Purdue in OT to reach Final Four
Virginia is heading to the Final Four for the first time since 1984.
Kyle Guy had 25 points and 10 rebounds as the top-seeded Cavaliers withstood a brilliant performance from Purdue's Carsen Edwards and beat the third-seeded Boilermakers 80-75 in overtime.
Virginia had forced overtime on a buzzer beater from Mamadi Diakite.
Edwards matched a career-high with 42 points and shot 10 of 19 from three-point range. He was one shy of the NCAA Tournament record of 11 three-pointers in a game, set by Loyola Marymount's Jeff Fryer against Michigan in 1990.
De'Andre Hunter drove to the basket and hit a layup with 28 seconds left to put Virginia ahead for good at 76-75.
Edwards missed a three-pointer with nine seconds left, and Kyle Guy hit two free throws with 5.7 seconds remaining. Purdue's hopes for a game-tying three-pointer ended when Edwards' long pass to Ryan Cline went out of bounds with 2.1 seconds left.
Ty Jerome had 24 points and seven assists for Virginia.
Purdue was seeking its first Final Four appearance since 1980.