The lineup for the National semi-finals is now complete after the regional finals took place over the weekend in what has been an incredible NCAAB Championship so far.
Uconn are the highest remaining seed and they are the only team left in the competition who have won a title previously, while they are also the only team left who have made it this far before.
Florida Atlantic entered the East regional as the 9-seeds and they are the lowest ranked side left in the tourney, with San Diego State and Miami completing the lineup for Houston.
We’ve taken a look at some of the standout performers from the last eight.
Uconn continue to dominate
Connecticut have marched their way through to the last four in some style and none of their games have even been close.
After crushing Iona 87-63 in their opener, the 4-seeds beat Saint Mary’s by 15 points in the second round and they then scored 88 against Arkansas as they won by a 23-point margin.
Their regional final against Gonzaga looked to be a 50-50 game going into the clash but they ended up claiming their biggest win of the tournament so far as a dominant second-half performance saw them emerge with an 82-54 blowout win.
Uconn had already started to take control in the second half when the Zags’ All-American Drew Timme went to the bench with his fourth foul. That proved to be a key moment as Connecticut pulled clear and made a huge statement with the manner of the victory.
Guard Jordan Hawkins led the game in scoring with 20 points, while captain Adama Sanogo picked apart the Zags at both ends of the court with five assists in the first half alone and 10 rebounds in total, but their entire team performed well and Gonzaga coach Mark Few admitted his side were simply second best throughout in his postgame interview.
“UConn was just terrific tonight and we didn't have any answers, especially when kind of everything really didn't bounce our way,” said Few, as reported by USA Today.
Connecticut are 10/13 to win the NCAAB Championship outright.
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Miller stars as Miami stun Texas
Miami will face Uconn in the regional semifinals and they became the last team to secure their place in Houston with an impressive 88-81 victory over Texas on Sunday.
After seeing off top-seeded Houston in the previous round, Miami were in danger of falling in the last eight for the second year in a row as they trailed Texas by eight points at halftime but they raised their game in the second half to reach the last four for the first time in their history.
Nijel Pack has been a key player for Miami in March but it was fellow guard Jordan Miller who stole the show on Sunday with a perfect shooting performance.
Miller went 7-for-7 from the field and made all 13 of his attempts at the line to become just the second player in tournament history to post a perfect shooting night, joining Christian Laettner who was the first player to make all his shots for Duke way back in 1992.
Miami are 5/1 to go all the way and win the tournament outright.
Florida Atlantic continue fairytale run
This tournament has been filled with upsets and Florida Atlantic pulled off another surprise over the weekend as they ended 3-seeds Kansas State’s challenge to become the winners of the East regional.
Kansas’ star guard Markquis Nowell had a huge night with 30 points and was named outstanding player of the region after the game, but FAU put together a complete performance to record a 79-76 victory.
Alijah Martin had 17 points for Florida Atlantic, while Michael Forrest made four clutch free throws in the final 20 seconds as FAU withstood a late fightback from Kansas State.
FAU are 11/2 to win the NCAAB Championship outright.
SDSU edge out Creighton
San Diego State have also reached the national semifinals for the first time in their history as they will take on FAU in the last four after a hard-fought one-point win over Creighton.
Creighton held a four-point lead at the halfway point but SDSU responded thanks to 18 points from Lamont Butler and a game-winning free throw from Darrion Trammell with just 1.2 seconds left on the clock.
San Diego State are 7/2 to win the NCAAB Championship outright.
