Kentucky holds off UCLA in Sweet 16, meets North Carolina next

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

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

The third-seeded 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. Calipari’s latest crop of talented freshmen put Kentucky into a regional final for the sixth time in seven years.

Malik Monk 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 win on 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.

After the game, he said he is moving on from the college game.

“That was my final game for UCLA. I appreciate all the fans and all the support,” Ball said in the UCLA locker room.

Ball was widely expected to declare for the NBA draft after this season. His father, LaVar Ball, has been especially vocal, declaring that the eldest of three hoops-playing brothers is better than NBA MVP Steph Curry.

Ball said he felt bad that he couldn’t carry his team’s seniors to another win in the NCAA tournament. He says UCLA simply lost to a good team.

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-paced pace expected.

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

Monk also started scoring. The Southeastern Conference player of the year had only seven points in the first half.

He hit four of his first five shots, including a pair of 3s, within the first five minutes of the second. He scored off the fast break, and his second 3 with 15:52 gave Kentucky a 50-44 lead.

Thomas Welsh hit a short jumper, then Bryce Alford hit a 3 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 minutes.

North Carolina 92, ?Butler 80

North Carolina expects strong offensive performances from junior leaders Justin Jackson and Joel Berry II, but Luke Maye provided an unexpected bonus.

Berry scored 26 points, Jackson had 24, but it was the first career double-double from Maye - 16 points and 12 rebounds -that helped set the tone early and send the top-seeded Tar Heels to a 92-80 victory against Butler in the NCAA tournament on Friday night.

“He has the ability to shoot the ball. He has the ability to rebound the ball,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said of the sophomore forward and former walk-on. “But the reason Luke is going to be successful is what he’s got in his brain and in his heart.”

Carolina, which reached the Elite Eight for the 27th time, will face Kentucky.

Maye’s early jolt off the bench helped Carolina (30-7) build a first-half lead to as many as 20 as the Tar Heels benefitted from accuracy, connecting on 54.4 percent of their shots while Butler was at 43.5 percent.

“We knew we were going to have to make some perimeter shots to give ourselves a chance,” Butler coach Chris Holtmann said. “They were going to give us some clean looks, and we were going to have to make them. We just didn’t.”

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.

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. Carolina, which let Arkansas claw back before defeating the Razorbacks 72-65 last weekend, weren’t going to let that happen again.

“We got by with very little room against Arkansas,” Jackson said. “We knew it was a game of runs. Butler is a good team, and they keep on coming at you. For us, we tried to stay focused and stay poised.”

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.

While Butler managed to whittle the deficit to single digits on a couple of occasions before halftime, North Carolina would simply answer with another rally, helping the Tar Heels carry a 52-36 lead into the break.

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.