Bears, Cougars Finally Return To Final Four

UNDATED (AP) – There are just six teams still alive in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Top seed Baylor and No. 2 Houston are two of those teams after moving on to the national semifinals.
Baylor has reached the Final Four for the first time in 71 years by getting 22 points from MaCio Teague and a dominating defensive performance from Davion Mitchell in an 81-72 victory against Arkansas. The Bears watched an 18-point cushion shrink to four before Arkansas missed 12 straight shots and Teague hit a pair of 3-pointers to put it out of reach. The Razorbacks’ rally occurred while Mitchell was sitting on the bench after picking up his third foul with about eight minutes left. Jared Butler finished with 14 points, while Mitchell chipped in 12 points and six assists for Baylor.
JD Notae and Davonte Davis had 14 apiece for the Razorbacks, who came up one game short of their first Final Four in 26 years.
Houston has advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the Guy Lewis-led Phi Slama Jama squad went to the 1984 title game.  The second-seeded Cougars made things difficult on themselves by blowing a 17-point halftime lead before knocking off No. 12 Oregon State, 67-61. Quentin Grimes drained a 3-pointer with 3:21 left to break a 55-all tie before Houston hit enough free throws down the stretch to improve to 28-3.  Grimes had 18 points and Marcus Sasser delivered a game-high 20 for the Cougars.  Maurice Calloo scored a team-high 13 points for the Beavers, who were vying to become the worst-seeded team ever to make a Final Four.