David Bluthenthal left his Southern California coach speechless. Duke's Jason Williams rendered UCLA defenseless.
In the East Regional semifinals, Bluthenthal delivered clutch free throws down the stretch for USC, and Williams carried the Blue Devils in the second half as the unpredictable NCAA tournament held to form Thursday night.
Bluthenthal hit five free throws in the final half-minute as USC moved within in a game of its first Final Four since 1954 by upsetting second-seeded Kentucky 80-76 in Philadelphia.
"The last three games, I've been speechless," USC coach Henry Bibby said. "I like being speechless in these situations."
Williams was the unlikely hero for Duke, scoring 19 straight Blue Devils points and matching a career high with 34 as the Blue Devils found themselves in a familiar spot with a 76-63 victory over UCLA.
"(Assistant coach) Johnny Dawkins told Jason, 'You do your thing,' and he did his thing, and that's why we won," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
The top-ranked Blue Devils (32-4) reached the regional finals for the 10th time in 16 years and will play sixth-seeded Southern California (24-9) Saturday with a Final Four berth at stake.
The South and Midwest semifinals are Friday night. In the South in Atlanta, Gonzaga faces defending national champion Michigan State, and Penn State plays Temple. In the Midwest in San Antonio, Illinois faces Kansas, and Arizona plays Mississippi.
Advancing past the second round for the first time since it reached the Final Four 27 years ago, USC started quickly, hitting 12 of its first 17 shots and building a 21-point lead in the first 10 minutes.
Kentucky (24-10) managed just four baskets in the first eight minutes. The Wildcats faced their largest halftime deficit of the season at 43-24.
"We felt we were getting open looks, but we were not hitting," said Kentucky point guard Saul Smith, who hit five 3-pointers. "We dug ourselves a big hole by not doing enough on the defensive end when we needed to."
The Wildcats closed to 75-74 with 32 seconds left when Bluthenthal, an 80 percent free-throw shooter, seized control, hitting five shots from the line.
"I knew if I was going to the line, I was going to make those shots," said Bluthenthal, who had six 3-pointers and finished with 27 points. "It wasn't really hard to knock those free throws down."
Sam Clancy added 17 points for USC.
Jason Parker had a career-high 22 points and Keith Bogans added 23 for Kentucky. Tayshaun Prince, the Wildcats' leading scorer, finished with six points.
"We were just too far down," Bogans said. "They kept making big shots every time we got back in the game."
In the nightcap, Williams, one of the Blue Devils' two All-Americans, stymied UCLA's comeback attempts by reeling off 19 points in just under seven minutes and finishing the half with 26.
"I just got a lot of open looks and I was trying to get in the lane," said Williams, who had 34 points earlier this season against Boston College. "Sometimes your shot isn't falling and you just go out and keep playing."
Williams' one-man run started with 14:29 to play and restored Duke's lead to six points after Earl Watson's 3-pointer closed the Bruins to 40-37. It ended with a drive that put the Blue Devils up 59-51 with 8:40 to play.
"It meant a lot of easy assists for me," Duke's Mike Dunleavy said. "When we see a teammate like that, we just get him the ball."
UCLA was never able to get closer than eight points the rest of the way as Duke hit eight straight free throws in the final 1:29.
Shane Battier, Duke's other All-American, had 24 points and 11 rebounds, the third game in this tournament he has had at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.
The game marked the return of Duke center Carlos Boozer, who missed six games after breaking a bone in his foot. He had two points and six rebounds in 22 minutes.
Earl Watson had 17 points for UCLA, while Jason Kapono, the Bruins' leading scorer, added 12, five below his average.