Michigan St. 77, Gonzaga 62
ATLANTA — Michigan State is one victory away from another Final Four. Gonzaga will have to be content with another memorable run in the NCAA tournament.
Charlie Bell scored 21 points for the defending national champion Spartans, who overpowered the Zags 77-62 Friday night in the South Regional semifinals.
Top-seeded Michigan State (27-4) was simply too big, too quick and too deep for No. 12 Gonzaga (26-7), which led 44-41 with just under 16 minutes remaining.
When the Spartans turned up the defensive pressure, Gonzaga had trouble even finding the rim. The Bulldogs went 8:02 without a field goal, throwing up at least three airballs during that span and missing badly several other times.
Michigan State, which keeps on winning despite losing stars Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson from its title team, got another balanced effort.
Andre Hutson had 19 points and 10 rebounds. The 6-foot-3 Bell also sneaked inside the bigger players to grab 10 rebounds. Jason Richardson had 12 points and seven rebounds. Zach Randolph added 10 points.
Gonzaga's roster doesn't run as deep, and Michigan State knew how to take advantage of a tiring team. The Spartans put together a 15-3 run for a 57-46 lead with nine minutes to go.
Michigan State, which came in as the nation's dominant rebounding team, flexed its muscle for a commanding 49-29 advantage on the boards. The Spartans also had eight blocks and continually harassed the Bulldogs into ill-timed shots.
Michigan State advanced to meet the winner of Friday's second semifinal between No. 7 seed Penn State and No. 11 Temple. The winner of Sunday's game moves on to the Final Four.
Gonzaga came in as the little team that could, reaching the round of 16 for the third straight season even though the Bulldogs are continually kept down by the NCAA selection committee.
They kept it close against the Spartans throughout the first half, grabbing their first lead, 25-24, on Mark Spink's 19-foot jumper with six minutes left in the half.
Michigan State scored the final five points of the period for a 37-32 lead at the break, but Gonzaga came out strong.
Dan Dickau, who was held to 1-of-5 shooting in the first half, popped in two quick 3-pointers to push the Zags back to the lead. They had the Georgia Dome crowd roaring with crisp passing, leading to a layup for Spink and a dunk by Zach Gourde.
Michigan State responded by getting more active in the passing lanes, forcing Gonzaga to go back outside. The Bulldogs couldn't respond, shooting only 22-of-58 (38 percent) from the field.
Dickau wound up with 19 points but was only 6-of-17 from the field. Casey Calvary had 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting.
When it was over, Gonzaga had one more classy gesture before leaving the court, trotting over as a team and clapping toward their section of fans.
Michigan State simply moved on.
TEMPLE 84, PENN STATE 72: At Atlanta, John Chaney is taking his rumpled shirt, his loosened tie and that vexing defense to the cusp of the Final Four again.
Chaney's Temple Owls, led by 21 points from Lynn Greer and a defense that left Penn State looking helpless, advanced to the South Regional final with a victory Friday night.
Temple (24-12) made its fifth regional final in Chaney's 19 years at the school based in the hardscrabble streets of north Philly, but the 69-year-old coach is still seeking his first trip to the Final Four. On Sunday, the Owls will play defending national champion Michigan State.
MIDWEST REGIONAL
ARIZONA 66, MISSISSIPPI 56: At San Antonio, Loren Woods and the Arizona Wildcats went out of their way to stop Mississippi's Rahim Lockhart.
Woods, towering over Lockhart at 7-foot-1, helped contain Mississippi's wide-body center and send the second-seeded Wildcats to a victory Friday night in the Midwest semifinals.
"It was a huge part of our game plan to double-team Lockhart," said Woods, who had 16 points and three blocks to 11 points and one block for Lockhart.
"We definitely wanted to try to get the ball out of his hands as much as possible, or if he did take a shot make sure there were a lot of guys around him."
Arizona (26-7) survived a 16-0 first-half punch to trail by only one point at the half, then took the lead for good early in the second half.
Despite a year of sorrow and tumult that included player suspensions and the death of Bobbi Olson, wife of coach Lute Olson, the Wildcats are headed for their first regional final since 1997.
Since their coach returned following the loss of his wife, they have been as hot as any team in the country, going 16-2 and winning their first three tournament games by a total of 56 points.
The Wildcats also will be joined in the final eight by two other members of the Pac-10, Stanford in the West and Southern California in the East.
ILLINOIS 80, KANSAS 64: At San Antonio, Illinois looked pretty in blowing out its first two NCAA tournament foes. Against Kansas, the Illini showed they know how to win ugly, too.
Frank Williams scored a career-high 30 points as top-seeded Illinois used a solid first half to control the Jayhawks, then held them off with a plodding, foul-filled second half for an 80-64 victory Friday night.
Illinois (27-7) will play Arizona, the No. 2 seed, on Sunday in the Midwest Regional final. It'll be their third meeting of the season, with each team having won once.