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SportsMarch 24, 2008

Scottie Reynolds scored 25 points and Corey Stokes added 20 as 12th-seeded Villanova beat tiny Siena 84-72 on Sunday to reach the NCAA tournament's round of 16 for the third time in four years. Villanova (22-12), one of the last teams picked for the tournament field, advanced to play top-seeded Kansas (33-3) in the Midwest Regional semifinals...

Scottie Reynolds scored 25 points and Corey Stokes added 20 as 12th-seeded Villanova beat tiny Siena 84-72 on Sunday to reach the NCAA tournament's round of 16 for the third time in four years.

Villanova (22-12), one of the last teams picked for the tournament field, advanced to play top-seeded Kansas (33-3) in the Midwest Regional semifinals.

Alex Franklin led Siena (23-11) with 18 points, but the Saints didn't get the kind of performances they needed from Kenny Hasbrouck, Edwin Ubiles and Tay Fisher, who all played major roles in the team's 21-point upset of fourth-seeded Vanderbilt in the first round.

Hasbrouck had 17 points, but was only 5-of-15 from the field. Ubiles missed his first seven shots and finished 3-of-11 for 12 points, while Fisher was held to five points.

West Regional Western Kentucky 72, San Diego 63

Behind Courtney Lee's dazzling first-half performance and some clutch shooting down the stretch, the 12th-seeded Hilltoppers advanced to the round of 16 for the first time in 15 years and have a date with top-seeded UCLA in Phoenix.

Lee finished with 29 points, including a huge 3-pointer that gave his team the lead for good with 6:17 remaining. Six straight free throws in the final 34 seconds sealed the victory.

Tyrone Brazelton added 15 points for the Hilltoppers (29-6).

Gyno Pomare had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Toreros (22-14), who overcame a 15-point deficit in the second half before fading in the closing minutes.

South Regional Texas 75, Miami 72

A.J. Abrams calmly sank two free throws with 9.5 seconds remaining, giving the second-seeded Longhorns just enough margin to hold off Miami.

Abrams gave Texas a 74-69 lead, but the Longhorns weren't quite safe. Miami's Raymond Hicks made a 3-pointer, and D.J. Augustin then shot an air ball on his first of two free throws with 1.8 seconds to play. Augustin made the second, though, to preserve the win.

Abrams scored 26 points on six 3-pointers for the second consecutive game. Texas (30-6) advances to the regional semifinals to play third-seeded Stanford on Friday in Houston.

Jack McClinton scored 18 points for Miami (23-11).

Memphis 77, Mississippi State 74

Joey Dorsey had 13 points, 12 rebounds, a season-high six blocks and an untold number of bumps and bruises, helping Memphis wins its ninth straight and advance to the round of 16 for the third straight year.

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Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts added 17 points each for the Tigers (35-1), who will play fifth-seeded Michigan State (27-8) in the regional semifinals Friday.

Jamont Gordon had 21 points and Ben Hansbrough 19 for eighth-seeded Mississippi State (23-11), which hasn't made it out of the first weekend since the 1996 team went to the Final Four.

Gordon's layup cut the Mississippi State deficit to 76-74 with 4.2 seconds left, but Douglas-Roberts made a free throw and Gordon's long jumper at the buzzer wasn't close.

East Regional Louisville 78, Oklahoma 48

Earl Clark scored 14 points and Louisville handed Oklahoma its most-lopsided loss in the NCAA tournament, building a 44-22 halftime lead and coasting from there.

Louisville matched its biggest rout in the NCAA tournament, having trounced Kansas State by 30 in 1968. Starting five players born outside Kentucky, the third-seeded Cardinals (26-8) reached the round of 16 for the first time since 2005. They will take on Tennessee on Thursday night in Charlotte, N.C.

David Godbold hit four 3s and finished with 15 points for sixth-seeded Oklahoma (23-12). Star freshman Blake Griffin was held without a shot for 12 minutes and had eight points.

Tennessee 76, Butler 71, OT

JaJuan Smith hit four straight free throws in the final 13.6 seconds of overtime and the Volunteers survived a game they nearly turned into a rout.

The Vols (31-4) scored six straight points inside after the Bulldogs took their first lead in the final 2 minutes of overtime. Tennessee had led by 13 early in the game.

A.J. Graves led Butler (30-4) with 21 points on just 6-of-18 shooting. Mike Green added 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists before fouling out late in overtime.

It was the first time two teams with 30 wins played each other in the second round.

North Carolina 108, Arkansas 77

Wayne Ellington scored 20 points, Ty Lawson had 19 points and seven assists and the Tar Heels raced to a double-digit lead in the first 5 minutes of the blowout.

North Carolina (34-2) will face fourth-seeded Washington State on Thursday night in Charlotte, N.C., in the same arena where it won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

The Tar Heels scored the first nine points, led 51-26 at halftime and shot 68 percent for the game.

-- AP

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