Kentucky fans can breathe easy. The No. 1 overall seed survived to beat Midwest Regional No. 3 seed Notre Dame, 68-66, in Cleveland on Saturday in the regional finals to move to the Final Four.
Last year, Aaron Harrison hit two game-winning 3-pointers on Kentucky's road to the championship game. This year, it was his twin brother, Andrew Harrison, who drove to the lane, was fouled and hit the go-ahead free throws with six seconds left.
MORE: DeCourcy on Kentucky win | Gonzaga's big quest | PHOTOS: Elite Eight gallery
Notre Dame's Jerian Grant sprinted down the court to get a shot up before the clock expired, but Kentucky placed Willie Cauley-Stein on defense and distrupted his desperation three. Grant also had at least two other defenders around him on the play.
Freshman Karl-Anthony Towns led Kentucky with 25 points and five rebounds. He was dominant in the paint on the offensive end, converting 10-of-13 field goal attempts.
“We had a lot of confidence,” Towns said to Turner Sports after the game. “... Notre Dame is a great team, one of the best teams we’ve played so far. They are just so efficient, offensively.”
PHOTOS: Kentucky's amazing season
Notre Dame controlled the lead most of the game, until center Zach Auguste fouled out with 4:08 left. Auguste had 20 points and nine rebounds when he left. Grant finished with 15 points and six assists.
Devin Booker scored 10 points for the Wildcats. Andrew Harrison scored seven points, while going 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
“We didn’t play very well and Notre Dame played really well, controlled the whole thing,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said to Turner Sports after the game. “But we made the plays.
“We figured out a way to win.”
Kentucky (38-0) makes its second consecutive Final Four appearance against Wisconsin, which beat Arizona 85-78, next Saturday in Indianapolis. It will be the first rematch in the national semifinals since UCLA and Houston met in 1967 and 1968.