The Latest on the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Friday (all times Eastern):

9:54 p.m.

Sindarius Thornwell scored 24 points and seventh-seeded South Carolina cruised past third-seeded Baylor 70-50 on Friday night in the East Regional semifinals, the Bears' worst NCAA Tournament loss.

The Gamecocks (25-10) were in control from the middle of the first half on, mixing defenses and hustling all over the Madison Square Garden court to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time.

South Carolina will meet the winner of the Wisconsin-Florida game on Sunday with a trip to the Final Four at stake.

DJ Dozier and Chris Silva had 12 points each and Duane Notice added 11 for the Gamecocks.

Johnathan Motley had 18 points, 12 in the second half, for Baylor (27-8), which just couldn't get any offense going. The Bears missed 11 of their first 13 shots from the field and it didn't get a whole lot better the entire game. They finished 17 for 56 from the field (30.4 percent), including 3 for 13 from 3-point range.

— Jim O'Connell reporting from New York.

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9:20 p.m.

North Carolina is now within a win of a second straight Final Four.

The No. 1 seed in the South Region led by as many as 20 points before beating fourth-seeded Butler 92-80 in Memphis, Tennessee. That sent UNC back to the regional final, the latest step toward its season-long goal of returning to the national championship game and playing for the title that slipped away in last year's loss to Villanova.

The Tar Heels (30-7) will face the UCLA-Kentucky winner on Sunday.

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9:14 p.m.

South Carolina is blowing away Baylor — and Baylor isn't used to being blown out.

The seventh-seeded Gamecocks jumped ahead 55-38 with just over nine minutes left and appears set to cruise to the East Region finals. It's unchartered territory for the Bears, who haven't lost by more than six points since a 21-point defeat at West Virginia in early January.

But Baylor is shooting just 29 percent from the floor and is losing the rebounding battle, two areas the Bears typically excel at.

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8:46 p.m.

Top-seeded North Carolina is well on its way to a blowout of Butler.

But the basketball should be much better in the nightcap of the South Region.

UCLA, led by freshman phenom Lonzo Ball, has the nation's top-scoring offense at 90.2 points per game. The Bruins also shoot 52.1 percent.

The Kentucky Wildcats aren't too shabby themselves, scoring 85.2 points a game. Coach John Calipari, in his return to Memphis, will counter Ball with his trio of freshmen: Malik Monk, De'Aaron Fox and Bam Adebayo.

UCLA also topped Kentucky by five at Rupp Arena earlier this season — so motivation shouldn't be an issue for the 'Cats either.

—Teresa M. Walker reporting from Memphis, Tennessee.

8:21 p.m.

South Carolina might be more than just a cute story after all.

The seventh-seeded Gamecocks used a 14-0 run to take a 29-15 lead over Baylor late in the first half in an East Region semifinal.

Chris Silva and Sindarius Thornwell each had four points during the game's first decisive run. South Carolina is also doing a very effective job with Baylor big man Johnathan Motley down low. He is just 2 for 8 from the field — and the Bears are 6 of 27 overall.

— Jim O'Connell reporting from New York.

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8:10 p.m.

The top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels are in cruise control at halftime of their South Regional semifinal.

The Tar Heels lead No. 4 seed Butler 52-36. They were up by as much as 20 before going the final 2:05 of the first half without a point.

Justin Jackson is leading North Carolina with 17 points. Luke Maye is a rebound shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Joel Berry II has 10 points.

The Tar Heels have cooled off a bit behind the arc and are just shooting 47 percent (8 of 17) from 3-point range. But they are hitting 52.9 percent (18 of 34) and have a 22-11 edge on the boards over the smaller Bulldogs.

The winner of this game will play either UCLA or Kentucky on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four in Phoenix.

—Teresa M. Walker reporting from Memphis, Tennessee.

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7:48 p.m.

The top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels are doing their best to shoot Butler right out of the South Regional semifinal.

Justin Jackson, the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year, already has 13 points on five of six shooting. Joel Berry II had hit only three of his 21 shots in the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament — but he has yet to miss and has 10 points himself for North Carolina.

The Tar Heels are shooting 72.7 percent (13 of 18). They are even better behind the arc, hitting 6 of 7 (85.7 percent).

Jackson's second 3 gave North Carolina a 38-24 lead with 7:19 left in the first half.

They're shooting so well the Tar Heels have had plenty of chances to stand up and celebrate on the bench.

—Teresa M. Walker reporting from Memphis, Tennessee.

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7:20 p.m.

After dispatching mighty Duke, scrappy South Carolina will get its moment in the spotlight.

The seventh-seeded Gamecocks, the team few thought could make it to New York, will face third-seeded Baylor on Friday at Madison Square Garden.

South Carolina went on a torrid scoring binge in the second half against the Blue Devils last Sunday, winning 88-81. But the Bears, once ranked No. 1 in the country, are equally adept at stopping opponents from shooting the 3 and scoring in the paint.

The winner will face either Wisconsin or Florida with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

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6:58 p.m.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are the last team standing from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The ACC put nine teams into the tournament; Duke, Florida State, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Miami and Louisville also earned berths.

Now only North Carolina, which lost the national championship game last season, remains alive.

Still, junior forward Joel Berry II defended the league for having the best teams in the nation. Berry says it's called March Madness because anything can happen.

Top-seeded North Carolina plays No. 4 seed Butler on Friday night in the first South Regional semifinal trying to return to reach the Elite Eight for a 27th time in school history and the ninth since 2000.

— Teresa M. Walker reporting from Memphis, Tennessee.

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6:35 p.m.

Let's be up front — everyone's bracket is pretty much busted in the East. That means most of the millions of guesses made in office pools for the NCAA Tournament are hinging on things like whether North Carolina comes out of the South, rather than Kentucky or UCLA.

There's another way to assess the East, though, through second chance games offered on many of the platforms that let people fill out brackets.

On ESPN, more people are backing No. 8 seed Wisconsin than any other East team to reach the Final Four. The tournament-tested Badgers face Florida on Friday night. The other semifinal pits South Carolina against Baylor.

Fans are backing Baylor 2-1 over South Carolina in ESPN's second chance bracket. And they're giving Wisconsin a slight edge over Baylor to reach the Final Four.

Nearly 18 percent of fans in the second chance brackets are picking Kansas to win it all, compared with about 11 percent picking Kansas for the title before the tournament's first weekend.

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6 p.m.

The 2017 Elite Eight will be set following Friday's regional semifinal action in the NCAA Tournament.

The marquee matchup will see second-seeded Kentucky face third-seeded UCLA in the South Region in Memphis. The two blue bloods met earlier this season, with the Bruins beating the Wildcats 97-92 on the road.

The winner could face No. 1 seed North Carolina on Sunday, though the Tar Heels will need to get past Butler first.

The East Region — the one that busted so many brackets during opening weekend — will also pick its finalists on Friday.

South Carolina, fresh off a stunner of Duke, will play third-seeded Baylor. Wisconsin will look to follow up on an upset win over top-seeded Villanova when it faces Florida.

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