The Latest: Bill Murray on hand for Xavier-Arizona game
By Associated Press
Mar 23, 2017 9:36 PM CDT
Oregon guard Tyler Dorsey, center, drives up court ahead of Michigan's Zak Irvin, left, and Derrick Walton Jr. during the second half of a regional semifinal of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 23, 2017, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)   (Associated Press)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Latest on the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament (all times Eastern):

10:25 p.m.

Bill Murray is in the house in San Jose.

The actor's son, Luke, is a second-year assistant at Xavier, which plays Arizona in the second game of the West Region semifinals. Murray got to the SAP Center a little early to take in the first game between Gonzaga and West Virginia, arriving just after halftime.

— John Marshall reporting from San Jose, California

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10:10 p.m.

Gonzaga has survived.

The top-seeded Bulldogs held off fourth-seeded West Virginia 61-58 in the West Region semifinals. That sent the Bulldogs on to the Elite Eight to face the winner of the Xavier-Arizona game.

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10 p.m.

Top-seeded Gonzaga is set for a tight finish. The Bulldogs are tied with fourth-seeded West Virginia at 55-all at the 2-minute mark after leading by eight earlier in the second half in San Jose, California. Stay tuned.

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9:55 p.m.

After watching Oregon and Michigan put up a load of bricks in their Sweet 16 matchup, Kansas and Purdue can't seem to miss as they try to join the Ducks in the Elite Eight.

The Boilermakers made their first four 3-pointers and are shooting 64 percent from the floor, a big reason why they've raced to a 21-18 lead midway through the first half. Devonte Graham has a couple of 3s for the Jayhawks, who are 7 of 13 from the field in their own right.

High-scoring games tend to favor Kansas. But so far, the Boilermakers seem right at ease.

— Dave Skretta reporting from Kansas City, Missouri

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9:45 p.m.

You wouldn't expect there to be a man-to-man showdown between national player of the year front-runners when one stands 5-foot-11 while the other is 6-9 and 250 pounds.

That's exactly what is happening in the Kansas-Purdue regional semifinal.

Jayhawks guard Frank Mason III lives by getting to the rim, but every time he makes a move that way, Boilermakers' big man Caleb Swanigan is there to get in his way. It's clear that Purdue is willing to sell out just about everywhere else on defense to avoid Mason driving to the basket.

The Boilermakers' hot shooting has them out to an 11-8 lead at the first media timeout.

— Dave Skretta reporting from Kansas City, Missouri.

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9:25 p.m.

After a rough shooting first half for both Gonzaga and West Virginia, the Bulldogs started to find their stroke as they took a lead early in the second half.

Jordan Mathews, who started the game 1 for 8 from the field, hit 3-pointers on consecutive trips down the court. He was fouled on the second and made the four-point play that put the Bulldogs up 41-34 early in the second half.

A jumper by Przemek Karnowski gave the top-seeded Bulldogs their largest lead at 45-37 with less than 14 minutes to play.

— Josh Dubow reporting from San Jose, California

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9 p.m.

Oregon has beaten Michigan 69-68 to move on to the Elite Eight.

Tyler Dorsey scored 20 points in a game that was back and forth throughout.

Oregon will advance to play the winner of the Kansas-Purdue game to be played later Thursday night.

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8:55 p.m.

Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown, who led Kansas to the 1988 national championship, is sitting behind what will be the Jayhawks' bench for their Sweet 16 matchup with Purdue.

Brown has been a regular at Kansas games since retiring from SMU.

He's joined at the Sprint Center by Florida Gulf Coast coach Joe Dooley, who was an assistant to Kansas coach Bill Self before taking over Dunk City. Dooley's team took Florida State to the wire in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

— Dave Skretta reporting from Kansas City, Missouri.

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8:50 p.m.

Derrick Walton Jr. looks like he wants to start taking over for seventh-seeded Michigan again. In a little over a minute, the Wolverines' 5-point deficit has turned into a 1-point lead against No. 3 Oregon.

Walton hit a pull-up jumper to pull the Wolverines within 58-55 and then a 3-pointer to give them a 61-60 lead with 4:22 left.

— Eric Olson reporting from Kansas City, Missouri

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8:45 p.m.

The first half of the Sweet Sixteen matchup between West Virginia and Gonzaga can be summed up by two numbers: 27 fouls and only 16 baskets.

The combination of frequent whistles and shoddy shooting gives the game a disjointed feel that plays into the fourth-seeded Mountaineers hands. They were tied at 30 with top-seeded Gonzaga at the break Thursday night despite shooting just 7 for 31 (22.6 percent) from the field. The Bulldogs weren't much more accurate at 9 for 24 (37.5 percent).

A possible cause for concern for both teams in the second half will be foul trouble. West Virginia has four players with two fouls, including starters Daxter Miles Jr., Elijah Macon and Esa Ahmad.

Reserve Killian Tillie has three fouls for Gonzaga and five other Bulldogs have two, including starters Johnathan Williams, Jordan Mathews and, Josh Perkins.

— Josh Dubow from San Jose, California

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8:25 p.m.

Tyler Dorsey is heating up for Oregon. He's made five straight shots, including four 3-pointers, to help the Ducks to a 45-44 lead over No. 7 Michigan with 15:29 left.

Dorsey is 5 for 9 and has scored a team-leading 15 points. He came into the game having scored 20-plus points in five straight games.

- Eric Olson reporting from Kansas City, Missouri

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8:15 p.m.

Gonzaga's Johnathan Williams is one of the only players to find his stroke in the first half of the Bulldogs' Sweet 16 matchup against West Virginia.

Williams has made all four shots from the field, including a 3-pointer that put Gonzaga up 21-16 with just under 8 minutes left in the first half.

His teammates have made just 4 of 14 shots from the field and the Mountaineers are doing even worse, shooting 5 for 18. They missed their first four from long range before Jevon Carter hit a 3 just before Williams answered.

— Josh Dubow from San Jose, California

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8 p.m.

Tyler Dorsey has scored 12 points, Jordan Bell has eight points, six rebounds and two blocked shots, and No. 3 seed Oregon leads No. 7 Michigan 35-33 at halftime in a Midwest Regional semifinal.

Derrick Walton Jr. has 11 points and seven assists for the Wolverines.

There were eight ties and eight lead changes the first 20 minutes as both teams struggled with their shooting.

Oregon finished the half at 41.4 percent after making its last four shots. Michigan hit its last three and is shooting 39.3 percent.

Moe Wagner, who scored a career-high 26 points against Louisville on Sunday, has struggled mightily. He's just 2 of 8 for four points.

— Eric Olson reporting from Kansas City, Missouri.

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7:55 p.m.

There is a lot of Big Ten love inside the Sprint Center for the Midwest Regional semifinals.

As fans of No. 4 seed Purdue wait for their game against top-seeded Kansas to begin, the black-and-gold contingent has been decidedly backing Michigan in the early game. The seventh-seeded Wolverines are in a nip-and-tuck game with No. 3 seed Oregon for the right to advance to the Elite Eight.

No doubt, Purdue fans hope the Michigan fans return the favor.

Even with a large crowd of Oregon fans behind its bench, and the two brotherly Big Ten fan bases, the vast majority of the 19,000 fans are wearing blue and red in support of the Jayhawks.

— Dave Skretta reporting from Kansas City, Missouri.

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7:50 p.m.

Gonzaga has managed to handle West Virginia's relentless press at the start of this Sweet 16 matchup.

The Bulldogs haven't turned the ball over against the full-court press in the opening minutes and have a plus-two turnover margin against the team that led the nation with a plus-7.8 coming into the game.

With Gonzaga's defense holding the Mountaineers to 1-for-6 shooting, the top-seeded Bulldogs have taken an early 10-6 lead as they seek their third trip in school history to the regional final.

— Josh Dubow in San Jose, California.

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7:40 p.m.

Michigan, the nation's best team at avoiding turnovers, has coughed up the ball five times in the first 13 minutes of its Midwest Regional semifinal against Oregon. That's quite a change; the Wolverines had a combined 10 turnovers in 80 minutes against Oklahoma State and Louisville in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

The No. 7-seeded Wolverines lead the Ducks 18-16. The teams were a combined 10 for 33 (30 percent).

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7:30 p.m.

No. 7 Michigan and No. 3 Oregon are having a hard time getting shots to fall early in their Midwest Regional semifinal.

Each team started 4 for 10 through the first eight minutes, and the score is tied 11-11.

Moe Wagner, who scored a career-high 26 points in the Wolverines' upset of Louisville on Sunday, has missed his first three shots. Wagner was short with his left hand inside, was off target with another shot down low and had one blocked by Jordan Bell.

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6:50 p.m.

Las Vegas casinos are favoring North Carolina as the NCAA Tournament resets to a 16-team field.

Futures odds compiled by Pregame.com on Thursday show the Tar Heels as a 5-1 favorite, followed by Kansas at 6-1 and Gonzaga and Arizona each at 7-1.

Sin City had trouble deciding on favorites for the tournament after Selection Sunday, with some initially listing No. 2 seed Duke as the top team and others picking Kansas and North Carolina.

But the odds now reflect each team's new path toward the title — four wins — plus wagers placed to this point.

Arizona is the biggest favorite to win on Thursday night, facing Xavier. Arizona is favored by 7 1/2 points, but bettors are backing Xavier according to wagering totals released by William Hill US.

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6:30 p.m.

Top seeds Gonzaga and Kansas are among the teams preparing to play in Thursday's Sweet 16 games of the NCAA Tournament.

The Jayhawks are the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region, which holds its semifinals in Kansas City, Missouri. The Jayhawks will face fourth-seeded Purdue, while No. 3 seed Oregon meets surging 7-seed Michigan in the region's other game.

Gonzaga tops the West bracket and faces No. 4 seed West Virginia in games set for San Jose, California. The other regional semifinal features No. 2 seed Arizona and 11-seed Xavier, the lowest-seeded team left in the field.

The winner of Thursday's games advance to the Elite Eight and will play Saturday for a trip to the Final Four.

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