West Regional: Xavier 79 West Virginia 75, OT

PHOENIX (AP) - Three-pointers saved Xavier. Missed free throws doomed West Virginia.

B.J. Raymond made two 3-pointers in the last 1:18 of overtime tonight and the Musketeers advanced to the West Region final with a 79-75 victory over coach Bob Huggins' Mountaineers.

Third-seeded Xavier (30-6) will seek its first Final Four appearance when it plays the winner of the UCLA-Western Kentucky game in the regional final on Saturday.

Raymond hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put Xavier ahead 75-74 with 1:18 to play. He then shook loose on an inbounds play, took a crosscourt pass and made a 3 with 30 seconds to go for a 78-74 lead.

Josh Duncan scored a career-high 26 points, despite foul trouble, to lead Xavier. Joe Alexander scored 18 and had 10 rebounds for the Mountaineers (26-11).

West Virginia missed four of six free throws in the overtime. Alexander missed one with 14.2 seconds left in regulation that would have given his team a 65-64 lead.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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PHOENIX (AP) - Nothing comes easily for UCLA these days, but the Bruins are one victory away from another Final Four appearance.

Kevin Love scored a career-high 29 points and the Bruins nearly frittered away a 21-point halftime lead but hung on to defeat upset-minded Western Kentucky 88-78 in the NCAA West Region on Thursday night.

Top-seeded UCLA will play third-seeded Xavier on Saturday. A win would give UCLA a trip to its third consecutive Final Four.

Love also had 14 rebounds. He was one of three Bruins with a double-double. James Keefe had 18 points and 12 rebounds, both career highs. Russell Westbrook had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Tyrone Brazelton scored 25 of his game-high 31 points in the second half for 12th-seeded Western Kentucky, which winds up 29-and-7. The Hilltoppers nearly erased all of a 41-20 halftime deficit, closing within four with 6:50 left before the Bruins put it away.

East Regional: North Carolina 68 Washington State 47

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina is one victory away from the Final Four. The top-seeded Tar Heels held Washington State to 32 percent shooting in routing the Cougars 68-47 in an East Regional semifinal.

Tyler Hansbrough scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half helping North Carolina back to the NCAA round of eight for the second straight season.

Danny Green had 15 points to help the 35-and-2 Tar Heels set a school record for victories in a season while continuing their dominating tournament run. The Number-1 overall seed will play the Louisville-Tennessee winner Saturday with a clear home-court advantage. They will play in Charlotte about two hours from its Chapel Hill campus.

East Regional: Louisville 79 Tennessee 60

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Louisville's suffocating defense has Rick Pitino a step away from a sixth trip to the Final Four.

Earl Clark scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and added 12 rebounds, and Pitino's mix of defenses made life miserable for Tennessee in a 79-60 win Thursday night that put Louisville in the East Regional final.

Louisville will play top-seeded North Carolina in the East Regional final on Saturday night as the Cards look to go to the Final Four for the second time in four years.