6th-seeded Clemson beats No. 2 Arizona to reach men's Elite 8 for 1st time since 1980

Chase Hunter scored 18 points and converted a three-point play with 25.7 seconds remaining, and Clemson advanced to the men's Elite Eight for the second time in school history, beating Arizona 77-72 in a West Region semifinal on Thursday night in Los Angeles.

PJ Hall added 17 points for the sixth-seeded Tigers (24-11), who advanced to face either top-seeded North Carolina or No. 4 seed Alabama.

Clemson last reached the final eight in 1980, when there were 48 teams in the NCAA Tournament. Coach Brad Brownell was making his second appearance in the second weekend of March Madness in his 14 seasons with the Tigers.

Oumar Ballo scored 15 points and Caleb Love 13 for second-seeded Arizona (27-9), which had a horrific shooting night, going 5 of 28 (17.9 per cent) from three-point range. Love missed all nine of his attempts beyond the arc as the Wildcats failed to reach the Elite Eight for the 12th time overall and first time since 2015.

Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd was ousted in the Sweet 16 for the second time in his three seasons.

Stephon Castle had 16 points and 11 rebounds for top-seeded UConn and the defending NCAA champion advanced to the Elite Eight with another double-digit victory, beating San Diego State 82-52 in Boston on Thursday night in a rematch of last year's title game.

Cam Spencer scored 18 points and Tristen Newton added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Huskies (34-3), who will play the winner of the other East Region semifinal between No. 2 Iowa State and No. 3 Illinois for a spot in the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona.

Backed by a TD Garden that was virtually a UConn home crowd — Boston is about 90 miles from its Storrs, Connecticut, campus — the Huskies made it a double-digit lead early in the second