Kentucky survives upset-minded Notre Dame

CLEVELAND — Guard Andrew Harrison hit two free throws with six seconds remaining and the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats advanced to the Final Four with a 68-66 victory over the third-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Midwest Regional final on Saturday night.

Kentucky (38-0) will face Wisconsin (35-3) in the national semifinals next Saturday.

Forward Karl-Anthony Towns led Kentucky with 25 points and guard Devin Booker added 10.

Notre Dame (32-6) was led by forward Zach Auguste with 20 points and guard Steve Vasturia with 16.

Guard Jerian Grant’s 3-pointer gave Notre Dame a 66-64 lead with 2:35 remaining before Towns’ basket tied the score with 1:12 left.

After a Notre Dame shot clock violation with 33 seconds remaining, Andrew Harrison drove to the basket, was fouled and calmly made both free throws.

Grant’s desperation 3-pointer from the corner missed and the Wildcats, who rallied from a 61-56 deficit with 5:22 remaining, survived.

The score was tied 31-31 at halftime.

The first half was tight throughout, with 13 lead changes and 10 ties.

Kentucky’s biggest lead was 2-0 and Notre Dame’s biggest was 26-22 late in the half.

Forward Bonzie Colson’s three-point play with 25 seconds remaining in the first half gave the Irish a 31-29 lead, but Wildcats forward Trey Lyles’ tip-in beat the buzzer to tie it.

Kentucky was 10 of 12 at the free-throw line and Notre Dame made all four of its foul shots in the opening half.

The Wildcats were coming off a 78-39 rout of West Virginia in the semifinals, a game they put away with a 16-0 run early in the first half. But they ran into much more resistance from the Irish.