March Madness: Virginia overcomes Purdue to advance to Final Four

March 30 (UPI) -- The Virginia Cavaliers were five points better in overtime, moving on to the Final Four on Saturday night with an 80-75 win over the Purdue Boilermakers.

The Elite Eight matchup to determine the South Region winner in Louisville, Ky. could not be decided in 40 minutes of play, and had to go an overtime period with the No. 1 seeded Cavaliers being just a bit better to advance.

Virginia advances to its first Final Four since 1984, and will face No. 2 Kentucky or No. 5 Auburn in the Final Four next weekend in Minneapolis.

Purdue star Carsen Edwards nearly got the Boilermakers to the Final Four on his own, as he scored 42 points, 16 in the first half and 26 in the second.

He put Purdue up 75-74 with 42 seconds left in the second half. Mamadi Diakite was able to send the game into overtime for Virginia with a jumper at the buzzer to tie it up.

Junior guard Kyle Guy scored 25 points for Virginia, 21 of which came in the second half. Fellow Cavaliers guard Ty Jerome popped in 24 points.

The Cavaliers were the first team in NCAA history to lose to a 16 seed a year ago, falling to UMBC.

This year they again were a one seed in the tournament, and would not be denied, taking the lead for good on De'Andre Hunter's go-ahead layup with 29 seconds remaining in overtime.