Last teams standing in NCAA Tournament share history

A familiar four will gather on college basketball’s final weekend, with rematch the operative word.

Duke and Michigan State, which battled at the Champions Classic in November, reached the Final Four with victories in regional championship games on Sunday.

The Blue Devils slowed Gonzaga 66-52 and captured the South Regional in Houston. Michigan State overcame an eight-point halftime deficit and defeated Louisville 76-70 in overtime for the East Regional championship in Syracuse, N.Y.

On Nov. 18, Duke handled the Spartans 81-71. That game was played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. They’ll meet again in the same city, this time at Lucas Oil Stadium at 5:09 p.m. Saturday.

The second semifinal pits Kentucky and Wisconsin, regional winners from Saturday, and these programs know each other from last year’s Final Four.

That time, the Wildcats survived 74-73 when guard Aaron Harrison hit a game-winning three-pointer with 5.7 seconds remaining. Two days later, Kentucky fell to Connecticut in the national championship game.

Those Wildcats were seeded eighth and climbed the bracket by beating several teams seeded ahead of them. This Kentucky team is off to the best start in the game’s history at 38-0. A familiar foe lies ahead, as it does for Duke and Michigan State.

This story was originally published March 29, 2015 at 10:30 PM with the headline "Last teams standing in NCAA Tournament share history."