MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Roy Williams went all "Gone With the Wind" when a player asked about his North Carolina Tar Heels making the last shot Sunday to edge Kentucky to the Final Four.

And the coincidence that the Tar Heels have been on the other end of similar shots recently, like in the 2016 national championship and a wild December game against the Wildcats.

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a ...," Williams said with a smile, quoting Clark Gable's famed line as Rhett Butler. "I didn't care what he was talking about."

Luke Maye hit a jumper with 0.3 seconds left and top-seeded North Carolina held off Kentucky 75-73 to earn the Tar Heels' second straight trip to the Final Four, winning a showdown of college basketball's elite in the South Regional.

The national semifinal will be the 20th for North Carolina, where the Tar Heels (31-7) will play Midwest champ Oregon on Saturday in Glendale, Arizona.

North Carolina took control with 12 straight points over the final 5 minutes, a run similar to what it used a week ago to beat Arkansas. The Tar Heels finished this game with a 16-9 run. Kentucky's freshmen De'Aaron Fox hit a 3 and Malik Monk quickly added two more, one with 7.2 seconds left and defenders in his face to tie the game at 73.

"I probably should have called time out," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "It entered my mind, but they got that son of a B in so quick, I couldn't get to anybody to do it. I needed to stop that right there."

Theo Pinson drove enough toward the basket to pick off Maye's defender, then passed back to Maye. The sophomore from Huntersville, North Carolina, knocked it down for the win with his feet on the 3-point line.

"I just kind of stepped back, and he gave me the ball and I just shot it, and luckily it went in," Maye said. "It was a great feeling."

Maye finished with a career-high 17 points off the bench for North Carolina. Justin Jackson scored 19 points, and Joel Berry II added 11 on a sprained left ankle.

The Wildcats had one last chance, but Derek Willis' inbounds pass went out of bounds on the far end.

Kentucky (32-6) will miss out on the Final Four for the second straight year. Willis and sophomore Isaac Humphries left the court with towels over their heads, and Fox was the last to leave.

The Wildcats had hoped their talented freshmen would carry them. Bam Adebayo and Fox each had 13 points, and Monk, the Southeastern Conference player of the year, finished with 12. Fox and Adebayo wept side by side in the locker room.

"That shot is just playing back and forth in my head," Fox said. "It's going to be difficult to get over."

Never before had the NCAA Tournament pitted powerhouse programs that have so dominated March. This South final featured Kentucky with the most tournament wins all-time with 124 and North Carolina just behind with 120 (now 121).

This was just the fourth time these blue bloods have met in a regional final. The result was much the same as the others, with North Carolina now 3-1 against Kentucky as the Tar Heels avenged a 103-100 loss on Dec. 17 in Las Vegas.

Kentucky led for less than 4 minutes in a game North Carolina had a big edge on the boards (44-34) and inside, where the Tar Heels outscored the Wildcats 34-26.

Officials didn't help the flow of this game calling fouls left and right, though Kentucky took the brunt with its star trio of freshmen all picking up two fouls each in the half. Fox played only 8 minutes of the first half after picking up his second foul with 12:23 left. Adebayo easily was the most frustrated as he missed all five shots in the half with Kennedy Meeks swatting away one of his dunk attempts.

North Carolina led by as much as 9 a couple times before both teams went into shooting slumps. The Tar Heels led 38-33 at halftime.

BIG PICTURE

Kentucky: Nobody has played in more Elite Eights than the Wildcats with this their 33rd overall and sixth under Calipari. Kentucky now is 4-2 with Calipari in regional finals. Fox and Monk combined for 71 points in the December win over North Carolina led by Monk's 47. This time, they combined for 25.

North Carolina: Memphis and the South Regional have been very good to the Tar Heels. This is the second straight time the Tar Heels have been the region's top seed and advanced to the Final Four through Memphis, and now they can only hope to replicate their success of 2009 when they won the program's fifth national title. Williams improved to 9-4 in regional finals overall and 5-3 at North Carolina.

BERRY'S ANKLES

Williams said Berry aggravated the right ankle he sprained in the opening weekend of the tournament in practice Saturday. Berry then rolled his left ankle in the opening 5 minutes. The junior guard played 33 minutes.

UP NEXT

North Carolina plays Oregon in the national semifinal. Kentucky prepares for another batch of freshmen heading to the NBA.

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For more AP college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 .

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This story has been corrected to reflect that the "Gone With the Wind" quote referenced by North Carolina coach Roy Williams was spoken by the character Rhett Butler, not Scarlett O'Hara, and also to show that Kentucky is 4-2 in regional finals under John Calipari.</s>NEW YORK -- South Carolina added a missing piece to its rich basketball history.

The school of Frank McGuire, Kevin Joyce, Brian Winters, Mike Dunleavy and Alex English is going to the Final Four for the first time.

Add the names Sindarius Thornwell and Frank Martin to the top of the list.

Thornwell's 26 points and the Gamecocks' swarming zone defense meant a 77-70 victory over Florida on Sunday and a berth in the Final Four.

Martin, he of the booming voice and terrifying faces, led the seventh-seeded Gamecocks to the biggest victory in school history and now they will face Gonzaga, the No. 1 seed from the West Regional, in the Final Four on Saturday at Glendale, Arizona.

"Anyone that's in sports dreams of moments like this," said Martin, who was doused with water and dancing as soon as he entered the locker room. "It's not something that you start dreaming it the year you win 25 games. You dream it every single day."

The game was as close as expected until the final minute. There were 14 lead changes and 10 ties. The last lead change came on two free throws by Thornwell with 2:24 left that made it 65-63. Fourth-seeded Florida managed just three field goals over the final 3:55.

Thornwell, the regional MVP, followed the deciding free throws with a nice assist to Maik Kotsar for a 4-point lead. It seemed Thornwell, who scored eight straight points for the Gamecocks, was always where he needed to be including making a steal with 40 seconds left that turned into a 73-68 lead.

"Plays needed to be made down the stretch and I stepped up and made plays," Thornwell said.

Teammate Duane Notice knew Thornwell would come through.

"He's capable of doing anything on both sides of the basketball. So it doesn't surprise me," he said. "His senior leadership just kicked in. He don't want us to lose. He don't want our season to end."

"Thornwell was just being Thornwell," Florida coach Mike White said of the SEC player of the year as voted by coaches. "He's one of the best players in the country."

PJ Dozier added 17 points for the Gamecocks, Chris Silva had 13 and Kotsar 12.

Justin Leon had 18 points for the Gators who managed a 40-33 halftime lead on 7-for-12 shooting from 3-point range. But that was it. Florida was 0 for 14 from beyond the arc in the second half, a lot like the 0-for-17 effort the Gators had in their first meeting with South Carolina this season.

"We still got our open looks, but they just, I guess they just went farther than what they were in the first half," Leon said.

South Carolina, which forced Florida into 16 turnovers, finished 23 for 31 from the free throw line, including a 9-for-10 effort from Thornwell.

It was the third straight game the Gamecocks were trailing at the half and went on to win.

"We felt like we was doing the right things. We felt like everything was going good for us, it was just the ball wasn't falling in, and we just needed a couple more stops," Thornwell said. "So going into halftime we always just buckled in and locked in on what we needed to do to win and took it one possession at a time."

BIG PICTURE

South Carolina: This had been South Carolina's deepest run in the NCAA Tournament. ... The Gamecocks beat No. 2 seed Duke and No. 3 Baylor on the way to the Elite Eight. ... Until this tournament the Gamecocks hadn't won an NCAA Tournament game since 1973.

Florida: This was Florida's first NCAA Tournament game against a Southeastern Conference opponent. ... The Gators entered the game with an all-time 44-24 record against the Gamecocks, including 1-2 under White. ... The Gators were trying for their sixth Final Four appearance and that includes the titles in 2006 and 2007.

FAMOUS FANS

Among those in attendance at Madison Square Garden were Hall of Famer Rick Barry, whose son Canyon plays for Florida, Paul McCartney and Darius Rucker.

UP NEXT

South Carolina will meet Gonzaga in the Final Four on Saturday.

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For more AP college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25</s>NEW YORK (AP) — Sindarius Thornwell scored 26 points and South Carolina earned its first trip to the Final Four with a 77-70 victory over Florida on Sunday.

The seventh-seeded Gamecocks (26-10) used their trademark swarming defense and some solid free throw shooting to beat their fellow Southeastern Conference Gators (27-9) in the East Regional final at Madison Square Garden.

South Carolina will face Gonzaga, the No. 1 seed from the West Regional, in the Final Four on Saturday at Glendale, Arizona.

The game was as close as expected until the final minute. There were 14 lead changes and 10 ties. The last lead change came on two free throws by Thornwell with 2:24 left that made it 65-63. Florida managed just three field goals over the final 3:55.

Thornwell, the regional MVP, followed the deciding free throws with a nice assist to Maik Kotsar for a 4-point lead. It seemed Thornwell was always where he needed to be including a steal with 40 seconds left that made it 73-68.

PJ Dozier added 17 points for the Gamecocks, Chris Silva had 13 and Kotsar 12.

It all totaled to a Final Four trip for coach Frank Martin, he of the booming voice and terrifying faces.

Justin Leon had 18 points for the Gators who managed a 40-33 halftime lead on 7-for-12 shooting from 3-point range. But that was it. Florida was 0 for 14 from beyond the arc in the second hald, a lot like the 0-for-17 effort the Gators had in their first meeting with South Carolina this season.

South Carolina, which forced Florida into 16 turnovers, finished 23 for 31 from the free throw line, including a 9-for-10 effort from Thornwell.

South Carolina: This had been South Carolina’s deepest run in the NCAA Tournament. … The Gamecocks beat No. 2 seed Duke and No. 3 Baylor on the way to the Elite Eight. … Until this tournament the Gamecocks hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 1973.

Florida: This was Florida’s first NCAA Tournament game against a Southeastern Conference opponent. … The Gators entered the game with an all-time 44-24 record against the Gamecocks, including 1-2 under coach Mike White. … The Gators were trying for their sixth Final Four appearance and that includes the titles in 2006 and 2007.

Among those in attendance at Madison Square Garden were Hall of Famer Rick Barry, whose son Canyon is on Florida, Paul McCartney and Darius Rucker.

South Carolina will meet Gonzaga in the Final Four on Saturday.

For more AP college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25</s>NEW YORK (AP) — It’s only right that South Carolina’s first trip to Final Four was earned through its defense.

A team known for a swarming zone used it effectively down the stretch to beat Florida 77-70 on Sunday and win the East Regional at Madison Square Garden.

Sindarius Thornwell scored 26 points for the seventh-seeded Gamecocks (26-10) against the fourth-seeded Gators (27-9) in the all-Southeastern Conference matchup.

South Carolina will face Gonzaga, the No. 1 seed from the West Regional, in the Final Four on Saturday at Glendale, Arizona.

“Gamecock Nation, we heard you loud and clear,” coach Frank Martin roared as the team prepared to cut down the nets. “We’ll see you in Phoenix.”

The game was as close as expected until the final minute. There were 14 lead changes and 10 ties. The last lead change came on two free throws by Thornwell with 2:24 left that made it 65-63. Florida managed just three field goals over the final 3:55.

Thornwell, the regional MVP, followed the deciding free throws with a nice assist to Maik Kotsar for a 4-point lead. It seemed Thornwell, who scored eight straight points for the Gamecocks, was always where he needed to be including making a steal with 40 seconds left that turned into a 73-68 lead.

“I just made plays,” Thornwell said. “Plays needed to be made down the stretch and I stepped up and made plays.”

“Thornwell was just being Thornwell,” Florida coach Mike White said of the SEC player of the year. “He’s one of the best players in the country.”

PJ Dozier added 17 points for the Gamecocks, Chris Silva had 13 and Kotsar 12.

It all totaled to a Final Four trip for Martin, he of the booming voice and terrifying faces.

Justin Leon had 18 points for the Gators who managed a 40-33 halftime lead on 7-for-12 shooting from 3-point range. But that was it. Florida was 0 for 14 from beyond the arc in the second half, a lot like the 0-for-17 effort the Gators had in their first meeting with South Carolina this season.

South Carolina, which forced Florida into 16 turnovers, finished 23 for 31 from the free throw line, including a 9-for-10 effort from Thornwell.

South Carolina: This had been South Carolina’s deepest run in the NCAA Tournament. … The Gamecocks beat No. 2 seed Duke and No. 3 Baylor on the way to the Elite Eight. … Until this tournament the Gamecocks hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 1973.

Florida: This was Florida’s first NCAA Tournament game against a Southeastern Conference opponent. … The Gators entered the game with an all-time 44-24 record against the Gamecocks, including 1-2 under White. … The Gators were trying for their sixth Final Four appearance and that includes the titles in 2006 and 2007.

Among those in attendance at Madison Square Garden were Hall of Famer Rick Barry, whose son Canyon plays for Florida, Paul McCartney and Darius Rucker.

South Carolina will meet Gonzaga in the Final Four on Saturday.

For more AP college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25</s>The South Carolina Gamecocks punched their ticket to the Final Four with a 77-70 victory over the Florida Gators on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. It is the school’s first ever Final Four appearance.

Senior guard Sindarius Thornwell led the way with 26 points, 6 boards, 1 assist and 2 steals.

South Carolina will face Gonzaga on Saturday for the right to go to the NCAA Championship game.</s>NEW YORK (AP) – Sindarius Thornwell scored 26 points and South Carolina earned its first trip to the Final Four with a 77-70 victory over Florida on Sunday.

The seventh-seeded Gamecocks (26-10) used their trademark swarming defense and some solid free throw shooting to beat their fellow Southeastern Conference Gators (27-9) in the East Regional final at Madison Square Garden.

South Carolina will face Gonzaga, the No. 1 seed from the West Regional, in the Final Four on Saturday at Glendale, Arizona.

The game was as close as expected until the final minute. There were 14 lead changes and 10 ties. The last lead change came on two free throws by Thornwell with 2:24 left that made it 65-63. Florida managed just three field goals over the final 3:55.</s>The Latest on the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament (all times Eastern):

South Carolina has completed its surprise run to the Final Four.

The seventh-seeded Gamecocks held on down the stretch to beat 4-seed Florida 77-70 in the East Region final in New York.

The Gamecocks’ tournament run included upsets of 2-seed Duke — the preseason No. 1-ranked team — and 3-seed Baylor.

South Carolina joins Gonzaga and Oregon in the national semifinals. Kentucky and North Carolina meet later Sunday to determine the last spot in Phoenix.

The all-SEC East Regional final looks as if it will come down to the wire.

There have been 12 lead changes and seven ties so far and with 5:27 left in the second half South Carolina leads 59-57. The Gators still have not hit a 3 in the second half (0-for-12).

Sindarius Thornwell made a tough shot in the lane to give the Gamecocks the lead. He has 21 points and three fouls.

Florida was called for seven fouls in the first 5 minutes of the second half, putting South Carolina in the bonus for 15 minutes. Could be a long second half at the Garden with all those free throws.

The Gamecocks lead 49-48 with 11:03 left, with Florida going scoreless for more than 3 minutes and missing its last six shots.

KeVaughn Allen, who was shaken up at the end of the first half, started the second half for Florida — and promptly shot an air ball on his first attempt.

South Carolina whittled the Gators’ halftime lead to 1 as the teams picked up where they left off, trading baskets. The Gamecocks have trailed at the half twice already in this tournament.

Sindarius Thornwell, who has scored at least 24 points in each previous tournament game, leads the Gamecocks with 15 points.

Florida finished the first half with a 17-9 flourish to take a 40-33 lead at halftime against South Carolina in the East Regional final.

The Gators went 7 for 12 from 3-point range, led by Justin Leon. The senior was 3 for 5 and scored 13 points.

One thing to watch for in the second half: Florida’s KeVaughn Allen, the team’s leading scorer, seemed shaken up when he collided with PJ Dozier of South Carolina going for a loose ball.

With less than a minute left in the half, Allen was taken to the locker room by athletic trainers.

Sindarius Thornwell is carrying South Carolina with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

If only the Knicks could get the Garden sounding like this.

South Carolina and Florida are going shot for shot at MSG and have the sellout crowd — which sounds like mostly Gamecocks fans — rocking as if it was the Georgia Dome for an SEC football title game. Florida got 3-pointers from Devin Robinson, KeVaughn Allen and Chris Chiozza on consecutive possessions to take a 32-28 lead with 3:01 left. Chiozza’s banked 3 as the shot clock expired stood up to a video review.

Chiozza is getting good at beating the buzzer at MSG this weekend. His game-winner as time expired against Wisconsin on Friday got the Gators into the Elite Eight.

The shooting has been on target at the Garden.

South Carolina and Florida are a combined 12 for 20 and the Gamecocks lead 15-14 with 11:41 left in the first half.

But it hasn’t been all offense. Some physical defense has led to 11 turnovers, seven by the Gators. The Gamecocks have turned those giveaways into 8 points.

Among those in the crowd watching the contest: NCAA President Mark Emmert.

Well, things didn’t get off to a smooth start for South Carolina-Florida.

Officials twice had to stop the game in the opening minute due to a bit of clock trouble. A TV replay on the second one showed the shot clock resetting to 15 seconds instead of the full 30.

The issue appeared to be resolved fairly quickly — knock on wood.

The all-Southeastern Conference Elite Eight game saw the football schools playing a physical game a little more than four minutes in, with the Gators leading 7-6 in a game featuring plenty of bumping and tight defense.

And the officials are letting them play. Only one foul has been called so far.

Just how unexpected is this Florida-South Carolina matchup for the Final Four? Just know that it probably won’t have any bearing on your office pool for bracket picks.

Well under 1 percent of those who filled out brackets on ESPN or Yahoo picked the No. 7 seed Gamecocks to reach the Final Four.

Gators support wasn’t much higher — just 3.5 percent of bracketeers on ESPN and 1.9 percent on Yahoo picked the No. 4 seed. Lower seeds Notre Dame, Michigan and Iowa State all had more support to win the regional final.

Florida football coach Jim McElwain made the trip up from Gainesville with his wife, Karen, to root on the Gators against South Carolina on Sunday.

McElwain says it is his first time attending an event at Madison Square Garden.

It will be a quick trip. He says he has a 7 a.m. staff meeting on Monday morning.

Steve Spurrier, the winningest football coach in both Florida and South Carolina history, was not at the game. A Florida spokesman says the coach is out of the country. Knowing Spurrier, he is likely somewhere warm with plenty of golf courses.

The NCAA Tournament will have its Final Four teams on Sunday with two more games to determine the last spots.

And both games are rematches of contests played earlier this season. Southeastern Conference teams South Carolina and Florida face off first for the right to represent the East, then North Carolina plays Kentucky in the South bracket.

The winners will join Gonzaga and Oregon at the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona, where the tournament semifinals will be played on Saturday.

South Carolina and Florida are at this stage of the tournament in large part because of a game they played against one another on Jan. 18. It announced the Gamecocks as a force but also prompted a team meeting for the Gators that triggered a nine-game winning streak, which included a rematch win against South Carolina.

Malik Monk scored 47 points for Kentucky in a 103-100 win over North Carolina in December.

For more AP college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25</s>The Final Four is set. And in an unusual bit of geography, it'll be schools from neighboring states out west (Oregon, Gonzaga) against schools from neighboring states in the east (North Carolina, South Carolina).

The national semifinals in Phoenix will feature No. 1 seeds in the Bulldogs and Tar Heels, a No. 3 seed in the Ducks and the surprising 7-seed Gamecocks.

The first game Saturday will be South Carolina-Gonzaga, tipping off at 6:09 p.m. EDT. Oregon-North Carolina will follow roughly 40 minutes after the completion of that game.

For the Tar Heels, it's a record 20th trip to the Final Four. Meanwhile, it's the first Final Four trip for Gonzaga coach Mark Few, Oregon coach Dana Altman and South Carolina coach Frank Martin.

Maye hits late jumper to lift North Carolina to Final Four

Luke Maye hit a jumper with 0.3 seconds left, and top-seeded North Carolina held off Kentucky 75-73 to earn the Tar Heels' second straight trip to the Final Four and 20th all-time in Sunday's showdown of college basketball's elite in the South Regional.

 

 The Tar Heels (31-7) will play Midwest champ Oregon on Saturday in Phoenix in the national semifinal.

 

 North Carolina took control with a 12-0 run within the final 5 minutes. Kentucky's freshmen De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk hit three quick 3s, the last two by Monk and his second with 7.2 seconds left tied it up at 73.

 

 Theo Pinson brought the ball down, passed back to Maye. The sophomore from Huntersville, North Carolina, knocked it down for the win with his feet on the 3-point line.

 

 The Wildcats had one last chance, but Derek Willis' inbound pass went out of bounds on the far end.

 

 Kentucky (32-6) will miss out on the Final Four for the second straight year.

Sindarius Thornwell scored 26 points and South Carolina earned its first trip to the Final Four with a 77-70 victory over Florida on Sunday.

 

 The seventh-seeded Gamecocks (26-10) used their trademark swarming defense and some solid free throw shooting to beat their fellow Southeastern Conference Gators (27-9) in the East Regional final at Madison Square Garden.

 

 South Carolina will face Gonzaga, the No. 1 seed from the West Regional, in the Final Four on Saturday at Glendale, Arizona.

 

 The game was as close as expected until the final minute. There were 14 lead changes and 10 ties. The last lead change came on two free throws by Thornwell with 2:24 left that made it 65-63. Florida managed just three field goals over the final 3:55.

Gonzaga beats Xavier 83-59 to reach first Final Four

Nigel Williams-Goss scored 23 points while orchestrating Gonzaga's efficient offense, and the Zags finally shook their overrated tag by routing Xavier 83-59 on Saturday to reach the Final Four for the first time.

 

 Gonzaga (36-1) has been dogged by criticism through the years despite winning consistently, in part for playing in a weak conference but also for never making the Final Four.

 

 On the cusp of history, the Zags took it head on with a superb all-around game to give coach Mark Few the one missing piece of his resume.

 

 Gonzaga found the range from the perimeter after struggling the first three NCAA games, making 12 of 24 from 3-point range. The defense, a soft spot in the past, shut down the underdog and 11th-seeded Musketeers (24-14) to win the West Region.

 

 The Zags will face South Carolina in next week's Final Four in Arizona.

Oregon is in the Final Four.

 

 Tyler Dorsey scored 27 points and Jordan Bell was two blocks away from a triple-double as Oregon upset No. 1 seed Kansas 74-60 in the Midwest Regional final.

 

 Joining Oregon in the Final Four is Gonzaga, which trounced Xavier 83-59 in the West Regional championship.

 

 Two more Final Four invitations go out Sunday. North Carolina takes on Kentucky in the South Region, and South Carolina meets Florida in an all-Southeastern Conference East Region final.

Oregon watched an 18-point lead get whittled to 66-57, but time was on the Ducks' side as they held on against Kansas to advance to the Final Four in Arizona. They will face off with the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday.</s>The Latest on the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament (all times Eastern):

The shooting has been on target at the Garden.

South Carolina and Florida are a combined 12 for 20 and the Gamecocks lead 15-14 with 11:41 left in the first half.

But it hasn’t been all offense. Some physical defense has led to 11 turnovers, seven by the Gators. The Gamecocks have turned those giveaways into 8 points.

Among those in the crowd watching the contest: NCAA President Mark Emmert.

Well, things didn’t get off to a smooth start for South Carolina-Florida.

Officials twice had to stop the game in the opening minute due to a bit of clock trouble. A TV replay on the second one showed the shot clock resetting to 15 seconds instead of the full 30.

The issue appeared to be resolved fairly quickly — knock on wood.

The all-Southeastern Conference Elite Eight game saw the football schools playing a physical game a little more than four minutes in, with the Gators leading 7-6 in a game featuring plenty of bumping and tight defense.

And the officials are letting them play. Only one foul has been called so far.

Just how unexpected is this Florida-South Carolina matchup for the Final Four? Just know that it probably won’t have any bearing on your office pool for bracket picks.

Well under 1 percent of those who filled out brackets on ESPN or Yahoo picked the No. 7 seed Gamecocks to reach the Final Four.

Gators support wasn’t much higher — just 3.5 percent of bracketeers on ESPN and 1.9 percent on Yahoo picked the No. 4 seed. Lower seeds Notre Dame, Michigan and Iowa State all had more support to win the regional final.

Florida football coach Jim McElwain made the trip up from Gainesville with his wife, Karen, to root on the Gators against South Carolina on Sunday.

McElwain says it is his first time attending an event at Madison Square Garden.

It will be a quick trip. He says he has a 7 a.m. staff meeting on Monday morning.

Steve Spurrier, the winningest football coach in both Florida and South Carolina history, was not at the game. A Florida spokesman says the coach is out of the country. Knowing Spurrier, he is likely somewhere warm with plenty of golf courses.

The NCAA Tournament will have its Final Four teams on Sunday with two more games to determine the last spots.

And both games are rematches of contests played earlier this season. Southeastern Conference teams South Carolina and Florida face off first for the right to represent the East, then North Carolina plays Kentucky in the South bracket.

The winners will join Gonzaga and Oregon at the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona, where the tournament semifinals will be played on Saturday.

South Carolina and Florida are at this stage of the tournament in large part because of a game they played against one another on Jan. 18. It announced the Gamecocks as a force but also prompted a team meeting for the Gators that triggered a nine-game winning streak, which included a rematch win against South Carolina.

Malik Monk scored 47 points for Kentucky in a 103-100 win over North Carolina in December.

For more AP college basketball coverage: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_Top25</s>NEW YORK (AP) — There’s no need for introductions in the East Regional final. Scouting reports aren’t really necessary.

Fourth-seeded Florida and seventh-seeded South Carolina, two Southeastern Conference foes, will meet Sunday at Madison Square Garden with the winner advancing to the Final Four.

This will be the third meeting between the teams this season with the home team winning both. They are two tough, defensive teams that can get out and run in transition.

“They’re super physical. They pressure a lot, deny a lot of passes. They’re all pretty fundamentally sound. They take a lot of charges and kind of swarm the ball when you drive,” Florida’s Canyon Barry said of the Gamecocks on Saturday. “We have to guard them too. I think it could be a defensive battle and whoever can execute better has a good shot of winning.”

The first game between the teams was a slugfest with South Carolina prevailing 57-53. The Gators missed all 17 of their 3-point attempts and KeVaughn Allen, Florida’s first-team All-SEC guard, scored 1 point.

“I learned that they’re a very aggressive team,” Allen said. “We can’t let them turn us over. We just got to be patient. They’re a team that likes to force you into turnovers. We just got to stay poised, stay together.”

The Gators won the rematch 81-66 with Allen scoring 26 points and they held South Carolina to 39 percent shooting.

Allen struggled in the first two NCAA Tournament games, scoring a total of 11 points on 3-for-21 shooting. He broke out with a career-high 35 points in the regional semifinal.

“I’m very confident. Whether I miss shots, I still just got to keep shooting it because if I don’t, I kind of feel like I’m hurting my team by not shooting it,” Allen said. “The first two games, it didn’t go well for me how I wanted it to go as far as shooting it. I think I found ways on defense to help my team and just try not to hurt them.”

This is South Carolina’s deepest run in the NCAA Tournament while Florida has been in the Elite Eight six times since 2006, including back-to-back national championships in 2006-07.

Their paths to this regional final couldn’t have been any more different. South Carolina beat third-seeded Baylor 70-50, while the Gators dispatched eighth-seeded Wisconsin 84-83 in overtime on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Chris Chiozza.

“I think I heard from everyone I ever met,” Chiozza said of the text messages he received Friday night.

Chiozza described South Carolina’s defense as “hectic. They have guys flying all over the place.”

South Carolina’s star is Sindarius Thornwell, the SEC player of the year and a consistent scorer who has averaged 26 points in the NCAA Tournament.

“Their defense is similar to ours,” he said. “They’re long, they’re athletic. They deny. They play hard. One through four can guard the ball. They protect the rim.

“They’re so long and they’re fast and. It’s just tough. They make it hard for everything. They don’t back down.”

South Carolina coach Frank Martin said he finds the physical reputation for both teams funny.

“We’re not physical because we foul and push, we’re physical because we don’t get out of the way,” Martin said. “Some teams get out of the way. We don’t get out of the way.”

Some things to know about the matchup:

QUICK TURNAROUND: The Wisconsin-Florida game ended at 12:50 a.m. Eastern. The Florida players were back at the Garden for media availability at 2:50 p.m. and the game is set for 2:20 p.m. Sunday.

“Already worried, not going to lie to you, about where our emotions are and our level of mental and physical fatigue,” Florida coach Mike White said. “And I’m sure South Carolina feels that way as well.”

White said the familiarity of the opponent will help both teams with the short turnaround.

CONSTANT REPLAYS: Chiozza can’t help but smile even 12 hours after hitting his game-winning 3.

“Every time I look somewhere somebody’s sending it to me or I see it on Instagram or something, so I’ve seen it quite a bit,” he said. “I enjoy it every time I watch it.”

SEC EXCHANGE: When you talk about success in the SEC the first thought is football. Not this year. With Kentucky still alive, the SEC has three of the final eight teams and is guaranteed one berth in the Final Four.

“They don’t really give the SEC any credit for being the best conference, but we have three teams in the Elite 8, so that speaks for itself right there,” Chiozza said.

NO SCORE: At the first media timeout of the first meeting between Florida and South Carolina the score was 0-0.

“I turned around to one of my assistants and said, ‘Is the score right? Has no one scored yet? Incredible.'”

BETTER D: Florida came up with the best defensive effort of the entire NCAA Tournament, holding Virginia to 39 points in a 26-point second-round win.
The last two places in the Final Four are decided. In the East Region in New York City, South Carolina defeats Southeastern Conference foe Florida 77–70 for the Gamecocks' first-ever Final Four appearance.