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. 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. 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 semifinal will be the 20th for North Carolina, where the Tar Heels (31-7) will play Midwest champ Oregon on Saturday in Glendale, Arizona. 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. 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 last lead change came on two free throws by Thornwell with 2:24 left that made it 65-63. Just how unexpected is this Florida-South Carolina matchup for 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. 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. 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. 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. 7 seed Gamecocks to reach the Final Four. The NCAA Tournament will have its Final Four teams on Sunday with two more games to determine the last spots. North Carolina takes on Kentucky in the South Region, and South Carolina meets Florida in an all-Southeastern Conference East Region final. ---

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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.