Jay Biggerstaff/USA Today Sports, via Reuters
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sometimes, basketball can be a simple game: You run, you shoot. For nearly all 40 minutes of their Midwest Region semifinal on Friday, North Carolina and Auburn went at each other in a furious contest that was part Olympic relay race, part barroom Pop-A-Shot game.
When it was over, the capacity crowd at Sprint Center had sore necks and racing hearts, while the fifth-seeded Auburn Tigers had a 97-80 upset victory that moved them a step closer to their first national basketball title.
On Sunday, Auburn will play for a trip to its first Final Four, facing the winner of a semifinal between second-seeded Kentucky and third-seeded Houston.