Burke leads Wolverines past Jayhawks in OT, into Elite Eight

ARLINGTON, Texas -- It seemed Kansas needed only one more play to ice a Sweet 16 victory over Michigan.

But Wolverines guard Trey Burke had other plans.

Burke hit a clutch, game-tying 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds left in regulation, then hit two more key baskets in overtime to lead the Wolverines to an 87-85 upset of No. 1 seed Kansas on Friday night at Cowboys Stadium.

Burke powered a 10-2 run in the final 1:12 of the second half that enabled the Wolverines to send the game to overtime. Burke's game-tying 3 caused a mini-eruption inside Cowboys Stadium. Kansas' Naadir Tharpe had his 3-point attempt at the buzzer hit off the front of the rim and bounced away.

"We fought so hard to come back," Burke said. "It didn't matter how far the shot was, it was all or nothing. I had a lot of faith in that shot."

Tharpe had another chance at the overtime buzzer, but again missed as the Wolverines survived and advanced.

Now Michigan (29-7) rides the momentum of its Sweet 16 victory into the South Regional final to face the winner of Friday's late game between Florida and Florida Gulf Coast.

Burke said with 12 seconds remaining, the plan was for him to go to the basket for a 2. But Kansas made a switch and gave him just enough of a window.

"I saw that they were going to try to switch," Burke said. "I stepped back, got some space and hit the shot."

Kansas coach Bill Self said it seemed like his team had as many as five possessions with chances to put the game away. And at the end, they were determined to deny Michigan a chance to hit a 3.

It didn't work out.

"The whole deal was don't give up a 3," Self said. "That was not that difficult a switch and we don't give up a 3. But it was a great play by a big-time player."

Burke, who went scoreless in the first half but finished with 23 points and 10 assists, hit a 3-pointer and another jumper in overtime to stake the Wolverines to an 81-80 lead with 3:19 left.

Kansas (31-6) retook the lead on a Kevin Young dunk.

But Mitch McGary took over from there with an inside basket and a put back, giving the Wolverines an 85-82 lead they wouldn't relinquish.

"You saw a bunch of young men that have high character," Michigan coach John Beilein said about his team. "They've been persistent. This is what we dream of, to have a young team that gets the point."

McGary finished with a game-high 25 points and 14 rebounds.

Michigan cut the Jayhawks' lead to 46-44 on Burke's 3-point play with 15:48 remaining. But Kansas guard Ben McLemore responded by hitting a 3-pointer, throwing down a powerful breakaway dunk and capping a 15-6 run with another 3-pointer for an 11-point edge.

McLemore led Kansas with 20 points.

The Wolverines came firing back again in the closing minutes. Burke hit a 3-pointer with 1:12 left, and Glen Robinson III followed with a reverse layup to cut Kansas' lead to 74-71 with 28 seconds left.

Kansas' Elijah Johnson hit both ends of a one-and-one to extend the Jayhawks' lead to five points with 21 seconds left. But after Burke's layup cut the margin to three, Johnson missed the first shot of his next one-and-one attempt with 12 seconds left, opening the door for Burke's game-tying 3-pointer.

McLemore bounced back from a woeful game against North Carolina in the previous round. McLemore scored just two points and made no field goals against the Tar Heels while playing only 24 minutes. But he hit his first shot against Michigan at the 8:45 mark of the first half. He led Kansas with 10 first-half points and played the entire 20 minutes.

McLemore converted a fast-break layup, threw in a dunk off an out-of-bounds pass from Tharpe and hit a 3-pointer to lead the Jayhawks on a 7-3 run that gave them a 36-26 lead.

Earlier in the half, Kansas' frontcourt produced a 12-2 run that extended the Jayhawks' lead to nine points. Kansas center Jeff Withey drove for a basket and had an assist, and Perry Ellis scored a pair of inside baskets during the surge.

Withey had eight points, five rebounds and two blocks in the first half as he helped Kansas control the interior.

But McGary scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds to help keep the Wolverines within striking distance, down 40-34 at the break.

McGary was on the receiving end of a flagrant-1 foul in the opening minutes. Officials stopped the game to check the monitor, where they clearly saw Kansas guard Johnson bump McGary in the crotch. Johnson picked up his third foul of the half at the 9:17 mark and played just three minutes in the half.

NOTES: Michigan was back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since the Wolverines advanced to the 1994 Midwest Region final before losing to eventual national champion Arkansas. That game was also played in the Dallas/Fort Worth area at Reunion Arena in Dallas. This is the first time Michigan has played in Texas since then. ... Michigan's football and basketball teams played at Cowboy Stadium this season as the Wolverines football team lost to eventual national champion Alabama in both teams' season-opener in September. ... Friday was the first time storied programs Kansas and Michigan had ever met in the NCAA Tournament. ... Kansas entered the Michigan game having won 12 of its last 13 games, but the lone loss in that stretch was on the Jayhawks' last trip to Texas when they lost to Baylor, 81-58, on March 9.