The Big Ten has filled almost half the final eight.

The conference that was dominated by Illinois all season and was considered by many to be down this year will have three teams playing this weekend for a berth in the Final Four.

Fifth-seeded Michigan State came up with the biggest shocker in the regional semifinals, beating top-seeded Duke 78-68 Friday night in the Austin Regional.

Just as that game ended, sixth-seeded Wisconsin beat No. 10 North Carolina State 65-56 in the Syracuse Regional to complete the Big Ten’s sweep of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Now, they join top-ranked Illinois, which is in the Chicago Regional, in the round of eight.

“That’s super. Three out of eight. That’s not bad,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. “We like those percentages.”

The last time one conference had three teams in the final eight was the Big 12 in 2003. Kansas and Texas moved on to the Final Four that year, while Oklahoma lost to eventual champion Syracuse in the regional final.

The only conference to have three teams in the same Final Four was the Big East in 1985 when champion Villanova, Georgetown and St. John’s all got there.

Wisconsin guard Sharif Chambliss was quick to address those who felt the Big Ten was comprised of Illinois and some other teams this season.

“The Big Ten is down this year?” he asked. “How many teams do we have in the Elite Eight?”

He knew the answer.

Lone ACC
As great as Friday night was for the Big Ten, North Carolina saved it from being a horrible night for the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The top-seeded Tar Heels beat Villanova 67-66 in the Syracuse Regional, giving the ACC a 1-2 mark on Friday.

North Carolina needed every second to keep the fifth-seeded Wildcats from keeping alive their surprising run on the 20th anniversary of their only national championship.

Junior guard Randy Foye had a career-high 28 points for Villanova and freshman guard Kyle Lowry had a career-high 18.

The Wildcats started four guards with center Will Sheridan as they played without junior forward Curtis Sumpter, who tore his ACL in the first half of the second-round win over Florida.

Spartan outing
Michigan State used its depth to prevent Duke’s J.J. Redick from breaking out of his slump.

MEN'S RESULTS FINAL North Carolina 75, Illinois 70 SEMIFINALS Illinois 72, Louisville 57 North Carolina 87, Michigan State 71

Redick, a first-team All-America and the Atlantic Coast Conference’s player of the year, had a total of just 23 points in the Blue Devils’ first two wins in the tournament, one point above his season average.

He didn’t even take his first shot until the game was 10 minutes old and he finished 4-of-14 from the field, including 3-for-9 on 3s. He had 13 points.

The Blue Devils’ other problem was turnovers. They averaged 13.5 this season but had 16 in the second-round win over Mississippi State and then committed 22 against Michigan State.

“We’ve been in a lot of games like tonight, but we haven’t had many with 22 turnovers,” Redick said. “We weren’t very strong with the ball.”

Deep 'Cats
Kentucky has prided itself all season as a team without a star. The second-seeded Wildcats showed how deep they are, though, in their 62-52 win over No. 6 Utah.

Coach Tubby Smith used 13 players, and 10 of them scored as the Wildcats — a 46 percent shooting team this season — shot 61.5 percent from the field.

The depth allowed Kentucky to use a number of players on Utah All-America Andrew Bogut who had 20 points and 12 rebounds. The 7-foot sophomore was 8-of-19 from the field, matching the most missed shots he ever had in a game, and a career-worst 4-of-11 from the free throw line.

The win gave the state of Kentucky two teams in the regional finals with Louisville playing West Virginia for the Albuquerque Regional title.

Hodgepodge
Julius Hodge was everything for North Carolina State in its first two wins in the NCAA tournament. On Friday night, he couldn’t hit anything.

The senior forward had 36 points in 79 minutes in the wins over Charlotte and Connecticut. It was his three-point play with 4.3 seconds left that gave the Wolfpack their 65-62 win over second-seeded Connecticut.

Their were no heroics for him in the 65-56 loss to Wisconsin, just a lot of missed shots.

Hodge finished 4-for-16 from the field and had 14 points. He missed both his 3-point attempts, but long-rage shots weren’t the problem. He missed repeatedly from in close after driving to the basket.

The Wolfpack were just 9-for-28 in the second half after leading 30-21 at halftime.

“We played till we were absolutely exhausted,” Hodge said. “We gave it our all. We have no reason to hang our heads.”