NCAA Tournament: Ohio State fends off Arizona with late 3

Los Angeles • Ohio State needed another last-second shot, and Aaron Craft had the ball at the top of the key again.

But last week's hero gave it up to the hottest hand on the floor, and LaQuinton Ross sent the Buckeyes to the brink of their second straight Final Four.

Ross hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2 seconds to play, and Ohio State advanced to the West Regional final with a 73-70 victory over Arizona on Thursday night.

Ross, Ohio State's remarkable reserve, scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half for the second-seeded Buckeyes (29-7), who rallied from an early 11-point deficit. With Ross making a series of tough shots capped by that dramatic 3, Ohio State weathered the sixth-seeded Wildcats' late charge for its 11th consecutive victory since mid-February.

"It feels great, man," said Ross, a once-ballyhooed recruit who has grown into a bigger role in the past two months. "I think this is what every player grows up looking at on TV, wanting to hit that big shot for an NCAA tournament team. It just feels great right now."

Deshaun Thomas scored 20 points for Ohio State, and Craft added 13 before ceding Ohio State's final shot to Ross when the Wildcats didn't make the proper switch on the Buckeyes' screen. Ross coolly drilled his second 3-pointer and set off a wild celebration in the Ohio State section of the Arizona-dominated crowd.

Wichita State 72, La Salle 58 • At Los Angeles, Wichita State went from sweet to elite, beating La Salle to reach the final eight of the NCAA tournament for the first time in 32 years.

Malcolm Armstead scored 18 points, Carl Hall added 16 points and freshman Ron Baker 13 for the ninth-seeded Shockers, who proved their upset of No. 1 seed Gonzaga in the third round was no fluke. They never trailed in this matchup of small schools whose past NCAA tourney success was long buried in the history books.

The Shockers advanced to Saturday's West Regional final against No. 2 seed Ohio State. Their yellow-clad fans, several waving handmade signs, made up nearly all of the smaller crowd that stuck around to see the end.

Wichita State (29-8) tied the school's 2010-11 team for most victories. That group won the NIT title. These Shockers have designs on next matching what the 1965 team did — reaching the Final Four.

La Salle (24-10) briefly fought back in the second half — getting within 11 points — but the Shockers made sure the history of No. 13 seeds never making the final eight remained intact.