Virginia Commonwealth University extended its Cinderella status past midnight.
The Rams slipped past Florida State 72-71 on a layup by Benedictine High School graduate Bradford Burgess with seven seconds left in overtime in a Sweet 16 matchup late Friday. In the Elite Eight, Kansas (35-2) and VCU (27-11) will play here on Sunday at 2:20 p.m., with a slot in the Final Four on the line.
Earlier on Friday evening at the Alamodome, KU ended the University of Richmond's season 77-57 in their Sweet 16 meeting.
This was VCU's first appearance in the Sweet 16, and followed NCAA tournament victories over the University of Southern California, Georgetown and Purdue. The 11th-seeded Rams and 10th-seeded Seminoles locked up in a tight affair that wasn't decided until a bounce pass from Joey Rodriguez on an inbounds play went to Burgess, whose layup won it.
Kansas, a top seed, led 12th-seeded Richmond 35-11, and 41-22 at halftime. The Spiders (29-8) were disrupted by the Jayhawks' physical resistance.
The Spiders finished with a school-record number of victories and won their first Atlantic 10 Conference championship in 10 seasons of league affiliation. Richmond made one previous trip to the Sweet 16. That also ended with a one-sided defeat. The 1988 Spiders, after eliminating Indiana and Georgia Tech, were thumped by Temple 69-47.
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