Houston tops Oregon State to advance to first Final Four in 37 years

INDIANAPOLIS - Houston overcame a blown 17-point lead to hold off Oregon State 67-61 on Monday night in the NCAA Tournament, reaching the Final Four for the first time in 37 years.

Quentin Grimes hit a 3-pointer with 3:21 left to break a 55-all tie. The second-seeded Cougars (28-3) spent the first half building a big lead behind a dominant defense, but they spent the second half hanging on as the 12th-seeded Beavers tried to add one more surprising result to a Midwest Region bracket beset by upsets.

Grimes' 3 from near the top of the arc finally steadied the Cougars, and Houston knocked down enough free throws down the stretch while holding Oregon State without a basket during a critical 3½ minutes.

It wasn't always pretty, with Houston shooting 29% after halftime and 32% for the game.

Baylor 81, Arkansas 72:

Baylor reached the Final Four for the first time in 71 years, getting 22 points from MaCio Teague and a dominating defensive performance from Davion Mitchell to beat Arkansas.

The top-seeded Bears (26-2) had not been able to get over the Elite Eight hump in two previous tries under Scott Drew and appeared to be barreling toward a blowout.

The Razorbacks (25-7) revved up the Mus Bus after some early sputtering, trimming an 18-point lead down to four.

Arkansas' Justin Smith, a Stevenson grad, had 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.