NCAA East: It's An All-SEC Affair As Gators Get Gamecocks In Big Apple Final Sunday

The East Region of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament took place on Friday with two contests at New York City's Madison Square Garden.

In the opener, Sindarius Thornwell scored 24 points as the seventh-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks (25-10) advanced to their-ever Elite Eight by knocking off the third-seeded Baylor Bears (27-8) 70-50.



In the nightcap, Chris Chiozza delivered a game-winning three-point shot at the buzzer at the end of overtime as the fourth-seeded Florida Gators (27-8) upended the eighth-seeded Wisconsin Badgers (27-10) 84-83.

KeVaughn Allen topped the Gators with a career-high 35 points, while Nigel Hayes, in his final game in a Wisconsin uniform, paced the Badgers with 22 of his own.



In an all-Southeastern Conference East Region final on Sunday in the Big Apple with a berth in the Final Four at steak, it will be Florida battling South Carolina (the two schools split their regular-season series).