Burgess’ layup in OT lifts VCU past Florida State

Virginia Commonwealth's Bradford Burgess pulls the ball away from Florida State's Bernard James during the first half of a Southwest regional semifinal game in the NCAA college basketball tournament Friday, March 25, 2011, in San Antonio.

? Bradford Burgess made a layup off an inbounds pass with 7.1 seconds left and Rob Brandenburg blocked a shot at the buzzer, giving Virginia Commonwealth a 72-71 victory over Florida State in overtime in a Southwest Region semifinal Friday night.

In the first NCAA tournament game between teams seeded 10 and 11, the lower seeded Rams blew a nine-point lead by scoring only three points in the final 7:37 of regulation. They never trailed by more than four all night, but found themselves down 71-70 when Burgess scored the kind of basket that will live in NCAA tournament lore.

The Rams (27-11) are among the final eight for the first time. Having already ousted high-profile programs from the Pac-10 (Southern Cal), Big East (Georgetown), Big Ten (Purdue) and now the ACC, they will try adding the Big 12 to their hit list, facing top-seeded Kansas. The Jayhawks advanced with a 77-57 rout over Richmond.