BOSTON — Levance Fields pointed Pittsburgh in the right direction just in time — as usual.

For the second straight game, the orchestrator of the offense took the big shots himself, hitting a 3-pointer with 50.9 seconds left, then scoring off his steal as the top-seeded Panthers reached the regional finals for the first time in 35 years with a 60-55 win over Xavier last night.

One more win and they'll be headed to Detroit for the Final Four. Pitt plays tomorrow against third-seeded Villanova.

"We came in expecting to win two games," Fields said before acknowledging the obvious: "It was dramatic."

The star point guard provided the drama in Pitt's previous win, 84-76 over Oklahoma State. That game was tied at 74 with 2:42 left. Then Fields made a layup and a 3-pointer and the Panthers never trailed after that.

Pitt knows the late-game strategy by now.

"Give Levance the ball," Big East co-player of the year DeJuan Blair said with a laugh.

The last time Pitt was in a regional final was in 1974 when it lost to eventual national champion North Carolina State and star David Thompson 100-72.

"It definitely was big for the players, the coaches and the city," said Sam Young, who led Pitt with 19 points. "It's something we've been waiting for, for a long time."

Pitt (31-4) trailed 54-52 before Fields connected. He then poked the ball away from B.J. Raymond and went in for a layup with 23.9 seconds to go.

Fields scored 14 points, and Blair had 10 points and 17 rebounds in the East semifinal victory. The Panthers overcame an eight-point halftime deficit.

"We're a confident group," Fields said. "We haven't played our best basketball, but the good thing is we've found a way to make plays when we've needed them."

Raymond scored 15 points and Derrick Brown had 14 for fourth-seeded Xavier (27-8).

UCONN 72, PURDUE 60

GLENDALE, Ariz. — After cruising through the first two rounds, Connecticut found itself in trouble for the first time.

Thanks to Hasheem Thabeet, the top-seeded Huskies weren't in trouble for long.

Thabeet, the Big East co-player of the year, had 15 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks to help the Huskies (30-4) overcome a sluggish first half and defeat the Boilermakers (27-10) in the West Regional semifinals.

"Hasheem just took the game over," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. "Purdue, quite frankly, ran into one of the best players in America in Hasheem Thabeet. Beyond that, the game might have been different if we had just, quote, a regular center."

One day after a Yahoo! Sports report alleged UConn committed NCAA recruiting violations, the Huskies reached the regional finals for the fourth time since 2002 and will play third-seeded Missouri.

Calhoun said he had a "fruitful" phone conversation with UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway yesterday morning but wouldn't go into details.

"He said, 'Go get Purdue,' " Calhoun said.

VILLANOVA 77, DUKE 54

BOSTON — The third-seeded Wildcats (29-7) beat the second-seeded Blue Devils (30-7) for the first time in more than 50 years last night, getting 14 points and 11 rebounds from Dante Cunningham to advance to the East regional final.

It was Villanova's 14th NCAA victory over a higher-seeded team — the most in tournament history.

"Hopefully that will be some magical power that helps us beat Pitt," Wildcats guard Scottie Reynolds said.Villanova was playing on the tournament's second weekend for the fourth time in five years, though Jay Wright's Wildcats have yet to reach the Final Four. But the fans could sense another chance, chanting "We want Pitt!" when Corey Stokes hit a 3-pointer with 2:27 left to give Villanova a 71-50 lead — its biggest thus far in of the game.

"We were never in a flow," said Kyle Singler, who led Duke with 15 points. "From the start, it was a snowball effect. When something got bad, it just got worse."

MISSOURI 102, MEMPHIS 91

GLENDALE, Ariz. — J.T. Tiller scored 23 points and Missouri held off a frantic rally, ending Memphis' 27-game winning streak in the semifinals of the West Regional.

The display of intensity and toughness "out-Memphised" the opposition to put Missouri one win from its first trip to the Final Four.

"We kind of got punched in the mouth right from the beginning of the game," Memphis coach John Calipari said. "They broke us down defensively like we break people down. They beat us at our own game."

Third-seeded Missouri (31-6) led by 24 points four minutes into the second half, then saw second-seeded Memphis (33-4) close within six with 2:14 to play. Mizzou put it away from the foul line.