Indiana's Dane Fife gestures late in the second half at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) | ZOOM |

        LEXINGTON — Indiana is back in the Final Four thanks to nearly unprecedented 3-point shooting.

        Making their first eight long-range shots and close to 80 percent overall, the Hoosiers rolled past upstart Kent State 81-69 Saturday night in the South Regional to return to the national semifinals for the first time since 1992.

        Indiana (24-11) — at No.5, the lowest-seeded team left in the tournament — will play Oklahoma next Saturday in Atlanta. The Sooners won the West Regional by beating Missouri 81-75.

        “It's an unbelievable feeling,” said Dane Fife, who led Indiana with 17 points. “We've done what we came down here to do. Now we've got to go get Oklahoma.”

        Kent State's nation-leading 21-game winning streak ended, as did its attempt to become the first No.10-seeded team to reach the Final Four.

        Instead, Indiana — stunned by Kent State in the first round of last year's NCAA Tournament — gets a chance to add to its five national championships, the last of which came in 1987.

        The Hoosiers knocked off top-seeded Duke on Thursday thanks to bruising inside play. Saturday's victory came courtesy of hard-to-believe outside shooting.

        Six players hit 3-pointers for Indiana, with Fife going 5-for-6. Kyle Hornsby added 16 points for the Hoosiers, who tied for the Big Ten regular-season title.

        “Give Indiana credit,” Kent State coach Stan Heath said.

        “I haven't seen a shooting display like that in my 13 years of coaching.”

        Indiana finished 15-for-19 on 3s — 78.9 percent, the fifth-highest ever in an NCAA Tournament game. The 15 made set a school record.

        “They just shot the lights out. If we had had 10 people out there, I don't think we could have stopped them from scoring,” Kent State's Andrew Mitchell said.

        Antonio Gates scored 22 points, and Mitchell added 19 for Kent State (30-6), which was playing in a regional final for the first time. It was trying to become the first school from the Mid-American Conference reach the Final Four.

        Indiana led by as many as 20 points and had to weather one sustained run when point guard Tom Coverdale left with about 9 1/2 minutes to play after re-injuring the left ankle he sprained in the first round of the tourney.

        Kent State used a 13-0 run to draw within 59-52, but Fife, one of two Indiana seniors, stemmed the rally by making — what else? — a 3-pointer with a little more than six minutes to go.

        Playing on rival Kentucky's home floor, Indiana seemingly couldn't miss a shot early. The Hoosiers' frenzied, red-and-white-clad fans got louder and louder each time the ball dropped through the net.

        The Hoosiers made 12 of their first 18 shots, including all eight 3-point attempts by five players, to lead by as many as 20 at the 8-minute mark.

        Indiana was up 40-28 at halftime.

        After missing their first shot of the second half, the Hoosiers went back to work with consecutive 3-pointers by Hornsby and Jared Jeffries to push the lead to 46-32 at the 17-minute mark.

       KENT ST. (30-6) — Gates 10-18 2-4 22, Gerwig 0-0 0-0 0, Shaw 2-7 4-4 8, Mitchell 7-17 4-4 19, Huffman 2-7 3-4 8, Haut 0-2 0-0 0, Bedford 1-2 0-0 2, Thomas 2-9 0-0 4, Edwards 2-2 2-4 6. Totals 26-64 15-20 69.

        INDIANA (24-11) — Jeffries 4-7 1-3 10, Hornsby 6-8 0-0 16, Odle 2-5 0-0 5, Coverdale 4-7 3-4 14, Fife 6-8 0-0 17, Moye 2-3 4-4 9, Leach 0-1 0-0 0, D.Perry 1-1 4-10 6, Newton 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 27-42 12-21 81.

        Halftime—Indiana 40, Kent St. 28. 3-Point Goals— Kent St. 2-14 (Huffman 1-3, Mitchell 1-4, Gates 0-1, Haut 0-1, Shaw 0-1, Thomas 0-4), Indiana 15-19 (Fife 5-6, Hornsby 4-5, Coverdale 3-4, Jeffries 1-1, Odle 1-1, Moye 1-2). Fouled out—Huffman. Rebounds—Kent St. 28 (Gates, Shaw 8), Indiana 25 (Jeffries 7). Assists—Kent St. 9 (Huffman 4), Indiana 18 (Coverdale, Hornsby 7). Total fouls—Kent St. 21, Indiana 16. A—22,435

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