CLEVELAND -- Eighth-seeded George Mason staged a furious rally in the final minutes to edge No. 9 seed Villanova, 61-57, in an East Regional second-round game on Friday afternoon.

Down for almost the entire afternoon, the Patriots (27-6) used an 8-0 run to pull ahead, 56-54, with just under a minute remaining. Villanova regained the upper hand on three Corey Fisher foul shots with 31.7 seconds on the clock. But Luke Hancock hit a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left and the Wildcats came up empty at the other end.

Hancock paced George Mason with 18 points. Mike Morrison added 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Patriots, who will play top-seeded Ohio State on Sunday.

Morrison's putback dunk with 55 seconds remaining gave the Patriots their first lead since it was 7-6 early in the first half. A three-point play by Ryan Pearson on George Mason's previous possession had tied the score at 54-54.

Fisher scored a game-high 20 points to lead Villanova (21-12), which closed the season with six consecutive losses.