CHICAGO -- Virginia guard Malcolm Brogdon peered into the stands before the opening tipoff on Friday and noticed that the bulk of the crowd consisted of Iowa State fans.

"It's something you take notice of," Brogdon said. "It was like a home game for them more than anything. But that's something that fires us up as competitors."

Not that the top-seeded Cavaliers needed any extra motivation.

Forward Anthony Gill had 23 points and eight rebounds and Virginia led wire to wire in an 84-71 win over Iowa State in an NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal at the United Center.

Center Mike Tobey added 18 points and seven rebounds as top-seeded Virginia (29-7) advanced to Sunday's regional final and a meeting with No. 10 seed Syracuse. Brogdon and forward Isaiah Wilkins scored 12 points apiece for Virginia, which moved within one win of its first Final Four appearance since 1984.

Virginia coach Tony Bennett praised his team's balanced attack.

"One of our pillars is unity," Bennett said. "There's an African proverb that says, 'If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.' We have some very individually talented guys, but they know when they're in concert with each other, that's their way to touch greatness."

Fourth-seeded Iowa State (23-12) lost in the regional semifinal for the second time in the past three seasons. The Cyclones fell behind by 17 points in the first half and never recovered.

Senior guard Georges Niang led the Cyclones with 30 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the field. Guard Matt Thomas added 12 points.

Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said a cold start proved to be too much to overcome.

"Our first-half defense wasn't good enough to win this level game," Prohm said. "Our second-half defense was, but our first-half defense wasn't. When you get behind 10 with them, you've almost got to be perfect."

The Cavaliers turned to the low-post presence of Tobey and Gill after Iowa State climbed within seven points early in the second half.

Tobey grabbed an offensive rebound and put back a layup after a missed 3-pointer by guard Marial Shayok to increase the Virginia lead to 15 with 9:09 to go. Gill mimicked Tobey with an offensive rebound and putback layup less than two minutes later to make it 67-53.

Virginia pulled away late behind back-to-back dunks from Gill and Wilkins.

"Coach Bennett has been drilling in our games that we have to attack," Gill said. "We can't just let the game come to us. We have to be ready from the start."

Iowa State opened the second half on a 13-6 run to trim Virginia's lead to 51-44 with 14:05 to play.

Niang spun toward the rim for two layups during the run. Senior forward Jameel McKay threw down a two-handed dunk to pull the Cyclones within single digits.

Virginia built a 45-31 lead at halftime after making 17 of 28 shots from the field (60.7 percent) in the first 20 minutes.

Iowa State trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half before going on an 11-4 run to pull within 41-31. Niang made 3 of 5 shots from beyond the arc to keep Iowa State in contention.

"My teammates did a good job of encouraging me, but I'm just bummed that we couldn't continue this run," Niang said.

Virginia jumped to a 12-2 lead in the first four minutes. Guard London Perrantes fired a pass from beyond the arc to Brogdon for an open layup. Two possessions later, Perrantes hit a 3-pointer that bounced high off the back of the rim and dropped through the net to put the Cavaliers up by double digits.

"We've gotten this far because we play as a team," Brogdon said. "Because I defer when other people are playing really well. Because other guys defer when I'm playing well. We just play well together."

Bennett said he brought a door knocker to every game as a metaphor for his team's perseverance.

"Our program is still establishing itself," Bennett said. "We're not where (North) Carolina and Duke and some of these others are. We're scratching and clawing and thankful for everything that comes our way. You just show up and you keep knocking."

NOTES: Iowa State G Matt Thomas made at least one 3-pointer for the 25th consecutive game. ... Virginia F Anthony Gill remained in the game despite losing his balance and falling hard on his back late in the first half. ... Chicago Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg visited with his former Iowa State players this week. Hoiberg led the Cyclones for five years before leaving in June for the NBA. "I think the biggest thing he told us was enjoy the moment," G Georges Niang said. ... Virginia and Iowa State met for the fourth time overall and the first time since 2010.