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March Madness: Sweet 16 Showdown

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SAN JOSE – The lowest-seeded team left in the NCAA Tournament will try to continue its unexpected run when No. 11 Texas faces No. 2 Purdue in the West Region semifinals on Thursday night.

The Longhorns (21-14) are the sixth team to go from the First Four to the Sweet 16, getting there by knocking off No. 11 North Carolina State, No. 6 BYU and No. 3 Gonzaga. The last two games were in Portland, Ore., making this the second trip to the West Coast in as many weeks without much downtime in between.

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“I’m incredibly proud of our group, the resiliency that we’ve shown,” Texas coach Sean Miller said. “We caught fire in about a 10-day period. We were grateful just to have the opportunity to be in the tournament, and then we kind of entered this second weekend as a dangerous team.”

Purdue (29-8) beat No. 15 Queens and No. 7 Miami (Fla.) to notch its fourth Sweet 16 appearance in five seasons and third in a row. That run includes a trip to the NCAA title game in 2024, and the Boilermakers have three starters left from the team that fell to UConn in the finals.

The Boilermakers were No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 but dipped to as low as 18th during the regular season. They’re on a six-game win streak that includes beating Midwest Region top seed Michigan in the Big Ten tournament championship game 80-72 on March 15.

“We’ve just been collectively better defensively,” said Purdue coach Matt Painter, whose team has held the last five opponents under 48% shooting after the seven previous foes shot at least 51%.

Texas is in its first year under Miller, who previously coached at Xavier (twice) and Arizona. The Longhorns made it to the Elite Eight in 2023 under Rodney Terry, but he was fired last March following a First Four loss to Miller’s Xavier squad.

It’s been an uneven season, struggling in nonconference play and then starting 3-5 in the Southern Conference. Texas won five in a row, only to drop five of six down the stretch and end up in the First Four.

“I think the one thing about this tournament that you learn is the best team doesn’t always win in this tournament,” Miller said. “It’s the team who plays the very best on that particular day. Where we began (the season) and where we ended are two different places.”

Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Trey Kaufman-Renn have each played at least 145 games for Purdue, a rarity in college sports. Smith is the NCAA career assists leader, with 1,091, breaking Bobby Hurley’s 33-year-old record in the first round, and all three Boilermakers average 14 points per game.

Texas’ leading scorer is Dailyn Swain, at 17.4 per game, but in the three NCAA Tournament games, 7-foot sophomore Matas Vokietaitis has been the main offensive weapon. He had 17 points and nine rebounds against Gonzaga after going for 23 points and 16 rebounds against BYU.

The Longhorns could be without senior guard Jordan Pope, who is dealing with an ankle injury suffered against Gonzaga. He had 17 in that game and averages 13.1 for the season.

A win for Texas would make it the second No. 11 seed in three years to reach the regional finals. North Carolina State got to the Final Four in 2024. The 2021 UCLA squad joined VCU (2011) as teams to go from the First Four to the national semifinals.

–Field Level Media

March Madness: Big Ten Showdown

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HOUSTON – For Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg, there was ample familiarity in reviewing how the fourth-seeded Cornhuskers’ next opponent, Iowa, dispatched both Clemson and Florida en route to the South Region semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

For the ninth-seeded Hawkeyes (23-12), imposing their will comes via exerting control. While film study reveals what Iowa aims to accomplish, the Cornhuskers have firsthand knowledge of the Hawkeyes’ preferred style of play.

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When the teams meet for a third time this season on Thursday, the onus will fall on Nebraska to prevent the Hawkeyes from doing what they do best.

“When you look at the two games that we played earlier this year — Iowa with the way that they controlled pace and controlled tempo, I thought they did a great job with that in those first two (NCAA Tournament) games,” Hoiberg said. “They get up 10 early on Clemson and did the same thing, got a double-digit lead against Florida, and they were able to control pace and tempo for the entire game.

“That was the story, I thought, in our two games as well. They do as good a job as anybody.”

The Hawkeyes and Cornhuskers (28-6) split a pair of Big Ten conference games during the regular season, with Iowa claiming a 57-52 home victory on Feb. 17 before Nebraska closed the conference slate with an 84-75 overtime win three weeks later in Lincoln.

There will be few secrets between Iowa and Nebraska when the rubber match tips off. Throughout the season, teams add wrinkles to their approaches, often deleting those that prove unsuccessful. The team best able to execute something new might have the advantage in pursuit of an Elite Eight berth.

“We’ve kind of opened the entire playbook,” Cornhuskers forward Rienk Mast said. “Throughout the season, we’ve added new sets, we’ve gone away from some things that teams scouted.

“So, yeah, just everything’s open, and we got a bunch of guys with a high basketball IQ, so that definitely helps with just having a huge amount of sets that we can go to.”

Bennett Stirtz scored 25 points, including 10 of the Hawkeyes’ final 14 points, in the triumph over Nebraska. He shot 4 of 10 and totaled 11 points in the rematch. While Stirtz, an Associated Press All-America honorable mention, is the linchpin for Iowa, the senior guard fully grasps that his influence on the game goes beyond simply scoring. His assertiveness against the Cornhuskers will be paramount.

“They obviously did a great job, and I wasn’t on my A game that game,” Stirtz said. “So unfortunately, I didn’t play well at all, but that’s a testament and credit to them. Their defense was ready to go, and I didn’t really get many looks, many clean looks at the rim or from 3.

“So it’s not a big worry because even if I don’t get any looks and lots of eyes are on me, then Cam (Manyawu) or Kael (Combs) or any of the other guys on the team will get looks. So, yeah, just trying to get everyone involved, and if I need to go score a bucket, hopefully, I can do that (Thursday).”

Three of the four South Region semifinalists represent the Big Ten. The Iowa-Nebraska winner could face third-seeded Illinois, which will take on No. 2 Houston, for a spot in the Final Four. The chore of preparing for a familiar foe would be revisited in that event.

The challenge required to advance this far for the six remaining Big Ten teams is a badge of honor.

“I think the night-in, night-out grind prepared us,” Iowa coach Ben McCollum said. “I do think sometimes it can hurt you, too. Meaning you get exposed a lot, and if you get exposed too much, eventually it can break you.

“Fortunately, we’ve got a really tough team, and so it didn’t break us when we got exposed quite often. It just sharpened us up a little bit and got us ready for the postseason.”

–Field Level Media

PGA Tour: Preview of Texas Children’s/HOU Open

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor: Digital Sports Desk

HOUSTON – The Texas Children’s Houston Open is being played in the spring for the third consecutive season after a four-year stint in the Fall from 2019-2022. The tournament is being hosted at Memorial Park Golf Course for the sixth consecutive time after the course underwent a renovation in 2019 led by the Astros Golf Foundation to prepare it for PGA TOUR competition.

This week’s field includes 18 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, headlined by No. 10 Chris Gotterup. Thirty players in this week’s field are qualified for the Masters Tournament. The Top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking through the Texas Children’s Houston Open will qualify for the Masters Tournament if not already exempt.

The winners of the next two PGA TOUR events will also qualify for the Masters, if not otherwise exempt. Next week is the Valero Texas Open.

Players in the field between Nos. 40-65 in the OWGR who have not qualified for the Masters: Jake Knapp (No. 42), Nicolai Højgaard (No. 47), Pierceson Coody (No. 51), Michael Thorbjornsen (No. 56), Rickie Fowler (No. 61) and Jordan Smith (No. 65).

Should he go on to qualify, Plano, Texas native Pierceson Coody, grandson of 1971 Masters champion Charles Coody, would become the first grandson of a Masters champion to compete in the major tournament. After finishing the 2025 calendar year No. 96 in the world, Coody opened the 2026 season with four consecutive Top-20 finishes, highlighted by back-to-back Top-10s at the Farmers Insurance Open (T2) and WM Phoenix Open (T10).

Tournament Fact Sheet

THIS WEEK on the PGA Tour: Texas Children’s Houston Open

COURSE: Memorial Park Golf Course, Houston, Texas

TOURNAMENT SITE: (link)

TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW: (link)

HOUSTON OPEN PAST RESULTS: (link)

ARCHITECT: John Bredemus

YARDS/PAR: 7,475 yards/Par 70

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $9,900,000/$1,782,000

DEFENDING Champion: Min Woo Lee

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

Bruins Rally for Big Win vs. Sabres

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BUFFALO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s David Pastrnak opened the scoring, then recorded his second assist on Pavel Zacha’s overtime goal as the visiting Boston Bruins rallied to cool off the Buffalo Sabres with a 4-3 victory on Wednesday.

On the rush, Pastrnak pulled back then sent a pass to Zacha, who beat Buffalo goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (27 saves) 38 seconds into overtime for his ninth goal in March.

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Boston (40-24-8, 88 points) trailed 3-2 when with six minutes remaining in regulation, former Sabre Casey Mittelstadt converted via a friendly carom from the end board of teammate Jonathan Aspirot’s shot and off the skate of Luukkonen.

Trying to better its playoff position in the Eastern Conference, Boston pushed its road point streak to six games (3-0-3).

Atlantic Division-leading Buffalo (44-20-8, 96 points), 33-7-4 since Dec. 9, trailed 2-1 after two periods and found itself killing a penalty early in the third.
Just after that Boston power play ended, Zach Benson took the puck from the Bruins’ Mason Lohrei, broke into the zone and got it past Joonas Korpisalo (22 saves) while crashing the net to tie the game 5:54 into the third.

Lohrei was whistled for cross-checking at the end of the play and the Sabres made him and the Bruins pay. Just 33 seconds later, Tage Thompson sent a pass from behind the net for Jason Zucker to chip in for his second goal of the night.

Boston opened the scoring with 8:53 remaining in the first period. Camped out at the bottom of the circle, Pastrnak successfully one-timed Fraser Minten pinpoint pass from behind the Buffalo net.

Buffalo equalized with 4:42 left before the initial intermission. On the power play, Thompson sent the puck between the legs of Boston defenseman Hampus Lindholm and onto the stick of Zucker to beat Korpisalo.

After tripping himself up on a potential breakaway earlier in the second period, Pastrnak had a hand in giving Boston the lead back with near the midway point of the frame.

Luukkonen was able to poke-check the puck away from a net-front Pastrnak, but it was backhanded in by a trailing Viktor Arvidsson.

–Field Level Media

It’s Opening Day … on Netflix

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – For baseball purists, nothing says “Opening Day” like an interleague Major League Baseball game featuring the New York Yankees at the San Francisco Giants, played at nightime and broadcast on Netflix.

Gone is the tradition of having the Cincinnati Reds host baseball’s first game of each season – a day game none-the-less. The Reds were traditionally the first team to throw-out the first pitch for each new MLB season for much of the 20th century. The Reds’ loss of their Opening Day tradition is symbolic of the team’s declining national profile, even as the City of Cincinnati continues to treat the annual home opener as a cherished local holiday.
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Instead, MLB programmers opted for the big bucks and large market New York and San Francisco (Bay Area) for the 2026 opener, The game is part of a $50m cash grab by MLB with Netflix with a package of three tune-in opportunities.

  1. Baseball’s Opening Night
  2. The MLB All-Star Home Run Derby
  3. MLB “Special Event,” like the Field of Dreams game (Iowa) – Aug 13 (PHI v MINN)

That some $16.6m for each stand-alone broadcast, spread out over the course of the 2026 season. For Netflix, it’s waving a giant business card three times a summer. For MLB, its global exposure with the signing of one deal. It might even draw a few of the younger set along to a sports that skews heavily to the older, male audiences.

If you’re scoring at home:

  • Wednesday – One MLB game
  • Thursday – 11 games
  • Friday – 8 games
  • Saturday – Full throttle – 15 MLB games

Baseball was smart to schedule its lone opener on Wednesday night, a full 23 hours ahead of the continuing saga of March Madness. In an era of “alternate facts,” we have a “new tradition” in the works.

No matter the teams, an umpire uttering the words, “Play Ball,” or “Batter-Up” have the true meaning of Opening Day, even if said ump will have his balls and strikes reversed sometime tonight.

Yes, there are some rule changes for 2026, and the “ABS” is atop the list. Let’s take a look:

Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System: Each team begins the game with two challenges. Batter, pitcher, or catcher can appeal a ball/strike call. If the appeal is successful, the challenge is retained; if not, it is lost. Challenges are not permitted when position players are pitching.

Base Coach Regulations: Base coaches must remain within their designated boxes while the pitcher is on the rubber to reduce sign-stealing via better angles. It’ll take a but of “getting used to it” for the coaches.

Infield Interference/Obstruction: Runners cannot initiate contact with fielders to draw an obstruction call. Doing so may result in the runner being called out.

Extra Inning Challenges: If a team runs out of challenges, they will receive one, (per inning in extra innings).

There will be some other rule changes in the works, but they’ll be tested in the Minor Leagues throughout 2026. (See rule changes for MiLB – HERE).

What will the fans – baseball purists and newcomers – see when the seasons starts?

We’ll still have Fenway Park – the world’s most beloved ball park – in Boston.

We’ll still have Wrigley Field – the world’s biggest saloon – in Chicago.

Those are the “only” two ballparks remaining.

We’ll still have the Dodgers in Los Angeles and the Yankees in New York both outspending the mere mortals of a league, trying to move forward with the times, but with a Players Association so strong, the words Salary and Cap can not be used in the same sentence, even by the Commissioner of the sport in a Philadelphia clubhouse.

On Opening Day, we’ll still have “hope” in at least 28 of the 30 major league baseball cities, excluding Denver, Colorado and the District of Columbia. That’s pretty good, considering you can slice off the lower third of teams and not a soul would miss them come October.

We’ll still have kids with gloves, hoping to catch a foul ball – an instant, treasured souvenir to be a keepsake until one day, when you really need a baseball, and you play ball with it, or “have a catch.”

You’ll note, some people “have a catch” and others “play catch.” That subtle difference is what baseball is all about and the debate between the use of the two phrases will live in infamy.

This season we’ll watch fast balls thrown at 100 mph. We’ll see four seam fastballs, fastballs, curve balls, wicked curves, sliders, change-ups and rare screwballs and knuckle balls. We’ll tolerate cutters, sinkers, splitters and sweepers.

If you catch a glimpse of the Eephus pitch, it’ll be something special.

As defined by Major League Baseball, an Eephus pitch is “one of the rarest pitches thrown in baseball, and it is known for its exceptionally low speed and ability to catch a hitter off guard.

Typically, an eephus is thrown very high in the air, resembling the trajectory of a slow-pitch softball pitch. Hitters, expecting a fastball that’s nearly ten times the velocity of the eephus, can get over-zealous and swing too early and hard. But for a hitter who is able to keep his weight back and put a normal swing on the pitch, it is the easiest pitch to hit in baseball — one without unexpected movement or excessive velocity.”

Pirates pitcher Rip Sewell was the first pitcher to throw the eephus pitch regularly — although, at the time, the pitch hadn’t yet been named. Sewell’s teammate Maurice Van Robays took care of that. He concocted the name “eephus” and when asked why, he responded by saying, “Eephus ain’t nothing, and that’s a nothing pitch.” In Hebrew, the word “efes” can be loosely translated into “nothing,” and the word “eephus” undoubtedly stems from that.

Zack Greinke was famous for surprising hitters with an eephus on occasion, one of the only modern-day pitchers to use the eephus pitch with any frequency.

There you have it.

Baseball is back.

It’s Opening Day – although it’ll be a night game on Netflix.

Batter up!

Everyone’s in first place.

Play Ball!

 

Oh Darling! It’s Sweet 16 for Johnnies

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SAN DIEGO – (Staff and Wire Report) – Oh! Darling! Please believe me.

St, John’s is leaving Southern California with a victory and are heading to the District to face Duke in the East Regional semifinals. Red blood out for blue blood.

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The winner of that game faces either Michigan State or UConn/UCLA.

Johnnies’ point guard Dylan Darling’s first points of East Region No. 5 seed St. John’s 67-65, second-round NCAA Tournament win over fourth-seeded Kansas on Sunday came as the buzzer sounded, sending the Red Storm to their first Sweet 16 since 1999.

St. John’s (30-6) never trailed in the second half and led by as many as 14 points before the Jayhawks (24-11), behind Darryn Peterson’s 21-point effort, rallied to force a 65-65 tie.

Peterson sank a pair of free throws with 13 seconds remaining and Kansas — having been called for only two personal fouls in the second half — disrupted the Red Storm’s attempts to run a final play with intentional whistles.

But after exhausting its fourth straight foul near midcourt and with less than four seconds remaining, the Jayhawks defense broke down as Darling attacked the middle of the floor of the inbounds pass.

Zero-for-four from the floor before the buzzer-beating layup, Darling dribbled through a seam and laid the decisive basket off the glass to thunderous cheers from the St, John’s crowd at Viejas Arena.

Both offenses struggled to establish much rhythm throughout Sunday’s contest, with St. John’s scoring 14.5 points fewer than its season-long average of 81.5 per game, and Kansas finishing with 10.4 points fewer than its output.

The Red Storm shot just 25 of 69 (36.2%) from the floor, while the Jayhawks went 24 of 54 (44.4%). One difference for St. John’s was its 3-point shooting — specifically, Bryce Hopkins’ 3-point shooting.

Hopkins scored a team-high 18 points, all on 6-of-9 shooting from long range. The rest of the Red Storm went 5 of 26 from deep.

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Peterson shot 3 of 8 from beyond the arc for Kansas, but the rest of the Kansas lineup combined for just two triples.

Former Jayhawk Zuby Ejiofor matched Hopkins’ team-high with 18 points and matched the game-high with nine rebounds. Ejiofor delivered some crucial plays in the final five minutes, including scoring off of an offensive rebound and taking a steal from Peterson the other way for a bucket on the very next possession.

With Sunday’s victory, St. John’s reached 30 wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons.

–Field Level Media

Fitz Turns Disappointment to Cash

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

PALM HARBOR – Matt Fitzpatrick (1st/-11) birdied the 72nd hole to win by one stroke for his third PGA TOUR title in his 183rd start at 31 years, 6 months, 21 days. Before the final round, Fitz had never birdied the 18th hole at this event in 11 previous rounds.

He now has three PGA TOUR wins: The 2022 U.S. Open, 2023 RBC Heritage, 2026 Valspar Championship.

Fitzpatrick won 500 FedExCup points to move from No. 8 to No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings.

He was the only player to shoot four rounds in the 60s this week and he carded only four bogeys for the week, the fewest of any player in the field. Included with that fact was another amazing feat: He was bogey-free for his last 36 holes to become the third winner of this event to record a bogey-free final round (2012 Luke Donald, 2013 Kevin Streelman).

Fitzpatrick finished runner-up at last week’s PLAYERS Championship, bogeying the final hole to lose to Cameron Young by one stroke. The last player to finish runner-up then win the following week was Davis Thompson (2024 Rocket Classic/T2, 2024 John Deere Classic/Won).

Fitzpatrick joined Luke Donald (2012) and Paul Casey (2018, 2019) as players from England to win the Valspar Championship, and Fitz was the 11th international player to win this event.

Valspar Championship | Final Leaderboard

1 Matt Fitzpatrick 68 69 68 68 273 (-11)

2 David Lipsky 69 65 70 70 274 (-10)

3 Jordan Smith 69 68 72 66 275 (-9)

T4 Three players 276 (-8)

Final Leaderboard: (link)

Tale of Two Coaches?

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SAN DIEGO – (Wire Service Preview) – Only three active head coaches in Division I college basketball have won multiple national championships. Two of them meet for a berth in the Sweet 16 when Bill Self’s No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks face Rick Pitino’s No. 5 St. John’s Red Storm on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament East Region.

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Self, winner of the 2008 and 2022 national championships at Kansas, praised Pitino’s continued success over multiple eras. Pitino is 30 years removed from winning his first title with Kentucky in 1996 and won another at Louisville in 2013, although the latter has been officially vacated by the NCAA.

“To me, the coaches (who) are so impressive are (those who) coached without a 3-point line, then became efficient with the 3-point line. Coached without a shot clock, then became one of the best with the shot clock – always evolving with the game,” Self said. “And (Pitino) has done that as well as anybody maybe ever.”

Pitino began his full-time head-coaching career in 1978 at Boston University, seven years before the introduction of the shot clock and eight before the 3-point line was introduced across college basketball.

His longevity puts Pitino in the unique position to guide his fourth different program, along with Providence, Kentucky and Louisville, to the Sweet 16. It would be the first such appearance since 1999 for St. John’s (29-6).

The Red Storm advanced to the second round with a 79-53 rout of No. 12 Northern Iowa on Friday, St. John’s seventh straight win overall and fourth in a row by 10-plus points.

The veteran trio of Oziyah Sellers, Bryce Hopkins and Kansas transfer Zuby Ejiofor have paced St. John’s, combining to average 40.5 of St. John’s 81.6 points per game. Ejiofor, the Big East Conference Player of the Year, posted a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double in Friday’s win.

Kansas (24-10), meanwhile, weathered a furious second-half comeback on Friday to advance past No. 13 Cal Baptist behind standout freshman Darryn Peterson’s 28 points.

The Jayhawks led by as many as 26 points before Cal Baptist cut the deficit to six points with 1:20 left in the 68-60 Kansas win.

Pitino offered effusive praise of Peterson, a potential No. 1 overall pick in this summer’s NBA draft. The 6-foot-6 guard is averaging 20.1 points per game despite battling a variety of injury issues throughout the season.

“He’s got great size,” Pitino said of Peterson. “He’s got a beautiful-looking jump shot. …He’s going to be a great NBA player because he has an NBA game.”

Peterson’s presence on the Kansas roster reflects one of the many positives Pitino touted when analyzing his counterpart in Self. Pitino called the Kansas coach a “great evaluator of talent” on top of being a multidimensional tactician.

“He’s a great offensive coach and he’s a great defensive coach,” Pitino said. “He’s such a well-rounded guy. His teams do everything well.”

The Jayhawks come into the second round with a balanced resume but with especially impressive defensive credentials. They have held opponents to 44.5% shooting on 2-point field-goal attempts and only 30.5% from beyond the arc, both top 25 nationally.

Big men Flory Bidunga and Bryson Tiller both rank in the top 150 nationally in block percentage, per KenPom.com.

They will clash with a stout St. John’s frontcourt led by Ejiofor, whose 16.3 points per game come on 55% shooting from the floor.

–Field Level Media

March Madness: Tournament Round-up

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OKLAHOMA CITY – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Braden Frager drove for the winning layup with 2.2 seconds left Saturday night and fourth-seeded Nebraska rallied for a 74-72 win over fifth-seeded Vanderbilt in the second round of the NCAA Tournament’s South Region.

The result wasn’t secured until the Commodores’ Tyler Tanner, who scored a game-high 27 points, barely missed a 3-point shot from beyond halfcourt as time expired. Tanner’s heave hit the glass and bounced out after hitting both the front and back rim, causing a gasp and then a wild ovation from the pro-Cornhusker crowd inside Paycom Center.

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Frager and Pryce Sandfort each scored 15 points for Nebraska (28-6), which will play either top-seeded Florida or No. 9 Iowa Thursday in Houston in its first Sweet 16 appearance in program history. The Gators and Hawkeyes match up on Sunday night in Tampa.

Tyler Nickel added 16 points for Vanderbilt (27-9), which rallied in the second half by canning 10 of 22 3-pointers. Tanner’s layup gave the Commodores a 72-70 edge with 58 seconds remaining but Mast equalized with 37 seconds on the clock by tipping home Sam Hoiberg’s missed layup.

No. 2 Houston 88, No. 10 Texas A&M 57

Emanuel Sharp scored 18 points and the Cougars delivered an 18-0 knockout punch in the first half to sail into the Sweet 16 with a win over the Aggies in Oklahoma City.

Chris Cenac Jr. registered 17 points and nine rebounds and Milos Uzan added 15 points for the Cougars (30-6), who will face third-seeded Illinois in next week’s Sweet 16 in Houston. Mercy Miller added 12 points as the Cougars notched their fifth consecutive 30-win campaign and reached the Sweet 16 for the seventh straight season.

Josh Holloway was the only scorer in double figures for the Aggies (22-12) with 12 points off the bench. Leading scorer Rashaun Agee was limited to seven points. The Cougars connected on 44.1% of their field-goal attempts and held a commanding 46-29 rebounding edge, grabbing 19 on the offensive glass.

No. 3 Illinois 76, No. 11 VCU 55

Andrej Stojakovic scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half to help the Fighting Illini breeze past the Rams in Greenville, S.C.

Tomislav Ivisic added 14 points and 11 rebounds for Illinois (26-8), which advanced to its second Sweet 16 in 21 years. It will face No. 2 Houston on Thursday in Houston. Keaton Wagler scored 14 and Kylan Boswell finished with 12 for the Fighting Illini, who won their first two NCAA Tournament games by a combined 56 points.

Terrence Hill Jr. led VCU (28-8) with 17 points and seven boards, while Barry Evans and Tyrell Ward had 11 apiece. The Rams shot just 7-for-32 (21.9%) on 3-point attempts in the lopsided loss.

WEST REGION

No. 11 Texas 74, No. 3 Gonzaga 68

Matas Vokietaitis and Jordan Pope scored 17 points apiece and Camden Heide hit a key 3-pointer with 14.7 seconds left to lift the Longhorns past the Bulldogs in Portland, Ore.

With the Longhorns leading by one after a dunk by the Bulldogs’ Graham Ike, Texas called a timeout with 32 seconds left and inserted Heide, whose 3-pointer from the right corner pushed the lead to 72-68. Mario Saint-Supery missed a desperation Gonzaga 3-pointer for Gonzaga (31-4) and Vokietaitis hit a layup to close the scoring for Texas (21-14), the first First Four winner to win at least three games in the tournament since 11th-seeded UCLA won five straight to reach the 2021 Final Four.

West Coast Conference Player of the Year Ike had 25 points and Jalen Warley had 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Gonzaga.

No. 4 Arkansas 94, No. 12 High Point 88

Darius Acuff Jr. had 36 points, Meleek Thomas added 19, and the Razorbacks burst the Panthers’ tournament bubble, pulling away late for the victory in Portland, Ore.

Acuff scored nine of the Razorbacks’ last 11 points as they broke from a tie at 83-83 in the final three minutes to overcome a 30-point performance from High Point guard Rob Martin. Billy Richmond III had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Malique Ewin had 14 points and 12 boards for the Razorbacks (28-8), who have won seven in a row and nine of 10. Ewin’s two free throws with 44.4 seconds made it 92-85.

Cam’Ron Fletcher had 25 points and was two rebounds short of a third straight double-double and Terry Anderson had 15 points for High Point (31-5), which had a 15-game winning streak broken after posting the first NCAA Tournament win in school history Thursday.

EAST REGION

No. 1 Duke 81, No. 9 TCU 58

Cameron Boozer scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the second half to help lead the Blue Devils past the Horned Frogs in Greenville, S.C.

Isaiah Evans added 17 points and Dame Sarr scored 14 for Duke (34-2), which advanced to the Sweet 16 against the winner of No. 4 Kansas and No. 5 St. John’s. Boozer added a game-high 11 rebounds while Maliq Brown finished with 12 points and nine rebounds for the Blue Devils, who outscored TCU by 19 points in the second half.

Micah Robinson led TCU (23-12) with 18 points, followed by Xavier Edmonds’ 12. The Horned Frogs were outrebounded 42-25 for the game, but 24-14 during the second half.

No. 3 Michigan State 77, No. 6 Louisville 69

Coen Carr had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 12 points with 16 assists and the Spartans locked down the Cardinals to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 17th time under Tom Izzo.

Fears set a Michigan State NCAA Tournament assists record and Carr helped carry the offense for the Spartans (27-7) and fell one point shy of his career high. The Spartans head to the East Region semifinal in Washington, D.C., where their first game in the Sweet 16 will be the winner of seventh-seeded UCLA and No. 2 seed UConn

Louisville leading scorer Ryan Conwell played through a left foot injury in the second half and did not appear to have his typical spring. Conwell had 21 points and made 5 of 11 attempts from 3-point range for the Cardinals (24-11).

MIDWEST

No. 1 Michigan 95, Saint Louis 72

Yaxel Lendeborg scored 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting, and the Wolverines pulled away for a win over the Billikens at Buffalo, N.Y.

Morez Johnson Jr. added 15 points and eight rebounds for Michigan (33-3), which advanced to the Sweet 16 to face either Texas Tech or Alabama. Aday Mara finished with 16 points, and Elliot Cadeau scored 12 points to go along with a team-high eight assists.

Amari McCottry scored 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting to lead Saint Louis (29-6). Dion Brown finished with 13 points, and Robbie Avila contributed nine points.

–Field Level Media

March Madness: Friday Recaps

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ST. LOUIS – (Wire Service Report) – Otega Oweh rescued Kentucky with a buzzer-beating 35-footer off the glass to force overtime, then the seventh-seeded Wildcats owned the extra session to escape with an 89-84 win over No. 10 Santa Clara in Midwest Region first-round action on Friday afternoon.

Santa Clara forward Allen Graves hit what looked to be a game-winning 3-pointer when he connected from the right wing with 2.4 seconds left, but Oweh took the inbounds pass and pulled up just in time to send the game to overtime. He then made all four of his free-throw attempts in the extra session when Kentucky outscored Santa Clara 16-11.

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Oweh finished with a career-high 35 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and Mouhamed Dioubate had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Wildcats (22-13), who shot 50.8% to win a rollercoaster game which featured 20 lead changes and 12 ties.

Elijah Mahi led the Broncos (26-9) with 20 points in the program’s first NCAA Tournament game in 30 years. Graves added 17 points and seven rebounds.

No. 2 Iowa State 108, No. 15 Tennessee State 74

The Cyclones dominated the final 38 minutes of action, blowing out the Tigers in St. Louis despite losing All-American forward Justin Jefferson to a knee injury.

Iowa State advanced to play No. 7 Kentucky in the second round on Sunday. Head coach T.J. Otzelberger said X-rays were negative and that Jefferson would be re-evaluated on Saturday before determining his game status against the Wildcats.

Freshman Killyan Toure had 25 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, Nate Heise scored 22 points and Milan Momcilovic added 17 for Iowa State, which forced 16 turnovers. Aaron Nkrumah led Tennessee State (23-10) with 21 points. Antoine Lorick III added 20 points and eight rebounds.

No. 3 Virginia 82, No. 14 Wright State 73

Jacari White scored a season-high 26 points and hit the go-ahead floater off the glass with 4:07 to play as the Cavaliers survived a tough test from the Raiders in Philadelphia.

White made 6 of 8 from 3-point range, Sam Lewis scored 12 points, Malik Thomas added 11 and Thijs De Ridder had 10 for Virginia (30-5), which used a late 11-0 run to create some distance and secure its first NCAA Tournament win since winning the 2019 national championship.

Michael Imariagbe had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Wright State (23-12). Solomon Callaghan added 18 points and combined with Imariagbe to shoot 9 for 15 from behind the arc. The Raiders made 13 3-pointers, the most Virginia has allowed this season.

No. 4 Alabama 90, No. 13 Hofstra 70

Labaron Philon Jr. took over by scoring 21 of his game-high 29 points in the second half as the Crimson Tide shrugged off an early 10-point deficit to handle the Pride during first-round play in Tampa, Fla.

Philon, who sported a bandage on his cut chin in the second half, made 10 of 18 shots and added eight rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. The Crimson Tide (24-9) played without No. 2 scorer Aden Holloway, who was suspended for first-degree felony marijuana possession, but Aiden Sherrill stepped forward with 15 points and 15 rebounds.

Taylor Bol Bowen added 15 points while Amari Allen and Latrell Wrightsell contributed 11 points apiece.

Hofstra (24-11) built a 28-18 lead in hopes of extending its seven-game winning streak, but Alabama recovered to take a 37-35 edge by halftime. Preston Edmead paced the Pride with 24 points, four rebounds and four assists. Cruz Davis had 14 points and six assists while German Plotnikov scored 12 points.

No. 5 Texas Tech 91, No. 12 Akron 71

Jaylen Petty scored 24 points to lead five Red Raiders in double figures as they pulled away late for a win over the 12th-seeded Zips in Tampa, Fla.

Petty made 9 of 14 shots, helming a sensational shooting performance that saw No. 5 Texas Tech (23-10) make a season-best 64.2% of its shots to snap a three-game skid and win its NCAA Tournament opener for the sixth time in its last seven appearances. The Red Raiders face Alabama on Sunday.

Amani Lyles (26 points) and Shammah Scott (20 points) were the only two players in double figures for Akron (29-6), which had a 10-game winning streak snapped and fell to 0-8 in the NCAA Tournament. The Zips entered the day ranked 21st nationally in 3-point accuracy at 37.9%, but they made just 5 of 19 from long range (26.3%).

The Wildcats rode a rare 3-point barrage in the first half to overwhelm the underdog Sharks and roll to an easy first-round win in San Diego.

Arizona (33-2) came into the postseason averaging 5.9 3-pointers per game, but Tommy Lloyd’s team eclipsed that average before the final media timeout in first half as the Wildcats hit 6 of 9 from beyond the arc. Brayden Burries hit four 3-pointers in the first half en route to a game-high 18 points. Koa Peat added 15 points while Ivan Kharchenkov posted 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Long Island (24-11) shot well from deep in its own right, with Mason Porter-Brown (15 points) and Jamal Fuller (11 points) combining to knock down five 3-pointers by intermission, and six of the team’s eight for the contest. However, the Sharks’ struggles to contain the Wildcats on the interior proved insurmountable. Arizona scored 50 points in the paint, a portion of which came off the Wildcats’ 22 second-chance points. The bigger Arizona lineup dominated the glass, 52-31, with 16 on the offensive end.

No. 9 Utah State 86, No. 8 Villanova 76

MJ Collins Jr. scored seven of his 20 points in the final three minutes as the Aggies outscored the Wildcats 15-3 down the stretch to rally for the first-round win in San Diego.

Mason Falslev, the Mountain West Player of the Year, delivered 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Utah State (29-6), which will face top-seeded Arizona on Sunday. Adlan Elamin added 13 points and seven rebounds while Drake Allen contributed 11 points, six assists and three steals.

Bryce Lindsay paced all scorers with 25 points for Villanova (24-9), which built a 10-point lead early in the second half. Duke Brennan and Tyler Perkins added 15 points apiece. The Wildcats took their last lead, 73-71, with 6:04 to play on Lindsay’s sixth and final 3-pointer.

Utah State responded with a 9-0 run keyed by two Collins’ layups, then he delivered a breakaway dunk that made it 84-74 with 1:13 to go.

–Field Level Media