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.
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