Here’s what to know from Friday’s Sweet 16 in the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments:
Men’s tournament:
Michigan State 73, Ole Miss 70
Michigan State survived a scare by Ole Miss, winning 73-70 to advance to the program’s first Elite Eight since 2019.
It took a while but the Spartans found their offensive rhythm in the second half, outscoring the Rebels 42-37 in the second half.
The Spartans were led by star freshman Jase Richardson’s 20 points and six rebounds and Coen Carr’s 15 points. An emotional Tom Izzo was excited about the win but admitted his team “didn’t play very good” while giving credit to Ole Miss.
“Give these guys credit, bounced back in the second half,” Izzo told the CBS broadcast. “Played better. I didn’t think we were great but that is a hell of a team we played. Toughest team I’ve played in years.”
Senior Rebels guard Sean Pedulla scored a game-high 24 points.
Tennessee 78, Kentucky 65
The No. 2 Volunteers steamrolled No. 3 Kentucky 78-65, in the all-SEC Sweet 16 showdown on Friday night.
After dropping their two regular season meetings against the Wildcats, Tennessee overcame early shooting struggles to dominate Kentucky as the two rivals squared off in the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
The Volunteers’ trio of Zakai Zeigler, Chaz Lanier, and Jordan Gainey lit up the Wildcats all night, combining to score 51 of the team’s 78 points.
Auburn 78, Michigan 65
Auburn avoided the upset to beat Michigan 78-65 to advance to their first Elite Eight since 2019 and third overall in program history.
It wasn’t pretty and was pretty sloppy all-around but the Tigers had a second half offensive surge to secure the win.
Johni Broome and Tahaad Pettiford combined for 42 points as they will now face No. 2 seed Michigan State on Sunday at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Michigan gave a solid effort against a tough opponent but turnovers were their downfall as it was most of the season.
Wolverines center Danny Wolf finished with 20 points and six rebounds in the loss.
Houston 62, Purdue 60
In the worst moment, Purdue lost the in-bounds man.
Houston’s Milos Uzan hit the winning bucket with .9 seconds to go, defeating Purdue 62-60 to book their spot in the Elite Eight. It was the cherry on top of a great night for Uzan, who had 22 points on the night.
Uzan in-bounded the ball to Joseph Tugler, who immediately passed the ball back to the guard for the easy layup – there was no one within steps of him. There were .9 seconds left on the clock and Purdue’s last prayer fell short.
It was an incredible back-and-forth game that played out in front of what amounted to a home crowd for the Boilermakers in Indianapolis. Big Ten player of the year Braden Smith dished out 15 assists, including one final one on the 3-pointer that tied the game in the final minute. Fletcher Loyer led Purdue with 16 points and Trey Kaufman-Renn added 14 more.
The Boilermakers put up a stout fight – they trailed by as much as 10 with eight minutes to go in the second half before charging back into the game. Still, the defeat left many black-and-gold-clad fans in Indy in tears.
Women’s tournament
LSU 80, NC State 73
Louisiana State is once again heading to the Elite Eight after holding off North Carolina State in a tough Sweet 16 showdown in Spokane, Washington.
LSU and NC State traded leads throughout the second half and it all came down to the final seconds.
LSU took the lead on a Mikaylah Williams layup with 1:07 to go and then added to it on two free throws from Sa’Myah Smith with 44 seconds to play. NC State missed a tying jumper, but forced a turnover on the next possession to have another chance to tie the game.
But an offensive foul on Maddie Cox gave the ball back to LSU with 17 seconds to play. NC State quickly fouled and from there it was a matter of free throws. Williams made two to build the lead to five. The final margin of victory would be seven after two more free throws from Smith, pacing LSU to a 10-0 run to close the game.
Aneesah Morrow led all scorers with 30 points, Smith added 21 and Williams contributed another 19. Zoe Brooks led the Wolfpack with 21 points.
South Carolina 71, Maryland 67
Maryland’s upset bid over No. 1 South Carolina slid away in the game’s final minutes as the defending champions locked down on defense and took advantage of some Terrapin mistakes.
The Gamecocks and Terps traded leads throughout the fourth quarter, but South Carolina took it back with 2:22 to go and refused to let go from there. The Gamecocks’ defense was what made the difference – Maryland scored a bucket to go up 60-59 with 3:25 to go and then didn’t score again until the final seconds.
The Terps will rue their missed opportunities, including a travel with 55 seconds to go that cost them valuable time down the stretch. Maryland then couldn’t get the ball in-bounded with 35 seconds to go, with the ball being knocked down by South Carolina’s Raven Johnson and then bouncing off Maryland’s Kaylene Smikle before it went out of bounds.
Maryland refused to go easy, hitting a three with 25 seconds to play, ending a three-minute scoring drought. But with 19.6 seconds to go, a turnover on an in-bounds play by Shyanne Sellers sealed Maryland’s fate.
The Terps would eventually make one final layup after South Carolina hit their free throws. The Gamecocks advance to play Duke in the Elite Eight on Sunday.
UCLA 76, Ole Miss 62
It was a one-point game at halftime, but UCLA turned on the jets in the second half to put away Ole Miss in women’s NCAA tournament action, completing a tough night for Rebels fans.
The Bruins took control after the halftime intermission and pulled away from the Rebels with a final score of 76-62. UCLA used red-hot shooting – they shot 60% from the field – and great ball movement with 15 assists to put away Ole Miss.
There are some areas that the bracket’s top seed need to iron out. UCLA committed 19 turnovers and also allowed Ole Miss to grab 20 offensive rebounds.
In the end, the Bruins’ quality was just too much. UCLA was led by Lauren Betts’ 31 points on an incredible 15-of-16 shooting, with another 13 pitched in by Kiki Rice.
Ole Miss was paced by Tameiya Sadler and her 14 points, with Kennedy Todd-Williams and Ayanna Thompson each contributing another 13.
Duke 47, UNC 38
In their first-ever meeting in the women’s NCAA tournament, Duke defeated heated rivals North Carolina in the Sweet 16 on Friday.
The Blue Devils and Tar Heels played a tight defensive battle that was befitting the stakes of the matchup, with a berth in the Elite Eight on the line. The low-scoring affair ended up 47-38.
The Tar Heels took the lead early, with the Blue Devils storming back in the second quarter and then holding on down the stretch. Oluchi Okanawa led the way for the Blue Devils with 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting.
UNC shrunk the Duke lead to just two points late in the third quarter, but the Blue Devils’ defense – which held the Tar Heels to 28% shooting from the field – locked down and didn’t allow another bucket until almost halfway through the fourth quarter.
The teams had met 110 times before Friday throughout their storied rivalry.
