After 52 NCAA Tournament games, the Sweet 16 is set.
Oregon was the last team to punch its ticket as the second round of the NCAA Tournament ended with a flurry of frantic finishes. Now it’s on to the regional semifinals that start on Thursday.
The round of 16 will include the following matchups by region:
South: No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 5 Maryland and No. 3 Miami vs. No. 2 Villanova.
West: No. 1 seed Oregon vs No. 4 seed Duke and No. 3 Texas A&M vs. No. 2 Oklahoma.
East: No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 5 Indiana and No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Wisconsin.
Midwest: No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 4 Iowa State and No. 11 Gonzaga vs. No. 10 Syracuse.
EAST REGION
No. 6 NOTRE DAME 76, No. 14 STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 75
Rex Plfueger tapped in a miss with 1.5 seconds left and Notre Dame survived a valiant effort by Stephen F. Austin to reach the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season.
With 17.5 seconds left, Notre Dame grabbed an SFA rebound down one and put it in the hands of Demetrius Jackson. The point guard drove to the basket and missed. Zach Auguste followed for the Irish (22-12) but could not convert. The ball slipped off the rim and with one hand Pflueger flipped it in for his only basket of the game.
A long heave from Stephen F. Austin (28-6) went wide and Notre Dame celebrated by swarming Pflueger.
The Irish advance to play Wisconsin Friday.
Thomas Walkup, the hero of Stephen F. Austin’s first-round upset of West Virginia, scored 21.
No. 7 WISCONSIN 66, No. 2 XAVIER 63
ST. LOUIS — Bronson Koenig hit two 3-pointers in the closing seconds, the last of them as the buzzer sounded, and Wisconsin edged Xavier.
The talented sharpshooter who failed to hit from beyond the arc in a first-round win over Pittsburgh connected from well beyond the 3-point line to tie it at 63 with 11.7 seconds remaining.
Edmond Sumner brought the ball up court for Xavier (28-6), and then drove to the basket, running over the Badgers’ Zak Showalter and getting called for an offensive foul with 4.3 seconds to go.
Wisconsin (22-12) called timeout after crossing half court and coach Greg Gard drew up a play for his best outside shooter. Koenig got the inbounds pass in front of his own bench and buried the fallaway shot, sending the jubilant Badgers streaming onto the court and into another Sweet 16.
NO. 1 NORTH CAROLINA 85, PROVIDENCE 66
RALEIGH, N.C. — Brice Johnson had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and North Carolina pulled away for the win in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Joel Berry II added 15 points for the East Region’s top seed, which found itself in a fight well into the second half against the Friars’ high-scoring duo of Ben Bentil and Big East player of the year Kris Dunn. But the Tar Heels (30-6) stepped up their offensive efficiency, attacked the paint and started cashing in at the line as the fouls piled up for Providence (24-11).
Justin Jackson scored on a drive to start an 8-0 run that broke a 41-all tie, and then Johnson scored six straight points in the 10-0 burst that put the Tar Heels up 17 with 6 1/2 minutes left.
Dunn had 29 points for the ninth-seeded Friars, though he sat much of the first half with two fouls and picked up his fourth while trying to strip Johnson in the lane with 8:44 left. Bentil fouled out on a rebound attempt with 7:23 left, finishing with 21 points.
NO. 5 INDIANA 73, NO. 4 KENTUCKY
DES MOINES, Iowa — Indiana is headed back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013.
Freshman Thomas Bryant scored 15 of his 19 points in the final eight minutes, helping the Hoosiers earn a spot in the regional semifinals in Philadelphia. Yogi Ferrell had 18 points, and Troy Williams finished with 13.
Indiana (27-7) took control with a 17-4 run to go up 10 with four minutes left. Tyler Ulis and Alex Poythress pulled Kentucky within 69-67 on free throws, but Bryant hit two from the line with 10 seconds to go to seal the win.
Ulis scored 27 points for Kentucky (27-9), which suffered its earliest NCAA Tournament exit since 2008 — when it lost to a Marquette team then led by current Indiana coach Tom Crean. Jamal Murray had 16 points.
Next up for Indiana is North Carolina. The Hoosiers could be without starting guard Robert Johnson, who departed with an apparent left ankle injury late in the first half.
SOUTH REGION
No. 2 VILLANOVA 87, No. 7 IOWA 68
Josh Hart scored 19 points and second-seeded Villanova advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2009 with a rout of Iowa.
Villanova’s senior class, led by Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu, made it to the tournament’s second weekend for the first time. They were upset in the round of 32 the last two seasons and didn’t make it that far as freshmen.
The Wildcats (31-5) will meet third-seeded Miami on Thursday in Louisville, Kentucky.
There was no doubt in this one. Villanova led 54-29 at halftime and by as many as 34 points in the second half. The closest Iowa (22-11) got was 16 points in the final minutes.
No. 5 MARYLAND 73, No. 13 HAWAII 60
SPOKANE, Wash. — Melo Trimble scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Maryland beat Hawaii.
Diamond Stone added 14 points for Maryland (27-8), which advanced to the round of 16 for the eighth time in the past 22 years.
Mike Thomas had 19 points and 11 rebounds for Hawaii (28-6), which won a tournament game for the first time this season.
Maryland will play Kansas next Thursday.
After a sluggish first half in which Maryland led 28-27, the tempo picked up in the second.
Hawaii went on a 10-4 run to take a 39-36 lead. Then the bottom fell out.
NO. 1 KANSAS 73, NO. 9 UCONN 61
DES MOINES, Iowa — Wayne Selden Jr. and Perry Ellis carried Kansas on a sweet romp to the round of 16, combining for 43 points to help the Jayhawks hand Kevin Ollie his first NCAA Tournament loss as head coach of the Huskies.
Selden had 22 points and seven rebounds, Ellis scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds and the Jayhawks (32-4) advanced to the South Regional semifinals on Thursday in Louisville, Kentucky, to play the winner of the Hawaii-Maryland game on Sunday.
Selden and Ellis combined to shoot 17 for 27 from the floor, shooing away the disappointment of second-round defeats in each of the last two years.
Sterling Gibbs had 20 points for the No. 9 seed Huskies (25-11), who fell into an irreparable deficit that reached 24 points in the first half.
NO. 3 MIAMI 65, NO. 11 WICHITA STATE 57
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Angel Rodriguez took over after Miami blew a 21-point lead midway through the second half, hitting a big 3-pointer with 72 seconds remaining and scoring 28 points to lead the third-seeded Hurricanes into the round of 16.
Miami (27-7) made it that far three years ago under Jim Larranaga, in his fifth season as head coach. Sheldon McClellan finished with 18 points and Davon Reed had 10 for the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes will play Iowa or Villanova next weekend in Louisville in the South Regional semifinals.
Fred VanVleet and Shaquille Morris each had 12 points for 11th-seeded Wichita State (26-9), which put on a furious rally in the second half of a bruising game, taking a 43-42 lead with 10:24 to go.
After Baker’s 3-pointer gave Wichita State its first lead, Ja’Quan Newton had a slam dunk to put Miami back on top and McClellan scored eight straight points for some separation.
MIDWEST REGION
No. 10 SYRACUSE 75, No. 15 MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE 50
ST. LOUIS — The insufferable zone of Syracuse ground Middle Tennessee State’s magical March ride to a halt, and the Orange beat the Blue Raiders.
Michael Gbinije poured in 23 points, Tyler Lydon added 14 and the Orange (21-13) used a 21-2 charge midway through the second half to crack open a close game and join five other ACC schools in advancing to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
After teetering on the bubble a week ago, they’ll play No. 11 seed Gonzaga on Friday in Chicago.
The Blue Raiders (25-10), who shredded so many brackets with their upset of second-seeded Michigan State, made things tough on Syracuse for a while. They led early in the second half and still trailed just 40-39 with 16:02 to go, but proceeded to make one of their next 16 field-goal attempts.
NO. 1 VIRGINIA 77, NO. 9 BUTLER 69
RALEIGH, N.C. — Malcolm Brogdon scored 22 points and Virginia used some hot second-half shooting to advance to the next round of the NCAA Tournament.
Anthony Gill added 17 points and Marial Shayok finished with 12 for the top-seeded Cavaliers (28-7).
Virginia shot 73 percent after halftime, hitting 14 of its first 16 shots of the second half, and reached the Sweet 16 for the second time in three years. It will face Iowa State (23-11) on Friday in the Midwest Regional semifinals in Chicago.
Andrew Chrabascz scored a season-high 25 points for ninth-seeded Butler (22-11). Roosevelt Jones added 18 points.
NO. 4 IOWA STATE 78, NO. 12 LITTLE ROCK 61
DENVER — Georges Niang scored 28 points and Iowa State watched Josh Hagins closely in the second half of a win over Little Rock.
The No. 4 seed Cyclones (23-11) advanced to their second Sweet 16 in three years.
Niang, the winningest player (97) in Cyclones history and Iowa State’s only two-time All-American, was simply too much for the 12th-seeded Trojans (30-5) of the Sun Belt.
For the second straight game, Hagins had just two points at halftime.
Unlike last time, when he went off for 29 more in a double-overtime win against Purdue, Hagins added just six after the break.
Roger Woods had 19 points for Little Rock.
Matt Thomas chipped in 16 points for Iowa State, which led 40-28 at halftime.
NO. 11 GONZAGA 92, NO. 3 UTAH
DENVER — Gonzaga, looking like something much different than an 11 seed, rolled over Utah behind 22 points from Eric McClellan and a 19-point, 10-rebound effort from Domantas Sabonis.
This was a wire-to-wire effort even more impressive than their 16-point win over Seton Hall in the first round.
Next up for the Zags (28-7) is a game against Syracuse or Middle Tennessee in the Midwest Regional.
Kyle Wiltjer had 17 for Gonzaga, and went 3 for 4 from 3-point range.
This game was billed as a battle of big guys, between the 6-foot-11 Sabonis and Utah’s 7-footer, Jakob Poeltl. That fizzled. Poeltl finished with five points and four rebounds. He got in foul trouble early — drawing his first when Sabonis spun to the baseline and left Poeltl grabbing to prevent the dunk.
WEST REGION
No. 2 OKLAHOMA 85, No. 10 VCU 81
OKLAHOMA CITY — Buddy Hield scored 19 of his 36 points in the final eight minutes to help Oklahoma hold off VCU.
Hield, who didn’t score for more than 10 minutes to start the game, made 9 of 12 shots in the second half after going 2 for 8 in the first. The senior guard posted at least 30 points for the 11th time this season.
Jordan Woodard scored 17 points and Isaiah Cousins added 15 for the Sooners (27-7), who advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year. They will play either Northern Illinois or Texas A&M.
Melvin Johnson scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, JeQuan Lewis scored 22 points and Michael Gilmore added 12 for VCU (25-11), which was trying to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since its Final Four run in 2011.
No. 3 TEXAS A&M 92, No. 11 NORTHERN IOWA 88, 2 OT
OKLAHOMA CITY — Alex Caruso scored 25 points as Texas A&M overcame a 10-point deficit with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation to come back for a double-overtime victory over Northern Iowa.
The win puts the Aggies (28-8) in the Sweet 16 for the third time in school history, the first since 2007.
Danuel House scored all 22 of his points in the second half and overtime, while Jalen Jones finished with 16 for Texas A&M — which has now won 10 of its last 11 games.
Jeremy Morgan had career highs of 36 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Panthers (23-13), who led 69-59 in the final minute of regulation before committing four turnovers in the final 29 seconds to spark the Aggies comeback.
No. 1 OREGON 69, No. 8 SAINT JOSEPH’S 64
SPOKANE, Wash. — Dillon Brooks scored 25 points to leading Oregon over Saint Joseph’s in the second round of the West Regional.
Oregon (29-6) was carrying the banner for the rest of the Pac-12 after the conference posted a collective dud on the opening weekend. Five teams were sent home in the first round and Utah was routed by 11th-seeded Gonzaga in the round of 32, leaving the Ducks as the lone conference representative.
And they were tested by the Hawks, rallying from down 58-51 in the final five minutes to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013. Brooks started the rally with a driving three-point play and put Oregon in front for good on a 3-pointer with 1:19 remaining.
DeAndre’ Bembry led the Hawks (28-8) with 16 points.
NO. 4 DUKE 71, NO. 12 YALE 64
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In a battle of brainy schools, Duke nearly got a tough lesson from Ivy League champion Yale.
Grayson Allen had 29 points, including five 3-pointers, to help Duke fend off a furious rally by Yale and advance to the Sweet 16.
Brandon Ingram added 25 points and five rebounds for the defending champions, who will play the winner of top-seeded Oregon and St. Joseph’s.
The West Region’s No. 4 seed led by as many as 27 points in the battle of the brainy schools before seeing that dwindle to just three points with less than a minute to play.
Yale came close to forcing a needed turnover, but eventually had to foul. Duke connected on four of its final five free-throws to close out the game.
Brandon Sherrod led the 12th-seeded Bulldogs with 22 points. Justin Sears added 12 points and 11 rebounds.
