FAU upsets Tennessee in Candy 16
Following a three-day breather after a weekend of chaos, the men’s NCAA Tournament returned to motion with the start of the Sweet 16.
No. 3 Kansas State defeated No. 7 Michigan State in an additional time thriller within the first of 4 video games within the West and East, whereas No. 4 Connecticut rolled over No. 8 Arkansas. Florida Atlantic, which ended the Cinderella story for No. 16 seeded Fairleigh Dickinson, will tackle Tennessee within the evening’s third recreation, and a heavyweight showdown between UCLA and Gonzaga will conclude the evening.
Comply with alongside for dwell updates all through the remainder of the day.
MEN’S TOURNAMENT:Complete scores and schedule
WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT:Complete scores and schedule
Comply with the insanity: Latest Men’s NCAA Tournament College Basketball Scores and Schedules
No. 9 Florida Atlantic upsets No. 4 Tennessee
The Florida Atlantic Owls upset the Tennessee Volunteers, 62-55, Thursday to advance to the Elite Eight regardless of having by no means received a recreation within the NCAA Match earlier than this yr.
Ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic will play third-seeded Kansas State on Saturday at Madison Sq. Backyard in New York.
Florida Atlantic trailed by as many as 9 factors within the first half and within the second half was down 39-33 when the Owls instantly took management.
The Owls went on 15-2 tear, transferring forward 48-41 with 7:22 left to play, which prompted Tennessee to name a timeout. It stopped the clock – however not Florida Atlantic.
The Owls went up 53-43 with 5:50 left to play, and Tennessee pulled no nearer than 5 factors the remainder of the way in which.
It was one more postseason disappointment for Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes. Throughout his eight-year tenure, he has guided the Volunteers to the Candy 16 twice – and by no means past.
The Volunteers made their solely different journey to the Elite Eight in 2010 and they didn’t advance.
Florida Atlantic made its solely different NCAA Match look in 2002, when it was seeded No. 15 and misplaced to No. 2 seed Alabama.
However these are a distinct set of Owls. Demonstrating their toughness, they outrebounded Tennessee, 40-36, and held Tennessee to 33.3% taking pictures from the sector. Against this, Florida Atlantic shot 42% from the sector.
– Josh Peter
Half: UCLA 46, Gonzaga 33
The Bruins went on a 15-4 run to shut the primary half taking a 46-33 lead over the Bulldogs, regardless of lacking Adem Bona (shoulder) and Jaylen Clark (Achilles). Amari Bailey and Tyger Campbell each have 13 factors, with Jaime Jaquez Jr. including 12 and 6 rebounds.
The Bulldogs’ Drew Timme has a game-high 19 factors and 5 rebounds, however he’s not getting a lot assist from the remainder of the group. Gonzaga turned the ball over 9 instances within the half, in comparison with UCLA’s one turnover.
Tennessee leads Florida Atlantic at half
The Volunteers entered halftime with a 27-22 lead over the Owls, led by Uros Plavsic’s team-high eight factors. Nobody is in double digits within the low-scoring affair.
Florida Atlantic is fortunate to solely be down by 5. The Owls recorded 9 first-half turnovers, which led to 9 factors for the Volunteers. Florida Atlantic additionally went 3-for-14 from past the arc. Nicholas Boyd and Michael Forrest had been every capable of knock down a 3 for the Owls within the closing minutes of the first-half, the group’s first threes since their opening possession, to get inside 5 of Tennessee.
The winner of Tennessee-Florida Atlantic will play Kansas State within the Elite Eight. Markquis Nowell was noticed within the Madison Sq. Backyard crowd to look at the matchup following his historic efficiency.
UCLA lacking key piece vs. Gonzaga
UCLA beginning middle Adem Bona, affected by a shoulder damage, didn’t be part of the Bruins throughout warmups in a transparent signal he wouldn’t have the ability to play Thursday in opposition to Gonzaga.
Bona can be changed by Kenneth Nwuba. The 6-foot-10 senior has performed in 34 video games and averaged 12 minutes.
The absence of Bona, the Pac-12 Freshman of the Yr, compounded damage points for the second-seeded Bruins.
UCLA misplaced Jaylen Clark, its prime defensive participant, to a season-ending damage within the ultimate recreation of the common season. David Singleton, the senior guard who moved into the beginning lineup in Clark’s absence, subsequently suffered an ankle damage that has left his standing doubtful.
– Josh Peter
Markquis Nowell leads Kansas State to thrilling additional time win over Michigan State
Traditional.
In a white-knuckle, heart-stopping trip, third-seeded Kansas State outlasted seventh-seeded Michigan State in additional time, 98-93, Thursday in a Candy 16 matchup of the lads’s NCAA Match.
Markquis Nowell, Kansas State’s 5-foot-8 point guard, was brilliant with 19 assists – an NCAA Match single-game document — together with 20 factors and 5 steals.
His fifth steal got here within the ultimate moments of the recreation to ship the Wildcats into the Elite Eight. Throughout his electrical efficiency, Nowell overcame an ankle damage within the second half that pressured him to the bench for about 2½ minutes and left him hobbled.
With the victory, Kansas State, which was picked final within the Massive 12 preseason ballot, continues its exceptional run.
The Wildcats wanted every little thing they acquired from Nowell, as Michigan State fought again after trailing by as many as 9 factors early within the second half and once more by seven factors with lower than 5 minutes to play. Michigan State’s Tyson Walker scored with 5 seconds left in regulation to drive additional time.
Nowell – who else? – offered the signature play of additional time with an ideal, seemingly no-look lob to Keyontae Johnson, who completed with a team-high 22 factors.
For Michigan State, the loss ended its quest to succeed in the Remaining 4 for the eleventh time in class historical past. Nevertheless it was a formidable Match run for the Spartans, which began the season exterior of the Prime 25.
– Josh Peter
No. 4 UConn crushes No. 8 Arkansas
LAS VEGAS — It has been practically a decade for the reason that College of Connecticut males’s group was thought-about a nationwide energy, and for a lot of that point it was unclear whether or not anybody else might construct the identical kind of program Jim Calhoun had that might contend for titles yearly.
Danny Hurley isn’t fairly there but, but when the Huskies preserve taking part in like this, it received’t be lengthy.
UConn, the No. 4 seed within the West Regional, obliterated No. 8 seed Arkansas, 88-65, at T-Cell Enviornment and can await the winner of UCLA-Gonzaga for an opportunity to succeed in the Remaining 4.
UConn, which received 9 of its final 11 video games coming into the NCAA males’s event, merely had an excessive amount of dimension, taking pictures and power for Arkansas, which upset No. 1 seed Kansas to make the Candy 16.
The sport was by no means shut. UConn began by entering into the paint for straightforward appears to be like, and the Huskies adopted with a muscular efficiency on the offensive glass once they did miss. Led by Jordan Hawkins’ 24 factors and large man Adama Sanogo’s 18, UConn completed the sport taking pictures 57 % from the sector and 45 % from the 3-point line.
UConn made 17-of-28 pictures within the first half for a 46-29 lead and fired with a 30-point margin early within the second half earlier than Arkansas’ full-court press discombobulated the Huskies for a couple of possessions.
However after its lead was minimize to 19 with greater than 13 minutes remaining, UConn instantly acquired consecutive 3-pointers from Hawkins and Nahiem Alleyne to finish any risk.
UConn hasn’t been to the Remaining 4 since successful a shock nationwide title underneath Kevin Ollie in 2014, and Thursday was the Huskies’ first journey to the event’s second weekend in 5 years underneath Hurley.
Arkansas was trying to make its third consecutive journey to the Elite Eight underneath coach Eric Musselman however fell properly brief on this matchup, which maybe highlighted why the Razorbacks completed 8-10 within the SEC.
Freshman Anthony Black who is predicted to be an NBA lottery choose if he chooses to go away school, led Arkansas with 20 factors on 5-of-12 taking pictures.
– Dan Wolken
Markquis Nowell has a fan in Patrick Mahomes
When Nowell left the ground after rolling his ankle, somebody requested if Mahomes might give the Okay-State guard any recommendation. No want, Mahomes tweeted.
“He’s acquired it! I consider!!” Mahomes stated, including two flexed biceps emojis.
The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs quarterback is aware of a factor or two about taking part in on a bum ankle, aggravating his excessive ankle sprain in the course of the second quarter of Tremendous Bowl 57. Mahomes’ standing appeared questionable as he limped off the sector at halftime, however he performed your complete second half and led the Chiefs to the Tremendous Bowl title.
– Nancy Armour
Halftime: UConn 46, Arkansas 29
An unplanned change in inns did not preserve No. 4 UConn from leaping out to a commanding lead over 8-seeded Arkansas.
The Huskies, who had been pressured to vary inns in Las Vegas after CT Insider reported their rooms had been in terrible situation, had been dominant within the first 20 minutes. At one level, UConn mounted a 14-0 run.
UConn’s Jordan Hawkins led all scorers with 10 factors within the half. Teammate Adama Sanogo is on double-double watch with eight factors and 6 rebounds earlier than the break. Nick Smith Jr. led Arkansas with 9 factors.
Even award-winning actor Invoice Murray was having fun with the Huskies’ dominance. In attendance to assist his son, Luke, who’s an assistant coach at UConn, Murray was proven cheering from the group because the Huskies went on their run.
Kansas State star Markquis Nowell wants assist off court docket after showing to twist ankle
Kansas State guard Markquis Nowell fell awkwardly whereas trying a brief runner and needed to be helped off the court docket lower than 5 minutes into the second half of the No. 3 Wildcats’ Candy 16 matchup in opposition to No. 7 Michigan State.
Nowell had performed each minute for KSU, which was main 50-46 with 15:31 left, and had scored seven factors with 10 assists.
One of many breakout stars of this yr’s event, Nowell is the Wildcats’ second-leading scorer (17.1 factors per recreation) and ranks second nationally in assists (7.8 per recreation).
Nowell eliminated his shoe and had trainers tape his ankle up earlier than he returned to the court docket. Whereas the ankle was clearly bothering him, he nonetheless flashed his offensive creativity.
– Paul Myerberg
Halftime: Kansas State 43, Michigan State 38
Markquis Nowell was an offensive magician, weaving pinpoint passes to teammates to provide No. 3 Kansas State a five-point lead over 7-seeded Michigan State on the break.
Nowell racked up 10 assists within the first 20 minutes and added a deep 3-point discipline aim for the Wildcats.
The Spartans, in the meantime, acquired a torrid first-half effort from Joey Hauser (12 factors, three rebounds). Hauser linked on 2 of 4 makes an attempt from 3-point vary. Michigan State additionally received the first-half rebound battle 18-12 and pulled down seven offensive boards in comparison with only one for Kansas State
Why you would possibly see Barry Sanders throughout Michigan State’s Candy 16 recreation
Loads of school basketball followers maybe not utterly clued into Michigan State basketball seemed to be greatly surprised when Professional Soccer Corridor of Famer and Detroit Lions legend Barry Sanders appeared on their tv screens carrying a inexperienced and white MSU cap — and sitting behind former MSU soccer coach Mark Dantonio and Kirk Gibson — in the course of the Spartans’ second-round NCAA event recreation Sunday in opposition to Marquette.
However as all Spartan supporters know, there is a quite simple clarification as to why Sanders was in Columbus, Ohio, for the sport. His son, Nick, is a freshman on the MSU basketball team.
– Phil Pal, Lansing State Journal
Las Vegas is now poised to be a hub for college sports with a number of NCAA occasions scheduled over the subsequent a number of years, starting with Thursday’s West Regional at T-Cell Enviornment. From golf to bowling to hockey — the 2026 Frozen 4 can even be held right here — the NCAA brand will quickly be as ubiquitous on the Las Vegas Strip as advertisements for movie star chef eating places and Cirque du Soleil reveals.
It would all lead as much as 2028, when the NCAA brings its crown jewel occasion, the lads’s Remaining 4, right here for the primary (and possibly not final) time.
“It was simply getting over the stigma that it was Las Vegas,” stated Jim Livengood, the longtime athletics director at Washington State, Arizona and UNLV.
— Dan Wolken
With Mick Cronin in cost, the forecast for UCLA’s storied basketball program remains perpetually sunny. The Bruins are within the Candy 16 of the lads’s NCAA Match for the third straight season.
Up subsequent: a rematch in opposition to Gonzaga, which at the 2021 Remaining 4 outlasted UCLA in additional time, 93-90.
“We’re 4 video games away from hanging a twelfth banner,” Cronin stated, referring to UCLA’s 11 nationwide championships. “That is how we take a look at it. That is how we discuss it.”
— Josh Peter
The men’s Sweet 16 round tips Thursday night, with motion within the Massive Apple and Sin Metropolis.
►No. 3 Kansas State vs. No. 7 Michigan State
Time/TV: 6:30 p.m. ET, TBS
►No. 4 Connecticut vs. No. 8 Arkansas
Time/TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, CBS
►No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 9 Florida Atlantic
Time/TV: 9 p.m. ET, TBS
►No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 3 Gonzaga
Time/TV: 9:45 p.m. ET, CBS
Greatest shot at making Remaining 4
The 2022 Remaining 4 in males’s basketball was, ultimately, dominated by bluebloods. This yr’s model could possibly be extra about new bloods.
Of the 16 remaining groups, solely 4 have received a championship (Michigan State, UCLA, UConn, Arkansas). Three of these are in the identical area, so there’s a excessive likelihood that anyone new can be reducing down the nets in Houston.
Seven of the Candy 16 groups (Alabama, Creighton, Florida Atlantic Miami, San Diego State, Tennessee and Xavier) have by no means even been to a Remaining 4. We ranked them in order of their possibilities to make the nationwide semifinals for the primary time.
— Eddie Timanus
What have we realized?
Surprises and upsets outlined the primary two rounds of the lads’s NCAA Match, sending a few of school basketball’s greatest names packing – together with Kansas, Purdue, Duke, Virginia and Kentucky – as Fairleigh Dickinson beat Purdue and Princeton topped Arizona and Missouri to write down two of the highest Cinderella tales in current event historical past.
Amid this flurry of unpredictability, what occurs subsequent is anybody’s guess.
With the Candy 16 set to start, we detailed eight lessons learned from the primary weekend of the event.
— Paul Myerberg
‘Spartan sturdy’
Ranked exterior the highest 25 for many of the season, Michigan State wouldn’t have been thought-about a lot of a risk to get to the Candy 16 aside from one factor: They have Tom Izzo on the sidelines.
It’s not that Izzo is unbeatable or has an ironclad monitor document in March. Like each different nice coach, he’s had his share of peculiar flameouts. However each few years, Izzo finds a strategy to push a group deeper into the event than it’s imagined to go.
Michigan State’s second-round win in opposition to No. 2 seed Marquette was the sixteenth time Izzo has overwhelmed a higher-seeded group within the NCAA Match, beating out Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim for the all-time document. Maybe extra impressively, it was the sixth time he has gotten to the Candy 16 with a group seeded fifth or worse.
The Spartans tackle No. 3 seed Kansas State within the first males’s Candy 16 recreation Thursday.
— Dan Wolken
Princeton males, ladies win first-round video games in identical yr, make Ivy historical past
This was a event to recollect for the Ivy League even earlier than Princeton’s males reached the second spherical.
That is the primary yr the Ivy’s groups have received first-round video games in each tournaments. A day after the Princeton males surprised Arizona, the Tenth-seeded Princeton ladies upset N.C. State on Friday evening on a 3-pointer with seven seconds left.
“We had been watching (the lads) within the locker room proper earlier than apply,” Julia Cunningham stated Friday evening. “Watching them, all of the protection they’re getting from the media, it was so properly deserved. We checked out one another and thought, we’re subsequent, now it’s our flip.
“It’s particular,” she added. “A particular week to be a Tiger.”
The Princeton ladies had been overwhelmed within the second spherical by Utah, however the Tigers’ men will take on Creighton on Friday within the Candy 16.
– Nancy Armour
Remaining USA TODAY Sports activities coaches ballot
Houston entered the NCAA Tournament with the No. 1 rating within the USA TODAY Sports activities coaches ballot, regardless of its loss within the American Athletic Convention championship recreation previous to the disclosing of the brackets.
The Cougars, who had been taking part in with out main scorer Marcus Sasser within the loss to Memphis, retained 21 of 32 No. 1 votes to stave off second-ranked Alabama. The Crimson Tide acquired eight firsts after successful the SEC title in spectacular vogue on Sunday.
Houston and Alabama are the lone No. 1 seeds remaining within the event after Kansas was knocked off by Arkansas within the second spherical and Purdue, the highest seed within the East, was upset within the first spherical by Fairleigh Dickinson.
— Eddie Timanus
