Kansas State, Xavier in Candy 16
When Sunday’s NCAA event enterprise closes, the boys’s Candy 16 might be set whereas the ladies could have half of the Candy 16 subject determined.
Already two No. 1 seeds have been knocked out on the boys’s aspect, highlighted by No. 1 Purdue’s beautiful loss to No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson. Now FDU goals to do what no 16-seed has ever finished: Attain the Candy 16.
The Knights will attempt to make it occur Sunday (7:45 p.m. ET, truTV) towards Florida Atlantic, a potent mid-major that is 32-3 on the yr after its dramatic win over Memphis. However first, No. 11 Pitt and No. 3 Xavier get the occasion began at 12:10 p.m. ET on CBS.
The ladies’s motion began with the defending champs, No. 1 South Carolina, beating South Florida (1 p.m. ET, ABC). Iowa standout Caitlin Clark then takes the nationwide stage within the subsequent sport on ABC has her No. 2 Hawkeyes tackle No. 10 Georgia.
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Observe the insanity: Latest Men’s NCAA Tournament College Basketball Scores and Schedules
MEN’S TOURNAMENT: Complete scores and schedule
WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT: Complete scores and schedule
SATURDAY’S PLAY: Catch up on all the men’s, women’s action
Girls’s ultimate: Notre Dame survives Mississippi State in 2018 title sport rematch
No buzzer beater was wanted this time round, as Notre Dame held on to beat upset-minded Mississippi State 53-48 in a rematch of the 2018 nationwide championship.
The third-seeded Preventing Irish took management out of halftime, main by as a lot as 11 factors, however a expensive turnover within the ultimate seconds of the quarter resulted in a Bulldogs’ bucket on the buzzer, igniting a 10-0 run to tie it midway by way of the ultimate quarter.
The Bulldogs then went chilly as they missed six of their subsequent seven pictures, whereas Notre Dame broke away on the free throw line. Ahlana Smith hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left for Mississippi State to make it a one possession sport, however Sonia Citron nailed her two free throws on the following foul to seal the win.
Citron, Notre Dame’s main scorer, struggled from the sphere, taking pictures 2-for-12 with 14 factors, 10 of which got here from the free throw line. Lauren Ebo was the distinction maker for the Irish, grabbing a career-high and faculty event file 18 rebounds to associate with her 10 factors. The Irish dominated the boards with a 49-32 rebound benefit.
Each groups struggled to shoot from past the arc, as they went a mixed 3-for-27 from the 3-point line, with Notre Dame lacking all seven of their makes an attempt. Kourtney Weber led Mississippi State with 14 factors.
Males’s ultimate: Kansas State overcomes enormous deficit on glass, outlasts Kentucky
They wanted to beat an enormous deficit on the glass, however the No. 3 Kansas State Wildcats toppled the No. 6 Kentucky Wildcats to ebook a visit to the Candy 16 for the primary time because the 2017-18 season.
Of their eventual 75-69 victory, Kansas State began the second half ice chilly and noticed its three-point lead at intermission erased after Kentucky opened the second body on a 13-2 run.
Kentucky obliterated Kansas State on the boards, with a 45-25 benefit, together with a staggering 19-4 edge on offensive rebounds. Regardless of that, Kentucky was far too inefficient and careless with the ball. Kentucky turned it over twice as usually as Kansas State did, 16 occasions. Kentucky additionally had the identical variety of subject targets that Kansas State did – 26 – although Kentucky wanted 9 extra pictures to get there.
Kansas State senior guard Markquis Nowell placed on a clinic within the second half, ending the sport with 27 factors on 7-of-14 taking pictures, with 9 assists. Nowell’s efficiency neutralized one other huge efficiency from Kentucky ahead Oscar Tshiebwe, who poured in 25 factors and 18 rebounds.
Kansas State closed out the sport largely due to its stellar free throw taking pictures, going 13-of-14 within the second half.
Girls’s ultimate: Caitlin Clark powers Iowa Hawkeyes previous Georgia
No approach Caitlin Clark was letting Iowa lose this sport.
The Participant of the 12 months favourite scored or assisted on 31 of Iowa’s 33 factors within the second half and had a essential steal to arrange the decisive bucket because the second-seeded Hawkeyes escaped with a 74-66 victory over Tenth-seeded Georgia. Clark completed with a team-high 22 factors, 12 assists and three steals.
Monika Czinano had 12 of her 20 factors within the second half, Gabbie Marshall added 15 and McKenna Warnock had 14 for the Hawkeyes.
The sport was tight all afternoon, and Audrey Warren lower Iowa’s result in 68-66 on a 3-pointer with 2:19 to play. However Clark stole a move by Diamond Battles a couple of minute later and took it in for a layup that gave Iowa the cushion it wanted. Georgia wouldn’t rating once more.
Males’s halftime: Kansas State clinging to small lead over Kentucky
In comparison with the primary males’s sport of the day, this one is way more of a slog.
No. 3 Kansas State and No. 6 Kentucky each struggled from the sphere within the first half, combining for 22 made subject targets on 63 makes an attempt (34.9%). Each groups at occasions used swarming defenses and halfcourt and fullcourt stress, making it tougher for each offenses to ease into their methods. The excellent news is that each offenses settled earlier than the tip of the half, with Kansas State main 29-26.
Not coincidentally, 3-point taking pictures let each groups down. Kansas State did not convert on any of its 12 makes an attempt from past the arc, whereas Kentucky hit simply 2-of-11.
The sport’s main scorer, Kentucky ahead Oscar Tshiebwe, already has a double-double, with an 11-point, 11-rebound first half. In every of the three halves Kentucky has performed this event, Tshiebwe has recorded at the least 10 boards.
Kansas State’s main scorer did not crack double figures, as ahead Nae’Qwan Tomlin recorded eight factors and 6 rebounds earlier than intermission. Level guard Markquis Nowell, nonetheless, has been discovering gamers and his 5 assists match all the Kentucky workforce’s output.
Girls’s ultimate: South Carolina 76, South Florida 45
Keep in mind when South Carolina was in hassle towards South Florida? Yeah, me neither.
The highest-seeded, undefeated and defending champion Gamecocks had been examined early by South Florida, trailing by 4 with 7:36 left within the second quarter. However South Carolina buckled down in response, grabbing management of the sport with a 9-2 run, and wound up doing what it often does: Successful in a rout.
Remaining rating: South Carolina 76, South Florida 45.
Zia Cooke was South Carolina’s solely participant in double figures till the final 3 minutes of the sport, nevertheless it didn’t matter as a result of the Gamecocks had 10 different gamers with factors. Cooke completed with 21 factors, Aliyah Boston had a double-double in what might be her ultimate dwelling sport with 11 factors and 11 rebounds, and Laeticia Amihere added 10.
It was South Carolina’s thirty fourth win this season, and fortieth going again to final season.
Males’s ultimate: Pittsburgh closes robust, however Xavier holds on
The Musketeers, for the primary time because the 2016-17 season, are headed to the Candy Sixteen.
No. 3 Xavier (27-9) had all 5 starters attain double figures in scoring in a reasonably comfy 84-73 victory towards No. 11 Pittsburgh. The Panthers (24-12) had been a second-half workforce all season lengthy and closed the deficit to eight factors late within the second half, however they left themselves an excessive amount of work to beat.
Xavier ahead Jack Nunge led the way in which with 18 factors and three rebounds, although he fouled out with 3:19 left within the sport. With reserve guard Desmond Claude chipping in one other 11, Xavier truly had six gamers attain double figures in scoring.
Xavier managed the sport in most main offensive classes: the Musketeers recorded assists on 22 of their 30 subject objective makes an attempt, in comparison with Pittsburgh’s 11 assists; they had been extra environment friendly from the ground, taking pictures 47.6% on 30-of-63 taking pictures, in comparison with Pittsburgh’s taking pictures 38.6%; and Xavier outrebounded Pittsburgh 44-41.
This marked Xavier’s sixteenth sport this season with 20 or extra assists, which is most in D-I this season. Xavier will now face No. 2 Texas on Friday within the Midwest bracket.
Girls’s halftime: South Carolina holds slim lead over South Florida
After a primary quarter largely managed by South Florida, No. 1 South Carolina took cost within the second quarter to take a 33-29 lead at halftime of their second-round matchup.
Aliyah Boston led the Gamecocks in scoring with 9 factors, because the workforce managed the boards by outrebounding the Bulls 23-16, together with 10 offensive rebounds. South Carolina additionally obtained the free throw line, going 8-for-12 from the road, whereas South Florida went 1-for-2.
South Florida’s Elena Tsineke leads all scorers with 12 factors, half of which got here from behind the 3-point line.
The Bulls jumped out to a 16-12 lead on the finish first quarter earlier than South Carolina took management of the second quarter, occurring a 15-4 scoring run to steer by as a lot as seven within the quarter. South Florida ended the quarter on a 7-2 run to shut the hole.
— Jordan Mendoza
Daybreak Staley’s match examine
There’s some historical past behind Daybreak Staley’s outfit.
The South Carolina coach sported a Cheyney State jersey for Sunday’s second-round sport towards South Florida. Cheyney State performed within the very first ladies’s NCAA event in 1982 regardless of then being a Division II workforce.
Coached by Corridor of Famer C. Vivian Stringer, Cheyney State made all of it the way in which to the title sport that yr earlier than shedding to Louisiana Tech. Cheney State continues to be the one HBCU to achieve a Division I Remaining 4, doing it once more in 1984.
— Nancy Armour
Xavier opens huge halftime lead with offensive flourish
Of their Spherical of 64 victory towards No. 6 Iowa State, No. 11 Pittsburgh allowed 41 factors in all the sport. Within the Spherical of 32, it is a totally different story. No. 3 Xavier had scored 42 factors by the 5:01 mark … of the primary half. The Musketeers have opened up a 48-34 lead on the half on a torrid 19-of-36 efficiency (52.8%) from the sphere.
One huge a part of the distinction has been past the arc, the place Xavier has transformed half of its 14 makes an attempt. Specifically, guard Adam Kunkel is on hearth, going an ideal 5-of-5 from 3-point vary, with a team-high 15 factors. Ahead Jack Nunge is true behind him, chipping in 14 factors on 6-of-10 taking pictures.
The Panthers began sizzling however then cooled off, getting outscored by a margin of 27-16 to shut the half. Making issues much more regarding for Pittsburgh, Xavier guard Souley Boum, who led the Musketeers this season with 16.5 factors per sport, has but to attain a single level and is 0-of-6 from the sphere.
Sunday motion underway
The primary sport of the day, a matchup within the males’s bracket between No. 11 Pittsburgh and No. 3 Xavier, tipped off simply after midday Sunday. And if the offensive tempo to begin is any indication of what’s to return the remainder of the day, scoring might be on show.
The Musketeers had been the main scoring workforce within the Large East this season and have separated themselves from Pittsburgh halfway by way of the primary half, opening a 28-18 lead. Xavier ripped off a 14-3 run and is taking pictures 57.1% from the sphere on 12-of-21 makes an attempt. Guard Colby Jones and ahead Jack Nunge every have eight factors to steer the Musketeers.
Pittsburgh is taking pictures 7-of-16 from the sphere, at a clip of 46.7%.
The matchup additionally gives an fascinating little bit of nostalgia and familiarity as Xavier head coach Sean Miller starred as a guard for the Panthers from 1987-92, the place he began 124 of the 128 video games by which he performed.
This males’s event is actually up for grabs
All season lengthy, this promised to be essentially the most wide-open NCAA males’s event in a era. The bluebloods weren’t as blue. The highest-ranked groups had apparent flaws. The mix of an additional COVID yr for older gamers, an out-of-control switch surroundings and a crop of freshmen that largely weren’t prepared for prime time meant groups’ fortunes yo-yoed from sport to sport, week to week.
Now right here we’re, practically finished with the primary weekend of March Insanity, and there’s an essential query to ask: Who’s going to win the nationwide championship?
Possibly it could be higher to say it one other approach. For those who’re nonetheless alive by Sunday evening on this loopy event, go forward and dare to dream. Even you, Princeton. It’s actually that up for grabs.
– Dan Wolken
Double hassle? Indiana and Miami will face off in males’s, ladies’s play
No, you’re not seeing double.
Indiana and Miami will play one another within the second spherical of each the boys’s and ladies’s tournaments. The boys’s sport is Sunday evening in Albany, New York, whereas the ladies’s groups will face off Monday in Bloomington, Indiana.
“That is superior. I imply, what a fantastic state of affairs,” stated Katie Meier, coach of the Miami ladies. “I do know our athletic director was on a airplane going backwards and forwards with somebody from Indiana as properly.”
The NCAA doesn’t have a file of what number of occasions colleges have performed one another in every of the tournaments, not to mention in the identical spherical. However suffice to say, it hasn’t occurred usually. Meier had been requested concerning the potential for the double dip forward of Saturday’s sport, however she didn’t wish to reply and jinx herself. Good factor, because the Hurricanes fell behind by 17 before rallying to beat Oklahoma State.
Prime-seeded Indiana had rolled earlier within the day whereas IU and Miami’s males’s groups each secured their spots Friday.
“We’re wanting ahead to taking part in Indiana,” Meier stated, “and hopefully the ‘Canes come out on high in two.”
– Nancy Armour
Princeton males, ladies win first-round video games in similar 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 gained 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 boys) within the locker room proper earlier than follow,” 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.”
– Nancy Armour
Rating Sunday’s video games
What number of groups will you’ve got in your Candy 16? We’ll know who advances after Sunday’s eight-game slate that includes a few of the highest seeds nonetheless standing after a wacky and unpredictable begin to the NCAA males’s basketball event.
However we’ll all be paying shut consideration to the outlier, as No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson seems to be to construct off Friday evening’s historic upset of No. 1 Purdue with a second-round matchup towards No. 9 Florida Atlantic.
Hold this in thoughts, although: Of the eight video games performed Sunday, six characteristic the best potential seeds — No. 6 towards No. 3, No. 5 towards No. 4 and No. 7 towards No. 2.
Here is a listing of Sunday’s video games ranked by how watchable they’re:
1. No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. No. 9 Florida Atlantic (7:45 p.m. ET)
2. No. 5 Saint Mary’s vs. No. 4 Connecticut (6:10)
3. No. 6 Kentucky vs. No. 3 Kansas State (2:40)
4. No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 6 Creighton (7:10)
5. No. 3 Gonzaga vs. No. 6 TCU (9:40)
6. No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 2 Marquette (5:15)
7. No. 5 Miami vs. No. 4 Indiana (8:40)
8. No. 3 Xavier vs. No. 11 Pittsburgh (12:10)
– Paul Myerberg
Merrimack coach rooting for Fairleigh Dickenson
With its upset of No. 1 seed Purdue, the Knights gave the Northeast Convention its first win within the first spherical of the NCAA males’s event in 4 a long time. However the Knights would not be right here with out Merrimack, which gained the convention title however was ineligible due to its shift to Division I – NCAA guidelines state a faculty should sit out 4 years after such a transition.
So Merrimack coach Joe Gallo and the remainder of the workforce stayed dwelling and watched Fairleigh Dickenson decide Purdue – and big man Zach Edey – aside. So is there jealousy amongst its Northeast foes?
“To cite my 6-year-old, ‘Dad, we beat them, so we wish them to win,’ ” Gallo told CBS Sports. “Individuals have additionally been powerful on our league all yr, so I am pleased for the win.”
– Heather Tucker
UMBC finds a good friend on Twitter
The UMBC Twitter account lastly has a greatest good friend. It’s the Farleigh Dickinson males’s basketball workforce’s Twitter account. What have they got in widespread? They each thrive in creating absolute chaos and busting brackets.
The UMBC Twitter account celebrated Fairleigh Dickinson’s victory over Purdue, which most likely destroyed many NCAA males’s event brackets. The FDU Twitter account caught wind of this and declared their new friendship collectively.
It was all the time going to be onerous for UMBC to search out somebody who understood it. In spite of everything, it’s not usually that you just get a 16 seed upsetting a 1 seed. UMBC was the primary males’s program to do it when it knocked off No. 1 Virginia in 2018. But when there’s anybody who understands the sensation, it’s FDU.
— Mike D. Sykes II, For the Win
OPINION:Why don’t NCAA schools pay college athletes who make them billions?
Remaining USA TODAY Sports activities coaches ballot
Houston entered the NCAA Match with the No. 1 rating within the USA TODAY Sports activities coaches ballot, regardless of its loss within the American Athletic Convention championship sport simply previous to the disclosing of the brackets final Sunday.
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 obtained eight firsts after profitable the SEC title in spectacular vogue.
Houston dealt with Northern Kentucky in its first-round sport and Auburn in its second-round sport, whereas Alabama routed Texas A&M Corpus Christi in its event opener. The Crimson Tide knocked off No. 8 seed Maryland late Saturday.
— Eddie Timanus
