Xavier strikes on to Candy 16
When Sunday’s NCAA match enterprise closes, the lads’s Candy 16 will probably be set whereas the ladies may have half of the Candy 16 area determined.
Already two No. 1 seeds have been knocked out on the lads’s facet, highlighted by No. 1 Purdue’s gorgeous 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) in opposition to 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 get together began at 12:10 p.m. ET on CBS.
The ladies’s motion will get going with the defending champs, as No. 1 South Carolina tries to maneuver to 34-0 in opposition to South Florida (1 p.m. ET, ABC). Iowa standout Caitlin Clark then takes the nationwide stage within the subsequent recreation on ABC has her No. 2 Hawkeyes tackle No. 10 Georgia.
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MEN’S TOURNAMENT: Complete scores and schedule
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SATURDAY’S PLAY: Catch up on all the men’s, women’s action
Males’s closing: Pittsburgh closes sturdy, however Xavier holds on
The Musketeers, for the primary time for the reason that 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 snug 84-73 victory in opposition to 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 recreation. With reserve guard Desmond Claude chipping in one other 11, Xavier really 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 area purpose makes an attempt, in comparison with Pittsburgh’s 11 assists; they have 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 recreation 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 acquired 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, happening a 15-4 scoring run to guide 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 verify
There’s some historical past behind Daybreak Staley’s outfit.
The South Carolina coach sported a Cheyney State jersey for Sunday’s second-round recreation in opposition to South Florida. Cheyney State performed within the very first girls’s NCAA match 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 recreation that yr earlier than shedding to Louisiana Tech. Cheney State continues to be the one HBCU to succeed in a Division I Ultimate 4, doing it once more in 1984.
— Nancy Armour
Xavier opens massive halftime lead with offensive flourish
Of their Spherical of 64 victory in opposition to No. 6 Iowa State, No. 11 Pittsburgh allowed 41 factors in all the recreation. Within the Spherical of 32, it is a completely 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 massive 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 fireplace, 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 scorching 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 recreation, has but to attain a single level and is 0-of-6 from the sphere.
Sunday motion underway
The primary recreation 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 come back the remainder of the day, scoring will probably be on show.
The Musketeers have been the main scoring workforce within the Huge East this season and have separated themselves from Pittsburgh halfway by 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 guide the Musketeers.
Pittsburgh is taking pictures 7-of-16 from the sphere, at a clip of 46.7%.
The matchup additionally supplies 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 wherein he performed.
This males’s match is really up for grabs
All season lengthy, this promised to be probably the most wide-open NCAA males’s match 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 atmosphere and a crop of freshmen that largely weren’t prepared for prime time meant groups’ fortunes yo-yoed from recreation to recreation, week to week.
Now right here we’re, practically finished with the primary weekend of March Insanity, and there’s an necessary query to ask: Who’s going to win the nationwide championship?
Perhaps it will be higher to say it one other means. If you happen to’re nonetheless alive by Sunday night time on this loopy match, go forward and dare to dream. Even you, Princeton. It’s actually that up for grabs.
– Dan Wolken
Double bother? Indiana and Miami will face off in males’s, girls’s play
No, you’re not seeing double.
Indiana and Miami will play one another within the second spherical of each the lads’s and ladies’s tournaments. The boys’s recreation is Sunday night time in Albany, New York, whereas the ladies’s groups will face off Monday in Bloomington, Indiana.
“That is superior. I imply, what an excellent scenario,” stated Katie Meier, coach of the Miami girls. “I do know our athletic director was on a airplane going backwards and forwards with somebody from Indiana as nicely.”
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 typically. Meier had been requested in regards to the potential for the double dip forward of Saturday’s recreation, 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.
High-seeded Indiana had rolled earlier within the day whereas IU and Miami’s males’s groups each secured their spots Friday.
“We’re trying ahead to taking part in Indiana,” Meier stated, “and hopefully the ‘Canes come out on high in two.”
– Nancy Armour
Princeton males, girls win first-round video games in identical yr, make Ivy historical past
This was a match 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 shocked Arizona, the Tenth-seeded Princeton girls upset N.C. State on Friday night time on a 3-pointer with seven seconds left.
“We have been watching (the lads) within the locker room proper earlier than observe,” Julia Cunningham stated Friday night time. “Watching them, all of the protection they’re getting from the media, it was so nicely 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 in your Candy 16? We’ll know who advances after Sunday’s eight-game slate that includes among the highest seeds nonetheless standing after a wacky and unpredictable begin to the NCAA males’s basketball match.
However we’ll all be paying shut consideration to the outlier, as No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson appears to construct off Friday night time’s historic upset of No. 1 Purdue with a second-round matchup in opposition to No. 9 Florida Atlantic.
Maintain this in thoughts, although: Of the eight video games performed Sunday, six characteristic the best attainable seeds — No. 6 in opposition to No. 3, No. 5 in opposition to No. 4 and No. 7 in opposition to 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 match in 4 a long time. However the Knights would not be right here with out Merrimack, which received the convention title however was ineligible due to its shift to Division I – NCAA guidelines state a college 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 choose 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. “Folks have additionally been powerful on our league all yr, so I am joyful 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 in all probability destroyed many NCAA males’s match brackets. The FDU Twitter account caught wind of this and declared their new friendship collectively.
It was all the time going to be laborious for UMBC to seek out somebody who understood it. In spite of everything, it’s not typically that you simply 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
Ultimate USA TODAY Sports activities coaches ballot
Houston entered the NCAA Event with the No. 1 rating within the USA TODAY Sports activities coaches ballot, regardless of its loss within the American Athletic Convention championship recreation simply previous to the disclosing of the brackets final Sunday.
The Cougars, who have 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.
Houston dealt with Northern Kentucky in its first-round recreation and Auburn in its second-round recreation, whereas Alabama routed Texas A&M Corpus Christi in its match opener. The Crimson Tide knocked off No. 8 seed Maryland late Saturday.
— Eddie Timanus
