Midnight: That’ll do it for the round of 32, as Duke proves to be too much for Doug McDermott and Creighton, advancing to take on Michigan State with a 64-50 win.
We were treated to some great games today, from Aaron Craft’s buzzer-beater to push Ohio State past Iowa State to No. 15 seed Florida Gulf Coast’s dunk-and-dance-filled victory over San Diego State.
The winners will now take a few days off before the Sweet 16 kicks off on Thursday.
11:23 p.m.: This has really been one heck of a day for college basketball.
Saturday was dominated by blowouts, but Sunday has featured tight game after tight game. Miami just escaped from the latest nailbiter, foiling Illinois’ upset bid with a 63-59 win.
The night’s final contest is shaping up to be a good one, as well. Creighton has held Duke’s Ryan Kelly scoreless, but the Blue Devils hold a 41-32 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the second half.
10:31 p.m.: They have been vastly overshadowed by FGCU’s miracle run, but the No. 13 seed Explorers of La Salle are headed to the Sweet 16.
The boys from Philadelphia took down Ole Miss 76-74 on a layup by Tyrone Garland with three seconds remaining. Garland tallied 17 points in the contest while teammate Ramon Galloway led all scorers with 24 to propel La Salle deeper in the tournament than the school has been since reaching the Final Four in 1955.
We have two other tight games taking place, as the Illini lead Miami 35-34 with 13:51 to play and Duke holds a two-point cushion on Creighton as the first half winds down.
9:50 p.m.: Neither team has been able to take control in Kansas City, but a Marshall Henderson 3-pointer gives Ole Miss its largest lead of the game with 9:17 to play. Twelve of Henderson’s 16 shots tonight have been from deep, and he leads all Rebels with 18 points.
Meanwhile, the neon-sneakered Miami Hurricanes hold a 29-26 lead over Illinois at halftime.
9:20 p.m.: All hail the Eagles.
Florida Gulf Coast advances to play Florida in the Sweet 16 with an 81-71 victory over San Diego State. The Eagles had six players in double figures, with Bernard Thompson leading all scorers with 23 points, and ran away with the game in the second after trailing by one at the half.
In other action, La Salle leads Ole Miss 40-38 at half time and Florida’s third team in the tournament, No. 2 seed Miami, trails No. 7 Illinois by one early in the first half.
9:00 p.m.: We may be witnessing history right now.
FGCU has scored the last 16 points and now holds a 70-52 lead over San Diego State with just over four minutes to play. If the Eagles can hang on, they will the first No. 15 seed in the history of the tournament to advance to the Sweet 16.
8:32 p.m.: The Gophers made it interesting in the second half, but Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators were ultimately too much for Minnesota, winning 78-64 to advance to the Sweet 16.
Speaking of interesting, Florida Gulf Coast and San Diego State are playing in an instant classic in Philadelphia, with the Eagles holding a 50-46 lead with 13:30 to play, and the Marshall Henderson-led Ole Miss Rebels lead La Salle by five early in the first.
8:00 p.m.:Â Florida Gulf Coast University is trying to become the first No. 15 seed to advance to the Sweet 16. The Eagles are making a run at the historic mark, trailing San Diego State 35-34 at half. Oh yeah, plenty of highlights from Dunk City too.
Marshall Henderson and Ole Miss will tip against La Salle at 8:09 p.m.
7:36 p.m.: It’s official, Kansas will advance to the Sweet 16 to play Michigan after defeating North Carolina 70-53 in a second half surge. Florida still holds a considerable lead over Minnesota in the opening minutes of the second half. Two new games are underway.
Tournament darling Florida Gulf Coast University is in a tight one thus far against San Diego State with the score tied at 19 apiece midway through the first half. Marshall Henderson and Ole Miss will take on La Salle for a spot in the Sweet 16 against Wichita State. That game tips at 7:40 p.m.
7:12 p.m.:Â Doesn’t look like either of these games will go down to the wire. Kansas has started to get rolling in the second half led by the strong play of Jeff Withey and Travis Releford.
Kansas hadn’t hit a 3-pointer in the first three halves of the NCAA tournament, but in the second half against the Tar Heels, the Jayhawks have connected on five. Michigan and Kansas looks like a very fun matchup in the Sweet 16.
Florida has been cruising on Minnesota from basically the start, up 48-27 at halftime.
6:26 p.m.: We’re getting overlapping games at this point in the evening. After a pair of exciting finishes, North Carolina is on top of Kansas at halftime, in the 1-8 matchup in the South Region.
This is a bit of reunion for UNC head coach Roy Williams, coaching against his former team.
The other game in action is No. 11 Minnesota vs. No. 3 Florida in the other third round matchup in the South. The Gators are up on the Gophers, 30-21, with 11 minutes to go in the first half.
5:06 p.m.:Â Victor Oladipo connected on a wide-open 3-pointer to give Indiana a 56-53 lead, the dagger in the Hoosiers’ 58-52 third round win over Khalif Wyatt and the Temple Owls.
Indiana scored 10 unanswered points in the final three minutes of the game to avoid being the second No. 1 seed to be bounced from the big dance.
Wyatt was the story of the game until Oladipo’s three. The Temple guard had 31 points, but didn’t score for the final six minutes of the game.
Indiana advances to the Sweet 16 to face fourth-seeded Syracuse.
4:31 p.m.:Â Khalif Wyatt was held in check for most of the second half, but made a couple of tough baskets to keep Temple in the lead.
Jordan Hulls returned to the floor and hit a 3-pointer to get within one. Temple responded with an Anthony Lee layup over Cody Zeller. With 7:15 remaining, Indiana has the ball trailing Temple 43-40.
3:50 p.m.:Â Khalif Wyatt has 20 of Temple’s 29 points at halftime. Take away Wyatt’s hot shooting and the Owls are shooting 4-for-20 from the field.
Indiana sharpshooter Jordan Hulls went to the locker room with a shoulder injury after a first half collision. Big blow for the top-seeded Hoosiers. Victor Oladipo, Cody Zeller and Christian Watford all have six points.
2:33 p.m.:Â Ohio State continues the wild play in the West Region, as Aaron Craft’s 3-pointer with half a second gave the Buckeyes a 78-75 win over Iowa State.
Craft also made a key play on the defensive end when he drew a charge on a Will Clyburn drive. Iowa State was leading 75-74 at that point. Craft came down, got fouled and sank one of two free throws to tie the score.
The charge Craft drew will go down as one of the more controversial call of the tournament. Craft’s foot hovered over the restricted circle line and appeared to slid underneath the airborne Clyburn
Iowa State turned the ball over, giving Craft the first of two chances. He missed a 16-footer, but the ball knocked out of bounds, giving Ohio State the ball with under 30 seconds to play.
1:56 p.m.:Â LaQuinton Ross scores five straight for Ohio State and the Buckeyes are starting to create some distance with the No. 10 seed Iowa State.
Cyclones are attempting to knock out the No. 2 Buckeyes — No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 3 New Mexico, No. 4 Kansas State and No. 5 Wisconsin have all been bounced in the West Region.
1:08 p.m.:Â The Buckeyes enter the half with just a two-point lead over the Cyclones. Iowa State guard Chris Babb suffered a scary-looking ankle injury. He came down from a shot and severely rolled his ankle. He headed to the locker room before his teammates.
Buckeyes forward Deshaun Thomas has a game-high 13 points so far. Cyclones guard Will Clyburn has 11 with three rebounds and one assist.
Iowa State is out rebounding Ohio State 23-to-12 so far.
12:57 p.m.:Â This one’s a lot closer than anyone expected so far. Iowa State and Ohio State are all tied up at 29 with 3:57 left in the first half.
Deshaun Thomas has 11 points for Ohio State with three rebounds. Will Clyburn is leading the way for Iowa State with eight points and three rebounds.
12:18 p.m.:Â The first game of the day pits Iowa State and Ohio State off against one another in Dayton, Ohio. Ohio State has the home-field advantage and the seeding advantage in this one, but Iowa State has got off to an early lead.
Iowa State beat Notre Dame 76-58 in their first matchup of the tournament, while Ohio State beat Iona 95-70.
8 a.m. ET:Â It’s official. The first No. 1 seeded team has fallen. The NCAA tournament has lived up to its usual hype, with Saturday being no different, and even holding some surprises. For just the fifth time in NCAA history, a No. 9 seed is headed to the Sweet 16. Wichita State stunned top-seeded Gonzaga beating them 76-70.
The other top seeds, however, would not give up their spots. Louisville handily crushed Colorado State 82-56. That performance should be enough to put fear in the eyes of anyone the Cardinals face in the news two weeks. In case it’s not, head coach Rick Pitino said after the game, “I think we can play much better.” It’s no surprise that Louisville has started off as strong as they have, but of course, everyone loves a good upset.
A number of early Bracket Busters have already been shown the way out with 14th seeded Harvard falling to Arizona 74-51 and Cal falling 66-60 to Syracuse. But that doesn’t mean this won’t be the year of the Cinderella story as Wichita State showed they are not intimidated by a top-25 team. The Shockers outscored the Zags 31-21 as the minutes winded down, and did not relinquish their post.
Some storylines that are still alive in the tournament include Ole Miss’ resident bad boy, Marshall Henderson, who was recently spotted celebrating a win a a Kansas City bar and Creigton’s Doug McDermott,who is averaging 23.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. McDermott is poised to strike Sunday night against the Duke Blue Devils, and Coach K has already given praise to the superb scorer.
Sunday’s eight games are sure to excite, starting with the No. 10 seed Iowa State Cyclones taking on second-seeded Ohio State, and No. 9 Temple tipping off against a strong No. 1 seed Indiana Hoosiers team. The round of 16 is not the time to get complacent, as a number of teams are still on upset alert for tomorrow’s games including No. 2 Duke vs. No. 7 Creighton and No. 3 Florida vs. No 11 Minnesota.
One thing is for sure, it can only get more exciting from here on out. Make sure to check back here throughout the day for all the updates and latest news from the tournament.
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