11:53 p.m.: Whew. That’s a wrap, as Arizona wins it 84-61.
The Wildcats had five players score in double digits against Gonzaga, with Aaron Gordon and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson contributing 18 apiece. Arizona will head to Anaheim to face No. 4 San Diego State on Thursday night.
11:50 p.m.: With two minutes to play, Arizona has pulled its starters. Safe to say they did their job tonight, as the Wildcats lead 84-56.
11:40 p.m.: With just under seven minutes to go, the TBS announcers already are talking about how Arizona matches up with San Diego State (the Wildcats’ Sweet 16 matchup, if they win), so yeah, this game is pretty much wrapped up.
The Wildcats have scored 16 times off 21 Gonzaga turnovers and lead by 20.
11:27 p.m.:Â Gonzaga has committed a season-high 18 turnovers tonight, and Arizona has increased its lead to 20.
Unfortunately for Gonzaga, we’re only halfway through the second half.
11:18 p.m.:Â The Wildcats might just be rubbing it in at this point. Aaron Gordon throws down his fourth — yes, fourth — dunk of the game to extend ‘Zona’s lead to 17 points.
11:15 p.m.: With 15 of the 16 teams locking up their spots in the Sweet 16, only one slot remains, and it looks like it’s going to come down to the wire.
Just kidding — Arizona is taking care of business in San Diego. The Wildcats lead Gonzaga 57-38 with 15:04 to play.
11:05 p.m.:Â It’s safe to say this game stopped being fun for Memphis about an hour ago. Mercifully, Virginia is done laying a smackdown on the Tigers as they advance to the Sweet 16, for the first time in 19 years, with a 78-60 win.
Virginia will face Michigan State in the Round of 16.
10:52 p.m.: Get out of here, Virginia.
Mike Tobey drains a 3-pointer from straightaway, and the Cavaliers now lead 73-47. Tobey was 0-for-2 from beyond the arc on the season.
10:48 p.m.: The madness part of March Madness certainly has died down throughout the night. Virginia is just toying with Memphis at this point, as the Cavaliers lead 68-45 with just over five minutes to play.
Arizona also is in total control of its game, leading Gonzaga 47-34 at the half.
10:34 p.m.:Â The theme of the night is winning by a landslide, apparently. Virginia is well on its way to an easy win, leading Memphis 59-41 midway through the second half.
10:30 p.m.:Â Gabe York slams home a reverse dunk to give Arizona a 30-28 lead over Gonzaga, and the Bulldogs call a timeout to regroup. Gonzaga now has contributed nine turnovers on the night.
10:26 p.m.:Â The Tigers have strung together a few successful possessions in a row here, but they’ve missed some key free throws — they’re shooting 44.4 percent from the line tonight — to get back into the game. Virginia leads 56-36 with 11:56 remaining.
10:17 p.m.:Â The blowout trend continues at PNC Arena in North Carolina. The Cavaliers are showing why they are the No. 1 seed, and Joe Harris’ 14 points is carrying Virginia. Memphis trails 49-24 with 15:39 to play.
In other action, Arizona is taking advantage of Gonzaga’s seven turnovers, scoring 14 points off of them to lead the Bulldogs by 10 midway through the first half.
10:12 p.m.: That’s it and that’s all for the Creighton Bluejays. The third-seeded team falls 85-55 to a powerful Baylor team. The Bears shot an absurd 63 percent from the floor as Brady Heslip and Isaiah led the way with 17 points each.
10:07 p.m.: Woof. It’s getting ugly in San Antonio. With less than a minute to play, Baylor is up 83-51 on Creighton.
Meanwhile, Virginia continues to pull away from Memphis as the No. 1 Cavaliers lead by 13 with 18:00 to play.
And Arizona isn’t messing around in the last game of the night. Gonzaga trails by eight early in the first half.
9:57 p.m.:Â It isn’t looking good for Creighton. Doug McDermott has come alive in the second half and scored eight points, but Baylor still holds a commanding 70-45 lead with 4:04 to play.
9:45 p.m.:Â Virginia takes a double-digit lead as the first half comes to an end. Joe Harris makes the wide-open 3-pointer with 8 seconds remaining, and Memphis trails 35-20.
The last game of the night, No. 8 Gonzaga and No. 1 Arizona, will tip off in just a few minutes.
9:40 p.m.:Â Baylor doesn’t miss. Creighton has been aggressive here in the second half, Â but the Bluejays can’t seem to make a dent in the Bears’ big lead.
Baylor is shooting 67.6 percent from the floor and 76.9 percent from long range while leading 63-35 midway through the second half.
9:32 p.m.:Â Joe Harris is doing work. The senior guard knocked down a 3-pointer to extend Virginia’s lead to six points. Harris now has nine points and four rebounds. London Perrantes then followed suit and drained a triple the next time down the court.
The Cavaliers have used a 12-2 run to take a 27-18 lead against Memphis with 5:03 remaining.
9:25 p.m.:Â Creighton has turned it on in the second half. Less than five minutes in, the Bluejays already have knocked down two 3’s after making only one on nine attempts in the first half.
Baylor still leads by 11 with 16:00 remaining.
9:23 p.m.:Â We’re midway through the first half in North Carolina, and the back-and-forth battle wages on between Memphis and Virginia.
Back-to-back buckets by Joe Harris have given the Cavaliers a 19-16 lead.
9:19 p.m.:Â They’ll always have VCU. Stephen F. Austin’s impressive season comes to an end with a 77-60 loss to UCLA.
The Bruins will advance to the Sweet 16 — for the first time since 2008 — where they’ll face Florida in Memphis on Thursday.
9:12 p.m.: Stephen F. Austin shocked VCU in overtime in the second round, but the Lumberjacks don’t seem to have any more magic left in them.
UCLA leads Stephen F. Austin by 20 with 2:35 remaining.
9:09 p.m.:Â Virginia likes to slow things down, while Memphis prefers to play at a high tempo, so we’ll see which style of play takes over in this matchup.
No. 1 Virginia leads eighth-seeded Memphis 8-7 early in the first half.
8:58 p.m.:Â Well, these games aren’t exactly the intense matchups we watched earlier, but hey, maybe a couple of miracles could happen.
Baylor, which is shooting 63.6 percent from the field, is absolutely crushing Creighton. The Bears take a 20-point lead into halftime.
Stephen F. Austin is trying to muster up a late surge, but UCLA has been hot, and the Bruins lead 64-50 with 6:47 remaining.
Memphis-Virginia will get underway momentarily.
8:50 p.m.:Â Baylor can’t miss from long range. The Bears are shooting 6-of-7 from beyond the arc, and they’ve used back-to-back treys to increase their lead to 32-16 with 3:37 remaining in the first half.
Doug McDermott is still stuck with one point on the score sheet.
8:47 p.m.: If these games aren’t doing it for you, Memphis-Virginia is set to tip off in just a couple of minutes.
8:40 p.m.: After a ferocious Kyle Anderson dunk and a Travis Wear jumper, the Bruins increase their lead to 15 — their biggest of the night.
Stephen F. Austin has been held scoreless for four-plus minutes.
8:35 p.m.:Â Doug McDermott heads to the bench after getting whistled for his second foul of the day. Baylor continues to roll against the Bluejays, leading 26-9 with 9:12 remaining in the first half.
Stephen F. Austin, meanwhile, has come out with some energy in the second half, but the Lumberjacks still trail by 11 with 14:44 to play.
8:29 p.m.: Baylor has jumped out to an early 19-7 lead against Creighton with 12:01 left to play in the first half. The Bears have held Doug McDermott to just one point so far.
8:23 p.m.:Â It’s all over in Raleigh, and Mercer’s Cinderella run has come to an end. Tennessee advances to the Sweet 16 after crushing the Bears 83-63.
Josh Richardson led the way for the Vols with 29 points, and Jarnell Stokes chipped in 17 to go along with a ridiculous 18 rebounds.
8:12 p.m.:Â Stephen F. Austin heads into the half trailing UCLA 42-32. UCLA is shooting 15-of-28 from the field and 4-of-9 from long range.
In other action, Tennessee continues to pull away from Mercer, leading by 11 with 2:28 remaining. It doesn’t look like the Bears have another miracle in them.
7:55Â p.m. : Back-to-back triples for Stephen F/ Austin’s Deshaunt Walker brings the Lumberjacks’ deficit to five. UCLA leads 32-27 with just over three minutes left in the first half.
7:47Â p.m.: We’re moments away from Creighton-Baylor tip off on truTV.
7:44Â p.m.:There’s 10 minutes to play in the Tennessee-Mercer game, and the Vols lead 61-45.
7:38 p.m.: Officials rule that the timeout was not called in time. Iowa State defeats North Carolina 85-83 in an epic back-and-forth matchup.
7:34Â p.m.: A timeout for North Carolina is under review.
7:29Â p.m.: A turnover by North Carolina leads to a layup for Iowa State. The Cyclones now lead by two with 20 seconds to play.
7:28Â p.m.:North Carolina and Iowa State are tied 81-81 with 50 seconds left in play. This game has been a roller coaster, to say the least.Â
7:24Â p.m.:Mercer will have to get aggressive in the second half to compete with Tennessee. Tennessee got on the board first in the second half with a layup by Jarnell Stokes followed by a 3-pointer by Mercer’s Langston Hall. Tennessee now leads 45-30.
7:18Â p.m.:Four minutes into the Stephen F. Austin-UCLA game, and UCLA narrowly leads 12-9.
7:12Â p.m.:North Carolina freshman Kennedy Meeks gets the offensive rebound and layup, putting the score at 72-67.
7:12Â p.m.:The Iowa State attack is unrecognizable in the second half. North Carolina extends its lead to 70-64.
7:04Â p.m.:North Carolina has taken a 66-60 lead over Iowa State. Marcus Paige hits a 3-pointer, taking him to 17 points in this game.
7:01Â p.m.:Tennessee’s hustle in the paint is outdoing the Mercer defense. The Vols go into the half leading the Mercer Bears 42-27.
6:56Â p.m.: With just over two minutes to go in the first, Mercer is unable to close the gap, as the Bears trail Tennessee 38-25.
6:50Â p.m.:DeAndre Kane picks up his third personal foul. Losing him with 12-plus minutes of play to go would be beyond detrimental to Iowa’s offense.
6:47Â p.m.:John Richardson now has 16 points as the leading scorer for Tennessee.
6:46 p.m.:Tennessee leads Mercer 26-18. The Vols are playing smart with their fouls, as Mercer has yet to shoot a free throw with 6:35 left to play in the first.
6:43 p.m.:Iowa’s DeAndre Kane is shooting only 50 percent from the field but continues to lead the Cyclones in scoring with 16 points. UNC’s James Michael McAdoo gets on the board after missing his first six attempts. Iowa State leads 50-45.
6:39Â p.m.: The second half of UNC-Iowa State kicks off. A three by Melvin Ejim pushes the Iowa State lead to 46-41.
6:28 p.m.: Back-to-back layups by Daniel Coursey keep the Mercer Bears in the game. The score now tied at 10 with 13:25 left in the first.
6:19Â p.m.:The Mercer defense looks sluggish compared to the agile Tennessee offensive front. Six of Mercer’s seven points so far have come from the paint.
6:17 p.m.:Iowa State enters the half with a three-point lead on North Carolina. Free throws have made the difference in today’s games, and this matchup is no different. North Carolina is shooting 55 percent from the line, whereas Iowa is shooting 81 percent and 9-for-11.
6:14Â p.m.:Tennessee starts the game on strong footing with a seven-point lead. Mercer has yet to get on the board.
6:11 p.m.: The matchup between the Mercer Bears and Tennessee Volunteers is underway.
5:57Â p.m.: North Carolina now has 10 fouls with a call against Leslie McDonald. Iowa St. has five. 33-26 Iowa.
5:51Â p.m.:DeAndre Kane is already a star early in this game with six points and eight rebounds. The Cyclones now lead 28-21.
5:45Â p.m.:North Carolina has eight points in the paint, while the Cyclones have four. North Carolina leads 21-20.
5:42Â p.m.:UNC narrowly leads Iowa State 19-18 with 11 minutes left to play in the first.
5:32 p.m.:Kentucky comes out victorious over No. 1 Wichita State despite 31 points from Cleanthony Early. The final is 78-76 Kentucky. It’s now time for North Carolina-Iowa State.
5:25Â p.m.:Wichita State trails by two with three seconds to go.
5:22Â p.m.:Julis Randle makes both free throws at the line. 77-74 Kentucky.
5:21Â p.m.:Kentucky’s Andrew Harrison makes both free throws to put Kentucky up by five. Wichita State’s Ron Baker sinks a 3-pointer and closes the Wichita deficit to one. 75-74 Kentucky.
5:18Â p.m.:The North Carolina-Iowa State game will be on TNT then switch over to CBS when Kentucky-Wichita State concludes.
5:17Â p.m.:Wichita State’s Tekele Cotton misses a 3-pointer and takes a foul, giving Kentucky the advantage and two-point lead with 43 seconds to play. 73-71 Kentucky. This is NCAA tournament play at its finest right now.
5:14Â p.m.: Wichita State has an answer to everything Kentucky does. 71-70 Wichita with two minutes to go.
5:07Â p.m.:Kentucky’s Aaron Harrison sinks two free throws to close the gap to two points. Cleanthony Early is on fire with a 3-pointer from way downtown to bring Wichita State’s lead to 69-64. Early now has 27 points and four rebounds.
5:04Â p.m.:Kentucky stays close and ties the game with an Aaron Harrison 3-pointer, only to see that followed by back-to-back 3-pointers by the Ron Baker and Cleanthony Early tag-team. These two Shockers will not be stopped. Wichita State leads 66-62.
4:51Â p.m.:The Wildcats will have to put far more pressure on the Shockers in the paint if they are going to slow down Early and Baker. Wichita State takes the lead 56-55 with 9:20 left to play. There have been 11 lead changes in this game so far.
4:49Â p.m.:Looking ahead, No. 6 North Carolina is set to take on No. 3 Iowa State at 5:15 p.m.
4:42Â p.m.: Kentucky takes the lead, thanks to the Harrison twins. 50-46 Kentucky.
4:33Â p.m.:Kentucky’s Alex Poythress and Shocker Ron Baker make back-to-back driving layups. Baker now leads Wichita State scorers with 14 points. 46-45 Wichita State.
4:28Â p.m.:Kentucky trails by two after a 3-pointer by Andrew Harrison and free throw by Julius Randle.
4:04Â p.m.: Kentucky enters the half trailing by six to a confident Wichita State squad. The Wildcats need to watch their turnovers and up their offensive rebounds to compete in the second half. Wichita State is up 37-31.
4:02Â p.m.: Wichita State is taking full advantage of late shot clock attempts. A phenomenal pass by Fred VanVleet sets Cleanthony Early up for a massive slam dunk. Wichita State now leads 37-28.
3:52 p.m.: Andrew Harrison receives his second personal foul, and a layup by Kentucky’s Alex Poythress brings the Kentucky deficit to seven. Wichita State has the lead at 32-25 with 3:12 left in the first.
3:46 p.m.: Wichita State forward Cleanthony Early drives the lane to bring the Shockers from four down to five ahead. Wichita State is shooting 61 percent from the field, while Kentucky is at 45 percent and has yet to shoot a free throw. Wichita State now leads 30-23.
3:34Â p.m.: Wichita State erases Kentucky’s lead with a massive slam dunk by Darius Carter. Wichita State now leads 22-19.
3:25Â p.m.: Wichita State’s Nick Wiggins is the brother of Kansas Jayhawk Andrew Wiggins.
3:22Â p.m.: Both teams have offensive depth, but Wichita State will have to up its defense to shut down the Harrison twins. Kentucky leads 14-13.
3:16 p.m.: Wichita State leads 7-6 with 15:34 to play in the first. Kentucky’s Andrew Harrison and Wichita’s Chadrack Lufile each have four points.
3:12 p.m.: Wichita State-Kentucky is underway. The Kentucky Wildcats get on the board first with back-to-back jump shots by Andrew Harrison. Wichita State matches with a 3-pointer from Ron Baker.
2:43 p.m.: No. 1 Wichita State takes on No. 8 Kentucky next.
2:36 p.m.: And it’s over. Conner Frankemp misses a final 3-point try to tie the game, and Stanford keeps No. 2 Kansas from moving forward. Stanford will take on Dayton in the Sweet 16 this Thursday. The final score is 60-57.
2:32 p.m.: Conner Frankemp makes his second 3-pointer in a row. It is now a two-point game with 14 seconds to go.
2:30 p.m.: Jayhawk Conner Frankemp makes 3-point shot to bring the Kansas deficit to four. Stanford leads 58-54 with 21 seconds to go.
2:28 p.m.: It looks like Kansas will be unable to combat Stanford’s persistence in this game. Stanford leads 58-51 with 32 second to go.
2:21 p.m.: A travel is called on Stanford’s Chasson Randle. Stanford leads 53-51 with 1:09 to play.
2:20 p.m.: The Stanford man-to-man defense is working. The Jayhawks are shooting 31 percent from the field today.
2:15 p.m.: Andrew Wiggins makes arguably his biggest play of the game with a tip-toe on the baseline and a pass to Jamari Traylor. Traylor turns the ball over, though, and Stanford leads 51-49.
2:12 p.m.: Kansas scoring leader Tarik Black has fouled out of the game.
2:10 p.m.: A massive 3-pointer by Naadir Tharpe brings the score to 48-45. Andrew Wiggins makes both free throws at the line and brings the Kansas deficit to one with 5:35 left to play.
2:07 p.m.: Kansas is unable to cash in on some moments of weakness by Stanford’s defense. A free throw by Anthony Brown puts the Stanford ahead 47-40.
2:06Â p.m.: Andrew Wiggins had 19 points in the second round against Eastern Kentucky. He has two today. Stefan Nastic takes his third personal foul for leaning before contact on a block.
1:58 p.m.: After eight missed field-goal attempts, Stanford’s Frank Mason assists Tarik Black on a slam dunk. Black now has 16 points. Conner Frankemp is the runner-up with six points.
1:50 p.m.: Kansas certainly is suffering from Andrew Wiggins’ ineffectiveness against Stanford. Late in this game, Wiggins has two points and two rebounds. The player who usually thrives in the paint has been unable to do much so far.
1:48 p.m.: Stefan Nastic fills the Powell void immediately with back-to-back jump shots for Stanford. He now has 10 points. Stanford leads 40-33 with 12:40 left to play.
1:44 p.m.: Stanford’sDwight Powell is benched after his fourth personal foul. That could mean trouble for the Cardinals.
1:41 p.m.: Kansas can’t get an extended scoring streak. A dunk by Landen Lucas ties it at 30, only to be matched by layups by Stanford’s Dwight Powell and Chasson Randle. Stanford leads 36-30.
1:34 p.m.: Kansas takes its fifth team foul, while Stanford has none. Stanford goes on a seven-point run with back-to-back layups by Chasson Randle. Stanford now leads 30-28 with 16:27 left to play.
1:29Â p.m.: Kansas forward Andrew Wiggins is going to have to adapt to Stanford’s defensive coverage in the second half to help the Jayhawks.
Kansas is first to score in the second with a jump shot by Tarik Black. Andrew Wiggins just gothis second personal foul. Kansas leads 28-23.
1:07 p.m.: Kansas brings the deficit to one with a tip-in by Jamari Traylor. Jayhawk Connor Frankemp follows that with a steal off Stanford’s Anthony Brown and then sinks a 3-pointer to give Kansas its first lead of the game. Kansas enters the half leading Stanford 24-22.
12:57 p.m.: Conner Frankamp makes the first 3-pointer of the game for Kansas. Stanford is up 21-19.
12:52 p.m.: Josh Huestis denies Kansas’ Wayne Selden of Roxbury, Mass. Stanford is putting up quite the fight against Kansas in the paint.
12:50 p.m.: The Jayhawks’ Andrew Wiggins is called for traveling a second time.
12:45 p.m.: Stanford gets back-to-back opportunities at the line. The Cardinal is shooting 100 percent from the free-throw line compared to the Jayhawks’ 50 percent.
Dwight Powell and Chasson Randle have six points each for Stanford. Stanford leads 18-13 with just under eight minutes to play in the first.
12:38 p.m.: With the help of Chasson Randle, Stanford is presenting a strong offensive front late in this first half. Stanford leads 14-11 with 10:17 left to play in the first half.
12:31 p.m.: Stanford’s Chasson Randle makes a layup followed by a turnover from Jayhawk Jamari Traylor, setting up Dwight Powell for another layup. That’s a quick four points for Stanford, which now leads 10-6.
12:26 p.m.: Strong defensive showing by both sides early in this game. The Cardinals and Jayhawks are tied 6-6 with 14:30 left to play in the first.
12:20 p.m.: Stanford is first on the board with a jump shot by junior Chasson Randle.
12:16 p.m.: Happy Sunday. Day 4 coverage starts with a matchup between No. 2 Kansas and No. 10 Stanford at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The winner will play Dayton on Thursday.
Photo via Twitter/@Forbes
