What happened in the NCAA Men's Tournament Sweet 16

Illinois is in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2005 behind a dominant 89-63 victory against Duquesne. The Illini, who won the Big Ten tournament championship, are playing as well as any team in the country. Terrence Shannon Jr. scored at least 30 points for the seventh time this season, including his third time in the last four games. Marcus Domask, coming off a triple-double in the first round against Morehead State, added 22 points. Forward Dain Dainja has not missed a single shot from the field in any of his last three games, going a perfect 17-for-17.

Seed: 3

Record: 28-8

Games:

No. 14 Morehead State,85-69

No. 11 Duquesne, 89-63

At this point, opponents know exactly what they’re getting into when they play Iowa State. It’s going to be a grind, and the Cyclones make teams work for every point. Iowa State’s 67-56 victory against seventh-seeded Washington State was yet another example. Iowa State, which ranks fourth in the country in scoring defense, held Washington State 18 points below its season average. T.J. Otzelberger has Iowa State in the Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons. The Cyclones will play No. 3 seed Illinois.

Seed: 2

Record: 29-7

Games:

No. 15 South Dakota State, 82-65

No. 7 Washington State, 67-56

DALLAS — I didn’t expect to get a blast from streetball past today. But when Marquette players were asked Thursday about defending NC State’s large forward DJ Burns, Tyler Kolek came in with an unexpected name drop.

“We were watching film today, he hit a spin fade-away, kind of like Escalade from the AND1 Mixtapes,” Kolek said. “He is good. He is super skilled. We’ll try to do everything we can to stop him.”

For those unfamiliar, Troy Jackson, aka “Escalade,” was a 6-foot-10, 375-pound sensation who played sparingly at Louisville but became famous on the AND1 Mixtape Tour in the 2000s, with games on ESPN. Escalade, the younger brother of former NBA player/coach/analyst Mark Jackson, was very much a fan favorite and known for not only his size, but also his passing ability. He died in 2011 at age 38 due to hypertensive heart disease.

Burns is not nearly as big, listed at 6-foot-9, 275 pounds, but he’s become a fan favorite star for this NC State team during this tournament run with a similar style of play.

And in case you were doing the math in your head, Kolek was born in 2001, meaning he was just a young child when Escalade came onto the streetball scene. Thanks to YouTube, the legend of streetball players like Escalade lives on.

BOSTON — Brad Underwood is a basketball lifer. His playing career led directly into his coaching career, and he hasn't taken a season off since his first season at Dodge City (Kan.) Community College 36 years ago.

But when it came to discussing how his No. 1 offense will contend with Iowa State's No. 1 defense Thursday night, Underwood, the Illinois coach, broke out some football parlance.

"You've got to try to avoid the pick-sixes," Underwood said Wednesday.

What Underwood means are the live ball turnovers — the telegraphed or inaccurate passes that Iowa State's defenders can tip and take the other way for a fast-break dunk. The Cyclones are good at that, turning over opponents on one of every four possessions this season. They rank third in the country in steal percentage, according to KenPom.

Iowa State is 25-3 when it turns over opponents at least 20 percent of the time. It is 4-4 when it does not meet that mark.

Underwood isn't oblivious to the fact Illinois will turn the ball over. But he wants his players to control the damage when it happens.

"Take the five-second count if you're in trouble, punt it 24 rows up into the stands," he said. "Just don't jump up in the air and throw it and let them get an uncontested layup that we can't defend on our end."

On the other side, Iowa State's No. 1 defense is, of course, facing its stiffest possible test. The Illini come in with the No. 1 offense in the country and are playing their best in March, with 85-plus points in four consecutive games. Illinois should have an advantage on the offensive glass as long as it doesn't turn the ball over.

"We recognize the strength in our opponent, in how great they are going to the offensive boards," Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said. "They go with force. They are one of the top teams in the country. They've got multiple guys. They've got great size, length, athleticism. So we recognize that strength of theirs. Yet, we feel like on a daily basis the things that we do prepare us for these type of opportunities and we're confident in that plan."

On the radio, in barbershops and wherever else you get your regular dose of Bracket Breakers, there’s a lot of talk about how chalky this NCAA tournament has turned out to be. There are many possible ways to measure that, but it’s certainly true according to the simplest metric that matters to what we do: There are hardly any deep underdogs left! Only one matchup in the Sweet 16 features teams that are separated by five or more seeds, and which are therefore subject to analysis by our model.

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DETROIT — Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said senior guard Santiago Vescovi is “a little under the weather,” enough to keep Vescovi from practicing Thursday. Barnes said Vescovi is expected to be available for Friday’s game against Creighton.

PJ Hall sat back and tried to take in everything. With his eyes full of tears, he looked around and saw that what had been just a dream for the past couple of years had finally become a reality.

His fellow Clemson teammates jumped around in celebration after the team clinched its first Sweet 16 berth since 2018. One of the players, senior guard Andrew Latiff, peeled a “March Madness” sign from a wall in the locker room.

“This is definitely going in my room,” he said.

Another player, forward RJ Godfrey, recalled the feeling of entering the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers had lost three of four games before traveling to Memphis for the first two rounds, and the team was a trendy pick to be a single-digit seed (six) to be upset by a double-digit seed in the first round (No. 11 New Mexico State).

“I had people in my life saying, ‘I don’t believe in y’all,’” Godfrey said. “It’s all fuel, though. You can’t take it in a negative way. You have to take it in a constructive way and use it to push your team and push yourself.”

The tears a year ago for Hall were much different. Clemson, which compiled a 23-10 record, was left out of the tournament field, much to the surprise of the team, as it felt the devastating blow of missing out on March Madness.

But this season, Hall, a senior and first-team All-ACC selection, was one of the catalysts who brought the Tigers to this point. Overcome by his emotions, Hall represented a promise made between himself and coach Brad Brownell, who got Hall, a top 50 recruit nationally out of high school, to believe in his vision. A few floors up in FedEx Forum, Brownell was informed of a different kind of history after the team’s second-round win over Baylor.

“Brad Brownell becomes the first Clemson coach to lead the team to multiple Sweet 16 appearances,” the moderator at the postgame news conference said.

“Ooooohhhhh,” said guard Joseph Girard III, sitting a few feet from Brownell.

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Our staff picks for No. 2 Iowa State versus No. 3 Illinois:

• John Hollinger: Iowa State
• Austin Mock: Iowa State
• Joe Rexrode: Illinois
• Sam Vecenie: Illinois

DALLAS — How does a head coach spend their time the day before a Sweet 16 matchup?

Well, there’s practice, media responsibilities, team meals and the other usual duties that come with this time of year. But Marquette coach Shaka Smart was able to sneak away from it all for a quick trip.

Smart said he spent part of Thursday at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza in Dallas, calling himself a “big history guy.” Even with that label, Smart wasn’t too interested in dwelling on the past when it comes to basketball or his last trip to the Sweet 16.

It’s hard to believe, but that was way back in 2011, when Smart’s VCU Rams made a run from the First Four to the Final Four, boosting Smart’s profile and eventually helping him land coaching jobs at Texas and now Marquette.

That VCU team was considered an NCAA Tournament Cinderella. Smart’s Marquette squad this year, at 27-9 and highly ranked for much of the season, is far from that as it prepares for 11th-seeded NC State — the same seed Smart’s Rams had during that unforgettable March.

While the 2024 NCAA Tournament didn’t provide many upsets or Cinderella teams, it did leave us with eight high-quality matchups in the Sweet 16. The eight games are spread out over Thursday and Friday, with four games on each day. Our experts at The Athletic have provided their picks for who they think will win each matchup.

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Sometimes, surviving and advancing is mostly about problem-solving. Like when Houston found itself down four fouled-out starters in overtime against Texas A&M, or NC State needed oxygen to get through an overtime against Oakland in its seventh game in 12 days.

Every one of the Sweet 16 games is going to present its own unique problems. Here are the big questions facing every team in the regional semifinals as they look to get to Glendale, Ariz., for the Final Four.

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DETROIT — Put Creighton coach Greg McDermott in the NCAA Tournament pro-expansion camp, though he won’t put a number on where he thinks it should go.

“People aren't going to like what I have to say, but I'm probably in favor of expansion to a certain degree and simply because last weekend is an incredible experience for every student-athlete that gets to participate,” McDermott said Thursday in a news conference previewing Friday’s Midwest Regional semifinal against Tennessee. “So why are we only having 15 percent or 17 percent of our teams participate?”

This is the era of doing more for college athletes, McDermott pointed out, and expansion could be seen from that angle.

“I think most people that don't want the tournament messed with, it's for selfish reasons because they like it the way it is, and that's not a good enough reason, in my opinion,” he said. “If it's really about the student-athletes, then give more opportunities for student-athletes that have had a good season.”

McDermott reunites Friday with Tennessee coach Rick Barnes, an old friend from when both were coaching in the Big 12. McDermott said when he was considering the Creighton job, he was on his way to an interview and called Barnes to talk about the idea of making such a move.

Barnes asked McDermott every question and addressed all possible angles of the potential decision that he could think of during the call. It lasted the entire 40-minute drive.

“I think (that) speaks to who Rick Barnes is,” McDermott said.

DALLAS — A funny moment during NC State’s open practice Thursday morning. Guard Michael O’Connell banked in a 3-pointer during a drill, which caused the entire NC State team to roar.

Why was this shot so special? Everyone realized it was the same spot on the court where O’Connell banked in a 3 to send the ACC tournament semifinal against Virginia into overtime a few weeks ago.

The Wolfpack weren’t supposed to be here. They wouldn’t have made the NCAA Tournament if not for O’Connell’s prayer and the run of five wins in five days. Now they’re in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2015, having won seven consecutive games after four consecutive losses. Did they just get hot at the right time?

“I don’t think you can win seven games in a row in college basketball if that’s not your identity,” coach Kevin Keatts said. “I think that’s what tells us who we are.”

NC State players were loose and smiling during their Thursday practice. They teased each other and grabbed jerseys. For a team full of transfers, including all five starters, it might have taken more time for everyone to click together, just in time. Keatts pointed to a foreign trip that helped the 2022-23 team bond. This one didn’t have that, so it took more time to come together. At least that’s what the coach says.

“I think it’s always been there,” forward D.J. Burns said. “I don’t think that we treat each other differently now. Everyone is paying attention because we’re winning. That’s what winning does. It’s going to seem like you’re a little closer together when you are winning. Don’t get me wrong, we’re still building great memories, but I think we mixed well from the team we got together. I think by November we had a pretty good chemistry going.”

BOSTON — It’s important for San Diego State to not get hung up on last year’s loss to Connecticut in the national championship game. But not getting hung up is one thing. Not forgetting is something else. And the Aztecs have not forgotten.

“(It’s) definitely a blessing to be here in the Sweet 16 again,” Lamont Butler said. “To be able to play UConn again is great too. They took us down last year, so we definitely want some revenge back a little bit.”