Sweet 16 action delivered a dose of chaos in the West Region Thursday night. No. 2 seed Arizona entered as a seven-point favorite against No. 6 seed Clemson, and No. 1 seed North Carolina entered as a five-point favorite against No. 4 seed Alabama. But it's called March Madness for a reason, and the event lived up to its name inside Crypto.com Arena as both underdogs emerged with surprise victories.
The Tigers outlasted the Wildcats 77-72 to reach their first Elite Eight since 1980. Not to be outdone, the Crimson Tide erased a six-point deficit over the final 8:19 to beat the Tar Heels 89-87 and reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 2004. Neither Alabama or Clemson has ever reached the Final Four, but one of the southern football powers is guaranteed to make a major hoops breakthrough on Saturday when they square off in the West Region final.
What make their runs even more surprising is how poorly each was playing entering the Big Dance. Alabama dropped four of six entering Selection Sunday and gave up 100 or more points in three of those four losses. Meanwhile, Clemson lost three of its final four games entering the NCAA Tournament with all three of those losses coming against non-NCAA Tournament teams.
But both will be dancing onward along with No. 1 seed UConn and No. 3 seed Illinois, who were also victorious as the second week of NCAA Tournament action began.
Cam Spencer shines
Cam Spencer led UConn with 18 points as the Huskies steamrolled No. 5 seed San Diego State 82-52 in a rematch of last year's national title game. San Diego State closed within 35-31 as the game approached halftime, but Spencer turned the momentum in the waning moments of the first half. He closed the half on a 5-0 flurry by himself, which included a dagger of a 3-pointer with 21 seconds remaining to put UConn up 40-31. San Diego State never regained its footing as the Huskies built a commanding edge in the second half and cruised into the Elite Eight.
The East Region may have been the most difficult on paper, but the Huskies have made it look easy thus far with three victories of 17 or more points to begin their NCAA Tournament journey. Up next will be a showdown with another high-powered offensive team in Illinois.
Illinois hangs on
Illinois hung on to beat No. 2 seed Iowa State 72-69 behind 29 points from Terrence Shannon Jr. The Illini were in command at halftime with a 36-26 edge but had to fend off a furious rally from the Cyclones, who got 26 points from Curtis Jones. Ultimately, Shannon made a game-clinching steal and dunk with 24 seconds to play to keep the Illini's deepest run since 2005 alive. The second half wasn't pretty, but Illinois put enough hay in the barn during the first half to hang on for a gritty win.
Resetting the bracket
The theme of the bracket entering the Sweet 16 was chalk after no true Cinderella advanced out of the first weekend. All of a sudden it's been thrown into chaos. Three of the four worse-seeded teams won Thursday. All eight of the top-seeded teams reached the Sweet 16, but three of them are already headed home with four more Sweet 16 games still ahead on Friday.
2024 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 TV schedule
All times Eastern | NCAA Tournament schedule | LIVE bracket
Thursday, March 28
- (6) Clemson 77, (2) Arizona 72 -- Recap
- (1) UConn 82, (5) San Diego State 52 -- Recap
- (4) Alabama 89, (1) North Carolina 87 -- Recap
- (3) Illinois 72, (2) Iowa State 69 -- Recap
CBS Sports will be with you the entire way updating this story with the latest from every Sweet 16 game over the next two days. Keep it locked here for scores, analysis and highlights throughout the evening.
