What happened in the NCAA Men's Tournament second round
NCAA Tournament heads to Sweet 16
(Bracket: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic)
After another wild day of action on Sunday, the Sweet 16 is set:
Thursday:
Arizona vs. Clemson, 7:09 p.m., CBS
UConn vs. San Diego State, 7:39 p.m., TBS/truTV
North Carolina vs. Alabama, 9:39 p.m., CBS
Iowa State vs. Illinois, 10:09 p.m., TBS/truTV
Friday:
Marquette vs. NC State, 7:09 p.m., CBS
Purdue vs. Gonzaga, 7:39 p.m., TBS/truTV
Houston vs. Duke, 9:39 p.m., CBS
Tennessee vs. Creighton, 10:09 p.m., TBS/truTV
Sunday's scores
- No. 2 Marquette 81, No. 10 Colorado 77
- No. 1 Purdue 106, No. 8 Utah State 67
- No. 4 Duke 93, No. 12 James Madison 55
- No. 6 Clemson 72, No. 3 Baylor 64
- No. 4 Alabama 72, No. 12 Grand Canyon 61
- No. 1 UConn 75, No. 9 Northwestern 58
- No. 1 Houston 100, No. 9 Texas A&M 95
- No. 5 San Diego State 85, No. 13 Yale 57
Related reading
- DJ Burns Jr. and NC State survive Cinderella slugfest — improbable March continues
- Illinois finally found the formula for getting past NCAA Tournament’s first weekend
- Predictions for every game Sunday
- Full coverage in our NCAA Tournament hub
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For ticket information on all tournament games, click here.
Houston’s OT win a testament to program’s toughness
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With 17 seconds left in overtime, leading by three, a trip to the Sweet 16 in the balance, Houston senior walk-on Ryan Elvin stepped to the foul line.
Elvin had played 60 total minutes all season, almost all of them in garbage time. But head coach Kelvin Sampson was forced to send him to the scorer’s table one second earlier when a fourth Cougars player fouled out of the game — Jamal Shead, the All-America point guard and Big 12 Player of the Year. Houston put the last guy on the bench in for its star player, and suddenly, instantly, he was the open man on the inbound pass, with a trip to the stripe and a chance to decide the game.
He missed the first.
He made the second.
The four-point lead was enough for Houston to hold on for a 100-95 victory over Texas A&M on Sunday in arguably the best game of the NCAA Tournament’s opening weekend, highlighted by the most unsuspecting of heroes.
“I was shocked he missed one,” Shead said afterward. “He works just like we work. And if I’m being honest, he works harder than we work. That’s the guy that we trust and is a pillar of our culture.”
The victory advanced the No. 1 seed Cougars to the Sweet 16 for a fourth straight postseason, where they will face No. 4 seed Duke in Dallas on Friday in the South Regional.
“I’m not gonna lie and say I wasn’t nervous. I was pretty nervous,” said Elvin, who is now 4 of 6 on free throws this season. “That was a testament to the way our program is run. We used everybody. (Biggest free throw) of my life, for sure. By a long shot.”
Elvin’s one shining moment was the capper to an incredible game with a stranger-than-fiction ending. Houston was in control for much of the night and in front for the entire second half, including a 10-point lead with 1:24 remaining in regulation. But the No. 9 seed Aggies, a day removed from a 98-83 first-round win over Nebraska, rallied in dramatic fashion, punctuated by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by forward Andersson Garcia to force overtime. Garcia was just 8 of 19 on 3-point attempts this season before burying what coach Buzz Williams called a “shot that will go down in Texas A&M lore.”
Houston outscored A&M 14-9 in the extra period despite ending the game with four of five starters fouled out, the first time since 1987 a team has won an NCAA Tournament game with that distinction.
Continue reading.
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Houston’s overtime win over Texas A&M a testament to program’s toughness
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San Diego State enters UConn rematch ‘up for the task’
SPOKANE, Wash. — This San Diego State is unfair. This San Diego State is not cool, especially when all the opponent has going for it is a fairy tale. This version showed up Sunday and put together a comprehensively unkind performance, making happy and hopeful Yale miserable for almost every second of it. San Diego State did what it usually does defensively. It also did what it almost never does offensively. It had James Jones, the Bulldogs’ coach, staring at the floor and exhaling deeply a lot.
It is one thing to get drawn into a rock fight with the Aztecs. It is quite another when they have all the rocks.
The reward, though, wasn’t the 85-57 win or the soured body language of a vanquished opponent or even the last spot in the NCAA Tournament’s round of 16. It was what lay beyond, on a night when San Diego State approached its perfect self. It was UConn. Again.
Running back the 2023 national championship game on Thursday night. Revisiting any and all regrets and having the opportunity to address them. UConn very possibly is better than it was last April. San Diego State very definitely looked terrifying in its own right four days before this rematch. It is probably no accident that Brian Dutcher, self-proclaimed man of singular focus on the next opponent, seemed singularly focused on the next opponent about 15 minutes after his team left the Spokane Arena floor.
“We’re heading to play a road game against UConn in Boston,” the Aztecs coach said in his opening statement during the postgame debrief, “and I’ve got a group that I think will be up for the task.”
All pretense dropped in a hurry. Of course San Diego State noticed that UConn was the No. 1 overall seed a week earlier. Of course San Diego State computed who likely would be waiting if it could manage two wins in Spokane. Of course San Diego State started thinking about what it did to the overall No. 1 seed last year — it beat Alabama, to jog everyone’s memories — and the confidence it can squeeze out of that precedent.
Of course everyone remembered what it felt like to fall well short — by 17 points in the 2023 title game, but who’s counting — on the last day of the previous season, to watch the confetti fall for someone else.
“A little bitter taste in our mouths,” is how Aztecs star Jaedon LeDee put it Sunday, and, sure. Just a little.
“We’re just excited we get another crack at them,” Aztecs guard Darrion Trammell added moments later. “They won a national championship last year, but I feel like we were right there. To get another chance at it, I think we’re up for the opportunity. We have the team to do it.”
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San Diego State enters UConn rematch ‘up for the task’ after finding a new, scarier gear
The theme of this Sweet 16? Chalk
(Justin Ford / Getty Images)
When Houston wrapped up its Sunday night win over Texas A&M, it meant that all four No. 1 seeds made it through the first weekend. So did all the No. 2 seeds. That has only happened four times since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985 and last occurred in 2019.
It gets even chalkier than that. In fact, of the remaining 16 teams, 12 of them were seeded on the top four lines. Another two — Gonzaga and San Diego State — are No. 5 seeds. The only two real “underdogs” left are a pair of ACC teams: No. 6 Clemson and No. 11 NC State. In fact, no true mid-majors survived the first two rounds. Yes, Gonzaga and San Diego State play outside the power-conference structure, but neither operates anything like a mid-major; both spend more on men’s basketball than many Power 6 teams, and both have played in a national title game in the past five years. They’re not exactly Saint Peter’s or Princeton or Oral Roberts.
There was a lot of talk about parity this season, and indeed there were an inordinate amount of upsets when ranked teams went on the road. But the best teams are clearly the best teams, and though Cinderellas are fun, this should make for some high-level games in the Sweet 16 and beyond. We already have heavyweight matchups like Illinois-Iowa State, Tennessee-Creighton and Purdue-Gonzaga in the Sweet 16, not to mention the rematch of last year’s national title game between UConn and San Diego State.
The dominant conversation coming into this event was the prospect of NCAA Tournament expansion. Figures like SEC commissioner Greg Sankey are pushing for “more opportunities” for power-conference teams, and many people fear that will result in mid-major teams being pushed aside. Ironically, they already have been in this year’s tournament.
San Diego State knocks off Yale
(Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
SPOKANE, Wash. — With a comprehensively unmerciful performance on Sunday night, San Diego State seized the final spot in the Sweet 16. And the 85-57 romp over Yale wasn’t even the best part. An opportunity for an epic NCAA Tournament redemption now lies ahead. A second chance was afforded by the way the seeds fell in a room in Indianapolis a week ago.
The Aztecs get another shot at UConn.
A rematch of the national championship game from 2023, staged Thursday night in Boston. If San Diego State had any regrets about how that went — and surely there were more than a few — it can vanquish all of them. Because while UConn looks like even better than it did a year ago, the version of the Aztecs that showed up at Spokane Arena on Sunday is terrifying in its own right.
Yale’s fairy tale ending was shredded by the usually elite San Diego State defensive effort complemented by 13 3-pointers and 52.7 percent shooting overall— the sort of offensive efficiency that makes it an unfair fight on any night. Jaedon LeDee led the way with 28 points on 9-for-12 shooting, with Darrion Trammell adding 18 - including a team-high four connections from long distance.
On a very emblematic flipside? First-round hero John Poulakidas followed up a career-high 28 points with a 2-for-9 shooting night for Yale, which shot 37 percent overall. Leading scorer Danny Wolf couldn't come close to matching LeDee, with the 7-footer scoring just nine points on 2-for-8 shooting himself.
So thorough was the domination, Brian Dutcher started pulling his mainstays before even that moment, with the lead swelled past 30. It’s one thing if the Aztecs draw you into a rock fight. It’s quite another when they have all the rocks.
Houston narrowly escapes Texas A&M in overtime thriller to advance to Sweet 16
Houston won 100-95 in overtime against Texas A&M in one of the wildest games of the NCAA Tournament thus far. Texas A&M rallied from a 10-point deficit with 1:24 remaining in regulation, which included a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Aggies forward Andersson Garcia to send the game to overtime.
Houston held on in the extra period despite four of five starters fouling out. Walk-on Ryan Elvin was put in the game during overtime and went to the foul line, where he made one of two to give the Cougars a four-point lead in the closing seconds.
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Houston narrowly escapes Texas A&M in overtime thriller to advance to Sweet 16
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Survive and advance, Houston moves on
(Justin Ford / Getty Images)
MEMPHIS — Houston wins 100-95 in overtime against Texas A&M in one of the wildest games of the Tournament thus far. Texas A&M came back from a 10-point deficit with 1:24 remaining in regulation, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Andersson Garcia to send the game to OT. Houston held on in the extra period despite four of five starters fouling out. Walk-on Ryan Elvin was put in the game during overtime and went to the foul line, where he made one of two to give the Cougars a four-point lead in the closing seconds.
San Diego State leads 59-35 in second half
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Credit to the Yale faithful for sticking with their crew, bringing out the "de-FENSE" chant and generally remaining optimistic despite a deficit that's still at 23 points early in the second half. The problem -- among many for the Ivy League champs -- is that Spokane Arena is maybe a little more than half-full. No curious onlookers sticking around on a Sunday night.
The Bulldogs absolutely benefitted from a packed arena getting behind them in the first round against Auburn. Hard to argue that it didn't contribute to the upset effort. They'll get no such boost tonight. If the miracle comeback occurs, the Bulldogs will do it by making their own energy.
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What is it with Texas A&M and NCAA Tournament comebacks?
Remember, in 2016, the Aggies pulled off one of the greatest comebacks of all time against Northern Iowa, erasing a 12-point deficit over the final 44 seconds to win a second-round game in overtime. This wasn't quite as compressed as that, but given the opponent, it would be just as wild.
An update on Alabama guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr.
Coach Nate Oats said the senior guard will be available for Thursday's game at North Carolina, signaling that he was held out of the rest of Saturday's game as a precaution. Huge news for Alabama as it seeks its second Elite Eight appearance in program history (2004).
San Diego State leads 45-21 at the break
(Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
SPOKANE, Wash. — Just a monstrous first half for San Diego State at Spokane Arena. That’s almost a literal description, too, of how it achieved a 45-21 halftime lead over Yale. It was a cruel, clinical, unforgiving bludgeoning at both ends of the floor. It was the big bad in the closet kicking the door open and confirming that, yes, all your worst nightmares are actually true.
One of the best defensive programs in the country did what it could do, turning a confident, balanced offense into mush. Yale shot 32 percent from the floor and rebounded just one of its many misses, limited to one-tough-shot-and-out for 20 minutes straight. But that wasn’t the meanest part.
A day earlier, San Diego State noted that it took pride in winning games even when it wasn’t shooting well. On Sunday? It’s shooting well. To the tune of 52 percent overall, boosted by seven 3-pointers in the first half alone — from the team that came in ranked 309th in 3-point percentage. A four-point play from Darion Trammell, in fact, put the halftime lead where it is.
San Diego State is hard to deal with when you’re getting pummeled at one end. The Aztecs, at least for fledgling Cinderellas like Yale, are impossible to figure out when they have answers for everything.
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MEMPHIS — Fouls continue to mount for both teams. Houston's starting frontcourt, J'Wan Roberts and Ja'Vier Francis, each have four fouls as we hit the under-8 media timeout of the second half. Houston is up 63-55. It looks as if Kelvin Sampson will put Francis in after the break and keep Roberts out for the time being.
Jaedon LeDee, San Diego State dominating Yale
(Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
SPOKANE, Wash. — The Jaedon LeDee show has gotten in the way of a fairy tale so far. San Diego State's All-America-level forward has 15 points in less than 12 minutes, and his back-to-back dunks have the Aztecs up 16 points on Yale already. The Bulldogs have gotten decent looks but no luck on rolls, and they've missed 12 of 17 shots so far. But, then, San Diego State will do that to you.