March Madness Sweet 16- The opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament drew to a close Sunday with the final Sweet 16 tickets distributed in a series of battles involving heavyweight squads.
No. 1 seed Purdue and No. 4 seed Duke stood out the most, mainly for their dominance as both advanced with relatively easy wins over would-be Cinderella squads.
Purdue throttled No. 8 seed Utah State 106-67 as the Boilermakers continued their redemption tour by capping an authoritative first weekend performance just a year after losing to No. 16 seed FDU in the first round.
Duke was similarly impressive in its 93-55 thrashing of No. 12 seed James Madison as freshman guard Jared McCain led the way with 30 points for the Blue Devils.
The day wasn’t all just blowouts, however. No. 2 seed Marquette and No. 10 seed Colorado began the day with a thriller as the Golden Eagles squeaked out an 81-77 victory. No. 6 seed Clemson upset No. 3 seed Baylor 72-64 to reach the program’s second Sweet 16 of the 21st century.
Finally, in what was the most thrilling showdown of the slate, No. 1 seed Houston survived and advanced with a thrilling 100-95 win in overtime over a Texas A&M squad that provided us with a true March Madness moment to prolong its season.
This is always one of the best weekends in sports, and it was no different this year as the emotion and desperation of the NCAA Tournament led to memorable moments and performances.
UConn, Duke, Houston, Purdue reach Sweet 16:
Upsets were hard to come by as the Round of 32 of the men’s NCAA Tournament concluded with eight second-round games on Sunday.
No. 1 seeds UConn — the defending national champions — Houston and Purdue all prevailed. However, Houston needed overtime to dispatch Texas A&M.
Brand names such as Duke and Marquette also advanced to the Sweet 16.
After a first round that featured eight double-digit seeds advancing, there were only two upsets in the second round: No. 5 Gonzaga topping No. 4 Kansas on Saturday and No. 6 Clemson defeating No. 3 Baylor on Sunday.
March Madness Men’s Sweet 16 schedule
Thursday, March 28
(2) Arizona vs. (6) Clemson | 7:09 p.m
(1) UConn vs. (5) San Diego State | 7:39 p.m.
(1) North Carolina vs. (4) Alabama | 9:39 p.m.
(2) Iowa State vs. (3) Illinois | 10:09 p.m.
Friday, March 29
(2) Marquette vs. (11) NC State | 7:09 p.m.
(1) Purdue vs. (5) Gonzaga | 7:39 p.m.
(1) Houston vs. (4) Duke | 9:39 p.m.
(2) Tennessee vs. (3) Creighton | 10:09 p.m.
San Diego State reaches Sweet 16 for second straight season
No. 5 San Diego State routed No. 13 Yale, 85-57, to reach the Sweet for the second consecutive season and fourth time in the program’s Division I history.
The Aztecs will face the defending national champions, Connecticut, on Thursday (7:39 p.m. ET).
Jaedon LeDee scored a game-high 26 points. Darrion Trammell added 18 points for SDSU.
Yale bows out of the NCAA Tournament, but not after scoring one of March Madness‘ biggest upsets on Friday.
