March Madness: Sweet 16 tips off in NCAA Tournament
No. 2 seed Villanova routs Miami 92-69 in South semifinal
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Ryan Arcidiacono and Kris Jenkins each scored 21 points, and No. 2 seed Villanova never trailed in routing third-seeded Miami 92-69 Thursday night in the South Region semifinal of the NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats (32-5) are back in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2009, when they reached the Final Four. It's their third trip to the regional final with coach Jay Wright. They turned in quite the offensive performance with former coach Rollie Massimino, who led Villanova to the 1985 national championship, sitting nearby.
Villanova will play either top-seeded Kansas or No. 5 seed Maryland on Saturday in the regional final.
Daniel Ochefu added 17 points, and Josh Hart had 14 for Villanova, which shot 62.7 percent (32 of 51).
Miami (27-8) now is 0-3 in this round and 0-2 with coach Jim Larranaga.
Sheldon McClellan scored 26 points for Miami, and Angel Rodriguez added 13.
Miami got here by beating a pair of double-digit seeds, Buffalo and Wichita State. Villanova showed the team from the Atlantic Coast Conference why the Wildcats were ranked No. 1 in the nation for the first time in program history earlier this season. It was the first game between the teams in the NCAA Tournament, and the first overall since March 2004, when both teams were in the Big East.
They turned in a dizzying first half with both teams shooting 64 percent - or better - from the floor and were even sharper beyond the arc where they combined to hit 13 of 19.
Villanova led 43-37 at halftime with Jenkins coming through with the highlight shot of the game, knocking down a 3 with his left foot on the edge of the logo covering midcourt that drew comparisons online to reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry.
But Villanova took control from the start by scoring the first eight points. The Wildcats also forced Miami into a bunch of turnovers early and scored some easy points off those mistakes. Villanova took its biggest lead at 29-14 on a 3-pointer by Jenkins with 8:35 left.
When Miami put together a 16-2 run that pulled the Canes within 31-30 on Rodriguez's layup with 4:33 to go, Jenkins simply hit another 3. Miami never got that close again, and Villanova just padded its lead over the final minutes with each dunk or 3 giving Wildcats' fans yet another reason to cheer.
Woodard, Hield lead Oklahoma's 77-63 romp over Aggies
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Jordan Woodard scored 22 points and Buddy Hield had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the second-seeded Oklahoma Sooners to a 77-63 romp over third-seeded and cold-shooting Texas A&M in the NCAA West Regional on Thursday.
The Sooners (28-7) advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2009. They'll play Saturday against the Duke-Oregon winner.
The Sooners blew open a close game by going on a 19-4 run during the last 7:42 of the first half to take a 45-26 lead. The Sooners forced the Aggies into bad shots and turnovers, and Woodard was the catalyst on the offensive end.
Tyler Davis scored 17 for A&M (28-9), which reached the Sweet 16 with a thrilling double-overtime victory against Northern Iowa after rallying from 12 points down in the final 44 seconds of regulation.
The Sooners advanced to the regional finals for the first time since 2009, when they lost to North Carolina in the South Regional. Oklahoma is trying to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2002, when it lost to Indiana in the national semifinals.
Oklahoma shot 49.2 percent while holding the Aggies to 34.2 percent. Texas A&M added to its misery by making only six of 28 3-pointers and just 13 of 24 free throws.
Woodard started the decisive first half run with a 3-pointer and had another shot from behind the arc with 3:15 to go. He also fed Khadeem Lattin for a slam dunk and then hit a sweet, off-balance bank shot as the shot clock was close to expiring with about 20 seconds left.
The Aggies went more than seven minutes without a field goal. Tonny Trocha-Morelos made a layup to pull them to 24-20 with 9:32 to go before halftime. The Aggies didn't make another shot from the field in the half until Davis had a putback with 2:10 to go. By then, it was 40-24 Sooners.
Woodard made five of six 3-pointers. Hield wasn't as effective as normal from behind the arc, making just two of seven.
Christian James added 12 points for Oklahoma while Ryan Spangler and Lattin had 10 apiece.
Jalen Jones had 11 for the Aggies while Danuel House scored 10.
Top-seeded Kansas tops No. 5 Maryland 79-63 in South Region
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Perry Ellis scored 27 points to match a season high, Wayne Selden Jr. added 19 and top-seeded Kansas topped No. 5 Maryland for a 79-63 NCAA Tournament South Region semifinal victory Thursday night. The win put the Jayhawks back into the Elite 8 for the first time since 2012.
It took time for the Jayhawks (33-4) to get going, but once they finally seized the lead late in the first half everything else fell into place for their 17th straight victory. They emerged from the break to make their first six shots and steadily take control behind senior forward Ellis, who made 10 of 17 from the field.
Selden was right there with 7-of-16 shooting to help Kansas earn a berth in Saturday's regional final against Villanova.
The Terrapins (27-9) dictated the early tempo and briefly engaged in a back-and-forth game with the Jayhawks before eventually falling behind the tournament favorite. Rasheed Sulaimon led Maryland with 18 points.
Landen Lucas added 14 points and 11 rebounds while Frank Mason III had 11 points for Kansas, which outworked Maryland 43-28 on the glass and outscored the taller Terps 40-28 in the paint.
Better shooting also helped the Jayhawks, who made 14 of 25 in the second half and finished 29 of 62 from the field (47 percent).
Kansas just had to take its time to slow down Maryland, which entered the game with every starter averaging at least 11 points per contest. Its main focus was keeping Maryland guard Melo Trimble (17 points) from getting hot, a strategy that worked as the sophomore made just 5 of 16 from the field with just one 3-pointer.
The Jayhawks defense kept other Maryland players from becoming factors on both ends as well and ended up holding the Terps to just 40 percent shooting including 35 percent after halftime.
Maryland dictated the early tempo before Kansas regrouped late in the first half to eventually grab a 36-34 lead at the break.
Sulaimon got the Terps started with the first of two 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes to provide an 18-12 lead, significant considering they made just 1 of 18 from long range in their second-round win over Hawaii.
Kansas went 5 1/2 minutes without a field goal but didn't flinch and eventually fought back to take its first lead at 27-26 on two Devonte' Graham free throws with 5:33 remaining in the half. The teams then traded 6-2 runs with the Jayhawks making the last one for a slim edge, better than they could have expected after shooting 41 percent.
Ellis provided the steadying force with 12 points and added a couple more baskets during a 14-9 run for a 50-43 lead, a stretch in which the Jayhawks made their first six shots to start the second half.
Kansas was playing the way it wanted by that point and kept up the tempo in building a 16-point lead with four minutes left.
Oregon ousts defending champ Duke, 82-68
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Dillon Brooks scored 22 points and Oregon advanced to the brink of its first Final Four in 77 years with an 82-68 victory over defending national champion Duke on Thursday night in the West Region semifinal of the NCAA Tournament.
Elgin Cook had 16 points and nine rebounds for the top-seeded Ducks (31-6), who will meet Oklahoma on Saturday. The second-seeded Sooners routed Texas A&M 77-63.
After a season-long rise in the Pacific Northwest, the Pac-12 champion Ducks emphatically arrived on the national stage with a strong second-half rally to beat the mighty Blue Devils (25-11) for the first time in school history.
Freshman Brandon Ingram scored 24 points, but Duke fell short of its third Elite Eight trip in five years. The Blue Devils lost five of their final 10 games.
No longer just a football school, Oregon is flying high after comfortably holding off Duke for one of the biggest wins in the program's history.
Oregon was the champion of the first NCAA Tournament in 1939, but hasn't been back to the Final Four since. The Ducks advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2007 and the third time since 2002.
Brooks hit four 3-pointers to lead the Ducks, who also broke the school's single-season wins record with their 31st. They've won 10 straight since mid-February while winning the Pac-12's regular-season and tournament titles.
Leading scorer Grayson Allen got 12 of his 15 points in the second half, but Duke couldn't make much progress after Oregon jumped to a double-digit lead early in the second half.
For all of coach Mike Krzyzewski's incredible success, the Blue Devils are 0-5 in NCAA Tournament games in the Pacific time zone.
The Ducks took charge shortly after halftime, following a tight first half in which neither team made a big move. Oregon jumped out to an 11-point lead after back-to-back 3-pointers by Casey Benson and Chris Boucher, and they got the arena rocking with back-to-back fast-break dunks from Jordan Bell and Cook moments later.
Duke even broke out a zone defense in an attempt to slow down the Ducks, but their balanced lineup always found another scorer.
Kobe Bryant and Apple CEO Tim Cook watched the game from a Duke fan section, while Nike's Phil Knight was among the Oregon contingent. Rams running back and Duke basketball fan Todd Gurley also attended the game.