Men’s March Madness takeaways: Iowa, Tennessee, St. John’s advance to Sweet 16
The greatest weekend in sports is winding down.
But dry those eyes, friends. There’s plenty more basketball to go as the men’s NCAA Tournament is whittled down to the Sweet 16.
Thanks to all of the chalk from Friday, the Sunday slate was filled with heavyweight matchups, from Iowa State-Kentucky to Kansas-St. John’s and UCLA-UConn.
Purdue and Miami got things started with a back-and-forth affair, then Kansas and St. John’s gave us an instant classic. Tennessee-Virginia wasn’t too shabby, either. And Iowa eliminated reigning champion Florida with a late 3-pointer.
Here’s a look at all of Sunday’s action:
No. 5 St. John’s 67, No. 4 Kansas 65
Dylan Darling hadn’t scored the entire game, bricking four 3-pointers, often in ugly fashion. Kansas made it even harder on him on the final possession, fouling him on every touch going down the court. Kansas had five fouls to give and used them to delay him. But his heroics were inevitable.
At the buzzer, Darling became a March legend, laying it in and sending Kansas home. It is one of the biggest shots in the program’s history and cements the Red Storm’s rise to college basketball prominence. His 2-point stat line will never be forgotten.
St. John’s coach Rick Pitino was asked to address what a win against Kansas would mean for his program. St. John’s is the top program in New York City but hasn’t been to the Sweet 16 since 1999. He refused to bite, saying he was simply locked in on game-planning. But now that it’s happened, it’s worth acknowledging how seismic this victory is for a program that has long been starved for any success. Having it come against a blue blood only made it sweeter for the Johnnies.
St. John’s takes just 21 3-pointers per game, but Kansas’ defensive strategy was to sag off the 3-point line and particularly forward Bryce Hopkins. The Johnnies took 35 3-point attempts in the East Region game, as they were consistently available to them. Hopkins had made just 25 3s all year but was 6-for-9 on the night. Oftentimes, he’d catch and hesitate, knowing that his 31 percent from long range probably wasn’t the ideal look. But many times Sunday afternoon, it was all St. John’s needed. – Sam Blum, staff writer
No. 9 Iowa 73, No. 1 Florida 72
We have an upset! A real, bona fide shocker! The defending champions were 10.5-point favorites over the ninth-seeded Hawkeyes and had a huge crowd advantage paying in the friendly confines of Tampa, Florida, but that didn’t stop Iowa from taking a double-digit lead in the first half and leading by as many as 12 early in the second stanza.
Nonetheless, the Gators seemed to have things in their favor in the final minute, nursing a 3-point lead and having possession with less than 90 seconds to go. Even when Iowa star Bennett Stirtz cut the lead to 1 point in the final minute, Florida seemed safe after getting a stop and free throws with eight seconds left.
Alas, Florida’s Isaiah Brown split the freebies to leave the door open (and take away a foul-up 3 strategy). Worse, a terrible breakdown when the Gators tried to pressure Iowa on its last trip led to Stirtz having a wide-open runway to push the ball upcourt and a two-on-one on his side of the floor once he got there. He kicked to the corner for Alvaro Folgueiras, who knocked down the game-winning 3-pointer with four seconds left.
Florida’s final effort was a drive up the right side by guard Xaivian Lee, who tried to find forward Thomas Haugh under the basket. He couldn’t control the pass, and time expired, as Haugh collapsed to the floor in disbelief and Iowa players (and their fans who made the trip) started the celebration.
Iowa advanced in the South Region despite a rough night from its star; Stirtz missed all nine of his 3-point attempts and shot 5-for-16 overall. However, Tavion Banks starred early with a series of tough finishes against the bigger Gators and finished with 20 points, while Folgueiras added 14 on just five shots off the bench.
In perhaps their final games as Gators before turning pro, Haugh and Alex Condon dominated the second half for Florida after the Gators switched to a smaller lineup that had them as the only frontcourt players, scoring 29 of Florida’s 41 points after the break.– John Hollinger, senior writer
No. 2 UConn 73, No. 7 UCLA 57
Less than 48 hours after UConn’s Tarris Reed Jr. had the game of his life — 31 points and 27 rebounds in the first-round win over Furman — he posted another, less stunning double-double: 10 points, 13 rebounds.
But his gravity on the court made a difference Sunday. With just over 12 minutes left in the half, UConn’s Silas Demary Jr. dribbled inside the 3-point line, eyeing Reed on the block. A second UCLA defender anticipated the entry pass and cheated over for the double team, which the Bruins did aggressively to Reed all night. Except it left Alex Karaban wide open on the wing. Demary read it and found Karaban for a 3-pointer, part of a 14-0 run for the Huskies.
This time, it was Karaban who had the career night. Captain America — the four-year senior and winningest player in UConn men’s basketball history — scored a career-high 27 points, 16 of them in the second half.
It was enough for the Huskies and Dan Hurley to get back to the second weekend, as the recent back-to-back champs attempt to survive a brutal East Region and make another Final Four. UConn advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years and will face No. 3 Michigan State in Washington. — Justin Williams, staff writer
No. 1 Arizona 78, No. 9 Utah State 66
The Wildcats built an 18-point lead, saw it shaved to 4 and then kept the Aggies at arm’s length in the West Region game.
For the better part of 15 minutes in the second half, Utah State was thoroughly better than Arizona in nearly every facet, except one. Arizona owned the offensive glass, and Motiejus Krivas was the hero on that front. As a whole, Arizona won the boards 54-26 – a dominant effort. It was Krivas who cleaned up the offensive boards in the moments when things got the hardest. After his teammate missed the front end of a one-and-one, he was there. After multiple missed layups, he was there. Of his 14 rebounds, nine were offensive. Utah State had the juice, if not the size, to win this.
Arizona is on to the second weekend of March. But this was all about holding serve. Nothing that happened in San Diego was going to rewrite any narratives about this Arizona program’s March doldrums. For all of the regular-season success Arizona has had under Tommy Lloyd, this may well be his best team yet. The Wildcats lost two games by a combined seven points all season. This was a business trip aimed at avoiding disaster.
Utah State needed to make 3-pointers to win, and that’s not necessarily its strength. Despite being one of the nation’s most efficient offensive teams, the Aggies shoot just 34.6% from behind the arc. Arizona forced Utah State to take exactly half its shots from behind the arc, and the Aggies made 8 of 32. That’s a credit to Arizona’s size. Utah State got some good outside looks, just didn’t have the shooters to make them. – Sam Blum, staff writer
No. 6 Tennessee 79, No. 3 Virginia 72
In the first round, Tennessee’s depth and physicality dominated in a win over Miami (Ohio). In the second round, it was just enough to fend off a resilient Virginia squad. By a fingernail.
The Vols (24-11) withstood a late surge from the Cavaliers (30-6) to advance to the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive season under coach Rick Barnes.
After a pair of free throws by standout freshman Nate Ament gave Tennessee a 1-point lead with about 90 seconds remaining in the Midwest Region affair, big man Felix Okpara played great one-on-one defense against Virginia guard Dallin Hall, forcing a miss and grabbing the rebound. Virginia then lost a close challenge on an out-of-bounds call that went Tennessee’s way, and the Vols iced the game at the free-throw line.
Ament, a potential first-round NBA Draft pick, finally had some tournament moments – good and bad. After going scoreless in 18 minutes in the first-round win over Miami (Ohio) and tallying just 3 points in the first half Sunday, Ament came out aggressive in the second half, scoring 10 of the Vols’ first 12 points and finishing with 16. He also had a few careless turnovers and boneheaded freshman mistakes, but the second-half scoring lift was critical. Senior guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie was stellar again with 21 points and six assists.
The Vols will play No. 2 Iowa State in the Sweet 16 in Chicago. – Justin Williams, staff writer
No. 2 Purdue 79, No. 7 Miami 69
Through the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, Purdue has stayed hot.
The second-seeded Boilermakers (29-8) followed their Big Ten tourney title with two wins in St. Louis, advancing to the Sweet 16 in the West Region with a win over Miami (26-9). This one did not come without drama. Miami led 40-38 at halftime, and then nearly three minutes into the second half, Purdue starting guard C.J. Cox injured his right knee on a transition layup. Cox never returned, but Purdue took control behind endless pick-and-rolls for Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn, and Fletcher Loyer flying off screens and making big shots or driving to the basket.
The Boilers usually got what they wanted. Loyer led the way with 24 points on only seven shots and made all four of his 3-point attempts. Kaufman-Renn finished with 19 points, and Smith added 12 points and eight assists. Miami’s size and physicality gave the Boilers problems at times – the Hurricanes grabbed 14 offensive rebounds – but Purdue got some timely stops and made enough big shots to never allow Miami to get too close down the stretch. – C.J. Moore, college basketball writer
No. 2 Iowa State 82, No. 7 Kentucky 63
Kentucky found out just how difficult it is to win in March while turning the ball over – especially against a team as disciplined as Iowa State.
The Cyclones scored 25 points off 20 Wildcats turnovers to claim a decisive victory and their third Sweet 16 appearance in five seasons. It was a season high in turnovers for Mark Pope’s Wildcats and the program’s most in an NCAA Tournament game in 26 years.
Iowa State was led by its All-Defensive team and second-team All-Big 12 senior guard Tamin Lipsey, who had five steals and a career-high 26 points.
Just two days after Kentucky senior Otega Oweh had a heroic 35-point effort and a buzzer-beating shot to force overtime in a first-round win over Santa Clara, Oweh finished with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting and four turnovers. – Devon Henderson, staff writer
No. 4 Alabama 90,
No. 5 Texas Tech 65
A much-anticipated 4-versus-5 battle was all but over at halftime, as the Crimson Tide opened up a 26-point lead in the first half en route to a lopsided Midwest Region win in which they led by as much as 34.
Texas Tech can wonder how its story might have been different if All-American center JT Toppin hadn’t suffered a torn ACL in the final weeks of the regular season, as the Red Raiders were manhandled on the glass throughout. At one point Alabama had rebounded 12 of its 17 mises, allowing the Crimson Tide to build a double-digit lead even while shooting poorly out of the gate. — John Hollinger, senior writer