NCAA Tournament live updates: Michigan State, Connecticut punch tickets to Sweet 16
When Sunday’s NCAA tournament business closes, the men’s Sweet 16 will be set while the women will have half of the Sweet 16 field decided.
Already two No. 1 seeds have been knocked out on the men’s side, highlighted by No. 1 Purdue’s stunning loss to No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson. Now FDU aims to do what no 16-seed has ever done: Reach the Sweet 16.
The Knights will try to make it happen Sunday (7:45 p.m. ET, truTV) against Florida Atlantic, a potent mid-major that’s 32-3 on the year after its dramatic win over Memphis. But first, No. 11 Pitt and No. 3 Xavier get the party started at 12:10 p.m. ET on CBS.
The women’s action started with the defending champs, No. 1 South Carolina, beating South Florida (1 p.m. ET, ABC). Iowa standout Caitlin Clark then takes the national stage in the next game on ABC has her No. 2 Hawkeyes take on No. 10 Georgia.
Think you have what it takes to beat your friends? Test your college basketball skills (or luck) here with USA TODAY’s Survivor Pool. Bookmark our brackets page, too!
Follow the madness: Latest Men’s NCAA Tournament College Basketball Scores and Schedules
Complete scores and schedule
WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT: Complete scores and schedule
SATURDAY’S PLAY: Catch up on all the men’s, women’s action
Men’s half: No. 5 Miami has edge on No. 4 Indiana
Trayce Jackson-Davis led all scorers with 11 first-half points, but the 4-seeded Hoosiers trailed 40-35 to No. 5 Miami at the break.
Both teams went 4 of 10 from 3-point range. Miami had the edge in rebounds, grabbing 17 boards compared to Indiana’s 13.
Isaiah Wong and Nijel Pack tallied 10 points apiece for the Hurricanes. Miller Kopp chipped in with eight points for the Hoosiers.
Women’s final: LSU rolls through Michigan en route to Sweet 16
Double-double machine Angel Reese turned in another dominant performance, scoring 25 points and grabbing 24 rebounds, as third-seeded LSU steamrolled Michigan, 66-42. Reese also rejected six shots, grabbed three steals and handed out four assists. The Tigers were a handful inside, outscoring Michigan 32-20 in the paint and outrebounding the Wolverines 46-26. LSU will meet Utah in the regional semifinals.
Men’s final: Creighton bounces Baylor to reach Sweet 16
Ryan Nembhard was a scoring machine for the No. 6 seed Bluejays and proved crucial in Creighton downing No. 3 seed Baylor and punching a ticket to the Sweet 16.
Nembhard spearheaded an offensive onslaught with a dominant 30-point effort. Teammate Trey Alexander added 17 points, and forward Arthur Kaluma chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Bluejays connected on 11 of 24 attempts from 3-point range (45.8%) and made more than twice as many 3-pointers as Baylor (5).
Baylor guard LJ Cryer equalled Nembhard’s 30 points in a losing effort. The Bears were also out-rebounded 33-29.
Women’s final: Utah reaches first Sweet 16 in 17 years
Utah has no use for sentimentality.
The second-seeded Utes held Princeton without a field goal for more than six minutes in the fourth quarter to seal a 63-56 win over the No. 10 seeTigers, who were trying to make history as the first Ivy League team to reach the second round. It’s the first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2006 for Utah, a trendy Final Four pick.
Alissa Pili came up big again for Utah. The Pac-12’s player of the year had 28 points and 10 rebounds, including defensive boards on Princeton’s first two field goal attempts after the Tigers had erased all but two points of a 13-point deficit in the first half.
Men’s halftime: No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson trailing No. 9 FAU
It was No. 9 Florida Atlantic that emerged ahead after a first half played at a breakneck pace with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.
Both teams struggled to make shots early. Neither school shot better than 36% from the field or 19% from 3-point range. Still, Johnell Davis put himself on triple-double watch for FAU — posting six points, seven rebounds and five assists in the first 20 minutes.
Fairleigh Dickinson was led by Sean Moore with four points and six rebounds. Teammate Grant Singleton drained a pair of 3-pointers.
The Knights are looking to make history. No 16 seed has ever advanced past the second round in any men’s or women’s tournament.
Men’s final: No. 4 UConn blows past No. 5 Saint Mary’s
Connecticut led by just one point at the break but rode a torrid pace in the second half to blow past No. 5 Saint Mary’s 70-55 in the round of 32.
No. 4 seed UConn was dominant in all phases of the game. They won the rebound battle 32-23 and shot 54% from the field and 45.5% from 3-point range.
Huskies forward Adama Sanogo was an unstoppable force in the paint, tallying 24 points and adding eight rebounds to help Connecticut reach the Sweet 16.
No Saint Mary’s player finished in double digits after senior Alex Ducas (eight points) exited the game with a first-half injury.
Men’s halftime: Creighton off to hot start against No. 3 Baylor
No. 6 Creighton came out shooting in their second-round matchup against 3-seeded Baylor.
Bluejays guard Baylor Scheierman continued his run of fine form, shooting 2 of 4 from 3-point range. He set a school record by making at least one 3-pointer in all 25 of Creighton’s games this season.
Baylor guard LJ Cryer led all scorers with 12 first-half points, but poor team shooting made it a difficult task for the Bears to keep pace with the Bluejays.
Women’s final: Maryland sends 2021 NCAA runner-up packing
Diamond Miller led all scorers with 24 points and chipped in seven assists, six rebounds and three steals as second-seeded Maryland rolled past No. 7 seed Arizona 77-64 to secrue a spot in next weekend’s Sweet 16.
Four other Maryland players scored nine points or more and the Terrapins owned the paint, outscoring Arizona 46-32 inside. The Terps shot 54% and used a 29-9 third quarter to take control of the game. Senior Cate Reese led Arizona, the 2021 national runner-up, with 19 points and four rebounds. Maryland will play Notre Dame in the Sweet 16.
Men’s final: No. 7 Michigan State takes down No. 2 Marquette
Michigan State started the game on a 14-3 run and ended the game with the same momentum, sending second-seeded Marquette home in the second round.
Michigan State guard Tyson Walker led all scorers with 22 points to send coach Tom Izzo and Spartans to the Sweet 16 again. Teammate Joey Hauser posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Despite connecting on just 2 of 16 attempts from 3-point range, the Spartans won the rebound battle 35-29 and did enough to hold off Shaka Smart’s Golden Eagles.
Marquette was led by Olivier-Maxence Prosper with 16 points. Kam Jones added 14 and connected on 4 of 9 attempts from 3-point range.
Women’s final: No. 1 Virginia Tech takes care of business, earns Sweet 16 berth
Two-time ACC player of the year and All-American Elizabeth Kitley tallied a double-double (14 points, 14 rebounds) and top-seeded Virginia Tech advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999 with a 72-60 win over ninth-seeded South Dakota State.
The game, which Virginia Tech led the entire time, wasn’t as close as the final score indicates; Kitley had recorded her double-double before the end of the third quarter. She also blocked five shots. The Hokies held SDSU to 14% from 3, and beat them on the boards 43-36. Point guard Georgia Amoore, who’s had a terrific March for the Hokies, led all scorers with 21 points. Virginia Tech will play the winner of Tennessee-Toledo, which takes place Monday (6 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
No. 4 UConn hold slim lead at halftime
Tristen Newton hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give No. 4 seed Connecticut a 31-30 lead at halftime over No. 5 Saint Mary’s.
Huskies forward Adama Sanogo is on double-double watch after posting 10 points and six rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play.
Saint Mary’s senior Alex Ducas was helped to the locker room with five minutes to go in the first half. He gestured toward his lower back after suffering an apparent non-contact injury. Ducas led the Gaels in scoring with eight first-half points.
Women’s final: Notre Dame survives Mississippi State in 2018 title game rematch
No buzzer beater was needed this time around, as Notre Dame held on to beat upset-minded Mississippi State 53-48 in a rematch of the 2018 national championship.
The third-seeded Fighting Irish took control out of halftime, leading by as much as 11 points, but a costly turnover in the final seconds of the quarter resulted in a Bulldogs’ bucket at the buzzer, igniting a 10-0 run to tie it halfway through the final quarter.
The Bulldogs then went cold as they missed six of their next seven shots, while Notre Dame broke away at the free throw line. Ahlana Smith hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left for Mississippi State to make it a one possession game, but Sonia Citron nailed her two free throws on the ensuing foul to seal the win.
Citron, Notre Dame’s leading scorer, struggled from the field, shooting 2-for-12 with 14 points, 10 of which came from the free throw line. Lauren Ebo was the difference maker for the Irish, grabbing a career-high and school tournament record 18 rebounds to go along with her 10 points. The Irish dominated the boards with a 49-32 rebound advantage.
Both teams struggled to shoot from beyond the arc, as they went a combined 3-for-27 from the 3-point line, with Notre Dame missing all seven of their attempts. Kourtney Weber led Mississippi State with 14 points.
Women’s halftime: South Carolina holds slim lead over South Florida
After a first quarter largely controlled by South Florida, No. 1 South Carolina took charge in the second quarter to take a 33-29 lead at halftime in their second-round matchup.
Aliyah Boston led the Gamecocks in scoring with nine points, as the team controlled the boards by outrebounding the Bulls 23-16, including 10 offensive rebounds. South Carolina also got the free throw line, going 8-for-12 from the line, while South Florida went 1-for-2.
South Florida’s Elena Tsineke leads all scorers with 12 points, half of which came from behind the 3-point line.
The Bulls jumped out to a 16-12 lead at the end first quarter before South Carolina took control of the second quarter, going on a 15-4 scoring run to lead by as much as seven in the quarter. South Florida ended the quarter on a 7-2 run to close the gap.
— Jordan Mendoza
Dawn Staley’s fit check
There’s some history behind Dawn Staley’s outfit.
The South Carolina coach sported a Cheyney State jersey for Sunday’s second-round game against South Florida. Cheyney State played in the very first women’s NCAA tournament in 1982 despite then being a Division II team.
Coached by Hall of Famer C. Vivian Stringer, Cheyney State made it all the way to the title game that year before losing to Louisiana Tech. Cheney State is still the only HBCU to reach a Division I Final Four, doing it again in 1984.
— Nancy Armour
Hurricanes fell behind by 17 before rallying to beat Oklahoma State.
Top-seeded Indiana had rolled earlier in the day while IU and Miami’s men’s teams both secured their spots Friday.
“We’re looking forward to playing Indiana,” Meier said, “and hopefully the ‘Canes come out on top in two.”
– Nancy Armour
With its upset of No. 1 seed Purdue, the Knights gave the Northeast Conference its first win in the first round of the NCAA men’s tournament in four decades. But the Knights wouldn’t be here without Merrimack, which won the conference title but was ineligible because of its shift to Division I – NCAA rules state a school must sit out four years after such a transition.
So Merrimack coach Joe Gallo and the rest of the team stayed home and watched Fairleigh Dickenson pick Purdue – and big man Zach Edey – apart. So is there jealousy among its Northeast foes?
“To quote my 6-year-old, ‘Dad, we beat them, so we want them to win,’ ” Gallo told CBS Sports. “People have also been tough on our league all year, so I’m happy for the win.”
– Heather Tucker