NCAA Tournament Game Capsules

St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) – So much for the rematch of the 2003 national championship game between Kansas and Syracuse in the Sweet 16 of this year’s NCAA Tournament. After Syracuse was eliminated by Dayton on Saturday night, Stanford set up the surprising double-digit South Region semifinal matchup against the Flyers with a 60-57 victory over Kansas on Sunday. Dwight Powell scored 15 points and Anthony Brown hit just enough free throws down the stretch for 10th-seeded Stanford (23-12), which upended New Mexico in the second round and will be the surprising higher-seeded team on Thursday in Memphis against 11th-seeded Dayton. Brown’s two free throws with 32.4 seconds to play gave Stanford a 58-51 lead, but Conner Frankamp drilled a pair of threes around one Brown free throw to pull the Jayhawks within two with 14.9 seconds remaining. Brown then made just 1-of-2 from the line to keep Kansas breathing, but Frankamp’s hurried try from beyond the arc in the closing seconds came up empty and Stanford held on to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in six years. Chasson Randle added 13 points with six steals and Brown finished with 10 points for Stanford, which last played in the 2008 NCAA Tournament and also made a run to the Sweet 16, beating Cornell and Marquette before falling to Texas. The Cardinal haven’t reached the Elite Eight since 2001 and last advanced to the Final Four in 1998. Tarik Black scored 18 and Frankamp finished with 12 on four makes from beyond the arc for Kansas (25-10), which was denied a fourth straight Sweet 16 appearance. The Jayhawks last failed to reach the regional semifinals in 2010 with a round of 32 exit against Northern Iowa.

Final Score: Kentucky 78, Wichita State 76

St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) – Wichita State is no longer unbeaten, having fallen prey to a shocking upset. Andrew Harrison converted 3-of-4 foul shots down the stretch and Fred VanVleet’s contested 3-pointer fell short just prior to the buzzer, allowing Kentucky to reach the Sweet 16 by knocking off the Shockers, 78-76, in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Harrison ended up with 20 points for the Wildcats (26-10), who advance to take on Louisville next Friday in Indianapolis in the Midwest Region semifinals. Aaron Harrison added 19 points, with James Young and Julius Randle contributing 13 apiece for the victors. Cleanthony Early totaled a game-high 31 points for the Shockers (35-1), who set an NCAA record for most wins in one season without suffering a loss, but ultimately failed in their bid to reach the Final Four for the second straight year. Ron Baker converted 4-of-6 shots from long range en route to 20 points, but VanVleet was held to four points on 1-of-6 shooting, including 0-for-4 from beyond the arc.

Final Score: Iowa State 85, North Carolina 83

San Antonio, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – DeAndre Kane dribbled through his legs to his left hand, slashed into the lane and dropped in a layup high off the backboard. The senior guard’s bucket with 1.6 seconds remaining Sunday sent Iowa State into the Sweet 16 for the first time in 14 years with an 85-83 win over North Carolina that was as thrilling as it was confusing at the very end. The game — punctuated by back-and-forth runs and percolating with 3-pointers down the stretch — ended with a thud after an official review determined the Tar Heels didn’t call a timeout quick enough after inbounding the ball. The clock didn’t start until North Carolina neared midcourt, causing confusion about how much time was left. Tar Heels coach Roy Williams, trying to take a 16th team to the Sweet 16 in 24 NCAA Tournament appearances, said referees didn’t recognize him calling a timeout. Kane scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the third-seeded Cyclones (28-7), who advanced to face seventh-seeded Connecticut in the East Region semifinals at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Friday. The Big 12 champions have won six in a row — including Friday’s 93-75 victory over North Carolina Central, when standout forward Georges Niang was lost for the season with a broken bone in his foot. Iowa State pulled together without Niang, getting 19 points from Melvin Ejim, 14 from Dustin Hogue, 13 from Monte Morris and 12 from Naz Long, whose barrage of 3-pointers down the stretch sparked a Cyclones run after it looked like the Tar Heels had taken control. Marcus Paige had 19 points and Leslie McDonald scored 18 to lead the Tar Heels (24-10), whose roller-coaster season ended, perhaps fittingly, with a back-and-forth thriller.

Final Score: Tennessee 83, Mercer 63

Raleigh, NC (SportsNetwork.com) – Jarnell Stokes posted a 17-point, 18-rebound double-double, as the Tennessee Volunteers manhandled the Mercer Bears, 83-63, in third-round action from the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. Josh Richardson registered a career-high 26 points and Antonio Barton netted 18 points for the Volunteers (24-12), who built a double-digit halftime lead by outrebounding the Bears by a 24-4 margin in the first half while outscoring the Bears 22-10 in the paint. Tennessee, which secured a spot in the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in school history and first since 2010, will take on the Michigan Wolverines next Friday in a Midwest Regional semifinal in Indianapolis. Langston Hall scored 15 points to pace the 14th-seeded Bears (27-9), who upended Duke in the second round to become just the 18th No. 14 seed to defeat a No. 3 seed in the history of the NCAA Tournament.

Final Score: UCLA 77, Stephen F. Austin 60

San Diego, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – Jordan Adams had 19 points, Norman Powell scored 16 and UCLA moved on to the Sweet 16 for the first time in six years with a 77-60 win over Stephen F. Austin on Sunday. Kyle Anderson added 15 points for the fourth-seeded Bruins (28-8), who will face No. 1 overall seed Florida in the South Region semifinals in Memphis, Tenn., on Thursday. Thomas Walkup scored 22 points, Desmond Haymon had 17 and Nikola Gajic added 10 for Stephen F. Austin. (32-3). The Lumberjacks, one of several Cinderella stories to come out of the second round, beat VCU in overtime on Friday for the first NCAA Tournament win in program history. They had won 29 games in a row since their last loss Nov. 23 to East Tennessee State.

Final Score: Baylor 85, Creighton 55

San Antonio, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Baylor’s midseason swoon is a distant memory. The white-hot Bears will enter the Sweet 16 brimming with confidence following another lights-out performance. Doug McDermott, meanwhile, saw his storied NCAA career come to an abrupt end following another bitter third-round exit. Brady Heslip nailed five of the Bears’ 11 3-pointers and Baylor routed Creighton 85-55 on Sunday in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. The sixth-seeded Bears (26-11), who were 11-of-18 from beyond the arc, began the season 12-1 and rose as high as No. 7 in the rankings before falling apart with a 2-8 start in conference play. They turned the season around by winning 10-of-11 before losing to Iowa State in the Big 12 title game. A teary-eyed McDermott, who finished with 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting, came out with 2:31 left to a standing ovation from the fans in attendance.

Final Score: Virginia 78, Memphis 60

Raleigh, NC (SportsNetwork.com) – Sunday’s third-round game was a lot easier for top-seeded Virginia than its second. Joe Harris had 16 points and five rebounds and the Cavaliers routed Memphis, 78-60, to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1995. Virginia (30-6), which is a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1983, tied a single-season record for victories with the triumph. The Cavs survived a scare from 16th-seeded Coastal Carolina in the second round. The contest was tied 47-47 with under nine minutes left before they embarked on an 18-5 run that finally put the game away. Anthony Gill tallied 13 points and eight rebounds, while Mike Tobey added 11 points and six boards for Virginia, which will face Michigan State in the East Regional semifinals Friday at Madison Square Garden. The Cavaliers shot 55.6 percent (30-of-54) from the floor. Austin Nichols had 15 points to lead the eighth-seeded Tigers (23-10), who beat George Washington in the second round on Friday. Memphis has not reached the Sweet 16 during head coach Josh Pastner’s tenure. The last time the Tigers reached the regional semifinals was 2009, John Calipari’s final year as head coach before Pastner took over.

Final Score: Arizona 84, Gonzaga 61

San Diego, CA (SportsNetwork.com) – Arizona’s stifling defense swarmed Gonzaga, quickly turning each of its miscues into easy baskets the other way. Aaron Gordon filled the stat sheet with 18 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals and the Wildcats thrashed Gonzaga, 84-61, in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Top-seeded Arizona (32-4) tallied 15 steals and scored 31 points off 21 Bulldogs turnovers. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson netted 18 points, while Nick Johnson had 17 points, five boards and five assists for the Wildcats, who will face San Diego State in a West Regional semifinal on Thursday in Anaheim. Arizona reached its third Sweet 16 in the last four seasons. Przemek Karnowski supplied 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead eighth-seeded Gonzaga (29-7), which beat Oklahoma State in the second round.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball