PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ja’Kobi Gillespie scored 21 points, Nate Ament and Bishop Boswell played pivotal roles down the stretch and sixth-seeded Tennessee advanced to its fourth straight Sweet 16, beating Virginia 79-72 in the NCAA Tournament. The Vols will face No. 2 seed Iowa State in a Midwest Region semifinal in Chicago on Friday night. Gillespie had 50 points in two games in Philly — he scored 29 against Miami of Ohio in the first round. Against No. 3 seed Virginia, he made the shot of the game on a desperation 3-point heave as the shot clock expired. Thijs De Ridder led Virginia with 22 points.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Purdue has advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third straight time and seventh in the last nine years. Fletcher Loyer scored 24 points, Trey Kaufman-Renn had 19 points and nine rebounds, and the second-seeded Boilermakers beat Miami 79-69 on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In his first game since breaking Bobby Hurley’s NCAA career record for assists, Purdue's Braden Smith had 12 points and eight assists. Matt Painter secured his 500th win in 21 seasons as Purdue's coach. He is just 12 short of Gene Keady's school record. Shelton Henderson led the Hurricanes with 18 points and eight rebounds.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Olivia Olson had all 27 of her points in the second half and Syla Swords bounced back from a slow start to score 26 and help second-seeded Michigan rout short-handed N.C. State 92-63 and earn a spot in the women’s Sweet 16. The Wolverines will play the winner of third-seeded Louisville vs. sixth-seeded Alabama in the NCAA Tournament Fort Worth Regional semifinals. The seventh-seeded Wolfpack were without All-ACC guard Zoe Brooks, who had a protective boot on her right foot after being injured in Friday night’s win against Tennessee. The Sweet 16 begins on Friday.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — N.C. State star guard Zoe Brooks watched her teammates warm up as she stood on crutches and wore a protective boot on her right foot. Michigan took advantage of her absence. The second-seeded Wolverines beat the seventh-seeded Wolfpack 92-63 on Sunday, turning 22 turnovers into 35 points, to advance to the women’s Sweet 16. Brooks is an All-ACC guard. She was injured Friday night when the seventh-seeded Wolfpack eliminated 10th-seeded Tennessee. N.C. State coach Wes Moore said he hated that her season ended with an injury.
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Delaney Thomas had 17 points and Toby Fournier scored 13 of her 15 points in the first half, helping No. 3 Duke beat No. 6 Baylor 69-46 on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA women’s tournament. The Blue Devils will play No. 2 LSU in the Sweet 16 in Sacramento, California, later in the week. Baylor's 46 points were a season-low, as the Bears shot only 30.2%, including 0-of-14 from 3-point range. Taliah Scott led the Bears with 13 points.
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — One of the most competitive NCAA Tournament home games for the UConn women's basketball team in recent memory came two years ago when Syracuse put up a valiant effort before falling to the Huskies in the second round of the 2024 tournament. While there are mostly new faces on both teams heading into Monday's second-round NCAA Tournament matchup, Syracuse will look to make life difficult for the favorite to win a second consecutive national title.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Elina Aarnisalo had 21 points, Lanie Grant scored 20 and North Carolina used a strong fourth quarter to beat Maryland 74-66 and reach the women’s Sweet 16 for the second year in a row. Nyla Harris had 14 points and eight rebounds and Indya Nivar added 11 points to help the fourth-seeded Tar Heels advance in the NCAA Tournament Fort Worth 1 Regional on Sunday. Oluchi Okananwa, who helped eliminate North Carolina last March in the Sweet 16 when she played for Duke, scored 21 points for No. 5 seed Maryland. North Carolina will play the winner of No. 1 UConn vs. No. 9 Syracuse.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — When Alabama’s women’s basketball team takes on Louisville Monday in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament, they will look to move on to the Sweet 16, a feat the Crimson Tide has not accomplished in 28 years. However, to get there, the sixth-seeded Crimson Tide (24-10) will need to take down a host Cardinals (28-7) squad that nearly took down South Carolina earlier this season. The key to that, Tide coach Kristy Curry said, is to “be Bama.” The winner of Monday afternoon’s tilt advances to Fort Worth for a game Saturday against second-seeded Michigan. The Wolverines took down seventh-seeded North Carolina State 92-63 on Sunday.
