March Madness Day 4: Sweet 16 Teams Emerge Amid Thrilling NCAA Tournament Action
As the dust settles on the first day of the second round, the excitement of March Madness continues to build. With the Sweet 16 lineup almost complete, fans are eagerly anticipating the remaining matchups that will determine the final teams to advance. This is your comprehensive guide to Sunday’s thrilling NCAA tournament action, complete with live updates, game analysis, and expert commentary.
For those who want to stay in the loop, you can follow live updates or check out the results and analysis of each game.
Here’s a quick look at the upcoming matchups:
- (10) New Mexico Lobos vs. (2) Michigan State Spartans, 8:40 p.m., TNT
- (5) Oregon Ducks vs. (4) Arizona Wildcats, 9:40 p.m., TBS
Sunday Results and Analysis
(6) Illinois vs. (3) Kentucky
Final: Kentucky defeated Illinois 84-75
How Kentucky won: In a matchup of remade rosters, Kentucky controlled play throughout and advanced to its first Sweet 16 since 2019 in coach Mark Pope’s first season at the helm. The Wildcats flustered Illinois with their defense in the first half, then made 15 of their first 19 shots to open the second half and pull away. Although Illinois guard Kylan Boswell was excellent (23 points, five assists), Kentucky’s backcourt experience showed as Koby Brea, Lamont Butler and Otega Oweh combined for 52 points. Brea was unstoppable for most of the second half while Butler, playing with a shoulder injury that Pope said would sideline most players, dictated on both ends of the floor. Center Amari Williams manned the interior well. — Adam Rittenberg
(9) Baylor vs. (1) Duke
Final: Duke defeated Baylor 89-66
How Duke won: There were plenty of highlights for Duke in a dominant win over Baylor to advance to the Sweet 16, but perhaps none more eye-popping than the 3-point shooting of veteran Tyrese Proctor. Proctor finished with 25 points on 9-of-10 shooting, including seven 3-pointers, giving him 13 for the tournament. That, according to ESPN Research, is a Duke record for the first two games of an NCAA tournament, topping Bobby Hurley’s 12 in 1993. What’s more impressive is that, until the ACC tournament final, Proctor was hardly a force from beyond the arc. In the regular season, he shot 40% from deep, and then in the first two games of the ACC tourney, he missed all 10 of his tries. But Proctor has been lights-out since, connecting on 19 3s in his past three games — making 63% of his 3-point shots. — David Hale
(8) UConn vs. (1) Florida
(8) Final: Florida defeats UConn 77-75
How Florida won: Dan Hurley said after Friday’s opening-round win that “someone’s going to have to put us down” for the UConn Huskies to exit the tournament without winning a third straight national title. On Sunday, Walter Clayton Jr. proved to be that someone. Clayton scored 10 points in a three-minute span, turning a 59-58 Florida deficit into a 77-75 win to secure a spot in the Sweet 16 and snap UConn’s 13-game tournament winning streak. Clayton didn’t make his first bucket until 15 minutes had elapsed, but once he got hot, he was unstoppable. He finished with 23 points — leading all scorers — including 15 in the second half, draining all three of his second-half 3-point attempts in the process. Clayton’s 3 with 2:54 remaining was the dagger, erasing a two-point UConn lead. Florida never looked back. — David Hale
Originally Written by: ESPN
