Tennessee played a nearly flawless first half Sunday to take control of its second-round NCAA tournament game against 3 seed Virginia.

It then survived a late flurry from the Cavaliers for a 79-72 win that was aided by a late officiating break in its favor.

With the win, the 6th-seeded Volunteers advance to the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight season. There, they’ll face an uphill climb to advance to the program’s first Final Four and the second in head coach Rick Barnes’ 39-year career as an NCAA head coach.

Tennessee committed just one turnover and hit 5 of 11 3s while building its first-half advantage. It then committed multiple miscues down the stretch including a pair of turnovers on inbounds plays in the final minutes to allow Virginia back in the game.

Thijs De Ridder hit a 3 to give Virginia a 3 a 71-70 lead, its first of the second half. But Tennessee maintained its composure to retake the lead and caught a late break when officials upheld an out of bounds called in the final minute that favored the Volunteers.

Was this really out on Virginia?

After a Virginia miss, the ball appeared to go out of bounds off the head of Tennessee’s Bishop Boswell. But officials determined on the floor that Virginia’s Dallin Hall touched the ball before it went out of bounds.

Replay appeared to show that Hall didn’t touch the ball, and it was out of bounds on Tennessee. But the video evidence wasn’t conclusive, and the call on the floor stood. Tennessee retained possession with a 73-71 lead and 27 seconds remaining on the clock.

Virginia didn’t lead again. The loss ends Virginia’s season short of the Sweet 16 as a 3 seed.

Tennessee advances with its Final Four hopes intact as a distinct underdog in the Midwest Region. Up nest is a Sweet 16 matchup against 2 seed Iowa State, which raced by 7 seed Kentucky earlier Sunday despite playing without injured All-American Joshua Jefferson.

Jefferson rolled his ankle in Iowa State’s first-round win over Tennessee State and watched Sunday’s game in street clothes and with a walking boot on his left foot. His status at this point for a game next week is uncertain.

Either way, Tennessee will face a difficult matchup after an impressive opening 2 rounds of NCAA tournament play. Whomever advances out of that Sweet 16 game will face a potential Elite Eight matchup against No. 1 seed Michigan. The Wolverines will take on the winner of Sunday’s night cap between Alabama and Texas Tech in the Sweet 16.

Tennessee has developed into a consistent winner under Barnes, who’s in his 11th season as head coach in Knoxville. But like their head coach, the Volunteers continue to seek their breakthrough to jump to the next tier in the college ranks.

Tennessee has never advanced to a Final Four. And Barnes has made the Final Four just once in his 39 years of coaching George Mason, Providence, Clemson, Texas and now, Tennessee. Barnes led Texas to the 2003 Final Four, where it lost to eventual champion Syracuse and Carmelo in the national semifinal.

This story will be updated.

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Make that two NCAA tournament wins for Nebraska.

In front of a decidedly pro-Nebraska crowd in Oklahoma City, the 4th-seeded Cornhuskers won a 74-72 thriller over No. 5 seed Vanderbilt Saturday night with a Sweet 16 berth on the line.

They survived a near miracle heave from Vanderbilt at the buzzer after their own late go-ahead bucket to secure the win.

Vanderbilt had rallied from a 39-32 halftime deficit to take the lead late in a game where both teams traded blows down the stretch. But backup Nebraska guard Braden Frager delivered the final shot for the Cornhuskers with a go-ahead layup with 2.2 seconds to secure the 74-72 lead.

Vanderbilt had one last shot and almost delivered a miracle. But a 3/4-court heave by Tyler Tanner rattled in and out as the final buzzer sounded.

Replay angles show just how close Vanderbilt was that close to delivering one of the most memorable shots in NCAA tournament history as the bottom of the ball broke the plane of the basket.

Instead, its season comes to an end in heartbreak after one of the best games of this year’s tournament.

Nebraska, meanwhile, advances to the Sweet 16 to keep its dream season alive.

The win for Nebraska its just its second ever in the NCAA tournament. Its first was on Thursday in the first round over Troy. The Cornhuskers were previously 0-8 in NCAA tournament play and the last power conference team without an NCAA tournament victory.

Now they’re two wins away from the Final Four and four from delivering an unlikely NCAA championship.

This story will be updated.

With 7:43 remaining in the first half on Saturday No. 2 Houston held a 25-24 lead over No. 10 Texas A&M.

Then Houston put the clamps down. The Cougars reeled off 18 straight points and ended the half on a 21-4 run to take a 46-28 lead into the break. At that point, the game was effectively over, and Houston cruised to an 88-57 win to secure its seventh straight trip to the Sweet 16.

Once it gets there, it’s very much a contender to advance to the Final Four and compete for the program’s first national title. The Cougars have cruised through the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, following up Thursday’s 78-47 first-round thrashing of Idaho with Saturday’s 31-point win.

Houston advances with momentum and 1 unique edge

It’s not just he scoring margins that point to Houston’s strengths. It’s how they’re building those margins. Houston’s profile is that of a championship contender — elite guard play, strong rebounding, Kelvin Sampson’s trademark smothering defense and NCAA tournament experience.

Houston returns three starters from last season’s Final Four team in Emanuel Sharp, Joseph Tugler and Milos Uzan. It’s added arguably the most explosive guard in the country in Kingston Flemings, a third-team All-American and projected top-5 pick in June’s NBA Draft.

Add to that profile a distinct advantage that no other Sweet 16 team will have. The South regional semifinals and finals will be played in Houston, less than three miles from the university’s campus. Reigning champion Florida’s the No. 1 seed in the South, but it will be the road team if it advances to a regional final matchup against Houston.

Flustered Aggies no match for Houston

Houston’s dominance was on display Saturday as it controlled virtually every aspect of the game. The Aggies’ brand of fast-paced offense and lots of 3s stood little chance against Houston’s assertive defense.

Houston frustrated Texas A&M on the boards to the point that Aggies coaches got whistled for a technical foul.

During a first half sequence, Houston missed three 3-pointers on a single possession and secured an offensive rebound off of each miss. Texas A&M ultimately fouled on the possession, sending Houston to the free throw line.

The Texas A&M bench picked up a technical after the sequence, sending Houston to the line for two more free throws. The coaching staff gave referee Roger Ayers an earful, convinced that Houston fouled while securing its offensive rebounds.

Their pleas were to no avail as Houston secured a 46-29 advantage on the boards, including an 19-9 edge in offensive rebounds. Houston also took care of the ball, committing just seven turnovers on the day, one of them when it let the shot clock run out on their final possession. Houston limited Texas A&M’s high-octane offense to 35% shooting from the floor and 25% from 3.

The competition, of course, projects to get considerably stiffer from here for Houston, which suffered a three-game losing streak against top 14 opponents Iowa State, Arizona and Kansas in February.

A Sweet 16 matchup against an explosive third-seeded Illinois team potentially awaits. But Houston appears to be peaking at the right time and headed back home, two wins away from a second straight trip to the Final Four.

No. 6 seed Louisville entered its second-round matchup against No. 3 Michigan State Saturday at a significant disadvantage without injured All-ACC guard Mikel Brown Jr.

That disadvantage proved too much to overcome against a tough and tournament-tested Michigan State team as the Spartans pulled away for a 77-69 win to advance to the Sweet 16.

All Big Ten point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. guided the MSU victory while tallying 12 points and 16 assists against a Louisville team that was clearly missing its own floor leader. Fears’ 16 assists matched the total produced by the entire Louisville roster. His 16 assists were the most ever by an MSU player in an NCAA tournament game.

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Michigan State opened up a 22-12 early lead that it never relinquished. Louisville managed to keep things close and cut MSU’s lead to as close as 55-50 with 8:20 remaining. But without their star guard, the Cardinals weren’t able to mount a challenge to the Spartans.

A veteran team with significant NCAA tournament experience and a championship-winning head coach in Tom Izzo, Michigan State advances to a regional semifinal matchup against either UCLA or UConn and will be a threat to make it to the Final Four and beyond.

Freshman forward Jordan Scott has been elevated to the starting lineup for Michigan State. But he’s surrounded in the starting lineup by veterans Fears, Jaxon Kohler, Coen Carr and Carson Cooper, each of whom have three-plus years of NCAA experience and played on last season’s team that advanced to the Elite Eight.

Guided by a Hall of Fame coach in Izzo, Michigan State will enter the second weekend of tournament play with as much poise and experience as any team in the field.

This story will be updated.