Arizona is in the Sweet 16 for a third straight season after a 78-66 win over No. 9 Utah State.

The Aggies made multiple attempts to put serious pressure on the Wildcats in the second half. But No. 1 Arizona had an answer each time. Even after going almost eight minutes without a field goal.

The Wildcats went 7:40 without making a basket yet Utah State couldn’t get close. Jaden Bradley’s layup with 6:55 to go broke that streak and Arizona’s lead had only been cut from 18 to five before his basket.

Just over a minute later, Bradley did this.

Utah State got the deficit down to six with 2:51 to go, but star freshman guard Brayden Burries ended any chance of the upset with a 3-pointer to extend the lead back to three possessions with 2:18 to go.

Bradley had a team-high 18 points, while Burries had 16 points to go along with nine rebounds. Koa Peat had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Motiejus Krivas had 11 points and 14 boards. 

It was an all-around performance that showed why Arizona entered the tournament as one of the main favorites to win it all. The Wildcats may be the most well-rounded team in college basketball. They have star guards in Bradley and Burries, and a frontcourt with Peat and Krivas that can match up with anyone in college basketball. 

Dylan Raiola is not wearing No. 15 at Oregon.

The former Nebraska quarterback has switched his number to No. 8 with the Ducks. The two-year starter with the Cornhuskers joined the Ducks after the 2025 season. The man whose mannerisms can look a lot like Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes wore the same number Mahomes wears in the NFL at Nebraska. Now, he’s wearing the same number as two famous Oregon QBs.

Raiola said he spent nearly 10 years of his life in Hawaii and as he was debating wearing No. 8, he called two Hawaiians who have been starters for the Ducks. 

Raiola said in a video released by Oregon on Saturday:

“The last two people ,if you look at it, who wore it was Dillon Gabriel and Marcus Mariota, so before I even thought about wearing it, I called Dillon and I asked him, and then I actually asked him if I could have Marcus’ number and I called Marcus. I was blessed with the opportunity to wear it.”

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Mariota won the 2014 Heisman Trophy at Oregon before he was the No. 2 overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans. Gabriel, who transferred to Oregon for the 2024 season after two seasons at Oklahoma, finished third in the Heisman voting that season and was a third-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in the 2025 NFL Draft. 

Raiola will likely redshirt in 2026 as he prepares to take over as Oregon’s starter in 2027 in an unusual move.

Raiola committed to Oregon before starter Dante Moore had made his draft decision. However, Raiola’s commitment wasn’t contingent on Moore’s departure, and Moore announced that he would be back at Oregon for his fourth season of college football in 2026. 

Purdue is back in the Sweet 16.

The No. 2 Boilermakers advanced to the second week of the NCAA tournament for the third straight season with a 79-69 win over No. 7 Miami on Sunday. Purdue went on an 11-3 run with less than 10 minutes to go to turn a 57-54 lead into a 68-57 advantage with 5:32 to go.

That 11-point advantage was Purdue’s largest lead of the game. 

Guard Fletcher Loyer missed just one shot all game. Loyer scored 24 points as he was 6-of-7 from the field, 4-of-4 from behind the arc, and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. 

As a team, Purdue made its first 15 free throws before Oscar Cluff’s miss with less than three minutes to go.

Miami got Purdue’s lead to four with less than a minute to go, but the Hurricanes were never able to get it to a one-possession game thanks in part to that free-throw shooting. Purdue finished 21-of-22 from the line and was 8-of-14 from behind the arc.

Putting the 2023 NCAA tournament further in the rear-view mirror

Purdue does not look like a program haunted by one of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history. The Boilermakers became the second No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed three seasons ago. But they’ve now won at least two NCAA tournament games in each of the past three NCAA tournaments. 

The year after losing to St. Peter’s, Purdue made the national title game before losing to UConn. A season ago, the Boilermakers fell to eventual national title game participant Houston 62-60 in the Sweet 16 as a No. 4 seed.

This season, the Boilermakers will be heavily favored to make the Elite Eight against either No. 1 Arizona or No. 4 Arkansas. Purdue will play No. 11 Texas in the Sweet 16 after the Longhorns won three games in five days. Texas beat NC State in the First Four before beating No. 6 BYU in the first round and upsetting No. 3 Gonzaga on Saturday night.

C.J. Cox’s injury scare

The guard suffered an apparent right knee injury on a fast break early in the second half. As Cox was going to the rim, his leg bent awkwardly and he immediately grabbed his knee while shouting multiple expletives in pain.

After a couple moments on the court, Cox was able to gingerly walk to the Purdue locker room and eventually returned to the bench, though he didn’t return to the game. Before the injury, Cox had 11 points and was 3-of-4 from behind the arc in 18 minutes.

If Cox avoided a serious injury and is available for the rest of the tournament, Purdue will be fortunate. The Boilermakes got just five points from their bench on Sunday after its bench players combined to score just 19 points in a 104-71 first-round blowout win over Queens University in the first round. 

Braden Smith ties a career-high with eight turnovers

Against Queens, guard Braden Smith became the NCAA’s all-time assists leader. On Sunday, Smith dished out eight assists and had 12 points. But he also tied a career-high he didn’t want.

Smith turned the ball over eight times for the second time in his career. And, coincidentally, Smith’s first eight-turnover game came exactly a year ago in a second-round win. Smith had eight turnovers in the Boilermakers’ 76-62 win over McNeese a season ago. 

South Carolina had one of the biggest blowout wins in women’s NCAA tournament history on Saturday.

The No. 1 Gamecocks beat No. 16 Southern 103-34 in the first round. It’s the largest margin of victory for South Carolina in NCAA history and only six women’s NCAA tournament games have had a larger point differential.

Joyce Edwards had 27 points and missed just three shots from the field as all nine players who took the court for the Gamecocks scored at least one point and played at least 14 minutes. The Gamecocks were up by 25 at halftime and really blew the game open in the third quarter when they outscored Southern 32-2. 

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The Jaguars were just 1-of-15 in the quarter and missed eight shots in the paint as the margin grew to 55.

South Carolina’s win came exactly a year after it last set the record for its biggest NCAA tournament win. On March 21, 2025, the Gamecocks beat No. 16 Tennessee Tech 108-48 in the first round. In 2022, South Carolina beat Howard 79-21 in the first round of the tournament. 

Biggest NCAA tournament blowout is 89 points

For as staggering as South Carolina’s margin of victory was against Southern, it’s still not close to the biggest blowout in women’s NCAA tournament history. That game happened nine years ago, when Baylor beat Texas Southern 119-30 in the first round. That game eclipsed the previous record by one point as UConn had beaten Saint Francis (PA) 140-52 in 2018.

Oddly enough, none of the winning teams in the five biggest blowouts in women’s tournament history went on to win the national title. The national champion with the biggest blowout in the same tournament is UConn in 2000. The Huskies, who are the overwhelming favorites to win the 2026 tournament, beat Hampton 116-45 on their way to the title 26 years ago.