NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Raegan Beers had 18 points and 14 rebounds to help No. 4 seed Oklahoma beat fifth-seeded Michigan State 77-71 on Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Aaliyah Chavez added 18 points and six assists for the Sooners (27-7), who advanced to play in the Sweet 16 of March Madness for the second straight year. They'll play the winner of Monday’s matchup between No. 1 seed South Carolina and No. 9 seed Southern California. Oklahoma defeated South Carolina in overtime during the regular season.

Rashunda Jones scored 20 points, Kennedy Blair had 14 points and nine rebounds and Grace VanSlooten added 13 points and seven rebounds for Michigan State (23-9). The Spartans were trying to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2009.

Michigan State led 42-37 at halftime behind 47.1% shooting. The Spartans held Oklahoma to 38.9% shooting and forced the Sooners into 14 turnovers.

Early in the second half, with Michigan State leading 42-39, Michigan State's Jalyn Brown was called for a flagrant foul. Chavez made both free throws. Moments later, Beers scored in close, then made a mid-range jumper to put the Sooners up 45-42 and force a Michigan State timeout. The Sooners took a 57-54 lead into the fourth quarter.

Oklahoma started the final period hot. A 3-pointer by Payton Verhulst put the Sooners up 66-58. Michigan State got no closer than three points the rest of the way.

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Tyler Tanner was inches away from March Madness immortality.

After Nebraska's Braden Frager made a driving layup with 2.2 seconds left to give the Cornhuskers a two-point lead over Vanderbilt in a second-round NCAA Tournament thriller on Saturday night, Tanner had no choice but to chuck one toward the basket.

His heave from beyond half court was on target. The ball crashed off the center of the backboard and dropped halfway below the rim — and then, somehow, it rattled out, and Nebraska escaped with a 74-72 victory.

“My heart sank as that ball went in the hoop and went out,” Nebraska guard Sam Hoiberg said. “I think it took me a half a second to register it didn’t go in, and then I just screamed in elation. I thought it was in.”

Nebraska's Pryce Sandfort summed it up: “I just about died.”

Instead, Nebraska advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history.

Tanner, a 6-foot sophomore, scored 27 points in front of a hostile crowd of scarlet-and-cream-clad Nebraska supporters who made the roughly 6 1/2-hour drive from Lincoln.

And for a split second, he thought he would send them home in stunned silence.

“It hurts pretty bad being that close, especially (in a) hard-fought game,” he said.

Tanner made 9 of 21 field goals and had four steals and four assists.

“That last shot, man, it just took my breath away,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said. “That kid is an unbelievable player. When that thing was up in the air, I was, like, ‘Oh, man, that’s going in.’ Then hit every part of the rim. Thankfully bounced out, and we’re looking forward to next week.”

All because of a ball that went part of the way, but somehow not all the way, through the hoop.

“The hardest thing when you’re in a tournament like this is there’s a side of it with hurt and dejection, and you put everything into it,” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said. “We were a play away, an inch away, from being in the Sweet 16.”

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Braden Frager made a driving layup with 2.2 seconds left, and Nebraska advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time, outlasting Vanderbilt 74-72 in a scintillating second-round NCAA Tournament game on Saturday night when Tyler Tanner's heave from beyond half court rimmed out at the buzzer.

Frager finished with 15 points and Pryce Sandfort also scored 15 for the fourth-seeded Cornhuskers (28-6), who had never won in March Madness until beating Troy two days ago. Nebraska advances to the South Region semifinals in Houston, where it will face either top-seeded Florida or ninth-seeded Iowa on Thursday.

Tanner scored 27 points and Tyler Nickel added 16 for No. 5 seed Vanderbilt (25-9), which was trying to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007.

Rienk Mast added 13 points for the Huskers. Sam Hoiberg, coach Fred Hoiberg's son, finished with eight points, none bigger than his putback with 1:20 to go that tied the game at 70-all. The teams traded the lead four times over the final 2:08.

Cornhuskers fans took over Paycom Center, just like they did in the first round. “Husker Power!” chants broke out during the second half of Houston's win over Texas A&M, about an hour before the Nebraska game tipped off.

Duke Miles, the Commodores’ No. 2 scorer, had his left thumb taped and was held to nine points. His quiet night put the scoring burden on Tanner, whose layup with 58 seconds left gave Vanderbilt its final lead at 72-70.

The Cornhuskers broke out to an 8-0 lead. Mast, Nebraska’s 6-foot-10, 250-pound center, made two 3-pointers in the first five minutes.

Sandfort did not score until just over five minutes remained in the first half, but his turnaround jumper put the Cornhuskers up 27-19. Nebraska led 39-32 at halftime, despite Tanner’s 15 points.

Vanderbilt chipped away in the second half. Tanner made a layup and was fouled with 9:05 remaining. He missed the free throw, preventing the Commodores from taking their first lead. Moments later, AK Okereke’s 3-pointer finally put Vanderbilt ahead, 58-55.

Vandy pulled in front 67-62, its largest lead of the game, on a 3 by Nickel with 5:34 left. Sandfort responded with a jumper and the margin was no bigger than three points the rest of the way.

Hoiberg, the Big Ten coach of the year, has overseen steady improvement over his seven years at Nebraska. He took the Huskers to the NCAA Tournament two years ago, and this season Nebraska got national attention for a 20-0 start that vaulted it to No. 5 in the AP poll.

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness