Hubert Davis is out as the head basketball coach at North Carolina, the school announced late Tuesday.
Davis’ exit ends a five-year run for the former North Carolina shooting guard as the head coach of his alma mater. Davis was a longtime assistant under Roy Williams and took over the program upon the coaching legend’s retirement following the 2021 season.
"We appreciate all that Hubert has done for Carolina as a player, assistant coach, head coach and community leader – he has helped make special memories we will never forget," UNC AD Bubba Cunningham said. "This was not an easy decision because of Hubert's tremendous character and all he has given to the program, but we must move forward in a way that allows our team to compete more consistently at an elite level."
In his first season as head coach, Davis guided the Tar Heels to the 2022 Final Four and two of the most iconic wins in program history. North Carolina defeated rival Duke in head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It then beat Duke again in the first-ever meeting between the programs in the Final Four.
That run by an 8 seed before a loss to Kansas in the national championship game signaled a promising start for Davis in his first season as a head coach at any program. But each of North Carolina’s four subsequent seasons have ended in disappointment, most recently with Thursday’s first-round NCAA tournament loss to VCU.
UNC has failed to live up to high standards
The sixth-seeded Tar Heels held a 19-point second-half lead over No. 11 seed VCU, but faltered down the stretch and ultimately lost in overtime.
VCU’s win marked the sixth-largest comeback in NCAA tournament history and the largest-ever in the first round. The loss for North Carolina featured multiple player and game-management miscues down the stretch. It evoked memories of the 15-point halftime lead UNC surrendered in the championship-game loss to Kansas.
Prior to this season, North Carolina missed the tournament altogether in 2023 after starting the season ranked No. 1 in the country. It rebounded in 2023-24 to win the ACC regular season and earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. But it suffered a loss to Alabama in the Sweet 16.
Now the Tar Heels have failed to advance out of the first round of the NCAA tournament in two consecutive seasons. And they’ve fallen behind Duke in the annual race for ACC supremacy.
For a program with six NCAA championships that expects to compete for a title every year, this is not the standard. And North Carolina has made the difficult decision to part with a beloved former player to seek a new head coach.
Who will replace Davis?
The question now in Chapel Hill becomes who will take over? North Carolina has prided itself in keeping the job in the UNC family and done so since the retirement of legendary coach Dean Smith in 1997.
Smith’s assistant Bill Guthridge succeeded him as head coach for a three-year stint before retiring in 2000. After initially failing to lure Williams from Kansas, North Carolina hired former player and then-Notre Dame head coach Matt Doherty to take over for Guthridge.
Following Doherty’s failed three-year stint, North Carolina did hire Williams, a UNC alumnus and former assistant and Smith disciple. Williams took over in 2003 and righted the program, winning three national championships and advancing to five Final Fours before handing the reins to Davis upon his retirement.
But UNC may be forced to take a different route in a 2026 landscape revamped by the transfer portal and NIL. Now that Davis is out, there will be pressure in Chapel Hill to extend its search beyond the North Carolina family to get the program back to national title contention.
This is not a high-end piece of equipment for coffee aficionados. It’s a cheap, plastic one-button espresso machine the likes of which one would find in an office break room. But it gained fame as Italy beat the U.S. to secure its place in the WBC knockout round and put USA’s place in peril. It remained in Italy’s dugout through its run to the semifinals.
Italy continued to use the machine as it advanced to the semifinals, where it lost to the same Venezuela team that defeated USA in the championship game. And now the espresso machine that fueled its run has been sold for a good cause.
There are plenty of clear winners and clear losers with the first and second rounds of the women’s NCAA tournament now in the books.
While the clear winners are those at the top — including all four No. 1 seeds, and the rare “Cinderella” that is Virginia — Iowa, its arena and Clemson’s Mia Moore are among those who struggled over the first four days.
Let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers from the first two rounds of tournament play:
Winner: Hannah Hidalgo
Notre Dame has a weapon like none other in college basketball in Hannah Hidalgo. Fairfield and Ohio State each found out the hard way.
Fairfield, an 11 seed, was a popular first-round upset pick over the sixth-seeded Fighting Irish. Hidalgo was having none of it. Hidalgo flirted with a quadruple-double to lead Notre Dame’s 79-60 win with 23 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 8 steals.
Notre Dame then faced 3-seed Ohio State in the second round. The favored Buckeyes raced out of the gates with an 11-0 run, putting the Irish in peril. But once again, Hidalgo took over. This time she finished with 26 points, a career-high 13 rebounds, 2 assists … and 8 more steals. When it was over, Notre Dame had pulled away for an 83-73 win that wasn’t as close as the game’s final margin.
This is what Hidalgo does. She’s a three-time All-American and a three-time NCAA steals champion. She applies constant pressure on both sides of the floor.
Notre Dame faces 2-seed Vanderbilt next in the Sweet 16 and projects as an underdog in each game as long as it advances through the tournament. But it’s hard to imagine that the Irish don’t have a chance anytime Hidalgo steps on the floor.
McMahon, the Rebels’ best player, fouled out with four minutes left in the game. The fifth one was an offensive foul, and head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin absolutely ripped the officials for it after the game. The last call, she said plainly, was “incorrect.”
“I was in the locker room thinking about other star players on teams. I've just never seen them fouled out in a March Madness game. I just haven't. Paige, Caitlin,” McPhee-McCuin said. “I just haven't seen the best players get fouled out.”
McMahon, who transferred in from Ohio State for her senior year, had 75 personal fouls this season and fouled out two other times. She’s undoubtedly one of the more physical players in the country, but it led to her fouling out down the stretch in a critical moment for the Rebels.
Minnesota, which entered the final period in a nine-point hole, then hit a game-winner to advance to its first Sweet 16 since 2005.
While McMahon being on the court could have changed the final play, McPhee-McCuin isn’t blaming the loss on the officiating. She’s just not happy about it.
“And it's disappointing. These fans deserved more than that,” she said. “The game deserves more than that, and I just think a officiating as a whole really needs to be looked at. I really do. I'm not just talking about this game. Something has to be done. It has to be better.”
Winner: Virginia, the lone ‘Cinderella’
We only have one true “Cinderella” this season, but it’s a good one.
Virginia has made it all the way from the First Four round to the Sweet 16, something the school hasn’t pulled off since 2000. The Cavaliers are now the first school to ever reach the Sweet 16 after starting in the First Four, since the round was introduced in 2022. Somehow, they simply won’t go down.
The Cavaliers snuck past Arizona State by just two points in that first game, and then needed overtime to beat No. 7 Georgia in the first round. That set up Monday’s matchup with Iowa, which ended up being a two-overtime battle in Iowa City. Eventually, the Cavaliers outlasted the No. 2 seed to pull off the 83-75 upset win behind 28 points from Kymora Johnson and another 20 from Paris Clark.
This is just Virginia’s second NCAA tournament appearance in the past 16 seasons. They finished in eighth in the ACC with an 11-7 record in the league, and just barely made the tournament at all.
“We’re a confident team and we believe in all the work that we put in,” Johnson said. “Not a lot of people have and they’ve kind of written us off. But we came into March trying to show what Virginia is about.”
Virginia is one of five ACC teams that reached the Sweet 16, though they’ve played 135 minutes so far compared to just the usual 80 that most others through to that round have had to play. They’ll now have to take on Olivia Miles and TCU in the next round, which won’t be easy.
But regardless of how far the Cavaliers end up going, they’ve made it. That’s what matters.
Jan Jensen and the Hawkeyes have now failed to reach the Sweet 16 in back-to-back seasons. (AP/Charlie Neibergall)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Loser: Iowa, and everyone who had to play at Carver-Hawkeye Arena
The Hawkeyes losing is one thing, though it’s hard to fault any team that can’t pull out a win in a double-overtime thriller. That sent the Hawkeyes home before the Sweet 16 for a second straight season.
But the real loser is everyone who had to play at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday.
The venue in Iowa City that hosted the NCAA tournament pod isn’t equipped with air conditioning. The arena was built in the ‘80s, and is largely situated underground, so that’s typically not an issue during basketball season. So on Saturday, when a rare heatwave hit Eastern Iowa, it was rough inside the arena.
Floor level temperature was 81 degrees at halftime according to my thermometer.
Temperatures on the floor peaked at almost 90 degrees at times during the first two games. Fairleigh Dickinson’s Ava Renninger said it felt like “a smack in the face” when she hit the court for warm-ups.
“It wasn’t great, it wasn’t ideal, but some kids probably handle it a little bit better than others but what are we going to do?” Iowa coach Jan Jensen said, via The Athletic. “I don’t think we can fault Iowa. We can’t fault the NCAA. We’re mad at Mother Nature when it’s too cold. Now we get it warm and now we’re mad because it did it.”
While it was undoubtedly rare, it’s well past time that Carver-Hawkeye Arena gets an upgrade.
Winner: Brenda Frese
The Terrapins lost in the second round of the tournament, but Maryland coach Brenda Frese had perhaps the best moment in the entire first weekend.
Frese erupted in the face of guard Oluchi Okananwa during the team’s loss to North Carolina in the second round. At first, it looked like Frese was lighting her player up over a mistake or some other on-court issue. But upon closer look, and their comments after the game made it clear the exchange was anything but problematic.
“The best of the best, the elite of the elite wanna be coached hard,” Frese said after the game. “At that moment, I kind of had watched Luchi struggle, within this tournament, and she’s just too gifted. So, you know, I kind of wanted to implore just how much belief I had in her, and just kind of challenge her. I know what a winner and competitor she is, and just challenge her, ‘Do you want the moment?’
“Sometimes that’s where you gotta know your players and the relationships you have. You can’t have those conversations if you don’t have a relationship with them.”
Okananwa finished with a team-high 21 points. The Terps were attempting to reach what would have been their fifth Sweet 16 in the past seven seasons.
“I love to be coached hard, and that’s what she does with me every single day,” she said. “And really what that was, was a regroup moment for myself and her telling me she believed in me, because sometimes that’s really all you need to hear to get back out there.”
Loser: Clemson’s Mia Moore
Let’s be clear here: Mia Moore is only a loser on this list because her shot was just milliseconds late. That’s it.
The Clemson guard hit what looked like a wild, off-balanced buzzer-beater on Saturday afternoon in South Carolina. The shot, which sparked a huge celebration on the floor, would have lifted the Tigers past USC in the opening round and gone down as one of, if not perhaps the best shots of the entire tournament.
But a closer look showed that the ball was just barely still in Moore’s hand when the buzzer sounded.
So, the game went into overtime, and the Trojans ended up escaping with the win. If Moore was even slightly faster at throwing the shot up, the Tigers would have advanced to the second round of the tournament for the first time since 2019. Brutal.
Winner: The No. 1 seeds
This one was expected, and doesn’t need much of an explanation. But all four of the top seeds in the NCAA tournament rolled easily into the Sweet 16.
Texas went first, and beat both Missouri State and Oregon by 42 points each. Star Madison Booker dropped a career-high 40 points against the Ducks, too. UConn, the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, followed suit on Monday. The Huskies, after a blowout win over UT-San Antonio in the first round, out-scored Syracuse 33-8 in the first quarter, and went on a wild 31-0 run on Monday before cruising to the 53-point win.
Neither South Carolina nor UCLA had any trouble, either. The Gamecocks, who outscored Southern by 69 points in one of the largest blowouts in tournament history, beat USC handily on Monday night. UCLA, fresh off a blowout over Cal Baptist, beat Oklahoma State similarly to end the second round.
Only nine No. 1 seeds have failed to reach the second weekend of the tournament in the event’s history, so this isn’t much of a surprise. But these four teams absolutely count as winners in the opening weekend. And, after this start, anything less than a Final Four run for each of these programs will be incredibly disappointing.
The first weekend of the NCAA tournament is in the books, and there are, of course, distinct winners and losers.
Among the big winners are the Big Ten and John Calipari, who’s guided Arkansas to its second Sweet 16 in his second season as head coach. Kentucky, meanwhile, is headed home.
As for future lottery pick Darryn Peterson, he didn’t exactly make the final impression at Kansas that NBA executives were hoping to see. Let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers from the first two rounds of tournament play:
Winner: John Calipari
John Calipari’s exit from Kentucky marked a seismic shift in the college basketball landscape.
The game’s winningest program parted with one of the most successful coaches of his his era, who’d opened up a pipeline of elite talent to Lexington and led the Wildcats to a national championship.
But a prolonged lack of tournament success that included a nine-year Final Four drought made the relationship untenable. And the two parted ways after a first-round exit in the 2024 NCAA tournament.
With Darius Acuff Jr., John Calipari and the Razorbacks are a threat in the Sweet 16.
Wesley Hitt via Getty Images
Fast-forward two years, and Calipari’s winning the breakup. Calipari took some of his talent with him to his new job with SEC rival Arkansas and led the Razorbacks to the Sweet 16 in Year 1. Now he’s got Arkansas back in the Sweet 16 with a star point guard in Darius Acuff Jr. leading the way as arguably the best player in the tournament through two games.
A future NBA lottery pick with top-5 upside who was named first-team All-America as a freshman, Acuff is going scorched earth in tournament play. In wins over Hawaii and High Point, Acuff’s averaged 30 points, 6.5 assists and 1 steal per game. He’s shooting 49% from the floor and 5 of 11 (45.5%) from 3. He’s the kind of talent Kentucky came to take for granted during Calipari’s reign.
Presumptive lottery pick Darryn Peterson entered the tournament with a chance to cement his spot atop NBA Draft boards and answer the questions that have dogged him throughout his freshman campaign at Kansas.
With Kansas’ underwhelming loss to St. John’s in the second round, the questions surrounding Peterson remain intact, and his spot at the top of the draft is anything but certain.
Peterson’s tournament was a microcosm of his turbulent regular season at Kansas. In the first round, he reeled off 10 straight points and flashed his prowess as an elite three-level scorer as Kansas opened a 26-point lead against Cal Baptist.
Darryn Peterson's time at Kansas is almost certainly done. Will he be the No. 1 pick in June's NBA Draft?
The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images
But as Cal Bapist cut that lead to 6 points late in the second half, Peterson disappeared down the stretch. He hit a floater with 5:43 remaining for his 28th point and didn’t score again. In fact, he was barely involved in KU’s offense and didn’t touch the ball on repeated trips down the floor as Cal Baptist cut its 66-52 deficit to 66-60 in the final minutes.
Kansas survived the upset bid, setting up Sunday’s game against St. John’s. Peterson once again led the JayHawks with 21 points. But there were times in the game where he wasn’t involved in KU’s offense. And then came the final play, where Peterson, a strong defender, didn’t help as Dylan Darling knifed through the Kansas defense virtually unchallenged for a game-winning layup at the buzzer.
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 22, 2026
That’s likely the final image of Peterson’s college career. And it’s not a flattering look.
-Jason Owens
Winner: Betting favorites
A lack of upsets in the NCAA tournament has been very good business for people betting the favorites.
Favorites went 16-0 in the first round on Friday, and that luck continued into the second round. Yes, No. 11 Texas beat No. 3 Gonzaga to give us a true upset, but even some games that looked like upsets really weren’t.
No. 6 Tennessee closed as a slight favorite over No. 3 Virginia. The same can be said for No. 5 St. John’s, which was a 3.5-point favorite over No. 4 Kansas.
There are myriad theories for why favorites have done so well this year — with NIL budgets being a leading thought. Will that run continue in the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight? We’re not so sure. The gaps between teams in the next rounds will be significantly smaller.
-Nick Bromberg
Loser: West Coast Conference
The days of the West Coast Conference getting three NCAA tournament bids are probably over. And they’re disappearing with none of the three WCC teams in the tournament making it past the second round. Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara all made the 2026 men’s tournament.
But the Gaels lost to No. 10 Texas A&M in the first round, and No. 10 Santa Clara was beaten in overtime by No. 7 Kentucky on Friday after Otega Oweh’s incredible buzzer-beater to send the game to overtime. The No. 3 Zags scuffled a bit against No. 14 Kennesaw State, but that’s the only win the WCC got.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few's last NCAA tournament representing the WCC ended in an upset second-round loss.
Soobum Im via Getty Images
Saturday night, Gonzaga was upset by a No. 11 Texas team that started its NCAA tournament in the First Four. That was the final game that Gonzaga will play as a West Coast Conference team.
The Bulldogs are off to join the remodeled Pac-12 in 2026-27. And much of the WCC’s luster will go with them. Gonzaga being one of college basketball’s preeminent powers has done a ton for the conference over the last two decades. 2026 was just the fourth time ever that the league got three NCAA tournament teams. And all four of those instances came in the 2000s.
-Nick Bromberg
Winner: Big Ten
The Big Ten entered Sunday with the state of its NCAA tournament already assured, having secured four of the bids available in the Sweet 16.
Then it added two more, including one with the biggest upset of the tournament. Purdue secured the conference’s fifth Sweet 16 berth with a 79-69 win over Miami early Sunday. And 9 seed Iowa roared into the tournament’s second weekend with a stunning upset of 1 seed and reigning champion Florida.
TRIPLE FROM ALVARO FOLGUEIRAS GIVES IOWA THE LEAD WITH UNDER 5 SECONDS 🤯
Not only will none of the three programs add to their combined tally of 18 NCAA championships. But they’ll each leave the tournament with some level of uncertainty around their head coaches.
And Hall of Fame Kansas coach Bill Self said after Sunday’s loss that “I haven’t decided” if he’ll return to coach the Jayhawks for a 24th season. His legacy that features two NCAA titles is secure, and Self — 63 and battling ongoing health concerns — wants to consult with his family before deciding his basketball future.
It’s a critical juncture for all three programs and one where the decisions of the coming days and season will dictate their futures.
-Jason Owens
Winner: Texas
By most accounts, the Longhorns weren’t supposed to still be here.
Texas snuck into the NCAA tournament as an 11 seed and was relegated to the First Four as one of the last four at-large teams selected for the tournament field. Three wins in five days later, and Texas has crashed the Sweet 16 as the only double-digit seed remaining in the field.
A power program with plenty of backing, it’s a stretch to call Texas a Cinderella. But it’s certainly an unexpected arrival to the tournament’s second weekend.
No. 2 seed Purdue would be wise to not take the Longhorns lightly next weekend. Gonzaga, a 3 seed, found out the hard way that Texas is hitting its stride at the right time.
With the win, UConn advances to the tournament’s second weekend for the third time in four seasons. Its previous two Sweet 16 trips led to national championships before a second-round loss to eventual champion Florida ended UConn’s 3-peat dreams last March.
Now it’s back in the Sweet 16, gunning for another national championship.
Alex Karaban’s career high paces Huskies
UCLA put up a fight despite playing without its best player and rode a 6-0 run to start the first half to a 39-38 lead. UConn punched back later in the half with a 14-0 run featuring two Alex Karaban 3s to reseize control, 56-44.
Another 9-0 UConn run thwarted UCLA’s last gasp, and the Huskies mantained control down the stretch.
Alex Karaban, who starred on both of those national title teams, finished with a career-high 27 points alongside 5 rebounds. He shot 9 of 16 from the floor and 4 of 8 from 3. Tarris Reed Jr. followed up a monster 31-point, 27-rebound effort in the first round against Furman with a more modest double-double, posting 10 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks and 1 steal.
The Bruins countered with four starters in double figures, led by Xavier Booker’s 13 points and 5 rebounds. But without Bilodeau, they were overwhelmed by UConn’s repeated waves, and their season ends short of the Sweet 16.
UConn, meanwhile, advances to a heavyweight Sweet 16 matchup against a third-seeded Michigan State team that also has its sights set on a national title.
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.
Refs currently reviewing if Hall from Virginia touched this ball that bounced off of Tennessee pic.twitter.com/1HbcFwqi54
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.
Nebraska forward Rienk Mast, right, drives past Vanderbilt center Jalen Washington, left, during the first half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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.
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.
Tyler Tanner shot did everything besides go in.
Incredible. Nebraska wins a slugfest against Vanderbilt.
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.
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.
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.
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