Michigan State Spartans (22-9, 11-8 Big Ten) at NC State Wolfpack (27-6, 18-3 ACC) Raleigh, North Carolina; Monday, 12 p.m. EDT BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Wolfpack -6.5; over/under is 152.5 BOTTOM LINE: No. NC State faces Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Oklahoma Sooners and Iowa Hawkeyes play in NCAA Tournament second round
Iowa Hawkeyes (23-10, 12-9 Big Ten) at Oklahoma Sooners (26-7, 13-6 SEC) Norman, Oklahoma; Monday, 4 p.m. EDT BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Sooners -4.5; over/under is 157.5 BOTTOM LINE: No. Oklahoma faces Iowa in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Charleston (SC) plays Howard in NIT matchup
The Bison's record in MEAC games is 14-3. Howard ranks third in the MEAC with 12.4 assists per game led by Saniyah King averaging 4.5. Charleston (SC) averages 7.3 made 3-pointers per game, 1.3 more made shots than the 6.0 per game Howard allows.
Power conferences fill this year’s Sweet 16 for the first time ever
Years of bracket chaos have given way to the year of the power conference. The Sweet 16, a popular destination for bracket-busting mid-majors, will be made up entirely of teams from power conferences, a first since the bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Highest seed to reach the Sweet 16: No. 10 Arkansas.
Sullinger scores 34, Kent State takes down Stanford 77-75 in NIT
Jalen Sullinger's 34 points led Kent State over Stanford 77-75 on Sunday night in the second round of the NIT. Kent State plays Loyola Chicago in the quarterfinals. Sullinger added eight rebounds, five assists, and three steals for the Golden Flashes (24-11).
Top-seeded Florida downs UConn 77-75, ending Huskies’ historic NCAA tournament run
Walter Clayton Jr. and No. 1 seed Florida ended UConn’s pursuit of a third straight national championship, with Clayton burying two key 3-pointers in the final three minutes of a scintillating 77-75 victory for the Gators in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. Clayton, a first-team All-America guard, finished with 23 points as Florida (32-4), one of the favorites for this year’s title, survived a strong challenge from coach Dan Hurley’s Huskies (24-11), who came in with modest expectations as a No. 8 seed but led for most of the second half. Florida advances to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017 and will play Colorado State or Maryland in the West Region semifinals in San Francisco.
Arizona roars into the Sweet 16 with comeback win over Oregon
Caleb Love leads Arizona past Oregon 87-83 to set up a showdown with Duke in March Madness
Caleb Love had 29 points and nine rebounds, and fourth-seeded Arizona advanced to the Sweet 16, surviving a ragged finish to beat former Pac-12 rival Oregon 87-83 on Sunday night in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats (24-12) will face top-seeded Duke in the East Region semifinals in Newark, New Jersey. Tobe Awaka added 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Wildcats, who had never faced the Ducks in the tournament.
Clippers' five-game winning streak ends in loss to NBA-leading Thunder
Facing the NBA's top team and one of the league's elite players, the Clippers needed to be at their best Sunday if they were to extend their winning streak to six games.
But they failed to deliver in the final seconds against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, losing 103-101 in a tense battle at the Intuit Dome.
“A lot of turnovers. Even at the end of the fourth, we had two or three turnovers at the end,” Kawhi Leonard said. “Yeah, we fought hard. We was in the game the whole game. Just calls could have gone either way. But salute to them. They've been the best team in the league.”
The Clippers missed an opportunity to tie the game when Derrick Jones Jr. made only one of two free throws with 1:22 left, leaving the Clippers down 101-100 before things really started to unravel.
Read more:James Harden scores 30 as red-hot Clippers pick up their fifth straight win
Two costly turnovers, including one by Ivica Zubac after he fumbled the ball out of bounds with 1:01 left, ended one chance to take the lead. Then, with 21 seconds left, Norman Powell missed a shot, and after Zubac got the offensive rebound, Kawhi Leonard missed a shot with four seconds remaining.
The loss dropped the Clippers (40-31) to eighth in an increasingly tight Western Conference postseason race. They are one game out of sixth place for the final automatic playoff berth with 11 games left.
"I already played in the play-in and I ain’t trying to do that again," said Powell, who finished with nine points. "So, you’re watching closely on positioning, wanting teams to lose, want to keep the way we’re playing going. Bounce back on this road trip. But, yeah, definitely, everybody is trying to avoid that play-in right now.”
Gilgeous-Alexander, held to seven-for-29 shooting from the floor, finished with 26 points. He made all 11 of his free-throw attempts, including two in the final seconds.
Leonard had 25 points and 10 rebounds. James Harden, who finished with 17 points, moved past Moses Malone for 11th on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Zubac had 15 points and 11 rebounds.
After the game, Harden limped around the locker room. He had been kneed in the left thigh by Thunder guard Luguentz Dort in the third quarter. Harden said he rolled his foot during the play.
The Thunder, who swept the season series against the Clippers, have the NBA's best record at 59-12 and the league’s leading scorer and most valuable player candidate in Gilgeous-Alexander (32.9 points per game).
It wasn't all bad news for the Clippers — coach Tyronn Lue was back on the sideline. He missed five of the previous seven games because of back pain, with the Clippers going 6-1 over that stretch with assistant coach Brian Shaw at the helm.
Lue thanked his coaching staff for keeping the team in good shape.
“I feel a lot better,” Lue said. “I’m just going to take it day by day, game by game. ... The pain from my shoulder and back kind of went down my leg a little bit. ... I feel really good as far as my back and shoulder. Now, it’s just trying to get the leg part better, but I do feel better from that regard. That’s what was giving me the most problems."
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Hohn puts up 22 in UC Irvine’s 66-61 win over Jacksonville State in NIT
Hohn shot 7 for 15 (4 for 9 from 3-point range) and 4 of 5 from the free-throw line for the Anteaters (30-6). Myles Che scored 11 points, shooting 3 for 12 (3 for 5 from 3-point range) and 2 of 3 from the free-throw line. Bent Leuchten shot 3 of 7 from the field and 4 for 4 from the foul line to finish with 10 points, while adding seven rebounds.
Michigan St. outlasts New Mexico to advance to Sweet 16
Michigan State reaches 16th Sweet 16 under Tom Izzo with 71-63 March Madness win over New Mexico
Jaden Akins scored 16 points, including a 3-pointer that put Michigan State ahead to stay, and coach Tom Izzo took the Spartans to the Sweet 16 for the 16th time with a 71-63 victory over New Mexico on Sunday night. Izzo has 58 wins in the NCAA Tournament, tied for fourth in a coaching career. The 70-year-old Hall of Famer has taken the Spartans to March Madness 27 times.