The madness continues! Sunday’s slate of NCAA Tournament games will set the men’s Sweet 16 field, while day 1 of the second round starts for the women.
Three of the four No. 1 seeds (Stanford, Louisville, South Carolina) in the women’s bracket take the court and three double-digit seeds (Iowa State, Miami, Notre Dame) hope to continue their Cinderella stories on the men’s side.
Mike Krzyzewski’s career continues as the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils – in what could have been Coach K’s final game – survived against No. 7 seed Michigan State Sunday in the sixth matchup between Krzyzewski and Tom Izzo in the men’s NCAA Tournament.
NCAA Tournament on Sunday: Matchups, TV, streaming and odds for men’s and women’s second-round games
NCAA Tournament bracket: Follow March Madness
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South Dakota upsets Baylor
There was something about being a No. 2 seed in the women’s tournament Sunday.
Not long after the second-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes suffered an upset defeat at the hands of No. 10 seed Creighton (and former Iowa player Lauren Jensen), No. 10 South Dakota stunned No. 2 Baylor, 61-47.
The Coyotes dominated wire to wire. Baylor failed to score for the first seven minutes of the game and were unable to recover, thus ending the career of potential WNBA No. 1 overall pick NaLyssa Smith.
Coach K smiling, Duke skates past Michigan State
The Michigan State-Duke matchup was everything a college basketball fan could have hoped.
In the end, it was the Blue Devils extending Coach K’s career with a 85-76 win. And Coach K was all smiles at the end, clapping toward the Duke fan section behind the Blue Devils’ bench. It was victory No. 1,200 of his career and the 99th in the tournament.
Izzo and Krzyzewski shared a hug to start the post-game handshake line.
“For a young group, they showed another level of guts,” Krzyzewski said of his team after the game.
Duke ended the game, which was closer than the final score indicated, on a 20-6 run.
Sparty was 15 for 62 from three in its last three games. 11 of 19 today.
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) March 20, 2022
Wisconsin’s Chucky Hepburn carried to locker room
Wisconsin men’s starting point guard Chucky Hepburn had to be helped to the locker room late in the first half after injuring his left ankle. Hepburn was in plenty of pain and could not put any weight on the leg.
The No. 3 seed Badgers trail the upset-minded No. 11 Iowa State Cyclones 27-26 at the half.
Almost at the same time, Duke’s A.J. Griffin suffered an ankle injury against Michigan State, but it was re-taped and he joined the team on the bench, per the CBS broadcast.
Hepburn returned to the Wisconsin bench for the second half with a walking boot and crutches.
Baylor held scoreless for 7 minutes vs. South Dakota
A 10 seed has already upset a home No. 2 seed in the women’s tournament Sunday.
South Dakota is looking to make it another.
The Coyotes led the Baylor Bears 16-4 after the first quarter and jumped out to an 11-0 lead early. Baylor had five turnovers during that span and South Dakota started 3-for-4 from behind the arc.
South Dakota carried a 34-23 lead into halftime.
Michigan State, Duke trade blows in first half
In the legendary coaches matchup, No. 7 seed Michigan State is hanging with two-seed Duke through the first 20 minutes – despite a scoreless streak that stretched nearly six minutes.
Gabe Brown nailed all four of his 3-point attempts and the Spartans went 7-for-10 from deep in the first half. The final minutes saw the two teams trade 3-pointers with what felt like every possession.
Mark Williams had 12 points to lead Duke and freshman Paolo Banchero scored 10.
Villanova withstands Ohio State rally
Jamari Wheeler’s 3-pointer with less than six minutes remaining cut No. 2 Villanova’s lead over No. 7 Ohio State to 60-58, the closest it had been since the start of the game. And it was the closest the Buckeyes would get.
Ohio State managed only three points the rest of the way, and the Wildcats regained some breathing room in the closing minutes. Collin Gillespie had a team-high 20 points, while Jermaine Samuels had 17, and Villanova moved on to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year.
Michigan and Villanova will now meet in the Sweet 16 in San Antonio, Texas, where the Wildcats won their most recent national title (2018).
South Carolina, Maryland move on
The game certainly wasn’t easy on the eyes, as the top-seeded Gamecock and No. 8 seed Miami combined for 18 field goals on 80 total attempts. But South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso supplied 11 points off the bench to provide a spark in the Gamecocks’ 46-33 victory.
In other women’s tournament action, No. 4 seed Maryland bested 12th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast by dominating the second and won 89-65.
ESPN announcers join Disney protest of Florida bill
During ESPN’s coverage of the women’s tournament Sunday, announcers Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck observed a moment of silence to express their opposition to Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” bill, which would restrict discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom.
Stating that they stand in “solidarity and support” with their Disney colleagues in opposition to the bill — also known by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill — Peck and Lyle remained silent for about two minutes as the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Miami Hurricanes tipped off at 3 p.m. ET.
The protests during ESPN’s broadcast coverage of the women’s tournament began Friday. Announcers Stephanie White and Pam Ward also observed a moment of silence during Saturday’s game in Connecticut.
— Analis Bailey
Mike Krzyzewski’s coaching tree
For decades, Mike Krzyzewski has crafted a coaching tree with branches in nearly every conference, as programs look to capture Duke’s style and success through hiring one of his top assistants. Eleven former Duke payers or assistants are currently head coaches on the college or NBA level, including Arizona State’s Bobby Hurley, Notre Dame’s Mike Brey, Pittsburgh’s Jeff Capel, Northwestern’s Chris Collins and Quin Snyder of the Utah Jazz.
Overall, two members of the Krzyzewski tree have reached the Elite Eight but none have made the Final Four.
For more on Coach K’s coaching tree, click here.
— Paul Myerberg
Villanova cruising vs. Ohio St.; South Carolina underway
The No. 1 overall seed in the women’s tournament, South Carolina, is currently battling No. 8 Miami at home in action. The Gamecocks entered halftime up 23-10 in the low-scoring second-round affair.
Villanova took a 39-28 lead into the locker room against No. 7 Ohio State in the men’s Round of 32. Super-senior Collin Gillespie led the way for the second-seeded Wildcats with 12 points and Caleb Daniels had nine off the bench.
Creighton women stun No. 2 Iowa in women’s tourney
A potential matchup circled by bracket forecasters last Sunday was South Carolina possibly facing Iowa in the women’s Elite Eight.
Of course, the two-seed Hawkeyes would need to get past the second round. And No. 10 seed Creighton had different plans.
The Bluejays stunned Iowa inside a raucous, gold-clad Iowa-Hawkeye Arena on Sunday 64-62 to advance to the program’s first Sweet 16. Lauren Jensen, who transferred from Iowa after last season, led the way with 19 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 12.6 seconds remaining.
Monika Czinano had 27 points (11-for-14 from the field) but only two came in the fourth quarter and she went 1-for-6 in the final 10 minutes. National Player of the Year candidate Caitlin Clark (15 points) was mostly neutralized by the Bluejays defense and also only had two points in the fourth quarter.
From @ESPNStatsInfo: Tough shooting day for Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who went 4 of 19 from the field, including 0 of 8 in the second half. It was Iowa’s lowest point total in Clark’s two seasons, and the Hawkeyes’ lowest point total at home since 2016.
— Mechelle Voepel (@MechelleV) March 20, 2022
Iowa had three looks at the rim down two and a chance to send the game to overtime, but all three attempts came up short.
Houston’s coach celebrates shirtless
Kelvin Sampson and the Houston Cougars are going to their third consecutive men’s Sweet 16. The only appropriate way to celebrate? By popping off the top and having his players douse him with water, apparently.
Late tech call sinks Illinois
The officiating in college basketball has been an issue throughout this men’s NCAA Tournament, and that trend continued once again during Sunday’s second-round matchup between Illinois and Houston.
Officials basically penalized Illinois’ R.J. Melendez for protecting himself from a potentially horrific fall.
With a little less than nine minutes to go in the second half, Melendez broke free down court for a fast-break dunk to cut the deficit to four. Now, Melendez went quickly into his two-handed dunk and hung on the rim to let his momentum swing him back. It wasn’t an unsportsmanlike move, but the officials couldn’t help themselves.
They called Melendez for a technical foul for hanging on the rim. Houston closed out the game on a 22-11 run.
— Andrew Joseph, For The Win
Houston handles Illinois
The final score doesn’t indicate how close this men’s 4-5 matchup was, with Houston knocking off the higher-seeded and Big Ten regular season champion Illini, 68-53.
The Cougars used a late 11-0 run to pull away and advance to their third consecutive Sweet 16 under coach Kelvin Sampson. All but one point came from Houston’s starters. Taze Moore (21 points) and Jamal Shead (18 points) led the way.
Illinois’ season ended in the second round for the second straight season. Kofi Cockburn had 19 for the Illini.
Zags can go as far as Drew Timme can carry them
After a first half in which coach Mark Few said Memphis “got up into us and we were just running around the 3-point line,” Drew Timme — who had attempted only three shots the first half — got considerably more active and aggressive in the paint, and his teammates did their part to find him.
Timme, the junior forward, started the half on a tear, scoring 11 consecutive points to pull Gonzaga within striking distance. The WCC Player of the Year scored 21 second-half points on 9-of-13 shots, willing Gonzaga back from 10 points down and helping the Zags to an 82-78 win over 9th-seeded Memphis. With the victory, Gonzaga advanced to its seventh consecutive Sweet 16.
Going deeper, and maybe even to the program’s third Final Four? Well, that will come down to Timme and how far he can carry them.
— Lindsay Schnell
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