East Region
Kansas’ national title defense ended in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday when Arkansas’ Ricky Council IV made five free throws in the closing seconds and the West Region’s eighth-seeded Razorbacks beat the No. 1 seed Jayhawks 72-71 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Davonte Davis scored 25 points and Council added 21 as Arkansas rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit. Kansas, playing without ailing coach Bill Self, became the second top seed not to escape the tournament’s first weekend after Purdue lost on Friday night to No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson.
Arkansas (22-13) and coach Eric Musselman return to the Sweet 16 for the third straight year.
Musselman and his players rushed to a group of fans sitting courtside after the final buzzer. The 58-year-old coach ripped his polo shirt off, waved it over his head and shouted with joy.
Self has been with the Jayhawks (288) since they arrived in Des Moines and has attended practices and meetings, but he still didn’t feel well enough to coach a game after having a heart procedure March 8 to clear clogged arteries.
Longtime assistant Norm Roberts was acting coach for a fifth straight game.
Kansas, bidding to become the first repeat national champion since Florida in 2006-07, was ahead 35-27 at halftime and lost for the first time in 27 games when entering the second half with a lead. Kansas had been 47-0 in the NCAA tournament when leading by eight points or more at the half.
Davis scored 21 of his points in the second half. He fouled out with 1:56 left, turning things over to the veteran Council, a transfer from Wichita State who scored nine of the Razorbacks’ final 11 points.
Council’s free throw put Arkansas ahead to stay, 68-67, with 24 seconds left. He then rebounded his own miss of the second free throw and made two more to give the Razorbacks a three-point lead.
The teams traded free throws, and Arkansas sent Kansas’ Jalen Wilson to the line with 3 seconds left to prevent a potential tying 3-pointer. Wilson made the first free throw and appeared to try to miss the second intentionally, but it banked hard off the glass and in, and Kansas never regained possession.
Wilson led the Jayhawks with 20 points. Arkansas was playing a No. 1 seed for the third straight year. Last year, the Razorbacks knocked out Gonzaga on the way to their second straight Elite Eight.
Midwest Region
Marcus Sasser looked just fine, scoring 22 points, and the Cougars stifled the local favorite Tigers in the second half for a victory in Birmingham, Ala.
Houston (33-3), which overcame a 10-point halftime deficit, was led by Tramon Mark’s 26 points.
Auburn (21-13) was doomed by a stretch of more than 101/2 minutes without a field goal and finished just 4 of 24 from the field in the second half.
Auburn did draw plenty of fouls, only to struggle mightily at the line at 19 of 36. Jaylin Williams and Johni Broome led the Tigers with 14 points apiece.
Sasser had dealt with a groin injury over the past week, but that didn’t seem to cause him any problems. He finished 5 of 9 beyond the arc.
NO. 1 HOUSTON 81, NO. 9 AUBURN 64 >>
Dylan Disu had a season-high 28 points on 14for-20 shooting, leading the Longhorns over the Nittany Lions in Des Moines.
Texas (28-8) made just one of 13 shots from 3-point land, so Disu turned this one into a mid-range game. He went 5 for 5 over the final 41/2 minutes and grabbed 10 rebounds for good measure.
Camren Wynter had 16 points for Penn State (23-14), which was coming off its first NCAA tournament victory in 20 years. Second-team All-american Jalen
NO. 2 TEXAS 71, NO. 10 PENN ST. 66 >>
Pickett had 11 points and 10 rebounds with seven turnovers.
South Region
NO. 5 SAN DIEGO STATE 75, NO. 13 FURMAN 52 >>
The Aztecs had little trouble ending the run of the March Madness darling Paladins, getting 16 points from Micah Parrish to pace a balanced scoring attack in Orlando, Fla.
Darrion Trammell added 13 points for San Diego State (29-6), which is heading to its first Sweet 16 since 2004. The Aztecs have won 11 of their past 13 games.
San Diego State is the first Mountain West Conference team to reach the Sweet 16 since Nevada in 2018.
Mike Bothwell scored 15 points for Furman, which had stunned fourth-seeded Virginia in the first round.
NO. 15 PRINCETON 78, NO. 7 MISSOURI 63 >>
Blake Peters made five 3-pointers in the second half and Princeton shocked another power conference team in Sacramento to reach the NCAA tournament regional semifinals for the first time in 56 years.
Princeton (23-8) followed up a firstround win over Pac-12 tournament champion Arizona by dominating Missouri (2510) of the SEC from the start.
Ryan Langborg led Princeton with 22 points and Peters added 17.
Deandre Gholston scored 19 points for Missouri.
NO. 1 ALABAMA 73, NO. 8 MARYLAND 51 >>
Brandon Miller heated up and so did the Crimson Tide, who brushed aside the Terrapins (22-13) behind a dominant second half in Birmingham.
Alabama (31-5) advanced to its second Sweet 16 in the past three tournaments and ninth overall.
The Crimson Tide, who led by just five at the half, and Miller got off to a slow start but the All-america freshman wound up with 19 points after going scoreless in the first-round game. Jahvon Quinerly scored 22 points and Charles Bediako had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Olivier Nkamhoua scored 27 points, including 13 straight during a decisive span in the second half, and the Volunteers topped the Blue Devils in Orlando.
Tennessee (25-10) ended Duke’s 10game winning streak and sent first-year coach Jon Scheyer, charged with replacing Mike Krzyzewski, home after two NCAA tournament games.
Duke (27-9) didn’t handle Tennessee’s physical style very well. The Volunteers set the tone early, clearly wanting to push around Kyle Filipowski and get hands in the faces of guards Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor. Filipowski took an elbow to his face and ended up with a small cut under his left eye.
Proctor led Duke with 16 points.
NO. 4 TENNESSEE 65, NO. 5 DUKE 52 >>