No. 1 stunner:
Wisconsin tops defending champion Villanova.
When the season ended suddenly and shockingly, much earlier than Villanova expected, Kris Jenkins bent over in disbelief near mid-court.
There would be no game-winning shot, no confetti-filled celebration, no more games. The defending champions — and No. 1 overall seed — are done. On Wisconsin. After two relatively routine days, madness returned to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday in Buffalo, N.Y., as topseeded Villanova was bounced from the brackets and the East Regional 65-62 by No. 8 seed Wisconsin, which added another major upset to its resume and stormed into the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive year.
Nigel Hayes scored 19 points, dropping a layup in traffic with 11.4 seconds left, and Bronson Koenig shook off foul trouble and added 17 for the tournament-toughened Badgers (27-9), who will next play at New York’s Madison Square Garden after knocking off a Villanova team that never found its traction in Buffalo.
“Seeds don’t matter,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. “I told these guys I don’t care where we’re seeded. We have to win six games. Let’s start with these two this weekend.”
Senior Josh Hart scored 19 to lead the Wildcats, but the guard was bottled up and stripped by Wisconsin’s Ethan Happ and Vitto Brown on a drive in the final seconds. Brown then split two free throws with 4 seconds left, but Villanova struggled to corral the rebound and then couldn’t get off a final shot.
It was a bitter ending for the Wildcats, who were trying to be the first team to repeat as champions since 2007. But starting with an unimpressive performance against No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s in its opener on Thursday, Villanova looked vulnerable and instead became the first No. 1 seed to be sent home.
“To me, there’s no dishonor in losing in this tournament,” said coach Jay Wright, whose team lost in Buffalo as a No. 2 seed three years ago. “We’ve lived through it. You are judged by how you play in this tournament . ... So, you have to accept it.”
When the horn sounded, Wisconsin’s red-clad fans erupted in celebration and the Badgers stormed the court after taking down a No. 1 seed for the third time in four years. Wisconsin beat Arizona in 2014 and Kentucky in 2015.
Hayes has been part of all those upsets by Wisconsin.
“All of those games we’ve been the underdog,” he said. “You have all types of ranking systems, statistics. The thing with all those algorithms is they can’t calculate heart, will to win, toughness, desire. And that’s the thing we have.”
SOUTH REGIONAL Butler 74, Middle Tennessee
St. 65: In Milwaukee, Kelan Martin scored 19 points and the fourth-seeded Bulldogs (25-8) played smothering defense to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011, when they wrapped up back-to-back appearances in the national title game. Conference USA player of the year JaCorey Williams finished with 20 points, but had to work hard for nearly every bucket for the 12th seeded Blue Raiders (31-5). MIDWEST REGIONAL
Purdue 80, Iowa State 76: In Milwaukee, Caleb Swanigan had 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, and Purdue (27-7) reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in seven years. The Cyclones (24-11) erased a 19-point deficit in the second half, taking their first lead of the game on Deonte Burton’s two free throws with 3:11 left. But P.J. Thompson responded with a three-pointer for the Boilermakers, and Swanigan made several huge plays in the final minutes.
Florida 65, Virginia 39: In Orlando, Devin Robinson had 14 points and 11 rebounds, the fifth double-double of his career, and No. 4 seed Gators (26-8) held the fifth-seeded Cavaliers (23-11) to a season-low 17 points in the first half and 30.2 percent shooting on the night. The turning point came late in the first half, when Florida started a 21-0 run that was its most lopsided of the season. WEST REGIONAL Gonzaga 79, Northwestern
73: The top-seeded Zags (34-1) fought off a comeback by the Wildcats (24-12) in Salt Lake City with help from an untimely technical foul on Northwestern coach Chris Collins. Northwestern had trimmed a 22-point deficit to five and had the ball when Gonzaga’s Zach Collins reached up through the basket to reject Dererk Pardon’s shot with 4:54 left. There was no call, and Collins, jawing with the officials all day, ran onto the court and was slapped with a technical foul. Nigel WilliamsGoss made both free throws, and eighth-seeded Northwestern, in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, never got closer. Williams-Goss led the Bulldogs with 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Xavier 91, Florida St. 66: In Orlando, Trevon Bluiett scored 29 points and Kaiser Gates came off the bench to contribute 14 as the 11th-seeded Musketeers (23-13) pulled off their second upset of the tournament two days after eliminating Maryland. Xavier advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time in two years and the eighth time in program history. Dwayne Bacon led the third-seeded Seminoles (26-9) with 20 points. West Virginia 83, Notre Dame 71: At Buffalo, Jevon Carter scored 24 points as the fourth-seeded Mountaineers (28-8) earned their third Sweet 16 berth since 2010. Bonzie Colson scored 27 points and had eight rebounds, but the fifth-seeded Irish (26-10), the only school to reach each of the previous two Elite Eight rounds, were stopped.