Gonzaga reaches Sweet 16 — again
Gonzaga played a nearly perfect second half, busting open a back-and-forth game with a 15-0 run Saturday to pull away from Midwest Region fourthseeded Kansas for an 8968 win and extend its nation-best streak of trips to the Sweet 16 to nine.
Anton Watson shot 8 for 11 for 21 points for the Zags.
Fifth-seeded Gonzaga (277) made its first five 3-pointers of the second half.
Nolan Hickman finished with 17 points for the Zags, and big man Graham Ike had 15 points and nine rebounds, going toe to toe with KU's Hunter Dickinson, who finished with a quiet 15 points. Ryan Nembhard finished with 12 assists for Gonzaga.
This game looked painfully familiar to fans of the Jayhawks (23-11), who have struggled with depth, shooting, consistency and injuries. During Gonzaga's 15-0 run, the Jayhawks missed 10 straight shots and never got within single digits again.
ARIZONA 78, DAYTON 68 >> Caleb Love scored 19 points and the secondseeded Wildcats (27-8) reached the Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons by beating the No.7 seed Flyers.
Keshad Johnson and Pelle Larsson each had 13 points and seven rebounds for Arizona. Larsson also had six assists, and Jaden
Bradley scored 12 points off the bench. The Wildcats shot 53% from the field and made eight 3-pointers.
DaRon Holmes II had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Flyers (25-8), who were denied their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2014. Koby Brea added 14 points for Dayton, which trailed by 17 points in the first half but stayed within striking distance nearly to the end.
Arizona staved off a potential rally when Bradley capped a 10-0 run with a 3-pointer to give the Wildcats a 66-51 lead with 6:51 remaining.
Dayton trimmed the deficit to single digits multiple times, drawing within 7164 on a pair of free throws from Nate Santos with 55.1 seconds left. The Wildcats went 7 of 8 from the line in the final minute to put the game away.
NORTH CAROLINA 85, MICHIGAN STATE 69 >> RJ Davis scored 20 points to help the top-seeded Tar Heels beat the No. 9 seed Spartans (2015) to reach the Sweet 16.
Harrison Ingram made five 3-pointers and scored 17 points for UNC (29-7), which ran off 17 straight points during a 23-3 run over the last eight minutes of the first half to erase a 12-point deficit.
The Tar Heels improved to 5-0 in the tournament against Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, including victories in the 2005 Final Four and 2009 title game.
UNC also got a strong showing inside from Armando Bacot (18 points), who got into the paint to score, draw fouls or kick out against oncoming double teams. Ingram was on the receiving end of some of those, knocking down 5 of 7 3-pointers to go with seven rebounds.
Tyson Walker scored 24 points for Michigan (20-15).
NO. 4 IOWA STATE 67, NO. 25 WASHINGTON STATE 56 >> Tamin Lipsey scored 15 points and the No. 2 seed Cyclones marched into their seventh Sweet 16 with a victory over the seventhseeded Cougars.
Curtis Jones added 14 points for Iowa State (29-7).
Jaylen Wells scored 20 points for Washington State (25-10), which was sent back to the Palouse still searching for their first Sweet 16 appearance since Tony Bennett was on the sideline in 2008.
NORTH CAROLINA STATE 79, OAKLAND 73, OT >> DJ Burns Jr. scored 24 points, including a go-ahead putback that ignited a 9-0 run in overtime, and the 11thseeded Wolfpack beat the No. 14 Golden Grizzlies.
N.C. State (24-14) advances to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2015.
Jayden Taylor came off the bench in overtime to hit a 3-pointer that put the Wolfpack ahead by five.
Oakland, which ousted third-seeded Kentucky on Thursday, just missed becoming the first 14 seed to reach the Sweet 16 since Chattanooga in 1997.