NCAA TOURNAMENT ROUNDUP / MEN
West Region: No. 8 Arkansas 72, No. 1 Kansas 71
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 eighth-seeded Razorbacks beat the No. 1 seed Jayhawks 72-71.
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. The Razorbacks will play either Saint Mary’s or UConn in the West Region semifinals in Las Vegas on Thursday.
Self has been with the Jayhawks (28-8) 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.
Jalen Wilson led the Jayhawks with 20 points. East Region: No. 4 Tennessee 65, No. 5 Duke 52
Olivier Nkamhoua tied his career high with 27 points, including 13 straight for Tennessee during a decisive span in the second half, and the fourth-seeded Volunteers beat Duke to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019.
Tennessee (25-10) ended Duke’s 10-game winning streak and sent first-year coach Jon Scheyer, charged with replacing Mike Krzyzewski, home after two NCAA Tournament games. These Vols used a brand of “bully ball” to send the fifth-seeded Blue Devils (27-9) packing.
Tyrese Proctor led Duke with 16 points. Jeremy Roach and Kyle Filipowski chipped in 13 apiece.
South Region: No. 5 San Diego St. 75, No. 13 Furman 52
San Diego State had little trouble ending the run of March Madness darling Furman, getting 16 points from Micah Parrish to pace a balanced scoring attack.
Darrion Trammell had 13 points, Lamont Butler added 12 and leading scorer Matt Bradley finished with 10 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 and will play either Alabama or Maryland next week in the South Region semifinals in Louisville, Kentucky.
San Diego State is the first Mountain West Conference team to reach the Sweet 16 since Nevada in 2018.
Mike Bothwell led the 13th-seeded Paladins (28-8) with 15 points.
No. 15 Princeton 78, No. 10 Missouri 63
Blake Peters made five 3-pointers in the second half and Princeton shocked another power conference team to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in 56 years.
No. 15 seed Princeton (23-8) followed up a first-round win over Pac-12 tournament champion Arizona by dominating 10th-seeded Missouri (25-10) of the SEC from the start.
The Ivy League school reached the regional semifinals for the first time since 1967 when only 23 teams even made the tournament. Princeton will play either Baylor or Creighton in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday night.
This marks the third straight year a team seeded 15th made it to the Sweet 16, following Oral Roberts in 2021 and Saint Peter’s last year.