NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

Marquette 81, Colorado 77

Tyler Kolek had 21 points and 11 assists, and David Joplin made two free throws with 7.4 seconds left to help Marquette finally put away Colorado on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

In their third season under coach Shaka Smart, the second-seeded Golden Eagles (27-9) reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013 by outlasting the 10th-seeded Buffaloes (26-11) and their dynamic offense.

Kam Jones scored 18 points and Joplin finished with 14 for Marquette, which shot 61.8% from the field but still couldn't shake Colorado until the closing seconds. Chase Ross made a tiebreaking 3-pointer off a pass from Kolek with 2:53 left and finished with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

KJ Simpson scored 20 points and Tristan da Silva had 17 for Colorado, which trailed by 11 at halftime but rallied to take a 55-54 lead just over five minutes into the second half. Kolek put the Golden Eagles back on top with a short jumper and Marquette never trailed again, but Colorado tied it twice, the last time on a 3-pointer by da Silva with 4:02 remaining.

The Buffs trailed 79-77 and had to foul three times before putting Joplin on the line for a 1-and-1. He knocked down both and set up a South Region semifinal meeting with No. 11 seed North Carolina State in Dallas on Friday. Playing his second game since an oblique injury that sidelined him for six contests, Kolek was efficient for the Golden Eagles, shooting 10 of 14 from the floor and routinely finding open teammates.

Eddie Lampkin Jr. scored 13 points and Cody Williams had 12 for the Buffs, who had already set a program record for victories and were playing their third game in five days. They topped Boise State in the First Four and then beat Florida 102-100 in one of the most entertaining games of the first round. This one might have been even better. Marquette led 45-34 at halftime but da Silva and Simpson came out firing in the second half. They combined for five 3-pointers during a 21-9 run over the first 5:19.

Purdue 106, Utah State 67

Zach Edey had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 1 seed Purdue cruised into the Sweet 16 by pounding eighth-seeded Utah State.

Trey Kaufman-Renn added 18 points and eight boards for Purdue (31-7), which broke the school's single-season record for victories. Fletcher Loyer had 15 points, and Braden Smith had all six of his assists in the second half when the Boilermakers shot 65.2% from the field before pulling the starters.

Purdue also set a school record for most points in a March Madness game. Next up is fifth-seeded Gonzaga in the Midwest Region semifinals in Detroit. Great Osodor, the Mountain West Player of the Year, had 14 points and six rebounds for Utah State. The Aggies (28-7) were outrebounded 49-26, and they headed home still in search of the program's first regional semifinal since 1970.

The biggest reason this time was Edey, who had another dominant showing in Indianapolis, just 60 miles southeast of campus.

Purdue's career scoring and rebounding leader looks as if he's on a mission to add to his legacy following last year's embarrassing first-round exit at the hands of 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson.

Another win would put Purdue in its first Elite Eight since 2019, when it lost in overtime to eventual national champ Virginia — one year after the Cavaliers became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed, UMBC.

Duke 93, James Madison 55

Jared McCain scored 22 of his 30 points in the first half and set a Duke record for an NCAA tournament game with eight 3-pointers as the Blue Devils ended 12th-seeded James Madison's dream season.

The fourth-seeded Blue Devils (26-8) are headed to the Sweet 16 to face the winner of Houston-Texas A&M in the South Region semifinals Friday in Dallas.

McCain and Duke emphatically ended the nation's longest active winning streak at 14 games, taking a 22-point lead into halftime and never letting the advantage slip below 20 in the second half. The rugged defense JMU used to beat Wisconsin in the first round didn't seem to bother the Blue Devils at all. The Dukes (32-4) finished with a program record for victories. Terrence Edwards Jr. led JMU with 13 points. Attention for the Sun Belt champions now turns to fourth-year coach Mark Byington, who has been speculated to be a candidate to fill the vacancy at West Virginia.

Clemson 72, Baylor 64

Chase Hunter had 20 points and six assists, and No. 6 seed Clemson held off third-seeded Baylor for a 72-64 victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

The Tigers advanced to the Sweet

16 for the second time in coach Brad Brownell's 14 seasons. They also made it in 2018, when they lost to Kansas in the third round.

Joseph Girard III scored 13 points for the Tigers (23-11), and Ian Schieffelin and PJ Hall each had 11.