No. 4 Arkansas 53, No. 12 New Mexico State 48
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Au’diese Toney’s fastbreak dunk capped the decisive run with about six minutes left and launched fourth-seeded Arkansas to the Sweet 16 for a second consecutive year following a win over No. 12 seed New Mexico State.
JD Notae scored 18 points before fouling out with 1:22 left and Jaylin Williams had 10 points and 15 rebounds for the Razorbacks (27-8). Notae’s replacement, Chris Lykes, hit all four free-throw attempts in the final 10 seconds to secure the win after the Aggies closed within two points on Teddy Allen’s 3-pointer with 12 seconds left.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Noah Horchler scored 16 points and Providence had its best 3-point shooting performance of the season, routing 12th-seeded Richmond to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in 25 years.
The fourth-seeded Friars (275) will face Kansas, the top seed in the Midwest Region, in Chicago next week.
Providence has made living this season on winning the close ones, 16 in all by single digits. The Friars talked this week about being well aware of their skeptics and motivated by being called the luckiest team in America.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Tyger
Campbell scored 16 points and fourth-seeded UCLA completed a more conventional path to the Sweet 16, beating fifth-seeded Saint Mary’s in the second round.
UCLA (27-7), which went all the way from the First Four to the Final Four last season, will face eighth-seeded North Carolina on Friday in the East Region semifinals in Philadelphia.
The Bruins lost star Jaime Jacquez Jr. to a right ankle injury with 6:58 in the game.
Logan Johnson scored 18 points for Saint Mary’s (26-8).