Sweet 16 shocks — Elite Eight set
Four teams—Illinois, Iowa, Arizona and Purdue—advanced to the Elite Eight after Sweet 16 wins on March 26, with Purdue’s Trey Kaufman‑Renn sinking a go‑ahead basket with 0.7 seconds left to seal their upset. Arizona crushed Arkansas (54 first‑half points, 26 in the paint) while Purdue’s finish was a late‑game thriller that flipped last year’s Sweet 16 script (nytimes.com) (youtube.com).
Arizona poured in 109 points and outscored Arkansas 60-50 in the paint as six Wildcats finished in double figures, led by freshman Brayden Burries’ 23 points in the 109-88 Sweet 16 rout at SAP Center. (arizonawildcats.com) Purdue’s Sweet 16 win came 79-77 over No. 11 Texas when senior Trey Kaufman‑Renn tipped in a Braden Smith miss with 0.7 seconds remaining after Texas had tied the game on a Dailyn Swain three‑point play. (espn.com) Illinois beat No. 2 Houston 65-55 in a defensive game in which David Mirkovic posted a 14-point, 10-rebound double‑double and the Illini finished with a 43-34 rebounding edge. (espn.com) Iowa advanced with a 77-71 victory over Nebraska as Pryce Sandfort scored 25 and Bennett Stirtz added 20; the win sends the Hawkeyes to their first Elite Eight since 1987. (espn.com) The bracket now pairs No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 2 Purdue in the West regional final and No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 9 Iowa in the South regional final for trips to the Final Four. (nytimes.com) Purdue enters the West final at 30-8, Arizona is 35-2, Illinois is 27-8 and Iowa is 24-12, with the Elite Eight games scheduled for Saturday in the respective regional sites. (espn.com)
