Sweet 16 shockers — who advanced
Three of the four No. 1 seeds survived, and Illinois, Iowa, Arizona, and Purdue all advanced to the Elite Eight after Thursday’s Sweet 16 slate. ( ). Defending champion Florida was upset by No. 9 Iowa — one of the weekend’s biggest surprises for bracket watchers. (nytimes.com)
Arizona poured in 109 points in a 109–88 win over Arkansas at the SAP Center in San Jose on March 26, outscoring the Razorbacks 54–43 in the first half and 55–45 in the second. (ESPN.com: ) Brayden Burries led Arizona with 23 points, Koa Peat added 21 and Matvei Krivas and Jakub Bradley chipped in 14 apiece, while Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr. scored 28 in the loss. (SportingNews.com: ) No. 2 Purdue survived an 11th-seed Texas upset bid in San Jose when Trey Kaufman‑Renn tipped in Braden Smith’s miss with 0.7 seconds left, finishing with 20 points in a 79–77 final. (APNews.com: ) Texas’ Tramon Mark scored 29 on 11‑of‑15 shooting in the loss, and postgame coverage flagged debate over whether Kaufman‑Renn’s putback involved a foul or floor‑violation. (ESPN.com: ) (LarryBrownsSports.com: ) Illinois upset No. 2 Houston 65–55 at the Toyota Center in Houston on March 26 behind David Mirkovic’s 14 points and 10 rebounds and a second‑half surge that included a 17–0 scoring run. (ESPN.com: ) (FightingIllini.com: ) Iowa rallied from a double‑digit deficit to beat Nebraska 77–71 in Houston, with Bennett Stirtz scoring 20, Tate Sage 19 and Alvaro Folgueiras contributing 16 in the comeback win. (FoxSports.com: ) (ChicagoTribune.com: ) The regional finals schedule pairs Iowa and Illinois Saturday, March 28 at 5:09 p.m. CT from the Toyota Center, and sets Purdue against Arizona that evening with an 8:49 p.m. ET tipoff in San Jose. (HawkeyesWire.usatoday.com: ) (IndyStar.com: )
