Sweet 16: Texas rises
Texas has become one of March’s hottest teams — three wins in five days after the First Four — and Matas Vokietaitis is averaging 20.0 points per game in the tournament as the Longhorns head into tonight’s West Region opener vs. No. 2 Purdue at 7:10 p.m. ET on CBS and March Madness Live. Iowa is back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999 and will face Nebraska, while UConn and Michigan State are set for a high‑profile Sweet 16 clash (UConn’s assistant Luke Murray has reportedly been offered Boston College’s head job). (espn.com) (sports.yahoo.com) (ctinsider.com) (youtube.com)
No. 11 Texas became only the sixth team to reach the Sweet 16 after starting in the First Four, a run capped by Thursday’s upset of No. 3 Gonzaga. (sports.yahoo.com) Sophomore center Matas Vokietaitis has averaged 18.3 points and 11.0 rebounds across Texas’s NCAA Tournament games and entered the weekend with a 15.7 points-per-game season average. (espn.com) Texas’s three wins in five days came in this order: a 68-66 First Four win over NC State (Mar. 17), a 79-71 first-round victory over No. 6 BYU, and a 74-68 second-round upset of Gonzaga that featured a go-ahead 3 from Camden Heide with 14.7 seconds left. (espn.com) Purdue enters as the region’s No. 2 seed and 29-8 club seeking its third Elite Eight in seven years, while Purdue’s opponent list shows Texas designated as the away team and Texas will be without forward Lassina Traoré (knee) for the matchup. (purduesports.com) Iowa reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999 after Alvaro Folgueiras’s corner 3 lifted the Hawkeyes past No. 1 Florida, 73-72, and the 9‑seed Hawkeyes (23-12) will meet No. 4 Nebraska (28-6), whose athletic department lists tipoff at 6:30 p.m. CT. (sports.yahoo.com) UConn and Michigan State are scheduled to meet Friday night in Washington, D.C., with tipoff set for 9:45 p.m. ET, and UConn assistant Luke Murray has been announced as Boston College’s new head coach after reports and a school release confirmed the hire. (sports.yahoo.com)
