BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Villanova is headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time in seven years.
The second-seeded Wildcats knocked off seventh-seeded Iowa 87-68 on Sunday in the second round of the South Regional at the Barclays Center.
Villanova (31-5) plays Miami on Thursday in Louisville, Ky. The Wildcats went to the Final Four in 2009 where they lost to eventual champion North Carolina in the semifinals.
Josh Hart paced Villanova with 19 points. Ryan Arcidiacono added 16 points and Kris Jenkins had 15 points and six of the Wildcats’ 23 assists. Jalen Brunson contributed 12 points.
Iowa (22-11) received 16 points from Jarrod Uthoff and 15 points from Nicholas Baer.
Iowa never got closer than 81-64 in the second half. The Hawkeyes led for only 1:28 in the first half
The Wildcats extended their lead to 65-31 with an 11-2 burst in the first 3:56 of the second half.
Villanova was able to string together three significant runs for a 54-29 halftime lead. The last one was an 8-0 blitz over the last 1:21 of the half. Hart scored four of his 10 first-half points in the run.
In their first-round victory over Temple, Iowa did a nice job of taking care of the ball, committing just three turnovers. But in the first half against Villanova’s zone, the Hawkeyes struggled, turning the ball over eight times and managing just 12 field goals. The Wildcats scored 12 point off the turnovers.
Villanova was able to shoot through Iowa’s zone, going 7-of-12 (58 percent) from 3-point range.
Syracuse 75, Middle Tennessee 50
ST. LOUIS — Attempting to become the second No. 15 seed to reach the Sweet 16, Middle Tennessee instead shot its way out of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
As a result, 10th-seeded Syracuse scored its second straight blowout at Scottrade Center, eliminating the Blue Raiders 75-50 to earn a date opposite 11th-seeded Gonzaga in the Midwest Region semifinals Friday night at United Center in Chicago.
Senior guard Michael Gbinije scored a game-high 23 points for the Orange (21-13), canning 10 of 14 shots from the field. Forward Tyler Lydon came off the bench to add 14 points and blocked six shots. Guard Trevor Cooney tallied 12 points, and forward Tyler Roberson contributed 12 points and nine rebounds.
Forward Darnell Harris led Middle Tennessee (25-10) with 11 points, but the Blue Raiders couldn’t find the range against Syracuse’s active 2-3 zone. Middle Tennessee made only 19 of 64 shots from the field (29.7 percent). After consecutive 3-pointers gave the Blue Raiders a 33-31 edge early in the second half, they sank only six of their last 30 shots.
Gbinije’s 3-pointer made it 50-41 Orange with just over 11 minutes remaining, and the game never got any closer. As the Orange did Friday while beating Dayton 70-51, Syracuse poured it on down the stretch, pushing the lead as high as 28 points in the last minute.
Oklahoma 85, Va. Commonwealth 81
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma guard Jordan Woodard lofted an alley-oop pass that Khadeem Lattin grabbed and flushed, and with that, the Sooners finally had the momentum edge they needed to fend off Virginia Commonwealth 85-81 Sunday evening in an NCAA Tournament West Region second-round game at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Buddy Hield scored 29 of his game-high 36 points in the second half, and an Oklahoma-red dominated crowd roared its approval as the second-seeded Sooners (27-7) advanced to the Sweet 16.
Hield hit a 3-pointer that gave Oklahoma a 69-67 lead with 6:37 left. A little more than a minute later, Woodard and Lattin hooked up for their highlight-reel play that boosted the Sooners’ margin to six points.
Those two key baskets came during Oklahoma’s 9-0 run that produced a 75-67 lead with 4:51 to play. Tenth-seeded VCU (25-11) came back relentlessly through the game’s first 35 minutes, but the Rams couldn’t survive Oklahoma’s last surge.
Woodard scored 17 points and guard Isaiah Cousins added 15 as the guard trio once again drove the Oklahoma attack.
Guard Melvin Johnson led the Rams with 23 points and backcourt teammate JeQuan Lewis added 22.
Maryland 73, Hawaii 60
SPOKANE, Wash. — Maryland took Hawaii’s punches for the better part of the 30 minutes, but pulled away in the end for a comfortable 73-60 win and a ticket to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003.
Melo Trimble drained Maryland’s first 3-pointer of the game with 9:33 left in the midst of a 14-0 Maryland run that signaled the Terrapins’ takeover.
Back to back dunks from Diamond Stone and Jake Layman, a one-hand slam in transition giving the Maryland crowd some energy, gave the Terrapins a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Robert Carter kept the onslaught going, drawing the blocking call and converting the and-one to move the lead to 53-41.
Trimble scored 14 of his 24 points in the second half, including 13 of 14 from the free throw line.
Quincy Smith put an end to Maryland’s 14-0 run, getting the Warriors their first point from the free throw line, rattling one in with 7:12 left in the game.
Hawaii battled for most of the contest, leading by as many as seven and leading for just less than 13 minutes in the first half.
Maryland took a 28-27 lead into halftime.
Stone and Trimble each scored 10 apiece to shoulder the scoring load for the Terrapins. Mike Thomas led the Warriors with 10 in the first half.
Big West Player of the Year Stefan Jankovic was held to 14 points on 17 shot attempts, getting almost nothing in the paint while being guarded by Stone and Carter. Mike Thomas led Hawaii with 19.
Indiana 73, Kentucky 67
DES MOINES, Iowa — Fifth-seeded Indiana knocked out fourth-seeded Kentucky on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA East Regional with a 73-67 victory.
Indiana (27-7) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third time in five years and will play next week in Philadelphia. Kentucky’s season ended with a 27-9 record.
With 7:44 remaining, Indiana began seizing control. The Hoosiers moved ahead when Thomas Bryant converted a three-point play to make it 53-50. Bryant put Indiana up 10 with a dunk with 4:10 left to make it 62-52 and then added another dunk in the final minutes to give Indiana a 66-57 advantage.
The Hoosiers finished the game making six of their last seven shots from the field. Bryant had a team-high 19 points, Yogi Ferrell had 18 and Troy Williams added 13.
Tyler Ulis finished with a game-high 27 points for Kentucky.
Kansas 73, Connecticut 61
DES MOINES, Iowa — Kansas secured a spot in the Sweet 16 by picking up its 16th consecutive win as the top-seeded Jayhawks defeated ninth-seeded Connecticut in an NCAA South Regional second-round game Saturday in Wells Fargo Arena.
Nearly from the start, Kansas (32-4) was in command. The Jayhawks used separate 13-0 and 19-0 runs in the first half to lead by as many as 24 points and ultimately take a 44-24 lead into halftime. The 19-0 run included a UConn scoring drought of 7:08.
Paving the way for Kansas was the duo of Perry Ellis and Wayne Selden Jr. Ellis had 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field and grabbed eight boards. Selden finished with 22 points on 8 of 15 from the floor and added seven rebounds.
The Huskies (25-11) were led by Sterling Gibbs with 20 points and Rodney Purvis with 17.
Gonzaga 82, Utah 59
DENVER — Domantas Sabonis had 19 points and 10 rebounds and 11th-seeded Gonzaga routed third-seeded Utah in the second round of the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Regional Saturday.
Eric McClellan scored 22 points and Kyle Wiltjer had 17 for the Bulldogs (27-7), who will play the Middle Tennessee State-Syracuse in Chicago next weekend.
Sabonis got the better of the much-anticipated matchup of big men. Utah’s Jakob Poeltl was a non-factor for most of the game, finishing with five points and four rebounds.
Kyle Kuzma had 15 points and Lorenzo Bonam scored 12 for the Utes (27-9).
Iowa State 78, Arkansas-Little Rock 61
DENVER — Georges Niang scored 28 points, Matt Thomas had 16 and fourth-seeded Iowa State beat No. 12 Arkansas-Little Rock in the second round of the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Regional Saturday.
The Cyclones (23-11) move on to the Sweet 16 in Chicago next weekend.
Roger Woods had 19 points and Lis Shoshi scored 10 for Little Rock, which couldn’t find the same magic that gave them the first-round, double-overtime upset of Purdue on Thursday. Josh Hagins, whose 31 points led the comeback against the Boilermakers, scored only eight points.
Virginia 77, Butler 69
RALEIGH, N.C. — Virginia turned to its stunningly efficient offense in a hot-shooting second half to overcome Butler in an NCAA Tournament second-round game Saturday.
Malcolm Brogdon scored 22 points and Anthony Gill added 19 for the top-seeded Cavaliers (28-7), who shot 56.9 percent from the field and advanced to meet Iowa State in the Sweet 16 on Friday night in Chicago.
The Cavaliers made 12 of their first 13 second-half shots from the field, yet still led only 55-53. But by scoring on 18 of their first 21 possessions in the second half, the Cavaliers pulled away. They also scored the last five points of the game as part of a 54-point second half.
Andrew Chrabascz scored a season-high 25 points for Butler (22-11), including 12 straight for his team during one stretch. He made his first four 3-point attempts.
Duke 71, Yale 64
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Grayson Allen scored 22 of his game-high 29 points in the first half and fourth-seeded Duke survived a second-half surge from 12th-seeded Yale in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday at the Dunkin Donuts Center.
Allen made 10 of 15 shots from the field, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range, Brandon Ingram had 25 points and Luke Kennard added 13 for the defending champion Blue Devils (25-10), who are making their fifth Sweet 16 appearance in seven years.
Brandon Sherrod finished with 22 points, Justin Sears had 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Anthony Dallier scored a career-high 12 for Yale (23-7), which won six of its final seven games. The Bulldogs secured their first NCAA Tournament victory on Thursday, upsetting fifth-seeded Baylor 79-75.
Miami 65, Wichita State 57
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — After two days of upsets, Miami struck a blow for the higher seeds in the NCAA Tournament Saturday, blowing a 21-point first-half lead and then rallying past Wichita State.
The third-seeded Hurricanes (27-7) advanced in the South Regional and to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013.
Angel Rodriguez scored 16 points in the first 10:22 and was then quiet before his late eruption, finishing with a career-high 28 points .
Fred VanVleet and Shaq Morris led the Shockers (26-9) with 12 points apiece.