Ricky Council IV and Davonte Davis combined for 46 points and No. 8 seed Arkansas advanced to its third consecutive Sweet 16 with a 72–71 upset of No. 1 seed Kansas on Saturday.
Davis had 21 second-half points and a game high 25, while Council made 10 of 11 free throws and scored 21 with six rebounds and four assists.
Arkansas (22–13) made 21 of 26 free throws and outscored Kansas 15–2 on second-chance points.
Council sealed Arkansas’ upset at the foul line, including the deciding pair with seven seconds left to oust the West Region No. 1 seed.
West
No. 2 UCLA 68, No. 7 Northwestern 63
Jaime Jaquez Jr. registered 24 points and eight rebounds to help the Bruins post a victory over the Wildcats in West Region play at Sacramento, Calif.Amari Bailey added 14 points and six assists as the second-seeded Bruins (31–5) advance to a third straight Sweet 16 for the first time since the program reached three consecutive Final Fours from 2006–08. Tyger Campbell had seven assists and was 12 of 12 from the free-throw line for all of his points.
South
No. 15 Princeton 78, No. 7 Missouri 63
Princeton emphatically took another step as Ryan Langborg scored 22 points to help his team advance to its first Sweet 16 by smothering Missouri in Sacramento, Calif.Princeton (23–8) becomes the third 15th seed—and second in the past two years—to reach the Sweet 16. The others are Florida Gulf Coast (2013) and Saint Peter’s (2022). Saint Peter’s is the only No. 15 seed to make it all the way to a regional final. Princeton will play the winner of Sunday’s game between No. 3 Baylor and No. 6 Creighton.
East
No. 4 Tennessee 65, No. 5 Duke 52
Olivier Nkamhoua scored 23 of his career-best-tying 27 points in the second half to help the Volunteers eliminate the Blue Devils in East Region play in Orlando, Fla.Santiago Vescovi made four 3-pointers while scoring 14 points as Tennessee (25–10) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019. Nkamhoua made 10 of 13 field-goal attempts, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range.
South
No. 1 Alabama 73, No. 8 Maryland 51
Brandon Miller bounced back from a poor game to post 19 points and seven rebounds, leading the Crimson Tide past the Terrapins in Birmingham, Ala.Jahvon Quinerly scored 15 of his game-high 22 in the second half for the Crimson Tide (31–5), while Charles Bediako had 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Crimson Tide owned a 44–32 advantage on the boards, and scored 16 second-chance points on 15 offensive rebounds.
No. 5 San Diego State 75, No. 13 Furman 52
Micah Parrish had 16 points and six rebounds to lead the Aztecs to a blowout victory over the Paladins in Orlando, Fla.Lamont Butler added 12 points, six rebounds and six assists for San Diego State (29–6), which advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2014. Darrion Trammell chipped in 13 points and Matt Bradley finished with 10 points for the Aztecs.
Midwest
No. 1 Houston 81, No. 9 Auburn 64
Tramon Mark scored a career-high 26 points and the Cougars’ defense did the rest, coming back in the second half to win the second-round game in the Midwest Regional in Birmingham, Ala.Houston (33–3) advances to play either fourth-seeded Indiana or fifth-seeded Miami. Top scorers Marcus Sasser and Jamal Shead battle foul difficulties and finished with 22 points and 10 points, respectively.
No. 2 Texas 71, No. 10 Penn State 66
Dylan Disu dominated with a season-high 28 points as the Longhorns advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2008 with a win over the Nittany Lions in the second round.Disu had 10 points in the final 4 minutes, 32 seconds to rescue Texas from a frigid perimeter shooting effort (1 of 13 from 3-point range). Sir'Jabari Rice added 13 points. Allen had nine points, 12 rebounds and three assists while harassing Pickett into seven turnovers.
Pickett had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Camren Wynter led Penn State with 16 points. Andrew Funk, who made 8 of 10 shot attempts from 3-point range Thursday in the first-round win over Texas A&M, was 2 of 10 from 3-point land and finished with 12 points.
