Couple of deuces fall
Gonzaga players react from the bench after the Zags scored late against Iowa during the second half Sunday in Seattle.
Wichita State’s Fred VanVleet reacts after hitting a three-pointer against Kansas during the first half Sunday in Omaha, Neb. Wichita State defeated second-seeded Kansas to advance to the Sweet 16.
Duke’s Jahlil Okafor made sure there were no surprises for the Blue Devils reaching the Sweet 16. No such luck for a pair of No 2 seeds in Kansas and Virginia.
Kansas lost to Wichita State in a victory for an upstart school thirsting for a shot against the Jayhawks. And Michigan State continued its March success under coach Tom Izzo thanks to Travis Trice, who took command from the start to hand the ACC its first loss in this NCAA Tournament.
East Region
Michigan State 60, Virginia 54: Travis Trice scored 23 points, and Michigan State knocked second-seeded Virginia out of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year, 60-54.
Branden Dawson added 15 points and nine rebounds for the seventh-seeded Spartans, who advanced to the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in the last eight seasons under coach Tom Izzo. The Spartans will play Oklahoma in Syracuse, N.Y., Friday.
With top seed Villanova having lost Saturday, it is the first time a No. 1 and 2 seed from the same region didn’t advance to the Sweet 16 since Kentucky and Gonzaga in 2004.
The Spartans stole a page from last year’s regional semifinal win, limiting the Cavaliers to 29.8 percent shooting. Virginia finished 2 of 17 from 3-point range.
Oklahoma 72, Dayton 66: Jordan Woodard had 16 points and a steal that set up Buddy Hield for a layup to give Oklahoma a lead it never relinquished as the Sooners locked down the Flyers, quieted their fans and advanced to the second weekend with a 72-66 victory.
Sooners coach Lon Kruger became the second coach to take four schools to the round of 16. Dayton (27-9) came up a victory short of their second straight trip to the Sweet Sixteen as an 11th seed.
Hield scored 15 points, including a layup off a feed from Woodard at 5:56 that made it 57-56. Oklahoma (24-10) rallied with its defense, holding Dayton scoreless for 9:04 and without a basket for 10:32 in the second half.
Louisville 66, Northern Iowa 53: Rick Pitino and Louisville are heading to the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight year.
Terry Rozier scored 25 points to lift the fourth-seeded Cards to a 66-53 victory over fifth-seeded Northern Iowa.
Montrezl Harrell added 14 for Louisville (26-8), including a couple of game-sealing alley-oop jams on passes from Rozier.
The Cardinals will play eighth-seeded North Carolina State Friday in an East Region that is now missing the top two seeds.
South Region
Duke 68, San Diego State 49: Jahlil Okafor scored 18 of his 26 points in a dominating first half and Duke beat San Diego State 68-49, sending the top-seeded Blue Devils back to the Sweet 16.
Fellow freshman Justise Winslow added 13 points and 12 rebounds for Duke (31-4), which for the second straight tournament game ran out to a quick lead and stayed in control the rest of the way.
Duke advanced to face fifth-seeded Utah in Houston’s South Region semifinals.
Duke shot 55 percent against the eighth-seeded Aztecs (27-9), two days after shooting 63 percent against Robert Morris.
Gonzaga 87, Iowa 68:
Kyle Wiltjer scored 13 of his 24 points during Gonzaga’s flawless first half, Domantas Sabonis added 18 points and the second-seeded Bulldogs advanced to the round of 16 for the first time since 2009 with a 87-68 win over No. 7 seed Iowa.
After five straight departures on the first weekend, the Bulldogs (34-2) are back in the regional semifinals, thanks to efficient offensive performance in the first 20 minutes that Iowa could never overcome.
Wiltjer made his first six shots before finally missing a 3-point attempt midway through the second half. Sabonis added eight in the first half, including a thundering left-handed dunk that was followed by a scream that had KeyArena roaring just like Gonzaga’s home gym.
Jared Uthoff led Iowa (22-12) with 20 and Aaron White added 19.
Midwest Region
Wichita State 78, Kansas 65:
No wonder Kansas never wants anything to do with Wichita State.
Behind another steady performance from Fred VanVleet and the hot shooting of Evan Wessel, the No. 7 seed Shockers rolled past the second-seeded Jayhawks 78-65, earning a trip to the Sweet 16 at the expense of the school that has caused them so much chagrin.
Tekele Cotton led the way with 19 points for the Shockers (30-4). VanVleet finished with 17 and Wessel hit four 3-pointers and scored 12, sending the Missouri Valley champions to Cleveland for the Midwest Regional semifinal against third-seeded Notre Dame.
Devonte’ Graham and Perry Ellis had 17 points each, and Frank Mason added 16 for the Jayhawks (27-9), who blew an early eight-point lead and never really threatened in the second half.
West Region
Wisconsin 72, Oregon 65:
Sam Dekker scored 17 points to lead four Wisconsin players in double figures, and the No. 1-seeded Badgers are headed back to the Sweet 16 after defeating Oregon 72-65.
The Badgers (33-3) beat the Ducks (26-10) in the round of 32 for the second straight year and will go to Los Angeles to play fourth-seeded North Carolina in the Sweet 16 on Thursday. It’s the fourth time in five years the Badgers made the regional semifinals.
Wisconsin played with the lead all game until Dwayne Benjamin tied it at 52 with a high-arcing 3-pointer from in front of his bench with 5:27 left. The Badgers took the lead right back, though, with Dekker’s reverse layup and 3-pointer to make it 58-52.
Joseph Young, who scored 27 points in a win over Oklahoma State Friday, had 30 against the Badgers.