The first eight bids to the Sweet 16 in the men’s NCAA tournament will be concluded on Saturday, while the women’s tournament ends in the first round.
Furman and Princeton took the sports world by storm Thursday with upsets of No. 4 Virginia and No. 2 Arizona. Both are back in action. The 13-seeded Paladins open men’s action against No. 5 San Diego State. The 15-seeded Tigers will face the differently-ranked Tigers in No. 7 Missouri at 6:10 PM ET (TNT).
On the women’s side, No. 1 seed Indiana was in action after top seeds South Carolina, Virginia Tech and Stanford took care of business on Friday. The Hoosiers opened day two of the women’s first round with a 77-47 win against 16th-seeded Tennessee Tech, which defeated Monmouth in a First Four game on Thursday.
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MEN’S TOURNAMENT: Full results and schedule
Follow the madness: Latest men’s NCAA college basketball tournament results and schedule
TOURNAMENT FOR WOMEN: Full results and schedule
Women: 1. Indiana 77, 16. Tennessee Tech 47
Sydney Parrish led the Hoosiers to a 30-point win over the Golden Eagles with 19 points, eight rebounds and one steal. Indiana had two other starters in double figures: Grace Berger (17 points) and Yarden Garzon (12 points).
But the star of the show was the Hoosiers’ defense with 11 blocks and seven steals in front of a crowd of 14,000 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana. “It’s a big advantage to have a sixth man,” Berger said of the home crowd.
Tennessee Tech was held to eight points in the fourth quarter. Maaliya Owens had a team-high 17 points.
San Diego State wants to stop Furman’s Cinderella run
San Diego State is 20 minutes away from the Sweet 16 as it leads Furman 39-25 at halftime in South Regional second-round action.
The Aztecs took control with an 18-1 run, holding Furman without a field goal for more than 10 minutes. The Paladins shot 33 percent in the first half, including 2 of 11 on three-pointers.
Micah Parrish has 14 points off the bench for SDSU, while Furman’s Jalen Slawson has eight points and two rebounds.
– Scooby Axson
Ranking of Saturday’s matches
Saturday’s winners earn a spot in the Sweet 16, and the eight games feature some of the best teams and players in college basketball. Three No. 1 seeds are in action, and the spotlight is on freshman All-Americans Jalen Wilson of Kansas and Alabama, forward Brandon Miller, and potentially Houston’s do-it-all guard Marcus Sasser.
Here’s a list of the eight games from Saturday, ranked by how watchable they are.
- No. 4 Tennessee vs. No. 5 Duke (2:40 p.m. ET)
- When. 1 Alabama vs. When. 8 Maryland (21:40)
- 7. Missouri vs. 15. Princeton (6:10 p.m.)
- 1. Kansas vs. 8. Arkansas (5:15 p.m.)
- 1. Houston vs. 9. Auburn (7:10 p.m.)
- no. 2 UCLA vs. no. 7 Northwestern (20:40)
- 2. Texas vs. 10. Penn State (7:45 p.m.)
- 5. San Diego State vs. 13. Furman (12:10 p.m.)
– Scooby Axson
Bill Self out again
Kansas head coach Bill Self will not coach the team’s second-round game against Arkansas on Saturday, the school announced. Self continues to recover from a heart catheterization that caused him to miss the Big 12 tournament. The 60-year-old Self was at Jayhawks practice Friday, but mostly sat and watched.
Assistant Norm Roberts will once again serve as the acting head coach for Kansas. He coached the Jayhawks to a 96-68 victory over Howard in the first round.
The defending national champions will take on the Razorbacks at 5:15 pm at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.
Did that really happen?!?!
In case you missed it Friday night (though we can’t imagine how), Purdue became just the second men’s No. 1 seed to drop to 16 since the bracket was expanded to 64 teams in 1985, when Fairleigh Dickinson shocked the nation with a 63- 58 upset.
If there’s a winner besides current Fairleigh Dickinson players and first-year coach Tobin Anderson — not to mention every single FDU graduate and fan — it’s probably Virginia coach Tony Bennett, who now isn’t the only coach to lose to a No. 16 seed. . Ouch. Talk about a club you don’t want to join.
But perhaps the biggest winners are college fans. That we’ve now seen two 16-seeds beat 1-seeds in the last five years is proof that parity continues to grow in men’s college basketball, making the NCAA Tournament more unpredictable and ultimately more fun.
—Lindsay Schnell and Paul Myerberg
The sisters could face off in the second round with Saturday’s wins
Lior Garzon’s initial excitement during Sunday’s selection show was about Oklahoma State hosting the No. 8 seed in the NCAA Women’s Tournament against No. 9 Miami (Fla.). It took the junior forward less than a minute to realize not only were the Cowgirls dancing, but they were also headed to Bloomington, Indiana, where her younger sister, Yarden Garzon, is the new No. 1 guard in Indiana.
At their schools in Ra’anana, Israel, the Garzon sisters had never discussed the possibility of ending up in a group together before Sunday, but they knew it could at least be in play. Indiana tips off against Tennessee Tech at 11:30 a.m. ET, followed by Oklahoma State-Miami at 2 p.m.
Thursday’s team hotel reunion marked the first time the sisters had seen each other since Yarden visited Stillwater, Oklahoma during winter break.
“I’m really excited to watch her play,” said Lior, who is averaging 11 points and shooting 43 percent from the bench.
As for the possibility of an Indiana-Oklahoma State matchup in the second round — and Lior was quick to point out that they still have to win their first-round games — it would be the first time the sisters have faced each other since they played in a club game shortly before Lior left for the United States States.
—Brian Haenchen, Indianapolis Star
Princeton is partying like it’s 1996
No. 15 seed Princeton dominated inside and threw the South Region into chaos with an upset of Arizona.
Maybe this wasn’t quite like when the Tigers pulled off a memorable upset of UCLA in 1996, when they were seeded No. 14 and defeated the third-seeded and defending champion Bruins 43-41. There were more insults and considering how common upsets are now, it probably didn’t shock that many people. But it’s still a big deal. And it’s only Princeton’s second tournament win since that game. The Tigers defeated UNLV in the first round in 1998.
— Lindsay Schnell
What is a Paladin?
Princeton may have pulled off the biggest surprise on Thursday, but 13-seed Furman’s upset of No. 4 Virginia was a fun (unless you’re a Cavaliers fan, of course) start to the 2023 Men’s NCAA Tournament.
Paladins men’s basketball fans have been waiting a long time. It’s been more than 40 years since Furman was last in the tournament, and more than 45 years since its last March Madness win.
The American Heritage College Dictionary defines a Paladin as “a paragon of chivalry” or “a heroic champion.” A paladin was also one of the 12 legendary peers or knight champions present at the court of Charlemagne, or Charlemagne, in the 8th century.
— Jordan Mendoza
Alabama’s biggest adversary may be exhaustion from the endless chaos
The athletic director issued a statement at halftime. The most proven 20-year-old in basketball could not hit before finally going to the bench to rest his sore groin. A walk no one had heard of before Wednesday night threatened to sue the New York Times. And the coach loses his mind at every dribble for two consecutive hours of a game he didn’t even come close to losing.
In other words, it was just another day in Alabama basketball.
— Dan Clouds
Houston destroys title hopes by playing Marcus Sasser before he was ready
It backfired in spectacular fashion.
Just five days after Marcus Sasser strained his groin in the American Athletic Conference tournament semifinals, he returned to the Cougars’ starting lineup Thursday night. For the first round match against team number 16.
To almost no one’s surprise, Sasser didn’t even make it to halftime. Now top-seeded Houston might not make it to the second weekend, let alone the Final Four in its hometown.
—Nancy Armour
The final USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll
Houston entered the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, despite losing in the American Athletic Conference championship game just before the brackets were revealed on Sunday.
The Cougars, who were without leading scorer Marcus Sasser in the loss to Memphis, retained 21 of 32 votes for the No. 1 to hold off second-ranked Alabama. The Crimson Tide picked up eight firsts after winning the SEC title in impressive fashion on Sunday.
Houston defeated Northern Kentucky in its first-round game, while Alabama defeated Texas A&M Corpus Christi in its tournament opener. The Cougars take on No. 9 seed Auburn on Saturday, while the Crimson Tide take on No. 8 seed Maryland.
—Eddie Timanus
