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Oklahoma City • Alex Caruso scored 25 points as Texas A&M overcame a 10-point deficit with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation to come back for a 92-88 double overtime victory over Northern Iowa in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night.
The win puts the third-seeded Aggies (28-8) in the Sweet 16 for the third time in school history, the first since 2007.
Danuel House scored all 22 of his points in the second half and overtime, while Jalen Jones finished with 16 for Texas A&M — which has now won 10 of its last 11 games.
Jeremy Morgan had career highs of 36 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Panthers (23-13), who led 69-59 in the final minute of regulation before committing four turnovers in the final 29 seconds to spark the Aggies comeback.
Texas A&M's spot in next week's Sweet 16 against Oklahoma looked all but impossible when it trailed 69-59 with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation.
However, Admon Gilder's steal and layup with 1.9 seconds remaining tied the game at 71-71 for the Aggies — capping a remarkable last-minute comeback.
House then scored the first eight points of the first overtime for Texas A&M, while Caruso sent the game to a second extra period with his drive and layup with 5.9 seconds remaining to tie the game at 83-83.
In the second overtime, the Aggies led by as many as four points before House finally made the comeback stick with a free throw with 12.6 seconds remaining to give Texas A&M a 92-88 lead.
Klint Carlson scored 17 points to match his career high for Northern Iowa, which was seeking only the second Sweet 16 appearance in school history, while Paul Jesperson had 11 points and Wes Washpun 10 assists.
The Aggies trailed by as many as 15 points in the second half, and their postseason appeared ready to come to an end when Northern Iowa went up 69-57 after two free throws by Morgan with 44 seconds remaining in regulation.
However, with Northern Iowa's Matt Bohannon, the team's main inbounds passer, on the bench with a left knee injury, the Aggies forced the Panthers into several late turnovers. They included one with just seconds remaining by Washpun, who tried to throw the ball off Gilder but instead threw it to the Aggies guard — who scored with 1.9 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.
Texas A&M struggled for much of the game against the Panthers, who advanced to the second round with a buzzer-beating halfcourt winner over Texas by Paul Jesperson.
The Aggies shot 22.2 percent (6 of 27) in the first half, including an 0-of-9 effort by House, but they found the right touch when the needed it in the closing minute.
Brooks rallies top-seed Oregon past St. Joseph's
Spokane, Wash. • Dillon Brooks refused to let top-seed Oregon and the Pac-12 Conference be eliminated on the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, scoring 25 points and leading the Ducks to 69-64 win over No. 8 seed Saint Joseph's in the second round of the West Regional on Sunday night.
Oregon (29-6) was carrying the banner for the rest of the Pac-12 after the conference posted a collective dud on the opening weekend. Five teams were sent home in the first round and Utah was routed by 11th-seeded Gonzaga in the round of 32, leaving the Ducks as the lone conference representative.
And they were tested by the Hawks, rallying from down 58-51 in the final five minutes to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013. Brooks started the rally with a driving three-point play and put Oregon in front for good on a 3-pointer with 1:19 remaining.
DeAndre' Bembry led the Hawks (28-8) with 16 points, but the Atlantic 10 tournament champs saw their postseason run ended.
Despite seeing their lead evaporate in the closing minutes, the Hawks had chances in the final minute but had two terrible offensive possessions. First came a shot clock violation with 49 seconds left, followed by Bembry losing control of the ball trying to get open for a potential tying 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining after Oregon's Casey Benson split a pair of free throws.
Tyler Dorsey was fouled in the ensuing dogpile and made two free throws with 9.8 seconds for the final margin.
While Brooks was the star for the Ducks, Dorsey was in a key supporting role. The freshman scored five straight points late, first following Elgin Cook's miss then hitting an open 3-pointer that gave Oregon a 61-60 lead with 1:53 remaining. Dorsey finished with 14 points and along with Brooks were the only two Oregon players to hit 3-pointers.
Cook added 18 points and Oregon won its 10th straight games.
Lamarr Kimble added 11 points off the bench for SJU after combining to score 11 points in the previous three games. He was the catalyst for a 23-6 run that erased a 10-point Oregon lead and gave the Hawks a 58-51 advantage with 5:30 left after he scored.
But a combination of foul trouble and Oregon's defense shut down St. Joe's Aaron Brown and Isaiah Miles. Brown finished with 10 points and Miles was held to eight points, the first time all season he failed to score in double figures. Miles had the game-winning 3-pointer in the Hawks' dramatic first-round win over Cincinnati.
Wisconsin stuns No. 2 seed Xavier
St. Louis • Bronson Koenig hit two 3-pointers in the closing seconds, the last of them as the buzzer sounded, and Wisconsin edged Xavier 66-63 on Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The talented sharpshooter who failed to hit from beyond the arc in a first-round win over Pittsburgh connected from well beyond the 3-point line to tie it at 63 with 11.7 seconds remaining.
Edmond Sumner brought the ball up court for second-seeded Xavier (28-6), and then drove to the basket, running over the Badgers' Zak Showalter and getting called for an offensive foul with 4.3 seconds to go.
No. 7 seed Wisconsin (22-12) called timeout after crossing half court and coach Greg Gard drew up a play for his best outside shooter. Koenig got the inbound pass in front of his own bench and buried the fallaway shot, sending the jubilant Badgers streaming onto the court and into another Sweet 16.
"I just tried to channel my inner Steph Curry," Koenig said, referring to the reigning NBA MVP.
The Badgers will face sixth-seeded Notre Dame on Friday in Philadelphia.
Koenig finished with six 3-pointers and 20 points. Ethan Happ had 18 points and Vitto Brown finished with 12 for Wisconsin, which improved to 15-5 in the NCAA Tournament over the past six seasons.
Remy Abell and Jalen Reynolds had 13 points apiece for Xavier, which had a 58-49 lead with just over 6 minutes before it slowly evaporated.
The game lived up to its rough-and-tumble billing, the pendulum swinging wildly in the first half.
The Badgers, who struggled to score 16 points by halftime in their 47-43 win over the Panthers, raced out to a 17-8 lead before Xavier could blink. But the 1-3-1 zone of the Musketeers eventually slowed them down, and the Big East runner-ups countered with a 21-8 run of their own.
They led 33-30 at halftime in an arena heavily tilted toward Badger fans.
The lead changed hands six times in the early minutes of the second half before the Musketeers began to assert themselves. Abell knocked down a 3 to give Xavier a 49-47 lead.
Cheered on by super-fan Bill Murray, the actor and comedian whose son Luke is an assistant on Chris Mack's staff, the Musketeers eventually pushed their lead to 58-49 — their biggest of the game.
The Badgers weren't done, though. They never seem to be this time of year.
Seeking a third straight trip to the Final Four, the Badgers quickly cut into their deficit. Koenig hit a pair of foul shots, and then a strip-steal turned into a layup for Showalter, before Hill hit yet another shot to make it 61-57 at the under-4 minute timeout.
The Badgers didn't stop coming back until the final shot of the game.
Maryland pulls away from Hawaii
Spokane, Wash. • Melo Trimble watched Maryland miss its first 15 3-pointers and stand locked in a defensive battle with Hawaii in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Then Trimble sank a 3 during a 14-0 Maryland run and it seemed to break the game open for the Terrapins.
"When that shot went down, it made everybody loose," said Maryland's Rasheed Sulaimon after the Terrapins beat Hawaii 73-60 on Sunday to advance to the round of 16.
Trimble scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds for Maryland, but it was the 3-pointer that did the most damage.
"When I made that 3, I felt great," Trimble said.
Hawaii led 41-39 midway through the second when Sulaimon launched the 14-0 run.
"We told each other we had to relax," Sulaimon said.
Diamond Stone added 14 points for fifth-seeded Maryland (27-8), which advanced to the round of 16 for the eighth time in the past 22 years.
Mike Thomas had 19 points and 11 rebounds for 13th-seeded Hawaii (28-6), which won a tournament game for the first time this season.
"That stretch in the second half was a big hammer," Hawaii coach Eran Ganot said of Maryland's run.
The Rainbow Warriors tried to respond, but Maryland put the game away at the free throw line.
"I'm very proud of our program," said Ganot, who led Hawaii to a team record for victories in his first season as head coach. "They galvanized the state."
Maryland will play Kansas next Thursday in the round of 16.
After a sluggish first half in which Maryland led 28-27, the tempo picked up in the second.
Hawaii went on a 10-4 run to take a 39-36 lead. Then the bottom fell out.
Trimble's 3-pointer, the first of the game for Maryland after 15 misses, highlighted a 14-0 run that put the Terps ahead 53-41 with just over seven minutes left. Hawaii made just 1-of-13 field goal attempts during Maryland's run.
"We didn't make the shots we are supposed to make," said Hawaii's Stefan Jankovic. "We missed a lot of layups."
Maryland had a big advantage in free throws, making 28 of 31. Hawaii made 10 of 15.
"We didn't get to the line as much as we like," Ganot said. "That's on us."
Neither team shot well. Maryland connected on 46 percent of its shots, but only made 1 of 18 from 3-point range. Hawaii shot 33 percent.
Maryland coach Mark Turgeon said making the round of 16 was satisfying after Maryland's recent run of losses.
"To be a part of the Sweet 16 is a big step for us," Turgeon said. "We feel good about ourselves."
Maryland missed its first six shots and didn't score a field goal until six minutes into the game, but Hawaii held only a 6-4 lead at that point. Hawaii made only five of its first 15 shots.
Hawaii built a 10-4 lead, but Diamond Stone scored four baskets as the Terps took a 14-13 lead.
The teams traded baskets as the scoring pace picked up. Maryland led 28-27 lead at halftime.
This season has been an unexpected success for Hawaii under first-year coach Eran Ganot. In December, the NCAA slapped his program with sanctions for infractions committed under former coach Gib Arnold. The penalties include a 2016-17 postseason ban, scholarship reductions and players being allowed to transfer without having to sit out a year.
Instead of crumbling, the Warriors won the Big West Conference. They set a school record for victories in a season by beating California 77-66 in the first round of the tournament, their first win after four losses in the NCAAs.
Meanwhile, Maryland hung on to beat South Dakota State 79-74 in the first round.
It's been an up-and-down season for the Terrapins, who at one point were ranked No. 2 in the nation before losing five of their final eight games before the tournament.
No. 10 Syracuse routs No. 15 Middle Tennessee, 75-50
St. Louis • There is no more looking backward for Syracuse these days.
No more time spent pondering the past.
After suffocating No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee State with their trademark zone defense in a 75-50 thrashing on Sunday night to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16, the only thing the No. 10 seed Orange are focused on is just how much farther they can go in the NCAA Tournament.
"We have to make sure we understand there's a lot to be done, a lot that can be done. A lot of good things can happen," longtime coach Jim Boeheim said. "We need to focus on those things."
Besides, looking backward isn't all that appealing — that nasty NCAA investigation, the suspension of their coach, the lousy finish to the regular season that left them teetering on the tournament bubble.
Better to live in the present and dream about the future: The Orange will join five other ACC schools, a record from a single conference, in the next round when they play Gonzaga on Friday in Chicago.
"To win these games," the Orange's Trevor Cooney said, "I mean, it's unbelievable."
Michael Gbinije poured in 23 points and Tyler Lydon added 14 against Middle Tennessee State, but the game hinged on a 21-2 run midway through the second half that cracked open what had been a close affair.
"They just took over," Blue Raiders coach Kermit Davis said. "Their length really bothered us around the goal. We couldn't get anything in there. And their perimeter was absolutely terrific."
The Blue Raiders (25-10), who shredded so many brackets with their upset of second-seeded Michigan State, made things tough on Syracuse for a while. They led early in the second half and still trailed just 40-39 with 16:02 to go, but proceeded to make one of their next 16 field-goal attempts.
Darnell Harris wound up leading Middle Tennessee State with 11 points, while Reggie Upshaw — who had 21 in that landmark victory over the Spartans — was held to two on 1-for-10 shooting.
"These guys have a firm legacy in the history of this school, the history of this tournament, and that's what they'll be judged on," Davis said. "We'll forget about this one really quickly."
Cooney got Syracuse (21-13) off to a good start with three early 3s, but he was just as valuable alongside Gbinije at the top of its zone. The long, athletic guards were able to cut off the Blue Raiders before they could drive to the basket, forcing them to take a series of off-balance jumpers.
Still, their trouble at the foul line allowed Middle Tennessee State to hang in the game.
The Orange led just 31-27 at halftime, and the hardscrabble Blue Raiders even managed to pull ahead when Giddy Potts followed a 3-pointer by Jaqawn Raymond with one of his own out of the break.
But after Potts, the nation's top 3-point shooter, hit again a few minutes later, the Blue Raiders managed one more field goal over the next 11 minutes. They resorted to deep 3-pointers rather than even try to penetrate the Syracuse defense, and Lydon kept swatting away the few inside chances they had.
"We knew their zone was good," Harris said. "We just couldn't make shots."
Meanwhile, Gbinije started to heat up. The senior knocked down a pair of pull-up jumpers, then curled in a 3 from opposite the Syracuse bench, giving the Orange a 50-41 lead with just over 11 minutes to go.
By the time their game-defining run was over, the Orange were feeling sweet again.
The program has been overshadowed the past couple of years by an NCAA investigation into improper benefits and academic misconduct. The penalties included the loss of scholarships, the vacating of wins and a nine-game suspension for Boeheim while keeping the Orange out of the postseason a year ago.
Well, they're back. And now they're sticking around for a while.
No. 2 Oklahoma beats No. 10 VCU, 85-81
Oklahoma City • Buddy Hield scored 19 of his 36 points in the final eight minutes to help No. 2 seed Oklahoma hold off No. 10 seed VCU 85-81 on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Hield, who didn't score for more than 10 minutes to start the game, made 9 of 12 shots in the second half after going 2 for 8 in the first. The senior guard posted at least 30 points for the 11th time this season.
Jordan Woodard scored 17 points and Isaiah Cousins added 15 for the Sooners (27-7), who advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year.
Melvin Johnson scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, JeQuan Lewis scored 22 points and Michael Gilmore added 12 for VCU (25-11), which was trying to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since its Final Four run in 2011.
Oklahoma started the game on a 21-7 run despite Hield going scoreless. VCU hit three 3-pointers in a three-minute span to cut the Sooners' lead to 30-25.
Hield sat for the final 4:25 of the first half with two fouls. The Sooners led 32-27 when he went to the bench, but they outscored the Rams 12-4 the rest of the half to lead 44-31 at the break. Hield scored seven points on 2-for-8 shooting in the first half. Lewis scored 13 points in the first half to keep the Rams within range.
Johnson, who struggled in the first half, hit two quick threes at the beginning of the second half to spark the Rams. VCU trimmed Oklahoma's lead to 49-45 before the Sooners regrouped with five straight points by Woodard.
VCU rallied, and two threes by Gilmore put the Rams up 62-61.
VCU led 65-63 when Hield scored eight points in 1:53, including two 3-pointers, to put the Sooners ahead for good.
No. 6 Notre Dame edges No. 14 Stephen F. Austin in thriller, 76-75
New York • Rex Plfueger tapped in a miss with 1.5 seconds left and Notre Dame survived a valiant effort by No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin 76-75 on Sunday to reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season.
With 17.5 seconds left, sixth-seed Notre Dame grabbed an SFA rebound down one and put it in the hands of Demetrius Jackson. The point guard drove to the basket and missed. Zach Auguste followed for the Irish (23-11) but could not convert. The ball slipped off the rim and with one hand Pflueger flipped it in for his only basket of the game.
A long heave from Stephen F. Austin (28-6) went wide and Notre Dame celebrated by swarming Pflueger.
The Irish advance to play either Wisconsin or Xavier Friday in the East Regional at Philadelphia.
Thomas Walkup, the hero of Stephen F. Austin's first-round upset of West Virginia, scored 21.
Jackson had 18 points, helping the Irish erase a five-point lead in the last two minutes with a driving layup and two free throws.
The Lumberjacks' first-round win against West Virginia was a defensive grind, with both teams pressuring the ball and making few shots. No mid-major has been as dominate in its conference over the last three seasons as SFA, making its third straight tournament appearance. The Lumberjacks never flinched in the face of West Virginia's full-court press and on Sunday they went shot-for-shot with the Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame finally started putting a little distance between itself and SFA when V.J. Beachem hit a fallaway to make it 62-55 with a 9:18 left.
Then Walkup answered with a conventional three-point play and Demetrious Floyd made back-to-back 3s and with 6:58 left it was 64-all.
When Floyd made a 3 in transition with 3:31 left, it gave SFA a 73-70 lead. SFA forced turnovers on Notre Dame's next two possessions — the Lumberjacks lead the nation in taking it away — and Walkup made to from the line to up the lead to five. It was the last points of the tournament for Stephen F. Austin.
Walkup picked up his third foul with 17:53 left in the second half. He stayed in and dropped in a jumper a few moments later, but coach Brad Underwood had to sit his star for a chunk of the second half that he might not have otherwise.
The Lumberjacks showed they could pick up for the two-time Southland Conference player of the year, getting offense from T.J. Holyfield (15 points) and Floyd (16).
Villanova back into Sweet 16 with 87-68 rout of Iowa
New York • Josh Hart scored 19 points and second-seeded Villanova advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2009 with an 87-68 rout of seventh-seeded Iowa on Sunday in the South Regional.
Villanova's senior class, led by Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu, made it to the tournament's second weekend for the first time. They were upset in the round of 32 the last two seasons and didn't make it that far as freshmen.
The Wildcats (31-5) will meet third-seeded Miami on Thursday in Louisville, Kentucky.
There was no doubt in this one. Villanova led 54-29 at halftime and by as many as 34 points in the second half. The closest Iowa (22-11) got was 16 points in the final minutes.
Arcidiacono scored 16 points, Kris Jenkins 15 and Jalen Brunson 12. Ochefu had six points and 11 rebounds.
Jarrod Uthoff led Iowa with 16 points. Nicolas Baer had 15 and Peter Jok 11.
The Wildcats took command about 12 minutes in. While Villanova was hitting almost every shot it took — the Wildcats made seven of their first 10 3-point attempts — Iowa couldn't come up with a basket to stem the tide.
The Hawkeyes went five minutes with a field goal, and Villanova took a 39-21 lead. It didn't get any better for Iowa, and it couldn't have remained any better for the Wildcats against the Hawkeyes' zone.
Villanova, which wasn't fazed in the least by Iowa's midcourt trap, closed the half on an 8-0 run. The 54 points were the most the Wildcats have ever scored in a half in the NCAA Tournament.
Villanova shot 60.6 percent in the half. Three players — Jenkins, Hart and Brunson — had already reached double figures. Villanova had just four turnovers, none of which Iowa scored off, and it turned the Hawkeyes' eight turnovers into 12 points. The Wildcats outrebounded Iowa 19-12.
Villanova lost in the round of 32 as a No. 1 seed last season and as a No. 2 seed in 2014.
The Wildcats had advanced to the second round Friday with an 86-56 thrashing of UNC-Asheville while Iowa needed overtime to beat Temple 72-70 on a tip-in at the buzzer.
Iowa last reached the Sweet 16 in 1999.