On Thursday, March 27 and Friday, March 28, the Men’s Sweet 16 took place. Sixteen teams faced off to secure their spot in the Elite 8. Four games were played on Thursday and the other four were played on Friday. Each region had two games.
In the West region, the games were played in San Francisco on Thursday. The first game was one seed Florida versus four seed Maryland. Will Richard led Florida in scoring with fifteen points and Derik Queen led Maryland in scoring with twenty-seven points. Florida defeated Maryland 77 – 62. The second game was three seed Texas Tech versus ten seed Arkansas. Christian Anderson led Texas Tech in scoring with twenty-two points and Johnell Davis led Arkansas in scoring with thirty points. Texas Tech defeated Arkansas 85 – 83 in overtime.
In the East region, the games were played in Newark on Thursday. The first game was two seed Alabama versus six seed BYU. Mark Sears led Alabama in scoring with thirty-four points and Richie Saunders led BYU in scoring with twenty-five points. Alabama defeated BYU 113 – 88. The second game was one seed Duke versus four seed Arizona. Cooper Flagg led Duke in scoring with thirty points and Caleb Love led Arizona in scoring with thirty-five points. Duke defeated Arizona 100 – 93.
In the South region, the games were played in Atlanta on Friday. The first game in the South region was two seed Michigan State versus six seed Ole Miss. Jase Richardson led Michigan State in scoring with twenty points and Sean Pedulla led Ole Miss with twenty-four points. Michigan State defeated Ole Miss 73 – 70. The second game was one seed Auburn versus five seed Michigan. Johni Broome led Auburn in scoring with twenty-two points and Danny Wolf led Michigan with twenty points. Auburn defeated Michigan 78 – 65.
In the Midwest region, the games were played in Indianapolis on Friday. The first game was two seed Tennessee versus three seed Kentucky. Zakai Zeigler led Tennessee in scoring and Lamont Butler led Kentucky in scoring. Each had eighteen points. Tennessee defeated Kentucky 78 – 65. The second game was one seed Houston versus four seed Purdue. Milos Uzan led Houston in scoring with twenty-two points and Fletcher Loyer led Purdue in scoring with sixteen points. Houston defeated Purdue 62 – 60.
It was an exciting two days of basketball and by the end of the night on Friday eight teams had punched their ticket to the Elite 8. Florida, Texas Tech, Alabama, Duke, Michigan State, Auburn, Tennessee, and Houston all advanced to the Elite 8.
