Sweet 16 is set featuring four Pac-12 teams

One day after No. 12 Oregon State punched its ticket to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, fellow Pac-12 members USC, Oregon and UCLA joined the Beavers in the Sweet 16.

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – MARCH 22: The Kansas Jayhawks take on the USC Trojans in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Division I MenÕs Basketball Tournament held at Hinkle Fieldhouse on March 22, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Brett Wilhelm/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

No. 6 USC handed No. 3 Kansas its worst loss in the NCAA Tournament 85-51. It was the Jayhawks’ third worst loss in the program’s illustrious history. The Trojans hit 57% of their shots and made 11 of their 18 attempts (61%) from 3-point land. Defensively, they held Kansas to 29% shooting.

Isaiah Mobley tallied 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Evan Mobley stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three blocks.

No. 7 Oregon raced past second-seeded Iowa 95-80 in a fast-paced, high-scoring affair. The Ducks scored the final 10 points of the first half to take a 56-40 advantage into the locker room. Chris Duarte scored 23 points for the Ducks. Iowa’s Luka Garza poured in 36 points to go along with nine rebounds.

“It all hit me at once that this is the last time that I’ll put on this jersey,” Garza said. “We did a lot of really, really good things this year. It just hurts that we weren’t able to do it when it mattered most. That’s something that is going to haunt me forever.”

Meanwhile, No. 11 UCLA topped No. 14 Abilene Christian 67-47. It marked the Bruins third win of the tournament after disposing of Michigan State in the First Four and of BYU in the round of 64.

The Pac-12 had five teams in the field; the highest-seeded team was USC. By contrast, the Big Ten boasted nine teams in the bracket, including four of the top eight seeds, but only one of them survived the first two rounds.

Top-seed Michigan is the last remaining Big Ten team after the Wolverines used a 14-1 second-half run to claim an 86-78 victory over No. 8 LSU. The Michigan bench outscored the LSU reserves 26-2. Eli Brooks and Chaundee Brown scored 21 apiece.

Top overall seed Gonzaga topped No. 8 Oklahoma 87-71 behind Drew Timme’s career-high 30 points and 13 rebounds. He was nine-of-12 from the field and 12-of-14 from the free throw line.

No. 4 Florida State triumphed over No. 5 Colorado 71-53. The Seminoles advanced to their third consecutive Sweet 16 behind a strong second half in which they scored 47 points. They shot 53% from the field for the game.

Meanwhile, second-seeded Alabama rolled over No. 10 Maryland 96-77. The Crimson Tide were red hot from 3-point land and knocked down 16 of their 33 attempts from deep (49%).

No. 5 Creighton downed No. 13 Ohio 72-58. The Bluejays are in the regional semifinals for the first time since 1974, when the tournament consisted of 25 teams.

This group for the Sweet 16 has the highest average seed at 5.88. It includes a 15-seed (Oral Roberts), a 12-seed (Oregon State) and a pair of 11s (UCLA and Syracuse).

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