The Athletic has live coverage of the 2025 Men’s March Madness.
All four No. 1 seeds have advanced to the Sweet 16, using notably different ways to get there.
Saturday, Auburn started slow (again) before blowing past Creighton in the second half, and Houston started fast before fending off a dangerous Gonzaga squad.
No. 4 Maryland stole the show Sunday with a buzzer-beating thriller to stun No. 12 Colorado State after the Rams had led for over half the game. Later, Arizona erased a double-digit first-half deficit to defeat Oregon and advance to next weekend’s Sweet 16. Earlier Sunday, No. 1 Florida ended UConn’s three-peat hopes in a hard-fought, well-played contest, and Duke was the last No. 1 to advance out of the second round, crushing Baylor with a dominant performance.
That is just the tip of the iceberg this weekend, however, and The Athletic has you covered with postgame takeaways, in-depth analysis and expert insight.
No. 4 Arizona 87, No. 5 Oregon 83
SEATTLE — When Caleb Love gets going, he’s hard to stop.
That was evident his sophomore year at North Carolina when he exploded in the NCAA Tournament and led UNC to the Final Four. And it was clear again Sunday night when the senior guard turned in a terrific sequence that helped the Wildcats secure an 87-83 win over Oregon, even though they trailed by 15 early on.
First, Love hit a big 3 with 4:16 to play to push Arizona’s lead to 75-70. On Oregon’s next possession, he boarded a big Ducks miss. Two plays later, he skied for a one-handed dunk that gave the Wildcats a 77-70 lead with 2:37 to go. Thirty-six seconds later, he pulled up for another 3. And his two free throws with 2.2 seconds left made it a two-possession game. He finished with 29 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
The takeaway: When Love is on, so are the Wildcats. Tobe Awaka’s production (12 points, 14 rebounds) and an impressive rebounding margin (44-37) are sending Arizona to the Sweet 16. Oregon’s 55 percent free-throw performance (12-of-22) didn’t help the Ducks and is particularly glaring in such a big game. — Lindsay Schnell
No. 4 Maryland 72, No. 12 Colorado State 71
SEATTLE — Maryland is moving on to the Sweet 16, its first since 2016, behind a game winner from Derik Queen, who scored a team-high 17 points in the Terrapins’ thrilling 72-71 victory. Colorado State’s loss means that, for the first time since 2007, no team playing in the second weekend will be seeded 11th or higher. The game was a weird one, with Colorado State owning the boards and scoring more points in the paint despite Maryland’s significant size advantage.
DERIK QUEEN AT THE BUZZER 🚨
Maryland is headed to the Sweet 16 🔥
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 24, 2025
But the strangest takeaway might involve the coaches: CSU’s Niko Medved is likely headed to Minnesota after six seasons with the Rams, and Maryland coach Kevin Willard is rumored to be in the mix for Villanova’s opening. — Lindsay Schnell
No. 2 Michigan State 71, No. 10 New Mexico 63
CLEVELAND — Tom Izzo held the posture of a championship-winning head coach of 30 years when Michigan State trailed by double digits in the first half. There were his typical fits of fire and fury, whether directed at the officials or his players, but Izzo and the Spartans never panicked.
Izzo’s posture remained firm in the final 20 minutes as the second-seeded Spartans overcame an early deficit to defeat 10th-seeded New Mexico 71-63 to advance to the Sweet 16.
Michigan State slowly fought back in a game that began in favor of New Mexico’s pace, which helped the Lobos jump out to an early 10-point lead. The Spartans began chipping away at New Mexico’s lead late in the first half before eventually taking control in the second half.
Michigan State survived a dreadful shooting night by star freshman Jase Richardson, who finished 1-for-10 from the field with just 6 points, though his only bucket came on a dagger putback in the final minute. Fellow guards Tre Holloman and Jaden Akins picked up the slack, combining for 30 points.
The Spartans move on to face No. 6-seed Ole Miss in Atlanta in the third round of the South regional. — Justin Williams
Tom Izzo’s 16th Sweet 16 trip comes thanks to identity-affirming MSU win
No. 6 Ole Miss 91, No. 3 Iowa State 78
MILWAUKEE — The philosophy for Ole Miss basketball since Chris Beard arrived two seasons ago has been to get old and stay old. So when Beard went to the transfer portal last offseason to reshape his roster with six new players, he felt pretty good about the potential for a group that featured 11 upperclassmen.
That veteran-led team showed its moxie at Fiserv Forum as No. 6-seed Ole Miss knocked out No. 3-seed Iowa State 91-78 on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Rebels reached the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history and the first time since 2001. Ole Miss led 40-29 at halftime and dominated for much of the second half. By the end, with Ole Miss on the verge of becoming the seventh team from its conference to reach the Sweet 16, its fans released chants of “S-E-C!”
Never before has Ole Miss (24-11) advanced beyond the Sweet 16, but this battle-tested Rebels team certainly possesses the talent to make history. Six players average double figures in scoring, and five of them — Sean Pedulla, Jaemyn Brakefield, Malik Dia, Matthew Murrell and Jaylen Murray — scored in double digits against Iowa State (25-10), which trailed by as many as 26 points. Ole Miss shot 57.9 percent from 3-point range (11-of-19), with five players making at least one. — Jesse Temple
No. 2 Alabama 80, No. 7 St. Mary’s 66
CLEVELAND — The missed shot ping-ponged off flailing arms and fingertips near the baseline, creating the type of 50-50 ball that makes coaches go hoarse.
Alabama’s Clifford Omoruyi finally got two hands off and handed it to star point guard Mark Sears, who quickly bolted the length of the court for a layup. Alabama coach Nate Oats pumped both fists on the sideline, cheering on an early tone-setter in the Crimson Tide’s 80-66 win over St. Mary’s.
Alabama’s wire-to-wire win was the first time the Gaels have given up 80 points in 106 games dating back to an 82-69 loss to Gonzaga in the WCC tournament championship on March 8, 2022.
If Oats said it once, he said it a dozen times in his Saturday news conference ahead of No. 2-seed Alabama’s second-round matchup against the No. 7-seed Gaels.
“Defensive rebounding is going to be a big key,” Oats said. “If we can limit them to one tough shot as much as possible, and then, off the defensive rebound, get out and we will run.”
If the tournament were a 68-team cage match, St. Mary’s would have a claim to the top overall seed, with a roster full of hulking, veteran bruisers. But Alabama turned the game into a track meet by limiting St. Mary’s’ put-back opportunities and getting in transition.
.@AlabamaMBB was on a ROLL in the first half 🐘#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/1a04M4iyVp
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2025
The Gaels, who had the second-best offensive rebound rate in the country, finished with a 15-8 advantage on the offensive glass but turned it into only nine second-chance points. They had plenty of opportunities as well, shooting just 34 percent from the field and only 25 percent in the first half.
Alabama got more than enough stops, finishing plus-five on the boards overall, and shot 52 percent from the floor, including 41 percent from 3-point range. Sears made just 5 of 15 shots but controlled the game with his pace, scoring 12 points as one of six Alabama players in double figures.
Mitchell Saxen led St. Mary’s with 15 points. WCC Player of the Year Augustas Marciulionis added 11 points on just 3-for-11 from the field.
Alabama, coming off last year’s run to the Final Four, advances to its third straight Sweet 16 and fourth in the past five seasons under Oats. The Tide will face No. 6-seed BYU in Newark, N.J., in the third round of the East regional. — Justin Williams
No. 3 Kentucky 84, No. 6 Illinois 75
MILWAUKEE — An offensive explosion early in the second half propelled Kentucky to an 84-75 victory over Illinois. The Wildcats made 10 of their first 11 field goal attempts to start the second stanza en route to building a lead that swelled to as many as 16 points.
Illinois refused to go away, cutting the deficit to 6 with 1:36 remaining, but Kentucky coolly put the game away with timely free throws and stout defense to clinch its first Sweet 16 berth since 2019.
That is especially impressive for first-year coach Mark Pope, who before this season hadn’t won an NCAA Tournament game in his coaching career. Koby Brea’s 23 points led the way, and the Wildcats now face Tennessee for the third time this season. Kentucky swept the first two meetings. — Jim Root
Kentucky’s Mark Pope gives fan ‘1 of 1’ experience, delivering on free gas pledge
No. 1 Duke 89, No. 9 Baylor 66
RALEIGH, N.C. — Duke’s dominance continued on Sunday, as the Blue Devils blasted the Baylor Bears to advance to the Sweet 16. Jon Scheyer’s team has now won its first two NCAA Tournament games by a combined 67 points.
Crucially for Duke, Cooper Flagg once again looked fully recovered from the ankle injury he suffered in the ACC tournament. The likely No. 1 NBA Draft pick posted 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists in 29 minutes.
To Baylor’s credit, the Bears hung around for most of the first half, but Duke broke the game open after Norchad Omier picked up a third foul with 4:47 left. Duke shot 65 percent from the field in the first half to build a 47-30 lead at the break, and Tyrese Proctor’s scalding shooting (7-of-8 from 3-point range, 25 points) kept the game out of reach down the stretch. — Jim Root
No. 1 Florida 77, No. 8 UConn 75
RALEIGH, N.C. — The winner of 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament games and the last two national championships was never going to bow out easily.
So Walter Clayton Jr. forced the issue.
After 37 minutes of neck-and-neck basketball Sunday inside Lenovo Center, in which No. 8 UConn gave No. 1 Florida all it could handle, Clayton — Florida’s All-American guard and leading scorer — finally delivered the decisive run the Gators needed to pull out a 77-75 win and advance to the Sweet 16.
Clayton made two free throws with 1:45 to play, and then a dagger 3-pointer with 1:07 left, which made up the bulk of UF’s game-winning 8-0 run. Then, Alijah Martin’s offensive rebound and subsequent dunk with 40 ticks left gave Todd Golden’s team just enough late breathing room to survive one final UConn push.
SWEET STRING MUSIC FROM WALTER CLAYTON 🎶
The First Team All American gives No. 1 Florida its first lead of the second half vs. No. 8 UConn.
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 23, 2025
The timing couldn’t have been better for Clayton, who didn’t make a shot for the game’s first 15 minutes before finally turning into the best version of himself after halftime; he scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the final 20 minutes, as Florida came from behind to end UConn’s bid for a third straight national championship.
It was clear early that UConn wasn’t going to go away easily, just like coach Dan Hurley suggested Friday night after his team beat Oklahoma in a slog of an 8-9 game. Case in point? Despite the Huskies only shooting 32.4 percent overall and 22.2 percent from 3 in the first half, a Hassan Diarra 3-pointer only seconds before the halftime buzzer — so deep it might as well have been from Storrs — kept things knotted at the break.
Then, instead of the top-seeded Gators coming out of halftime with their hair on fire, it was Hurley’s Huskies who did so, rattling off a 7-1 run that gave them a lead they maintained for most of the second half. The teams kept trading points for the bulk of the second frame: UConn was never able to fully separate, and Florida was never able to fully catch back up.
It wasn’t until the final three minutes that the Gators’ top-ranked offense finally found enough oomph to give Florida the necessary cushion — and, for the first time in three postseasons, to send UConn back to Storrs without a national title trophy. — Brendan Marks
Top things to watch for in upcoming action
No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 4 Arizona (9:40 p.m. ET on TBS)
In an old-school Pac-12 showdown, the defense-minded Ducks will look to slow down the 12th-best offense in the country.
Oregon should avoid a shootout, as it is 11-0 when allowing 65 points or fewer and 16-1 when teams score fewer than 73.
The Ducks are led by third-team All-Big Ten point guard Jackson Shelstad, who averages 13.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
Oregon isn’t great at any one thing offensively but has four starters who average more than 10 points per game.
Arizona runs an aggressive, attack-minded offense led by Caleb Love — a volatile but fearless scorer who might go cold for stretches yet somehow always rises to the moment when the game’s on the line. The Wildcats like to push the pace and light up the scoreboard, having been held under 73 points just seven times all season.
The steadier and more disciplined team will win this game and head to the Sweet 16.
(Top photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
