NCAA March Madness: Defending champ Duke back in Sweet 16

Here's what's happening in the second round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament:

(4) Duke 71, (12) Yale 64

Grayson Allen had 29 points, including five 3-pointers, to help Duke fend off a furious rally by Yale and advance to the Sweet 16 with victory on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament.

Brandon Ingram added 25 points and five rebounds for the defending champions, who will play the winner of top-seeded Oregon and St. Joseph's.

The West Region's No. 4 seed, Duke led by as many as 27 points in the battle of the brainy schools before seeing that dwindle to just three points with less than a minute to play.

Yale came close to forcing a needed turnover, but eventually had to foul. Duke connected on four of its final five free-throws to close out the game.

Brandon Sherrod led the 12th-seeded Bulldogs with 22 points. Justin Sears added 12 points and 11 rebounds.

(5) Indiana 73, (4) Kentucky 67

Kentucky had the stars. But Indiana had more toughness — and that's why the Hoosiers are headed back to the Sweet 16.

Thomas Bryant scored 15 of his 19 points in the final eight minutes, Yogi Ferrell had 18 and fifth-seeded Indiana beat Kentucky to earn a spot in the Sweet 16.

The Hoosiers (27-7) will return to the regional semifinals for the first time since 2012 despite losing starting guard Robert Johnson to an apparent left ankle injury late in the first half.

Indiana took control with a 17-4 run to go up 10 with four minutes left. Tyler Ulis and Alex Poythress pulled Kentucky within 69-67 on free throws, but Bryant hit two from the line with 10 seconds to go to seal the win.

Ulis scored 27 points for Kentucky (27-9), which suffered its earliest NCAA Tournament exit since 2008 — when it lost to a Marquette team then led by current Indiana coach Tom Crean.

Jamal Murray added 16 for the Wildcats, but he was just 1-for-9 from three-point range. 

(11) Gonzaga 82 (3) Utah 59

The Gonzaga Bulldogs, looking like something much different than an 11 seed, rolled over No. 3 Utah behind 22 points from Eric McClellan and a 19-point, 10-rebound effort from Domantas Sabonis.

This was a wire-to-wire effort even more impressive than their 16-point win over Seton Hall in the first round.

"We played as good as probably we've played all year, on what is the biggest stage," coach Mark Few said.

(1) Virginia 77 (9) Butler 69

Malcolm Brogdon scored 22 points and Virginia used some hot second-half shooting to beat Butler.

Anthony Gill added 17 points and Marial Shayok finished with 12 for the top-seeded Cavaliers (28-7).

They shot 73 per cent after halftime, hitting 14 of their first 16 shots of the second half, and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three years.

They will face Iowa State (23-11) on March 25 in the Midwest Regional semifinals.

(1) Kansas 73, (9) Connecticut 61

Wayne Selden Jr. and Perry Ellis carried Kansas on a sweet romp to the round of 16, combining for 43 points in a victory for the Jayhawks over Connecticut to hand Kevin Ollie's his first NCAA Tournament loss as head coach of the Huskies.

Selden had 22 points and seven rebounds, Ellis scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds and the No. 1 overall seed Jayhawks (32-4) advanced to the South Region semifinals.

(1) North Carolina 85, (9) Providence 66

Brice Johnson had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 1 seed North Carolina pulled away from foul-hit Providence.

Joel Berry II added 15 points for the East Region's top seed, which found itself in a fight well into the second half against the Friars' high-scoring duo of Ben Bentil and Big East player of the year Kris Dunn.

But the Tar Heels (30-6) stepped up their offensive efficiency, attacked the paint and started cashing in at the line as the fouls piled up for Providence (24-11).

(3) Miami 65, (11) Wichita State 57

Angel Rodriguez took over after Miami blew a 21-point lead midway through the second half, hitting a big 3-pointer with 72 second remaining and scoring 28 points to lead the third-seeded Hurricanes over Wichita State to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Miami (27-7) made it that far three years ago under Jim Larranaga, in his fifth season as head coach. Sheldon McClellan finished with 18 points and Davon Reed had 10 for the Hurricanes.

Fred VanVleet and Shaquille Morris had 12 points and Ron Baker 11 for Wichita State (26-9), which put on a furious rally in the second half of a bruising game, taking a 43-42 lead with 10:24 to go.

(4) Iowa State 78 (12) Little Rock

Georges Niang scored 28 points and Iowa State watched Josh Hagins closely in the second half of a win over Little Rock.

The No. 4 seed Cyclones (23-11) advanced to their second Sweet 16 in three years.

Niang, the winningest player (97) in Cyclones history and Iowa State's only two-time All-American, was simply too much for the 12th-seeded Trojans (30-5) of the Sun Belt.