NCAA March Madness: Dillon Brooks helps Oregon bounce Duke
Canadian scores 19 points to lead Ducks into Elite 8
Here's what's happened in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament on Thursday:
(1) Oregon 82, (4) Duke 68
Canadian Dillon Brooks scored 19 points and Oregon advanced to the brink of its first Final Four in 77 years with an 82-68 victory over defending national champion Duke in a West Region semifinal.
Elgin Cook had 16 points and nine rebounds for the top-seeded Ducks (31-6), who will meet Oklahoma on Saturday. The second-seeded Sooners routed Texas A&M 77-63.
After a season-long rise in the Pacific Northwest, the Pac-12 champion Ducks emphatically arrived on the national stage with a strong second-half rally to beat the mighty Blue Devils (25-11) for the first time in school history.
(1) Kansas 79, (5) Maryland 63
Perry Ellis scored 27 points, Wayne Selden Jr. added 19 and and top-seeded Kansas topped No. 5 Maryland for a 79-63 NCAA Tournament South Region semifinal victory. The win put the Jayhawks back into the Elite Eight for the first time since 2012.
It took time for the Jayhawks (33-4) to get going, but once they finally seized the lead late in the first half everything else fell into place for their 17th straight victory. They emerged from the break to make their first six shots and steadily take control behind senior forward Ellis, who made 10 of 17 from the field.
Selden was right there with 7-of-16 shooting to help Kansas earn a berth in Saturday's regional final against Villanova.
The Terrapins (27-9) dictated the early tempo and briefly engaged in a back-and-forth game with the Jayhawks before eventually falling behind the tournament favourite. Rasheed Sulaimon led Maryland with 18 points.
(2) Villanova 92, (3) Miami 69
Ryan Arcidiacono and Kris Jenkins each scored 21 points, and No. 2 seed Villanova never trailed in routing third-seeded Miami 92-69 in a South Region semifinal.
The Wildcats (32-5) are back in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2009, when they reached the Final Four. It's their third trip to the regional final with coach Jay Wright. They turned in quite the offensive performance with former coach Rollie Massimino, who led Villanova to the 1985 national championship, sitting nearby.
Villanova will play Kansas on Saturday.
(2) Oklahoma 77, (3) Texas A&M 63
Jordan Woodard scored 22 points and Buddy Hield had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the second-seeded Oklahoma Sooners to a 77-63 romp over third-seeded and cold-shooting Texas A&M in the NCAA West Regional.
The Sooners (28-7) advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2009.
The Sooners blew open a close game by going on a 19-4 run during the last 7:42 of the first half to take a 45-26 lead.
The Sooners forced the Aggies into bad shots and turnovers, and Woodard was the catalyst on the offensive end.
Oklahoma will face Oregon on Saturday.