The Athletic has live coverage of the NCAA Men’s Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament games.
Between Michigan State’s second-half comeback against streaky Ole Miss, Tennessee’s wire-to-wire win over SEC foe Kentucky and Houston’s gutsy late-game heroics, the second night of Sweet 16 action in the men’s NCAA Tournament didn’t disappoint. Teams brought plenty of action to Atlanta and Indianapolis on Friday, showing grit in pivotal moments, and top players on the top-seeded teams shined on their way to Elite Eight berths.
Houston held off Purdue thanks to a savvy late heads-up inbounds play, advancing to play the Volunteers on Sunday in what’s set to be a defensive slugfest. But Auburn might’ve stolen the show with the night’s most impressive performance. Big Ten tournament champion Michigan held a grip on the Tigers in the first half and in the early going of the second, but Auburn chipped away and eventually exploded on a 31-8 run, setting up a matchup against Michigan State on Sunday.
The Spartans trailed for more than half the game against the Rebels, but Tom Izzo’s club still found a way to advance. Tennessee, led by the charge of Zakai Zeigler, kept Kentucky at bay all evening with an up-tempo defensive performance.
Here’s how the second day of the Sweet 16 played out:
No. 1 Houston 62, No. 4 Purdue 60
INDIANAPOLIS — Kelvin Sampson isn’t in the Hall of Fame. After the call that secured his Houston team’s Sweet 16 escape on Friday night, it’s past time for that to happen.
Thanks to a brilliant baseline out-of-bounds play that got Milos Uzan a wide-open, last-second layup, Houston survived Purdue in what felt like a road game to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2022.
It was certainly discussed by the Cougars this week that, despite their No. 1 seed, Purdue traveled only 66.1 miles to Lucas Oil Stadium. Unfortunately for the Boilermakers, that’s where Houston is at its best. Defense, rebounding and steady point guard play travels.
“How we choose to peel the orange, man, is a brand of ball that you can take on the road,” head-coach-in-waiting Kellen Sampson said this week of the Cougars, who hadn’t lost a true road game all season. — CJ Moore
NO WAY 🤯
HOUSTON TAKES THE LEAD IN THE FINAL SECOND 😱 #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/L2wCPQ34gD
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2025
Click here to read more about Houston’s late-game brilliance.
No. 1 Auburn 78, No. 5 Michigan 65
ATLANTA — Momentum can be a funny, fickle thing in March. For the first 28 minutes Friday night, Auburn looked out of sorts against Michigan, turning the ball over and bricking open shots. The top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament was playing like a summer league team — plenty of effort and talent, but little in the way of poise and cohesion.
Then, without warning, it flipped. Down by nine with 12 minutes remaining, Tigers freshman Tahaad Pettiford drilled a 3-pointer on a stagnant possession. Then, Denver Jones added another triple out of a timeout. Then, a bucket by SEC Player of the Year Johni Broome. Then, a step-back by Pettiford pushed the Auburn-heavy crowd into full lather.
PETTIFORD AGAIN ARE YOU KIDDING 😱#MarchMadness @AuburnMBB pic.twitter.com/ssmxCq4hot
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2025
A 10-0 run in roughly two minutes of game clock erased the deficit and tilted the ledger back in Auburn’s favor. It was part of an 18-2 run by the Tigers, who rode the wave to a 78-65 victory over the No. 5 seed Wolverines and a trip to the Elite Eight in the South Region. — Justin Williams
For more on Auburn’s big second half, click here.
No. 2 Michigan State 73, No. 6 Ole Miss 70
ATLANTA — All season, Michigan State has won games it seemingly shouldn’t, gotten by when a deficit seemed to spell doom and found a way. So if this team goes to the Final Four, that’s exactly how it will do so.
And the Spartans appear comfortable with that.
Against a rugged foe from the mighty SEC, the second-seeded Spartans pried away a 73-70 victory from Ole Miss and booked a spot in the South Region Elite Eight, winning again, for the eighth time since the start of February, despite trailing at halftime.
The Spartans are still alive thanks to Jase Richardson’s 20 points, a breakout 15-point performance from sophomore Coen Carr, another reliable two-way game from veteran Jaden Akins and winning on both ends of the floor in the second half. Richardson was 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
Michigan State didn’t take its first lead until the seven-minute mark of the second half and seemed poised to finally overtake the underdog Rebels. Instead, the two ripsnorted through a wild finish, matching moment for moment. — Brendan Quinn
AKINS GIVES THE SPARTANS THE LEAD ‼️#MarchMadness @MSU_Basketball pic.twitter.com/MnU2IKYgiZ
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2025
Read more on the Spartans’ comeback in the back-and-forth matchup here.
No. 2 Tennessee 78, No. 3 Kentucky 65
INDIANAPOLIS — Zakai Zeigler’s size, or lack thereof, is striking in person. Tennessee’s 5-foot-9 point guard is tiny in a land of giants. But on a night when the Vols clearly wanted to play the role of bully, the little guy led the charge.
There was Zeigler, delivering the knockout blow with a steal and a 3, cocking his head back to stare straight up at Kentucky’s 6-10 Brandon Garrison, letting him know the toughest team won Friday night in the Sweet 16. Tennessee avenged a regular-season sweep by the Wildcats with a 78-65 win to get to the Elite Eight for the second straight season.
Zakai Zeigler making it look easy 😤#MarchMadness @Vol_Hoops pic.twitter.com/JaqkMOPlAA
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2025
The Vols used their speed and strength to control the game from the opening tip. The Wildcats had made 12 of 24 3-point attempts in both regular-season meetings and operated with way more ease than is typical against one of the best defenses in the country.
This time, Rick Barnes’ team had a clear plan to try to take away shooters and cutters, pressing up against the Cats on the perimeter and having someone to meet them at the rim on drives. Kentucky was unable to get many clean 3-point looks — the No. 3 seed finished 6 of 15 from 3, a season-low in attempts — and rarely was able to find cutters.
Tennessee led 43-28 at the half, and although Kentucky’s offense started to come alive in the second half, the Wildcats could never get enough stops. — Moore
Click here to read about Zeigler’s solid night and Tennessee’s slowing of Kentucky.
(Photo: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
