24 Posts
Just like that, Florida has a one-point lead over Texas Tech with the half coming to a slow close.
Gators forward Thomas Haugh threw down a jam for the lead.
Score: Florida 32, Texas Tech 31
Texas Tech is still hanging on to a one-point lead over Florida as halftime nears.
Chance McMillian is playing for the first since March 13 and knocked down a 3-pointer for the Red Raiders.
Can the Gators regain the lead before heading to the locker room?
Score: Texas Tech 29, Florida 28
Basketball is a game of runs and Texas Tech took its run just now.
The Red Raiders went on an 8-0 run to take a five-point lead halfway through the first half.
Florida broke the streak with a pair of free throws to cut into the deficit.
In a game that started off so well for both squads, the latter part of the half has been the complete opposite.
Shots aren’t falling, turnovers, and just general malaise is affecting both.
Tech leads by one with just under eight minutes to go before half.
Score: Texas Tech 24, Florida 23
It was a story of two quarters in the opening half as Oklahoma heads into the break with a 36-32 lead against UConn.
The Huskies were in control during the first quarter with UConn star Paige Bueckers as impressive as ever. Bueckers scored 11 points in the first quarter and looked to be in the zone.
The second quarter didn’t read the same, however.
Bueckers and UConn struggled as Oklahoma grew into the game.
Sooners guard Payton Verhulst scored all of her 13 points in the second quarter as Oklahoma outscored UConn 24-15 to take a lead into halftime.
On the defensive end, Oklahoma managed to eventually slow Bueckers who failed to add any points in the second frame.
“We knew for the first couple of minutes there was going to be a lot of adrenaline, so I think just settling into our offense and playing Oklahoma basketball,” Verhulst said of the team’s quarter-to-quarter improvement.
UConn will know it needs to improve if it is to reach the Elite Eight.
FROM THE LOGO 💥 @payton_verhulst #MarchMadness x 🎥 ESPN / @OU_WBBall pic.twitter.com/6RQ605xe3S
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 29, 2025
A 10-0 run put Florida in the lead until Texas Tech forward Darrion Williams 3-pointer has the game knotted up at 19.
Williams has six points.
The Red Raiders are shooting 5-for-6 from deep range.
Score: Texas Tech 19, Florida 19
Florida and Texas Tech have wasted no time getting going.
Both squads have found success from beyond the arc with the Red Raiders shooting a whopping 75% so far.
Tech senior guard Kerwin Walton has a game-high six points – hitting two 3-pointers.
Score: Texas Tech 11, Florida 10
And we are down to just eight teams in the men’s NCAA tournament.
And the first of four games in the next two days will see the No. 1 seed Florida Gators battle No. 3 seed Texas Tech Red Raiders.
The Gators are looking to advance to their sixth Final Four, their first one since 2014, while Tech’s first and only appearance came in 2019.
Who will come out on top? We will find out soon enough as the game is a go from the Chase Center in San Francisco.
Hang with us here while watching on TBS/truTV.
Following No. 1 seed Texas’ 87-59 win over No. 5 seed Tennessee, there is only ONE perfect women’s bracket remaining out of 3.4 million.
THE LAST PERFECT WOMEN’S BRACKET IS 54-0 AFTER A TEXAS WIN 🔥
The perfect bracket also has UConn and USC advancing today 👀 pic.twitter.com/UYZuX1M1pn
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 29, 2025
According to ESPN, the lone bracket is an unblemished 54-0 and has UConn and USC advancing later today.
It was a game that went right down to the wire, but the Texas Longhorns did enough to beat the Tennessee Volunteers 67-59 in the women’s Sweet 16.
The No. 1 seed Texas was the favorite coming into the game, but Tennessee did more than put up a fight until the final buzzer sounded.
The score was tied at 50 heading into the final quarter – where the No. 1 seed’s quality really came to the fore.
Texas outscored Tennessee 17-9 in the final 10 minutes to create separation between the two teams and to seal the victory.
Madison Booker’s all-around performance stood out for Texas as the sophomore led all scorers with 17 points. Booker also added six rebounds and three assists for the Longhorns.
Jordan Lee and Bryanna Preston also came in clutch off the bench for Texas. Lee scored 13 points with Preston adding 12 points as both freshmen impressed.
Texas now faces TCU in the Elite Eight. The Horned Frogs beat Notre Dame in Saturday’s first game.
Final score: 67-59 Texas
As time winds down, it’s getting more animated here in Birmingham.
With the large contingent of Tennessee fans here, it’s not quite feeling like I’m in Knoxville, but this has shades of almost a home game atmosphere instead of watching at a neutral site. But despite the environment, Texas isn’t backing down, and Tennessee has had trouble controlling the basketball the last few possessions.
Longhorns lead 63-59 with 1:47 to go in regulation.
Score: Texas 63, Tennessee 59
As Tennessee has relentlessly pressured the Longhorns, the volume has in tandem progressively gone up here at Legacy Arena in Alabama.
The Tennessee fans in the crowd have vocally appreciated their team’s defense, and it’s paying dividends at the moment.
Tied at 50 heading into the fourth quarter, and it truly feels like anyone’s game here.
Make it a TRIPLE 🔥 @SpearmanLazaria #MarchMadness x 🎥 ABC / @ladyvol_hoops pic.twitter.com/DCWHFhE1NG
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 29, 2025
Score: Tennessee 50, Texas 50
The TCU Horned Frogs are the first team to book their spot in the women’s Elite Eight at this year’s NCAA Tournament.
TCU battled past a strong Notre Dame team to seal a 71-62 victory.
The Horned Frogs were led by Hailey Van Lith who topped all scorers with 26 points. The talented senior took off in the second half, scoring 18 of her points after halftime to guide TCU to the win.
Van Lith also added a team-high nine rebounds and a joint-team-high four assists in a brilliant all-round performance.
HAIL3Y VAN LITH 👌👌#MarchMadness x 🎥 ABC / @tcuwbb pic.twitter.com/N0uNoyAkkU
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 29, 2025
It also wasn’t just any win for TCU, but a historic one.
This Horned Frogs has made history by reaching the program’s first-ever Elite Eight.
And the history lesson doesn’t end there.
Van Lith has also become the first player in college basketball history to reach the Elite Eight with three different teams (LSU, Louisville), per ESPN.
TCU will now face the winner of the game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Texas Longhorns, which is currently underway.
When playing for one of the best college basketball teams in the country, it could be easy to get carried away.
But the No. 1 Florida Gators have found a way to stay grounded – literally.
The Gators are keeping calm ahead of their Elite 8 matchup against Texas Tech by taking part in the activity of grounding.
“Grounding is basically whenever your body is in contact with the Earth,” Victor Lopez, the Florida strength and conditioning coach explains.
“Grounding’s been known to get us a little bit more aligned with our circadian rhythm along with some of the other health benefits.”
While Lopez explains it could be pseudoscience, the Florida coach says he has benefitted from the practice.
“Inflammation, the positive charge from the Earth and then obviously relieving any stress that we have during this important time for us.”
Florida center Micah Handlogten admitted he doesn’t know exactly how grounding works but said it has been working for the team so far as they chase March Madness glory.
Will the Red Raiders be able to offset the Gators’ rhythm or will Florida’s unique practice help take them to the next round?
Here are the results from Friday’s action in the men’s and women’s tournaments:
Men’s
- No. 2 Michigan State 73, No. 6 Ole Miss 70
- No. 2 Tennessee 78, No. 3 Kentucky 65
- No. 1 Auburn 78, No. 5 Michigan 65
- No. 1 Houston 62, No. 4 Purdue 60
Women’s
- No. 2 Duke 47, No. 3 UNC 38
- No. 1 South Carolina 71, No. 4 Maryland 67
- No. 3 LSU 80, No. 2 NC State 73
- No. 1 UCLA 76, No. 5 Ole Miss 62
In the worst moment, Purdue lost the inbounds man.
Houston’s Milos Uzan hit the winning bucket with .9 seconds to go, defeating Purdue 62-60 to book a spot in the Elite Eight. It was the cherry on top of a great night for Uzan, who had 22 points on the night.
Uzan inbounded the ball to Joseph Tugler, who immediately passed the ball back to the guard for the easy layup – there was no one within steps of him. There were .9 seconds left on the clock and Purdue’s last prayer fell short.
It was an incredible back-and-forth game that played out in front of what amounted to a home game for the Boilermakers. Big Ten player of the year Braden Smith dished out 15 assists, including one final one on the 3-pointer that tied the game in the final minute. Fletcher Loyer led Purdue with 16 points and Trey Kaufman-Renn added 14 more.
The Boilermakers put up a stout fight – they trailed by as much as 10 with eight minutes to go in the second half before charging back into the game. Still, the defeat left many black-and-gold-clad fans in Indy in tears.
Auburn avoided the upset to beat Michigan 78-65 to advance to their first Elite Eight since 2019 and third overall in program history.
It wasn’t pretty and sloppy all around but the Tigers had a second half offensive surge to secure the win.
Johni Broome and Tahaad Pettiford combined for 42 points in the victory. The Tigers will now face No. 2 seed Michigan State on Sunday at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Michigan gave a solid effort against a tough opponent but turnovers were their downfall. It was the most giveaways in a game this season.
Wolverines center Danny Wolf finished with 20 points and six rebounds in the loss.
It was a one-point game at halftime, but UCLA turned on the jets in the second half to put away Ole Miss in women’s NCAA tournament action, completing a tough night for Rebels fans.
The Bruins took control after the halftime intermission and pulled away from the Rebels with a final score of 76-62. UCLA used red-hot shooting – they shot 60% from the field – and great ball movement with 15 assists to put away Ole Miss.
The bracket’s top seed needs to iron out some areas. UCLA committed 19 turnovers and also allowed Ole Miss to grab 20 offensive rebounds.
In the end, the Bruins’ quality was just too much. UCLA was led by Lauren Betts’ 31 points on an incredible 15-of-16 shooting, with another 13 pitched in by Kiki Rice.
Ole Miss was paced by Tameiya Sadler and her 14 points, with Kennedy Todd-Williams and Ayanna Thompson each contributing another 13.
In their first-ever meeting in the women’s NCAA tournament, Duke defeated heated rivals North Carolina in the Sweet 16 on Friday.
The Blue Devils and Tar Heels played a tight defensive battle that was befitting the stakes of the matchup, with a berth in the Elite Eight on the line. The low-scoring affair ended 47-38.
The Tar Heels took the lead early, with the Blue Devils storming back in the second quarter and then holding on down the stretch. Oluchi Okananwa led the way for the Blue Devils with 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting.
UNC shrunk the Duke lead to just two points late in the third quarter, but the Blue Devils’ defense – which held the Tar Heels to 28% shooting from the field – locked down and didn’t allow another bucket until almost halfway through the fourth quarter.
The teams had met 110 times before Friday throughout their storied rivalry.
Maryland’s upset bid over No. 1 South Carolina slid away in the game’s final minutes as the defending champions locked down on defense and took advantage of some Terrapin mistakes.
The Gamecocks and Terps traded leads throughout the fourth quarter, but South Carolina took it back with 2:22 to go and refused to let go from there. The Gamecocks’ defense was what made the difference – Maryland scored a bucket to go up 60-59 with 3:25 to go and then didn’t score again until the final seconds.
The Terps will rue their missed opportunities, including a travel with 55 seconds to go that cost them valuable time down the stretch. Maryland then couldn’t get the ball in-bounded with 35 seconds to go, with the ball being knocked down by South Carolina’s Raven Johnson and then bouncing off Maryland’s Kaylene Smikle before it went out of bounds.
Maryland refused to go easy, hitting a three with 25 seconds to play, ending a three-minute scoring drought. But with 19.6 seconds to go, a turnover on an inbounds play by Shyanne Sellers sealed Maryland’s fate.
The Terps would eventually make one final layup after South Carolina hit their free throws. The Gamecocks advance to play Duke in the Elite Eight on Sunday.
Louisiana State is once again heading to the Elite Eight after holding off North Carolina State in a tough Sweet 16 showdown in Spokane, Washington.
LSU and NC State traded leads throughout the second half and it all came down to the final seconds.
LSU took the lead on a Mikaylah Williams layup with 1:07 to go and then added to it on two free throws from Sa’Myah Smith with 44 seconds to play. NC State missed a tying jumper but forced a turnover on the next possession to have another chance to tie the game.
But an offensive foul on Maddie Cox gave the ball back to LSU with 17 seconds to play. NC State quickly fouled and from there it was a matter of free throws. Williams made two to build the lead to five. The final margin of victory would be seven after two more free throws from Smith, pacing LSU to a 10-0 run to close the game.
Aneesah Morrow led all scorers with 30 points, Smith added 21 and Williams contributed another 19. Zoe Brooks led the Wolfpack with 21 points.
