4 Takeaways From the Second Round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament

The first No. 1 seed succumbed around 9:35 p.m. ET on Sunday, by which time a last-ditch possession from Florida ended in a turnover by point guard Xaivian Lee as the final horn sounded, his wrap-around pass sailing fatefully awry. Moments earlier — before back-to-back timeouts that only amplified the searing tension at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida — Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras buried a 3-pointer from the right corner with 4.5 seconds remaining. He kissed his hand and pointed to the sky in celebration of what proved to be the winning basket, a swish that sent the Hawkeyes to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999. “As far as my guys go,” Iowa head coach Ben McCollum said in his postgame news conference, “it’s just tough. That’s all it is. It’s just tough kids. They fight. They compete. They stick with it. They exemplify everything that we’ve wanted in Iowa basketball. They’ve established the foundation that we’ve desperately needed, and [I] couldn’t be any more proud of them.” Iowa’s stunning upset capped a historic first weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the Big Ten, which sent a staggering six teams to the Sweet 16. The conference’s only schools that failed to advance to the second weekend were No. 5 Wisconsin and No. 8 Ohio State, who lost by three points combined. Here are my takeaways from Round 2: 1. This is the Big Ten’s best chance to end the championship drought [MEN’S BRACKET: NCAA Tournament Bracket, Leaders & Stats] Twenty-six years have passed since Michigan State cut down the nets in Indianapolis, where a young head coach named Tom Izzo defeated Florida to win the second national championship in program history. He was just five seasons into his career at that point, still a newbie on the big stage, and in that moment on April 3, 2000, almost everyone would have agreed that the Spartans were led by a man capable of dragging them to that pinnacle a few more times. Not only has Izzo been unable to replicate the success he enjoyed on that Monday night more than two decades ago — long before conference realignment, NIL and the transfer portal radically altered the landscape — but nobody else from the Big Ten could conquer college basketball either. Fifteen Big Ten teams have reached the Final Four since 2000, all of which fell short of the ultimate goal. But this particular year and this particular version of the NCAA Tournament is beginning to feel different — even though the journey began somewhat forebodingly when No. 5 Wisconsin tripped against No. 12 High Point in the opening round. Since then, the script has been entirely rewritten. Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska and Illinois all advanced to the Sweet 16 on Saturday, with the Wolverines and Illini both winning their respective matchups by at least 20 points. Purdue and Iowa joined the party on Sunday. There is at least one league representative still alive in each quadrant, meaning the possibility of a Final Four composed entirely of Big Ten schools is not out of the question. The conference sent multiple teams to the Final Four in 2005 (Michigan State, Illinois) and 2015 (Wisconsin, Michigan State) but finished on the wrong end of the national title game each time, twice producing runners-up. This year’s pack of contenders — led by a dominant No. 1 seed in Michigan and four others ranked among the top 12 nationally in KenPom — seems even deeper. Perhaps the Big Ten can become just the second conference in history to send three teams to the Final Four in a single season, which hasn’t happened since the Big East accomplished that feat in 1985. This is shaping up to be the league’s best chance of finally ending its national championship drought. 2. Duke vs. St. John’s is the most intriguing Sweet 16 matchup Ever since Duke entered the ACC Tournament without starting center Patrick Ngongba II and starting point guard Caleb Foster, both of whom were sidelined by injuries, the questions of how much and for how long the Blue Devils would be hamstrung have continued to hover over head coach Jon Scheyer and his team. Ngongba (foot) and Foster (foot) missed all three games that week as Duke disposed of Florida State, Clemson and Virginia to win the conference tournament. They both sat for the opening-round NCAA Tournament game against No. 16 Siena, watching as the Saints’ incredible upset bid fell a few minutes short. Finally, Ngongba returned to play 13 minutes in the Blue Devils’ second-round victory over No. 9 TCU on Saturday. He had four points, four rebounds and four assists while committing four turnovers and picking up four fouls in an up-and-down performance. But anyone who watched the Round of 32 matchup between No. 4 Kansas and No. 5 St. John’s — a game that head coach Rick Pitino’s team held on to win, 67-65 — will know that Foster’s absence now looms far larger than any lingering concerns about Ngongba. Time and again on Sunday, the Red Storm’s trademark full-court pressure disrupted the Jayhawks’ attempts to inbound the ball after made baskets. There were moments when inbounder Tre White threw passes that never touched his teammates’ hands, and others when those teammates couldn’t create enough separation to open quality passing angles. For Kansas to turn the ball over 16 times despite only averaging 10.7 per game all season speaks to how disjointed the operation really was. One of the primary questions for Scheyer and his staff to answer in the coming days is how to handle the press without Foster, whose broken foot is expected to sideline him until at least the Final Four — assuming, of course, that the Blue Devils can even make it to Indianapolis. Without Foster, who averages 8.5 points per game, Duke has turned the primary ball-handling responsibilities over to freshman Caden Boozer, who scored 19 crucial points in the win over Siena but was much quieter against TCU. The bigger concerns for Caden Boozer entering a game against St. John’s are his general lack of experience — he’s appeared in 60 fewer career games than Foster, a junior — and his turnover rate is nearly 5% higher than the starter he’s replacing, according to KenPom. There will be added pressure on fellow guards Isaiah Evans and Dame Sarr to help break the St. John’s press, but neither player is a prototypical ball handler. The stage is set for a fascinating chess match. 3. UConn survives to set up a massive clash with Michigan State No game in the Round of 32 was more beholden to an injury report than the battle between No. 2 UConn and No. 7 UCLA. The Huskies, who endured a legitimate upset scare from No. 15 Furman in the opening round, were navigating an ankle problem for starting point guard Silas Demary Jr. (10.9 points, 6.2 assists) and a knee issue for reserve wing Jaylin Stewart (4.5 points). The former had healed enough to give head coach Dan Hurley a few minutes in each half off the bench, while the latter hasn’t played since Feb. 21. UCLA, which fended off No. 10 UCF on Friday, was hopeful that power forward Tyler Bilodeau (team-high 17.6 points per game) could return after dealing with a knee problem suffered in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals against Michigan State. But in the end, Bilodeau missed his third consecutive game. Twenty-one minutes from Demary — who only scored two points but dished out four assists, grabbed three rebounds and swiped two steals — offered just enough ballast in support of fellow point guard Malachi Smith to help push the Huskies into the Sweet 16. Now, Demary will have several more days to heal before UConn travels to Washington, D.C., to face No. 3 Michigan State on Friday night. The impending showdown between the Huskies and Spartans will be a rematch of an exhibition game played at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Connecticut, on Oct. 28. Hurley’s group led by 13 at halftime and dominated most of the evening in an eventual 76-69 victory. UConn limited Michigan State to 39.1% shooting and finished plus-four in the rebounding margin. But much has changed since then, given the five months of basketball that unfolded in between. Now, two of the most storied programs in the sport will meet with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line. 4. High Point head coach Flynn Clayman is a rising star [NCAA ODDS: Latest Men’s March Madness Odds, Favorites] The on-court interview Clayman gave following his team’s opening-round upset of No. 5 Wisconsin made waves across social media — the fire, the passion, the eternal scowl even after recording the biggest win of his career — but what his team did on Saturday by pushing fourth-seeded Arkansas to the brink, spoke volumes about his burgeoning coaching prowess. “We competed,” Clayman said in the postgame news conference following his team’s 94-88 loss to the Razorbacks. “We competed with the SEC champs, lottery picks, guys who are the best of the best. Our university, our team showed out. We showed out. We packed the house, we had fun, we played with confidence. We were expected to be good, but I don’t think anybody expected us to do what we did here: win 31 games, get to the [NCAA] Tournament, advance, push the SEC champs.” How did Clayman, a 37-year-old in his first season as a full-time head coach, accomplish such an incredible feat? The answer to that question undoubtedly includes the overwhelming support his Panthers receive from the school’s administration and donors, which Clayman acknowledged again on Saturday night. But just as important as High Point’s enviable infrastructure, particularly at the mid-major level, was Clayman’s roster construction that fit seamlessly with his desired style of play — a necessity in the sport’s offensive-driven modern era, according to numerous head coaches. He found a lightning-quick point guard via the transfer portal in Rob Martin, formerly of Southeast Missouri State and Indiana State, who could fuel an offense that ranked among the top 45 nationally in pace while maintaining the fourth-lowest turnover rate. He found an instant-impact wing in Cam’Ron Fletcher, formerly of Xavier, who poured in 25 points off the bench against Arkansas. He accentuated the rapid-fire release of 3-point specialist Chase Johnston with beautiful sets and actions that tormented the Razorbacks and Badgers. Those pieces allowed the Panthers to play beautiful, free-flowing basketball. With so many resources available to Clayman at High Point, a school so committed to supporting athletics that it chartered a plane to fly students to the NCAA Tournament, there’s no pressure for him to leave any time soon — though there will certainly be opportunities after what he accomplished this season. His enticing blend of youth, charisma, passion and basketball savvy make him a name to watch in the years to come. 4½. What’s next? Here are a few storylines to watch as we move into the Sweet 16: No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 2 Houston (Thursday) — This is now the sixth consecutive season that Houston ranks among the top 10 nationally for defensive efficiency. Kelvin Sampson’s squad held its first two NCAA Tournament opponents — Idaho and Texas A&M — to 104 points combined. But Illinois presents an entirely different kind of challenge. The Illini are currently sitting second nationally in offensive efficiency and spent most of the season leading the country in that category. This one should be a classic. No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 2 Iowa State (Friday) — The Cyclones deserve tremendous credit for pulling away from seventh-seeded Kentucky with a 51-point second half on Sunday despite missing first-team All-American Joshua Jefferson, who sprained his left ankle in the opening round. Head coach T.J. Otzelberger said Jefferson will undergo an MRI on Monday to determine whether he can play in the Sweet 16. Tennessee, meanwhile, is making a fourth consecutive Sweet 16 appearance under head coach Rick Barnes. That represents the longest streak in program history. No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 1 Arizona (Thursday) — Draft picks, draft picks and more draft picks. This is a game that NBA evaluators will have their eyes glued to given the incredible talent on both rosters. Arkansas has two potential first-round picks in point guard Darius Acuff Jr. (23.3 points per game) and shooting guard Meleek Thomas (15.6 points per game), both of whom are freshmen. Arizona has three potential first-round picks in shooting guard Brayden Burries (16 points per game) and power forward Koa Peat (13.7 points per game) — both of whom are also freshmen — and center Motiejus Krivas (10.4 points per game). It will be as star-studded as a college game can get.