Mar 22, 2025, 10:35 PM ET
After two jam-packed days of college basketball, the second round of the men’s NCAA tournament is underway. The field has been cut in half, the contenders have emerged — and we get to do it all again today.
We’ve got you covered with all the March Madness action right here, featuring updates from writers at every site and analysis on what each final result means.
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Saturday results
(8) Gonzaga vs.
(1) Houston
Final: Houston defeated Gonzaga 81-76
How Houston won: For the first 35 minutes, Houston appeared to be on its way to as comfortable a win as any team could hope to get against a Mark Few-coached Gonzaga team in March, extinguishing one Bulldogs’ comeback bid after another with timely shotmaking. Gonzaga did eventually break through, though, trimming a 76-65 deficit with 4:29 remaining to a 77-76 gap with 21 seconds to play. The late surge ultimately fell short, but the Bulldogs certainly made the Cougars sweat on their way to securing a fifth-straight Sweet 16 appearance. At Friday’s media availability, Kelvin Sampson wouldn’t say whether he felt this year’s team was more or less talented than Houston squads of the past, but he did admit that he thinks they “have more guys that can make a basket” this time around. That proved true on Saturday as Houston rode a 16-point first half from L.J. Cryer and back-to-back individual scoring runs from J’Wan Roberts and Emanuel Sharp after halftime. Cryer’s game-high 30 points on 6-of-11 shooting from 3-point range led four Cougars in double figures and drowned out an impressive 27-point effort from Gonzaga’s Graham Ike. Up next, Houston heads into a potentially tricky Sweet 16 matchup against No. 4-seeded Purdue in Indianapolis, roughly 70 miles south of the Boilermakers’ campus.— Eli Lederman
(6) BYU vs.
(3) Wisconsin
Final: BYU defeated Wisconsin, 91-89
How BYU won: The Cougars flaunted their depth, showed some defensive teeth and never let the high-scoring, tenacious Badgers take the lead (though BYU did have to survive the most furious of rallies to do it). The Cougars’ 10-player rotation held the Badgers under 30% shooting for much of the first half and shot 49% from the field themselves. Nine different Cougars scored, led by Richie Saunders‘ 25 points. BYU head coach Kevin Young, a longtime NBA assistant in his first year with the Cougars, has said much of what the team does is modeled after an NBA template from practice, to nutrition, to game-planning, to offensive sets — and the Cougars had the look of a team still ascending as they outrebounded the Badgers, missed just one free throw (15-of-16) and made 12 3-pointers. The Badgers had closed to within six points with 15:53 left in the game, but coach Greg Gard was assessed a technical foul as Saunders hit both free throws, scoring on the following possession to end the rally. The Badgers furiously rallied again in the final minutes, closing to within 91-89 with under a minute to play; John Tonje led them with 37 points. BYU’s Dawson Baker was ejected, with 3:11 left in the game, for a flagrant foul 2 after he collided with the Badgers’ Max Klesmit. — Jeff Legwold
(9) Creighton vs.
(1) Auburn
Final: Auburn defeated Creighton 82-70
How Auburn won: After trailing 37-35 at halftime, Auburn used an 18-4 run to take control of the game and build enough of a buffer to withstand a small Creighton surge deep in the second half. Two big factors were at play: Auburn’s second-half defense, and the play from guards Tahaad Pettiford and Denver Jones. Pettiford scored 16 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, while Jones also tallied 11 after halftime. Their contributions were big after Chad Baker-Mazara, who scored eight points early in the half, sat out the rest of the game after a hard fall on a drive to the basket. It wasn’t the cleanest or the most inspiring performance, which could be a problem for the top-seeded Tigers, who entered the tournament with big aspirations — but they will have a few days to figure that out. After being bounced in the first weekend in three straight years, Auburn is headed to the Sweet 16 for the second time in coach Bruce Pearl’s tenure. — Ben Baby
(11) Drake vs.
(3) Texas Tech
Final: Texas Tech defeated Drake 77-64
How Texas Tech won: Put simply, the Red Raiders were too big. Two days after the Bulldogs more than held their own physically against a bigger opponent in Missouri, Texas Tech dominated Drake inside, outscoring the Missouri Valley Conference champions in the paint 50-20 behind a monstrous and efficient 25-point (11-of-13 FG), 12-rebound performance from sophomore JT Toppin. Along with a game-high 28 points from Darrion Williams and a 16-point, seven-assist effort from Elijah Hawkins, the Red Raiders had more than enough to overcome a putrid, 2-for-13 shooting performance from 3-point range. For Drake, it’s the end to a storybook season powered by first-year coach Ben McCollum, guard Bennett Stirtz (21 points, 8 assists) and an unlikely 10-man rotation filled with Division II and junior college transfers. All eyes now fall on where the Bulldogs — and McCollum — go from here, while Texas Tech advances to a Sweet 16 date with 10-seed Arkansas next Thursday in San Francisco. — Eli Lederman
(5) Michigan vs.
(4) Texas A&M
Final: Michigan defeated Texas A&M 91-79
How Michigan won: The Wolverines survived a breakout tournament from Texas A&M’s Pharrel Payne and mustered just enough find-a-way, crunch-time heroics that Michigan coach Dusty May had lauded the day before, to move on to the Sweet 16. Michigan didn’t even have a second-half lead until just over six minutes were left in the game. Payne, who had back-to-back games of 25 and 26 points for the Aggies in the tournament — his two highest-scoring games of the season — was a problem for most of the game, as was the Aggies’ swarming defense that limited Michigan to 43% shooting. But May has said his players take on a different demeanor when it’s time to settle in, no matter how the game has gone to that point — that “it just looks different.” The Wolverines went on a 9-0 run to start taking the lead, and that proved to be the difference. Guard Roddy Gayle Jr., who hit several free throws to close it out, led the Wolverines with 26 points while Vladislav Goldin finished with 23 points. — Jeff Legwold
(10) Arkansas vs.
(2) St. John’s
Final: Arkansas defeated St. John’s 75-66
How Arkansas won: In a second-round game that had the intensity and physicality of a Sweet 16 matchup — with an amped-up crowd contributing to a special March Madness environment — Arkansas built an 11-point second-half lead before holding off a late charge from St. John’s to post the nine-point victory. RJ Luis Jr., the Big East Player of the Year, had nine points on 3-of-17 shooting from the field, as his struggles reflected what ultimately cost the Red Storm most: a brutal shooting performance. After totaling a season-high 14 3-pointers in their first-round win over Omaha, the Storm were 2-of-21 from 3 against Arkansas. They shot 28% from the field.
But take nothing away from the Razorbacks, which navigated much of the second half with big man Jonas Aidoo playing with four fouls and backup Zvonimir Ivisic fouling out midway through the second half. That was asking a lot against St. John’s Zuby Ejiofor, who was terrific with 23 points and 12 rebounds. St. John’s managed to cut the lead to two in the second half, and Amica Mutual Pavilion was buzzing. But Arkansas held its ground. — Mike Reiss
(12) McNeese vs.
(4) Purdue
Final: Purdue defeated McNeese 76-62
How Purdue won: Purdue played with the pedigree of a team that was in the national championship game a year ago with its convincing 76-62 victory over McNeese. Led by junior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn (22 points, 15 rebounds) and All-America guard Braden Smith’s steady hand in the face of pressure, the Boilermakers started fast by opening a 17-6 lead in making an early statement that they weren’t overlooking the Cinderella-story Cowboys, who had dominated No. 5 Clemson in the first round. Purdue trailed just once (3-2) in a game that had a “been-there, done-that” feel to it. A signature moment came when Smith dove to keep the ball in play in the first half, directly in front of the Purdue bench. It was an all-out effort from the leader who was willing his team into the Sweet 16 in the Midwest Region, where they will play in Indianapolis, about 65 miles from campus in West Lafayette. — Mike Reiss
