March Madness 2021: Best moments and biggest plays from the NCAA tournament
Sunday saw the end of No. 1 seed Illinois, which lost 71-58 to Loyola Chicago. The Ramblers’ 101-year-old chaplain, Sister Jean, offered up this analytics-heavy prayer before the game:
According to ESPN Stats & Information, Loyola Chicago has not beaten a top-2 seed in the tournament since seeding began in 1979. It knocked off just one top-3 seed on its Final Four run in 2018 (3rd-seeded Tennessee).
Later in the day, Oral Roberts upset Florida, Syracuse upset West Virginia and Oregon State upset Oklahoma State.
There will be at least four double-digit seeds in the Sweet 16 for the third time, according to ESPN Stats and Information. (15) Oral Roberts, (12) Oregon State and (11) Syracuse are already in and (11) UCLA plays against (14) Abilene Christian tomorrow. There were 5 double digit seeds in the 1999 Sweet 16 and 4 in the 2011 Sweet 16.
Loyola Chicago’s win came with a heavy dose of Cameron Krutwig and Lucas Williamson.
Krutwig, who finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds, is the third Missouri Valley player with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in an NCAA tournament game since assists became official in 1984. The others: Bradley’s Hersey Hawkins in 1988 and Tulsa’s Shea Seals in 1994.
Williamson added 14 points.
Loyola Chicago is the sixth team to reach the Sweet 16 in consecutive NCAA tournament appearances as an 8 or lower seed since seeding began in 1979. Gonzaga is the only other non-major conference team to do this, doing so in three straight years from 1999 to 2001, all as a double-digit seed. But, when Loyola gets in, it wins. The program is 15-5 all time in the NCAA tournament, tying Duke for the best tournament winning percentage (.750).
Social media erupted after the upset.
On Friday, Arizona Cardinals defensive end J.J. Watt (a Wisconsin alum) steadily trolled his wife (a North Carolina grad) during the Badgers’ first-round win over the Tar Heels.
Watt was ready to go again Sunday with Wisconsin facing No. 1 seed Baylor in the Round of 32, tweeting at former NFL QB Robert Griffin III and reality TV star Chip Gaines, both Baylor graduates. Sunday’s fun did not go as well for Watt.
Baylor punched a ticket to the Sweet 16 with a 76-63 win over Wisconsin.
The 3-seed Arkansas Razorbacks haven’t made a Sweet 16 since 1996 — the Nolan Richardson era! — but that all changed on Sunday with a thrilling 68-66 win over the 6-seed Texas Tech Red Raiders. Texas Tech had an opportunity to tie it in the final seconds, but a good-look layup failed to fall.
Weirdly, the last points of the game came with 2:51 left, and the Red Raiders failed to score entirely in the final three minutes.
Texas Tech alum Patrick Mahomes was, understandably, less than thrilled about the outcome.
Second-seeded Houston ended the game on a 14-2 run over the final 4:33 to beat Rutgers 63-60 and advance to the Sweet 16.
The Cougars trailed 58-49 before holding Rutgers to 1-of-7 shooting from the floor for the rest of the game. Down 60-58, Marcus Sasser stole the ball and drove down the floor. DeJon Jarreau missed a jumper, but Tramon Mark was fouled after making a putback layup. He made the ensuing free throw to give Houston a lead it would not relinquish.
What a tournament so far for the 15-seed Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. After knocking off 2-seed Ohio State in a stunning win, they survived a late-game challenge from the 7-seed Florida Gators to make it to the Sweet 16 — the first time the program has made it since 1974 and only the second time in history. They’re doing it on the strength of Kevin Obanor and Max Abmas — the only players on a 15- or 16-seeded team in tournament history to score at least 50 points in their team’s first two games.
The Beavers, who are in the tourney thanks to a Pac-12 tournament title run and were picked to finish last in the Pac-12 pre-season, stunned the fourth-seeded Cowboys, 80-70. They advance to their first Sweet 16 since 1982.