Onto the Sweet 16

The best sports weekend of the year certainly didn't disappoint. If you're anything like me, you probably feel a little dazed and sleep-deprived heading into the week (I covered the first-round games in Greensboro, NC, on Friday. Incredible experience, but spending 14 hours in a coliseum felt a bit like a time warp. And I'd do it all again.)

Anyway, the Sweet 16 is set. The only unfortunate thing is ... you have to, you know, actually, work before the games start on Thursday.

But first, let's recap Sunday, starting in the East Region and all its glorious chaos.

1. East Region: Nowell-idge is power

Sometimes in the tournament, you just need one dude going ballistic to survive and advance. (Pulls up Caleb Love's highlights against UCLA to cope with my team not getting the invite.)

That's easier said than done, but K-State experienced that on Sunday, courtesy of All-American point guard Markquis Nowell.

The game didn't start pretty for the (purple) Wildcats. They struggled with Kentucky's physicality and athleticism, two traits notably embodied by Oscar Tshiebwe. The big man feasted on the screen-and-roll, drew a ton of fouls, and dominated the glass, snaring five of his nine offensive rebounds in the first half. Behind his efforts, the (blue) Wildcats built an eight-point lead early.

But thanks to Nowell, K-State clawed back. The 5-8 point guard got into the lane, finding open teammates and showing off crafty finishes at the rim. Because of him, the team took a three-point lead into the break despite its nonexistent 3-point shooting (0-for-12).

But honestly? It was nothing compared to his second-half showing. With 12:42 remaining, and Kentucky nursing a one-point lead, Nowell took over, scoring or assisting on 30 of K-State's final 34 points.

Yep. You read that stat right. Out of the insane sequence, a pair of deep 3s may have been his most impressive plays.

Kansas State finished with a 75-69 victory. And the sweetest thing about the W? Nowell is a Harlem native who will head to Madison Square Garden next weekend to play in the Sweet 16.

After the game, Jerome Tang couldn't stop raving about his floor leader.

"Quis and I went to lunch one day [this offseason], and I said, Quis, I'm going to do everything in my power to put a team together to get to the NCAA Tournament. He said, Coach, I don't care if we have five dudes. We're going to the tournament because Kemba Walker won a national championship with I think three freshmen and two sophomores.

"I was like, man, with that kind of confidence, it just inspired me to work harder and our staff to work harder. He always believed it, and he helped me believe."

Both parties deserve plenty of credit. Remember, this team returned two players from last season and was picked to finish in last place in the Big 12. In the end, they just had some dudes.

Now, it is one win away from the Elite Eight. Talk about a turnaround.

Michigan State 69, Marquette 60Speaking of Kansas State's next opponent, will our own Will Warren turn out to be Willstradamus?

The Spartans toppled 2-seed Marquette yesterday behind their stout defense and a tremendous outing from Tyson Walker.

First, the defense: Michigan State held Marquette under a point per possession — just the second time the Golden Eagles have failed to eclipse that mark since Feb. 4. Big East Player of the Year Tyler Kolek, who excelled all season at creating paint touches, seemed flustered by the rim protection of Mady Sissoko. The guard finished with just seven points (2-of-8 from the floor) and six turnovers. But he wasn't the only one who couldn't get easy looks at the basket; Marquette connected on just four of its 15 layup attempts.

And then, there's Walker. The senior guard scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half, hitting tough shot after tough shot. His game-ending dunk — the first of his career — functioned as the exclamation point on the victory.

FAU 78, Fairleigh Dickinson 70Some scorching shooting in the second half set Fairleigh Dickinson up to continue its magical run. The Knights led by five with 12 minutes left in the ball game. But then, Johnell Davis took over, pouring in 21 of his game-high 29 points over that final stretch.

But it wasn't just his scoring; the sophomore contributed 12 rebounds, five assists and five steals as well (he's the first player in NCAAT history to post such a stat line). His unvarnished insights were refreshing as well.

Tennessee will go into the Sweet 16 with a lot of confidence — and rightfully so. But Davis is the kind of powerful wing who can create matchup problems for any defense, no matter the strength.

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2. West Region: Hustling Huskies

For 20 minutes, it looked like Saint Mary's methodical pace and ruggedness on the boards might claim another victim. The Gaels limited UConn to just 30 first-half possessions, held the turnover advantage and trailed the Huskies by one point at the break.

Even after the intermission, Aidan Mahaney and Augustas Marciulionis started hot, nailing a couple of big buckets to give SMC the lead. But around the 14-minute mark, the Huskies unleashed hellfire. As it has done for much of the season, UConn got out in transition and turned live-ball turnovers into back-breaking runs.

An 11-0 spurt gave the Huskies a lead they never gave up. Jordan Hawkins scored all 12 of his points in the second half and Adama Sanogo did plenty of work down low, finishing with 24 and eight boards.

So what's next for this UConn team? Hear the AFTER DARK crew break it down:

Gonzaga 84, TCU 81Four ties, five lead changes and a whole lotta runs made the last game of the first weekend one of the best. The second half, especially, showcased high-quality hoops. A 13-0 Gonzaga spurt, punctuated by a Drew Timme off-the-dribble 3, put the Zags up by seven and seemed to be the Horned Frogs' death certificate.

But TCU responded with its own 6-0 burst and stayed within striking distance the rest of the way — thanks to no shortage of crunch-time buckets from Damion Baugh and Mike Miles.

Ultimately, though, Timme's offense and Anton Watson's defense overwhelmed the Frogs. Gonzaga moves onto the Sweet 16 for the eighth straight season.

And a special shout out to Malachi Smith. The super senior came to Gonzaga for moments like this and came through with three made triples last night.

3. South Region: Creighton delivers on the hype

Exactly a year ago, Creighton gave eventual champ Kansas everything it could handle before falling short in the Round of 32. That performance, plus the return of its core, prompted an offseason of excitement where the Jays became a fixture in the preseason Top 10.

When they lost six in a row in December the optimism seemed misplaced. However, Creighton rallied, keying an eight-game winning streak and restoring faith. But another slide — when they dropped three of four in late February — raised doubts again.

Well, Creighton silenced the doubters. On Friday, it used its 13th-ranked defense to stymie NC State. Two days later, it relied on its 24th-ranked offense to race past Baylor, 85-76.

The Jays scored 1.21 points per possession, drilled 11 of their 24 3-point attempts, made all 22 of their free throws and assisted on 54 percent of their field goals. Ryan Nembhard was the catalyst, chipping in a career-high 30 points. Suffice it to say he made up for lost time.

All in all, the offensive outburst resembled peak Greg McDermott teams. And in the process, it brought the coach to his second Sweet 16 appearance.

"I've had some good [teams]. Probably what sets this group apart is what they had to deal with in December. The other teams that have been ranked in the top 10, there's probably four of them, they had a few blips in the radar," McDermott said after the win.

"But [this team] share[s] that bond that they care about Creighton, and they've bought into how we're going to play. Coaches have a vision of what they want the culture to be. The players are the ones that make the culture with the decisions they make on a daily basis and the way they treat each other and the way they treat other people."

And it's not just coach speak — this Creighton squad has an argument as the best in program history. If the season ended today, it would be tied with the 2020 team for the highest KenPom finish ever. The Bluejays are Final Four good.

Meanwhile, Baylor's season ended unceremoniously for the second straight season. Despite the deepest backcourt in the country, it could never get synchronized on defense. It ranked 105th on that side of the ball, per KenPom — the first time since 2009 a Scott Drew team has finished outside the top 100.

4. Midwest Region: Canes rain on Indiana's parade

Miami might be doing it again.

For the second year in a row, Jim Larrañaga has his team peaking at the right time. The Hurricanes blew out Indiana, 85-69, using a combination of absurd shot-making and timely defensive plays.

Miami controlled the game early, opening the contest on a 13-3 run. And despite periodic challenges from the Hoosiers, the outcome never felt in doubt. ACC Player of the Year Isaiah Wong was draining logo 3s, while Jordan Miller again proved himself as one of the nation's most underrated players. The 6-7 senior finished with 19 points, two blocks and played excellent defense.

But just as noteworthy as Miami's fortune is Indiana's flop. The Hoosiers haven't reached the second weekend since 2016 and missed a golden opportunity to end the drought. With a National Player of the Year contender in tow, plus a guard who has lottery-level upside, IU didn't value possessions or play sound enough defense to win.

Sure, Miami launched some triples that miraculously went in — some of that, you chalk up to luck. But it also outscored Indiana 46-28 in the paint and grabbed 20 offensive rebounds. That points to an execution issue on the defensive end.

Rob Dauster and the AFTER DARK crew discussed in further detail:

Xavier 84, Pitt 73Something about watching a balanced offense makes for an enjoyable viewing experience.

And Xavier got that and then some with six players hitting double figures in Sean Miller's matchup against his alma mater. The Musketeers led by as many as 20 before a late Pitt push made the final score more respectable. Junior wing Colby Jones turned in a Renaissance Man performance: 10 points, 14 boards and seven assists.

Nevertheless, Pitt shouldn't hang its head. A punchline for the past five seasons, the Panthers more than doubled last season's ACC win total and made preseason prognostications look foolish.

Walk-on Aidan Fisch summarized everything this season meant to him:

5. Sweet 16 storylines

Alright, to close out the headlines, let's go rapid-fire and hit 16 storylines for the Sweet 16:

• Six coaches will coach in their first Sweet 16: Brian Dutcher, Mitch Henderson, Rodney Terry, Dusty May, Dan Hurley and Jerome Tang.

• Two more will attempt to reach their first Elite Eight: Greg McDermott and Nate Oats.

• FAU made the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. It is the first Conference USA team to make the second weekend since Memphis in 2009.

• Princeton is the first Ivy League team to make the Sweet 16 since Cornell in 2010.

• San Diego State is the first Mountain West team to make the Sweet 16 since Nevada in 2018.

• Eric Musselman and Arkansas will compete for their third-straight Elite Eight appearance — something that hasn't been done in program history.

• Kelvin Sampson and Houston also are trying to three staight, although the Coogs made three consecutive Elite Eights from 1982-84.

• This will be the second time in the past three tournaments that (2) UCLA and (3) Gonzaga will play. Need I remind you of what happened last time?

• For the third time in his career, Tom Izzo made the Sweet 16 as a 7-seed.

• This is the first time since 2010 that Kansas State advanced further in the tournament than Kansas.

• Three matchups feature international starters squaring off: Alabama's Charles Bediako (Canada) vs. San Diego State's Nathan Mensah (Ghana); Creighton's Ryan Nembhard (Canada) vs. Princeton's Tosan Evbuomwan (England); FAU's Vladislav Goldin (Russia) vs. Tennessee's Santiago Vescovi (Uruguay)

• (5) Miami ranks 14th nationally in defensive free throw rate. Meanwhile, (1) Houston ranks 288th in the same metric.

• (4) Tennessee and (9) FAU lean heavily on their depth. The Vols rank 29th in bench minutes, while the Owls rank 15th.

• Two matchups that feature good ball movement: (3) Kansas State vs. (7) Michigan State and (2) Texas vs. (3) Xavier. All four teams rank top 45 in the country in assist rate.

• Both (1) Alabama and (5) San Diego State guard the 3-point line well; they rank third and fourth in defensive 3-point percentage, respectively. The twist? Bama attempts 47.5 percent of its field goals from bonus land, the eighth-highest mark in the country. San Diego State takes just 34.7 percent of its shots from distance.

What's Purdue missing?

The Boilermakers will come away from this season knowing that they need to change their NCAA Tournament approach. But what should Matt Painter address? De-emphasize the big man? Find more dynamic guards? Try to schedule non-conference games against teams that will provide different looks than Big Ten teams? Tyler Hansbrough, Terrence Ogelsby and Rob Dauster discuss.

Subscribe to The Field of 68 on YouTube here and subscribe here to AFTER DARK.

Links to click as you ignore "productivity" talking points:

• Ed Cooley will likely announce his future plans today, whether that be at Georgetown or Providence.

• Western Michigan transfer Kevin "Boopie" Miller committed to Wake Forest. Let's see if Steve Forbes will again work his guard magic.

• Four-star Kansas commit Marcus Adams will re-classify to 2023.

• A new bill in Oregon would punish coaches and ADs for bad fan behavior.

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