March Madness scores, winners, losers: Duke, Michigan pull away; Texas A&M bludgeoned
No. 1 seeds Duke and Michigan each faced legitimate challenges from No. 9 seeds Saturday before bowing out and advancing to the Sweet 16. The final score of the Blue Devils’ 81-58 victory over TCU hides the truth that it was a dogfight for 30 minutes.
When Duke needed it most, it got a heroic effort from freshman star Cam Boozer. The All-American forward exploded in the second half after being MIA during the first. His 19 points and 11 rebounds, along with the return from injury of center Patrick Ngongba, helped the Blue Devils wear down a Horned Frogs team that briefly took the lead early in the second half.
Saint Louis tested Michigan in a different way before the Wolverines rolled to a 95-72 victory. The Billikens’ well-oiled offense put the No. 1 seed Wolverines on their heels early. But the Atlantic 10 champions ultimately had no answer for Michigan stars Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara.
A total of eight Sweet 16 bids were made Saturday as the first weekend of the 2026 NCAA Tournament continued. Here are the stock’s winners and losers.
Winner: Michigan activates “machine” mode
Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz and Michigan coach Dusty May are close friends who share basketball insights and exchange ideas. But Michigan, at its best, is an unavoidable force that can’t be contained — even by an opponent who knows exactly what’s coming.
The No. 1 seed Wolverines’ 95-72 victory over No. 9 seed Billikens provided the latest display of Michigan’s unrivaled superior gear, as SLU put up a valiant but ultimately desperate effort. The two-way attack led by bigs Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara simply overwhelmed a group of competent but undersized Billikens. When your 7-foot-3 center throws cross-ice passes like this to a potential 6-foot-9 lottery pick for the open 3, things are definitely going well. –David Cobb
Winner: Saint Louis faces buzzsaw but looks poised to still be relevant
The best season in Saint Louis history ended after catching Michigan on a day when everything was going well.
No one beats Michigan when it plays as well as it did on Saturday, and SLU certainly found that out the hard way. But with coach Josh Schertz returning, there’s plenty of hope that this is far from just a blip on the radar.
The Robbie Avila era is over, so SLU will need to redo its frontcourt, but five rotation players can return and a legitimate proof of concept has been established. This may just be the beginning. – Isaac Trotter
Winner: Duke comes out of his slumber with a second-half punch
What an answer. Duke was shaky early in the second half as TCU recovered to take a two-point advantage, but the Blue Devils weren’t going to be denied.
Cameron Boozer scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half to lead Duke to the Sweet 16 with an 81-58 victory over the ninth-seeded Horned Frogs. Freshman wing Dame Sarr made four key 3-pointers and finished with 14 points. Isaiah Evans (17 points) also did his job.
Perhaps more importantly, Duke is starting to get healthy. Big man Patrick Ngongba played 12 minutes and scored four points in his return from a foot injury. Kansas or St. John’s awaits you in what should be a real headache. — Trotter
Loser: Iron is mean to Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt and Nebraska have played the game of the tournament so far, and it all came down to a half-court heave from Commodores star Tyler Tanner. The high-arc attempt hit the backboard, rattled the rim and then bounced back, preserving a 74-72 victory for the No. 4 seed Cornhuskers. It was a brutal end to a memorable performance from Tanner. The undersized sophomore led all scorers with 27 points as the No. 5 seed Commodores held strong in a road-like environment.
Oklahoma’s City Paycom Center was filled with Nebraska fans excited to see the Cornhuskers advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history, just two days after the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament victory. Braden Fraser scored the go-ahead goal with 2.2 seconds remaining, giving Tanner just enough time to catch up, dribble once and then let it fly. It was so close to a moment for the history books. Instead, it produced brutal agony for the Commodores that only March Madness can bring. – Cobb
Winner: Arkansas avoids the trap
No. 12 seed High Point failed in its quest to pull off another major upset, as the Panthers fell 94-88 to No. 4 seed Arkansas in the second round. But the Panthers played brilliantly and pushed the Razorbacks all the way behind a 30-point performance from Rob Martin. Cam’Ron Fletcher, who previously played for Arkansas coach John Calipari at Kentucky, added 25 for the Panthers, who upset Wisconsin in Thursday’s first round.
The Razorbacks never led by double digits and needed a combined 55 points from freshmen guards Darius Acuff Jr. and Meleek Thomas to survive. –Cobb
Loser: Texas A&M receives a painful wake-up call
No. 10 seed Texas A&M had a successful first season under coach Bucky McMillian, but it ended in a rude awakening. No. 2 seed Houston, now with seven straight Sweet 16s, quickly defeated the upstart Aggies in an 88-57 victory.
The result demonstrated the gap between programs that share a state, but are at very different stages of their lifecycle. A sure-handed group of Houston guards never buckled under A&M’s pressure, and the Cougars dominated on the glass with a 19-9 edge in offensive rebounds. After starting the second half on an 8-0 run, Houston led by at least 20 the rest of the way. The Aggies are poised to climb under McMillan, but they saw Saturday just how big the mountain has to be climbed if they want to be among the best. -Cobb
Winner: Texas joins an exclusive society
There will be at least one double-digit seed in the Sweet 16. Texas made sure of that by knocking off No. 3 seed Gonzaga 74-68, reaching the second weekend of the tournament for the first time since 2023.
The Longhorns become the sixth team to advance from the First Four to the Sweet 16, joining VCU, UCLA, Syracuse, La Salle and Tennessee. VCU and UCLA reached the Final Four before falling in the national semifinals.
Texas is far more dangerous than its top seed suggests, with high-end talent and an experienced coach. Sean Miller will make his ninth Sweet 16 appearance and is the 10th coach to run three different programs in the second weekend of the tournament.
— Cameron Salerno
Loser: VCU’s bid for another return fails
Even as Illinois turned a seven-point halftime advantage into an increasingly significant lead, hope lingered that perhaps No. 11 seed VCU could pull off another stunner.
But just two days after staging the greatest comeback in Round of 16 history against North Carolina, the Rams lacked magic in a 76-55 loss to the No. 3 seed Illini.
Illinois is at its best when balance is king. Saturday’s round of 16 showed more maturity in this area. Andrej Stojakovic dominated the first half with 16 of his 21 points, and Keaton Wagler took over in the second half with 13 points to send the Illini to the Sweet 16 with a 76-55 victory over No. 11 seed VCU. Four different players scored double figures. This is exactly what Underwood envisioned. — Trotter and Cobb
Winner: Jeremy Fears Jr. makes history
Jeremy Fears Jr. set a school record for most assists in an NCAA Tournament game by dishing out 16 dimes while leading No. 3 seed Michigan State to a 77-69 victory over No. 6 seed Louisville.
Fears has as many as 27 assists in two games in this Big Dance, which is the most for a player in two games since UCLA’s Earl Watson had 28 in 2000.
One of Fears’ favorite targets was high-flying forward Coen Carr, who finished with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Carr added 10 rebounds and two blocks as the Spartans advanced to a Sweet 16 matchup with the winner of Sunday’s matchup between No. 2 seed UConn and No. 7 seed UCLA. — Cobb
Loser: Louisville falls short of preseason expectations
Winning a first-round game against No. 11 seed South Florida is a nice feat, but this is a Louisville program with high expectations. The Cardinals won 27 games last season with a less talented team. Simply put, another early exit from the Big Dance is disappointing.
Louisville star Mikel Brown Jr. didn’t make the NCAA tournament, which certainly didn’t help. The projected top-10 pick showed this season why he was a five-star prospect coming out of high school, but he only managed to play in 21 games.
This will be a critical offseason for Louisville. The Cardinals currently do not have any players signed in the 2026 recruiting cycle. Louisville will likely use the transfer portal again to build its roster. The teams at the top of the sport – namely Duke, Michigan, Arizona and Florida – have gone all out to build massive frontlines and use two-way rim dominance to separate themselves from the rest of the pack.
Louisville zigzagged while they zagged, choosing to invest heavily in building perhaps the most dangerous backcourt in all of college basketball…on paper. Louisville’s four biggest free agent additions were guards: Mikel Brown Jr., Ryan Conwell, Isaac McKneely and Adrian Wooley.
Even when Brown was healthy, Louisville lacked the smashmouth basketball ability that might be needed in the supersized era of college basketball.
Change seems vital to reach that next level. – Salerno and Trotter
