March Madness takeaways, scores, bracket: Maryland wins at buzzer; No. 1 seeds Duke, Florida advance to Sweet 16

Yahoo

24-03-2025

The opening weekend of March Madness has reached its endpoint after the second round wrapped up on Sunday.
No. 1 seeds Florida and Duke moved on, and No. 3 Kentucky ousted No. 6 Illinois, while No. 2 Alabama rolled over No. 7 Saint Mary's. But the most exciting finish of the tournament so far came from No. 4 Maryland, who crushed No. 12 Colorado State's upset hopes with a last-millisecond buzzer-beater. No. 6 Ole Miss followed with a 13-point upset of No. 3 Iowa State.
No. 1 Florida 77, No. 8 UConn 75
No. 1 Duke 89, No. 9 Baylor 66
No. 3 Kentucky 84 No. 6 Illinois 75
No. 2 Alabama 80, No. 7 Saint Mary's 66
No. 4 Maryland 72, No. 12 Colorado State 71
No. 6 Ole Miss 91, No. 3 Iowa State 78
No. 2 Michigan State 71, No. 10 New Mexico 63
No. 4 Arizona 87, No. 5 Oregon 83
No. 4 Arizona escapes with a victory over No. 5 Oregon in a battle of old Pac-12 rivals. Caleb Love leads the Wildcats with 29 points.
Next up for Arizona: No. 1 Duke in the Sweet 16.
29 points for Caleb Love and @ArizonaMBB is heading to the Sweet 16. pic.twitter.com/8jvucIb06r
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 24, 2025
Arizona leads 85-82 after making 4 straight free throws.
Arizona made 1 of 2 free throws, then Oregon responded with a quick layup to cut the lead to 81-80.
Not over yet.
TJ Bamba misses near the rim and the Wildcats secure it. Now headed to the free throw line with 21 seconds to play.
Oh boy, Oregon is going to have a chance to tie or take the lead here.
🦆 DEFENCE, TOO STRONG‼️#MarchMadness | #MBB pic.twitter.com/BOCy5N9Pvv
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 24, 2025
Nate Bittle's hook shot cuts Arizona's lead to 80-78 with 49 seconds left. Whoa.
This wild sequence helped Oregon cut the lead to 4 with 1:34 to go, then Arizona missed two free throws on the other end.
Oregon capitalizes off the Arizona misstep 👌2-Possession game in Seattle 👀#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/oYANyh7uie
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2025
The Arizona guard is up to 24 points, including a thunderous dunk to put the Wildcats up 77-70.
With 2:38 to play, Arizona is closing in on a Sweet 16 trip.
CALEB LOVE WITH A HUGE JAM IN CLUTCH TIME 😤#MarchMadness @ArizonaMBB pic.twitter.com/R0L2fd6Nc4
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2025
This is getting interesting, as Oregon has cut the lead to 68-64 with under 8 minutes.
Ducks headed to the free throw line with a chance to further close the gap.
The hook shot goes down and we've got another close one. pic.twitter.com/UvI0NVEB0m
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 24, 2025
The Ducks went on a small run and closed the gap to some degree, but the Wildcats are still firmly control, leading 63-55 with under 12 to play.
The Wildcats started the 2nd half of a 12-5 burst and just like that they lead Oregon 54-43.
Arizona's Dell'Orso had the defense CONFUSED on the baseline drive 🔥#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/c2Y1ntmTtJ
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2025
Michigan State is Sweet 16-bound.
After starting the season unranked, the Spartans won the Big Ten regular season and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. No. 10 seed New Mexico gave them a scare and led for the entire first half in Sunday's second-round game. But Michigan State was the stronger team down the stretch and pulled away late for a 71-63 win.
Jaden Akins led the way with 16 points, while Tre Holloman tallied 14 points, four assists, three steals and a block off the bench. Frankie Fidler added 10 points off the bench including a stretch of six straight Michigan State points as the Spartans pulled away in the second half.
Michigan State advances to face No. 6 seed Ole Miss, which dominated No. 3 seed Iowa State on Sunday to secure its own Sweet 16 berth.
After trailing the entire first half, Michigan State has been the clearly better team late in the second. The Spartans lead 63-54 at the final TV timeout with a chance to take this one home and into the Sweet 16.
It's a back-and-forth battle between Michigan State and New Mexico. But the Spartans have landed the last few blows.
Frankie Fidler just followed up a 3-pointer from teammate Jaden Akins with an and-one layup to turn a tie game into a 56-51 lead for the Spartans with 6:38 remaining. Fidler will have a free throw after a timeout for a chance to extend the lead to six points.
FRANKIE FIDLER FINISHING THROUGH CONTACT 💪#MarchMadness @MSU_Basketball pic.twitter.com/lm1F8ePcun
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2025
After weathering an early storm from the Ducks, Wildcats have largely controlled the game from there. Roller coaster first half in Seattle.
Oh, and this shot didn't count because it came after the buzzer, but it's cool to watch:
Alright, it didn't count, but this was sick. pic.twitter.com/VuksLLIjkk
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 24, 2025
No. 6 Ole Miss has been an underdog in both of its games — and come out with two outright victories to move on to the Sweet 16. The Rebels (+5.5) dominated No. 3 Iowa State, 91-78, covering for the spread for over 58 minutes of gametime.
The Rebels were up 11 at halftime and kept extending the lead, as Ole Miss had at least a 15-point lead for most of the half. The game went over the total of 144.5.
The Rebels advance to their first Sweet 16 since 2001, and they become the SEVENTH SEC team to advance to the Round of 16. That's the most ever by a single conference in the same NCAA tournament.
The Spartans have seized control. After trailing for much of the game, Michigan State's reeled off a 7-0 run to take a 44-39 lead over New Mexico.
No. 4 Arizona escapes with a victory over No. 5 Oregon in a battle of old Pac-12 rivals. Caleb Love leads the Wildcats with 29 points.
Next up for Arizona: No. 1 Duke in the Sweet 16.
29 points for Caleb Love and @ArizonaMBB is heading to the Sweet 16. pic.twitter.com/8jvucIb06r
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 24, 2025
Arizona leads 85-82 after making 4 straight free throws.
Arizona made 1 of 2 free throws, then Oregon responded with a quick layup to cut the lead to 81-80.
Not over yet.
TJ Bamba misses near the rim and the Wildcats secure it. Now headed to the free throw line with 21 seconds to play.
Oh boy, Oregon is going to have a chance to tie or take the lead here.
🦆 DEFENCE, TOO STRONG‼️#MarchMadness | #MBB pic.twitter.com/BOCy5N9Pvv
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 24, 2025
Nate Bittle's hook shot cuts Arizona's lead to 80-78 with 49 seconds left. Whoa.
This wild sequence helped Oregon cut the lead to 4 with 1:34 to go, then Arizona missed two free throws on the other end.
Oregon capitalizes off the Arizona misstep 👌2-Possession game in Seattle 👀#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/oYANyh7uie
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2025
The Arizona guard is up to 24 points, including a thunderous dunk to put the Wildcats up 77-70.
With 2:38 to play, Arizona is closing in on a Sweet 16 trip.
CALEB LOVE WITH A HUGE JAM IN CLUTCH TIME 😤#MarchMadness @ArizonaMBB pic.twitter.com/R0L2fd6Nc4
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2025
This is getting interesting, as Oregon has cut the lead to 68-64 with under 8 minutes.
Ducks headed to the free throw line with a chance to further close the gap.
The hook shot goes down and we've got another close one. pic.twitter.com/UvI0NVEB0m
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 24, 2025
The Ducks went on a small run and closed the gap to some degree, but the Wildcats are still firmly control, leading 63-55 with under 12 to play.
The Wildcats started the 2nd half of a 12-5 burst and just like that they lead Oregon 54-43.
Arizona's Dell'Orso had the defense CONFUSED on the baseline drive 🔥#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/c2Y1ntmTtJ
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2025
Michigan State is Sweet 16-bound.
After starting the season unranked, the Spartans won the Big Ten regular season and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. No. 10 seed New Mexico gave them a scare and led for the entire first half in Sunday's second-round game. But Michigan State was the stronger team down the stretch and pulled away late for a 71-63 win.
Jaden Akins led the way with 16 points, while Tre Holloman tallied 14 points, four assists, three steals and a block off the bench. Frankie Fidler added 10 points off the bench including a stretch of six straight Michigan State points as the Spartans pulled away in the second half.
Michigan State advances to face No. 6 seed Ole Miss, which dominated No. 3 seed Iowa State on Sunday to secure its own Sweet 16 berth.
After trailing the entire first half, Michigan State has been the clearly better team late in the second. The Spartans lead 63-54 at the final TV timeout with a chance to take this one home and into the Sweet 16.
It's a back-and-forth battle between Michigan State and New Mexico. But the Spartans have landed the last few blows.
Frankie Fidler just followed up a 3-pointer from teammate Jaden Akins with an and-one layup to turn a tie game into a 56-51 lead for the Spartans with 6:38 remaining. Fidler will have a free throw after a timeout for a chance to extend the lead to six points.
FRANKIE FIDLER FINISHING THROUGH CONTACT 💪#MarchMadness @MSU_Basketball pic.twitter.com/lm1F8ePcun
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2025
After weathering an early storm from the Ducks, Wildcats have largely controlled the game from there. Roller coaster first half in Seattle.
Oh, and this shot didn't count because it came after the buzzer, but it's cool to watch:
Alright, it didn't count, but this was sick. pic.twitter.com/VuksLLIjkk
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 24, 2025
No. 6 Ole Miss has been an underdog in both of its games — and come out with two outright victories to move on to the Sweet 16. The Rebels (+5.5) dominated No. 3 Iowa State, 91-78, covering for the spread for over 58 minutes of gametime.
The Rebels were up 11 at halftime and kept extending the lead, as Ole Miss had at least a 15-point lead for most of the half. The game went over the total of 144.5.
The Rebels advance to their first Sweet 16 since 2001, and they become the SEVENTH SEC team to advance to the Round of 16. That's the most ever by a single conference in the same NCAA tournament.
The Spartans have seized control. After trailing for much of the game, Michigan State's reeled off a 7-0 run to take a 44-39 lead over New Mexico.