The Villanova Wildcats have hired Maryland's Kevin Willard as their new coach.

Kennedy Smith stepped into the void left by injured star JuJu Watkins, scoring 19 points to help Southern California hold off Kansas State 67-61 in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Madison Booker scored 17 points and No. 1 seed Texas outlasted fifth-seeded Tennessee 67-59 in a tight battle Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Hailey Van Lith scored 12 of her 26 points in the fourth quarter to help second-seeded TCU beat No. 3 seed Notre Dame 71-62 in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Milos Uzan soared for an uncontested layup on a beautifully executed inbound play with 0.9 seconds left, and No. 1 seed Houston survived a late collapse to beat fourth-seeded Purdue 62-60 in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Freshman Tahaad Pettiford and senior Denver Jones turned in dazzling performances when it mattered most, rallying top-seeded Auburn to a 78-65 victory over Michigan in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Zakai Zeigler had 18 points and 10 assists, and Tennessee outhustled and outplayed Kentucky on both ends of the court in a 78-65 victory that sent the Volunteers to a second consecutive Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

Aneesah Morrow had 30 points and 19 rebounds, Kailyn Gilbert had a critical block that set up Mikaylah Williams' a go-ahead layup with 1:07 remaining, and No. 3 seed LSU rallied past second-seeded N.

Jase Richardson scored 24 points and Michigan State surged past Mississippi in the second half for a 73-70 victory on Friday night in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.

Dawn Staley has seen a lot of growth in South Carolina star guard MiLaysia Fulwiley over the last few months.

MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 23 points, including a go-ahead layup with 2:22 left, and Chloe Kitts added 15 points and 11 rebounds to help No. 1 seed South Carolina beat fourth-seeded Maryland 71-67 in the Sweet 16 of the women's NCAA Tournament.

Alabama broke the 35-year-old March Madness record for 3-pointers with 25 and Mark Sears scored 30 of his 34 points on 3s in an 113-88 victory over BYU in an NCAA Tournament East Region semifinal.

There is plenty of star power left in women’s March Madness with Paige Bueckers, Hannah Hidalgo and Lauren Betts still playing even if JuJu Watkins won’t be.

Years of bracket chaos have given way to the year of the power conference.

Derik Queen banked in a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer, and Maryland advanced to the Sweet 16 in a thriller, beating Colorado State 72-71 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

At least two No. 1 seeds will be in the Final Four of women’s NCAA Tournament.

The Maroons were in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1996.

Caitlin Clark is going to wait until Indianapolis hosts the WNBA All-Star weekend to enter her first 3-point contest.

Freshman All-American JuJu Watkins drove the length of the floor for a go-ahead three-point play with 3:13 left and finished with 30 points, leading top-seeded Southern California past Baylor 74-70 and into the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994.

Aziaha James had 29 points and third-seeded North Carolina State earned its third trip to the women's Elite Eight with a 77-67 victory over second-seeded Stanford.

Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 29 points and Illinois reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 2005, beating Iowa State 72-69 in an East Region semifinal on Thursday night.

Top-seeded and defending NCAA champion UConn advanced to the Elite Eight with another double-digit victory, beating San Diego State 82-52 in a rematch of last year’s title game.

In a women’s NCAA Tournament where Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, LSU coach Kim Mulkey and undefeated South Carolina have dominated the headlines, the Pac-12 Conference is making sure it doesn’t go away quietly in its final season.

March Madness arrived with visions of chaos.

This year’s record-breaking women’s NCAA Tournament featured breakout stars, upsets and capped off with the flamboyant Kim Mulkey leading LSU to its first basketball championship.

The Virginia Tech Women’s Basketball team has secured a Final Four spot for the first time in program history after defeating Ohio State, 84-74 on Monday.

Hokies started the game on a 9-0 run.

Miami coach Jim Larrañaga wants to know how much money athletes at other schools are making through name, image and likeness deals.

Creighton used its size, 3-point shooting and a swarming second-half defense to end the March Madness run of Princeton, beating the 15th-seeded Tigers 86-75 in the Sweet 16.

March has gone from madness to unprecedented.

As you get your Friday started, be sure to check out the Morning Sprint for the news of the day.

Florida Atlantic, playing in just its second NCAA Tournament, moved within a victory of the Final Four by using a second-half push led by Michael Forrest to beat fourth-seeded Tennessee 62-55.

Alabama was expected to be in the Sweet 16 as the overall top seed in the NCAA Tournament.

No. 1 seed Virginia Tech is set to play in the Sweet 16 this Saturday for the first time since 1999.

The women’s college basketball Sweet 16 features a new format and a bit of history when it begins later this week.

4-Seed Tennessee advances to Sweet Sixteen.

Underdogs have blown up every bracket in the country in what may be the maddest March ever.

Zia Cooke scored 21 points and Aliyah Boston had her 81st career double double as top-seeded South Carolina shoot a slow start to power past eighth-seeded South Florida and into the Sweet 16 with a 76-45 victory Sunday.

Blake Peters made five 3-pointers in the second half and Princeton shocked another power conference team to reach the regional semifinals for the first time in 56 years by beating Missouri 78-63.

The NCAA March Madness Twitter account posted at the end of Thursday says only 787 brackets of unspecified millions remained perfect.

March Madness isn’t just about filling out — and later trashing — brackets.

The NCAA Tournament has reached Sweet 16 weekend in the battle for the national championship in men’s basketball.

Saint Peter’s was among the most profitable teams for sports bettors in 2022.

Saint Peter’s has knocked off Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue and now has its sights on pulling another NCAA Tournament upset.

Naz Hillmon had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Laila Phelia scored the go-ahead layup in the final minute and No. 3 Michigan beat No. 10 seed South Dakota 52-49.

Hailey Van Lith had 23 points and six assists, Emily Engstler had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 1 seed Louisville held off Tennessee 76-64 in the women's NCAA Tournament to reach the Elite Eight for the fourth consecutive time.

Raina Perez’s steal at midcourt and go-ahead layup with 14 seconds left lifted top-seeded N.

Morgan Maly scored a career-high 21 points to help 10th-seeded Creighton beat Iowa State 76-68 in the NCAA Tournament, becoming one of the lowest seeds to ever reach a women’s regional final.

Daryl Banks III scored the tying and go-ahead baskets that pushed 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s to the brink of the Final Four.

Aliyah Boston had 28 points and 22 rebounds, and top-seeded South Carolina moved on to the Elite Eight with a 69-61 victory over North Carolina in the women's NCAA Tournament.

Mike Krzyzewski would pass famed UCLA coach John Wooden for most Final Four appearances if No. 2 seed Duke can beat fourth-seeded Arkansas in the West Region final in San Francisco.

Although your favorite team may or may not still be dancing, the NCAA Tournament continues on, with Sweet 16 games running through the weekend.

JD Notae scored 21 points despite missing 20 shots and fourth-seeded Arkansas made Gonzaga miserable on both ends of the floor, bouncing the top overall seed from the NCAA Tournament with a 74-68 win.

It has been seven years since the Big Ten had a team reach the Final Four and more than two decades since the conference had a national champion in women’s basketball.

Double-digit seeds are leaving their mark on the first weekend of the women’s NCAA Tournament and bouncing some of the top players and teams in the country, including Iowa's Caitlin Clark and Baylor's NaLyssa Smith.

Top seeds Gonzaga, Arizona and Kansas are in the NCAA Sweet 16.

Diamond Miller scored 24 points, and fourth-seeded Maryland used a 19-0 run spanning parts of both halves to pull away to a 89-65 win over 12th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast.

The Dallas Wings chose Charli Collier of Texas and Finnish player Awak Kuier with the first two picks of the WNBA draft.

The Dallas Wings basically control the WNBA draft on Thursday night with the top two picks and four first-round choices.

… Gonzaga is seeking to become the first team to make it to the Final Four unbeaten since Kentucky in 2015. 11 seed UCLA (21-9), East Region final, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis. … UCLA is back in a regional final for the first time since earning three straight Final Four berths from 2006-08. 6 seed Texas (21-9), Hemisfair Region final, Alamodome, San Antonio. … Texas is in a regional final for the first time since 2016 and seeking its first Final Four appearance since 2003.

Charli Collier scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and No. 6 seed Texas used a grinding, hustling defensive effort to shut down the nation's highest scoring offense for a 64-61 win Sunday night in the Sweet 16. Collier scored 10 points in the second half and her last basket in the fourth quarter pulled Texas even after second-seeded Maryland had swung momentum with two baskets, including a 3-pointer. "They are not letting anybody in that huddle think about anything but win," Schaefer said. Miller scored 21 points to lead Maryland (26-3) but there was just no punch in the offense outside of her.

11 seed UCLA held on after Alabama's Alex Reese drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of regulation to beat the second-seeded Crimson Tide 88-78 in a Sweet 16 showdown Sunday night. AdSingleton was fouled and made two free throws for UCLA, pushing the lead to 65-62 with 4 seconds to go. But that still gave the Crimson Tide enough time to find Reese, whose tying 3-pointer splashed just before the buzzer. Jahvon Quinerly scored 20 points and John Petty Jr. had 16 for the Crimson Tide (26-7), who have lost eight of their nine games in the Sweet 16. UCLA has beaten Michigan in three of their four NCAA Tournament games, including the 1965 national championship in Portland, Oregon.

ACC teams finished with a 4-7 NCAA Tournament record, marking the league's lowest win total and winning percentage in this event since 1979. Duke went 13-11, withdrew from the ACC Tournament due to a positive COVID-19 test and ended a string of 29 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. When the NCAA Tournament brackets came out, the ACC teams with the best seeds were Florida State and Virginia at No. “We weren’t quite as good at the top,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said after the first round of the NCAA Tournament. AdThe ACC’s one pleasant NCAA Tournament surprise was Syracuse, which sneaked into the field with a No.

(AP Photo/Morry Gash)SAN ANTONIO – Missouri State had waited two years to get another crack at the Sweet 16 and Stanford, only to watch the Cardinal turn their rematch into a romp. 5 Lady Bears 89-62 to earn a spot in the Elite Eight of the women's NCAA Tournament for the 21st time. Elle Ruffridge scored 18 points to lead Missouri State (23-3), a team with a history of punching above its status as a mid-major from the Missouri Valley Conference. And Missouri State was hungry to push for even bigger things after the coronavirus pandemic canceled the 2020 tournament and abruptly ended a 26-4 season. “Every game we’ve been down, we’ve always come back,” Missouri State coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said.

Nembhard had 17 points and eight assists, both season highs, to keep the NCAA Tournament's top overall seed rolling Sunday with a 83-65 rout of fifth-seeded Creighton in the West Region semifinals. Defensively, the Zags held Creighton to 40 points over the final 30 minutes as they methodically turned a 27-25 game into a blowout. “They just play so fast, so efficient with everything they do," said Marcus Zegarowski, who led Creighton with 19 points. That just about finished off Creighton as the Zags moved within three wins of becoming the first undefeated national champion since Indiana in 1976. Gonzaga: The Zags have won their first three tournament games by a combined 77 points.

... Oregon State opponents are shooting just 31.3% overall and 23.1% from 3-point range in the NCAA Tournament. That Missouri squad lost a regional final to an Oklahoma team coached by Kelvin Sampson, who’s now at Houston. … Arkansas is in a regional final for the first time since 1995, when it lost to UCLA in the championship game. … Arkansas’ Justin Smith is averaging 20.3 points and 11 rebounds in three NCAA Tournament games. Arizona and Indiana are both in an NCAA regional final for the first time.

Now it's taken coach Kelvin Sampson's team somewhere new: the program's deepest NCAA Tournament run since the days of Olajuwon, Drexler and the famed “Phi Slama Jama." That sent the second-seeded Cougars through to their first regional final in 37 years, earning a matchup with No. Houston (27-3) came in holding opponents to a national-low 37.3% shooting, and then harassed Syracuse (18-10) into just 28% (14 for 50). “It’s the best defense that that we’ve seen this year and they deserved to win,” coach Jim Boeheim said. Syracuse had shot at least 52% each time while making 29 3-pointers — but there would be no repeat of that unexpected 2016 Final Four run thanks to Houston's defense.

Davion Mitchell, a 46% shooter from 3 this season, went 0 for 3 from long range on a 14-point day. Jared Butler scored nine points on 1-for-9 shooting from 3, and MaCio Teague had five points without a 3. The guards did a great job of not settling and probing more.”Because of that, Baylor shot 53% in the second half, even though it made only one 3. Constantly harassing Villanova shooters who'd carved out space in the first half, Baylor held Villanova to 37.5% shooting in the second and 0 for 9 from 3. Forward Brandon Slater left the game about midway through the second half after landing awkwardly during a fight for a rebound.

Oregon State won 65-58. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)INDIANAPOLIS – Picked to finish dead last in the Pac-12, Oregon State instead might be the last one standing. Then the Ramblers, who failed to take advantage of their defense, proceeded to miss 11 consecutive shots as Oregon State flip-flopped between man-to-man and zone defenses. Oregon State built on Warith Alatishe's buzzer-beating bucket to end the first half by getting some shots to go in the second. Oregon State has never played Syracuse, but it beat Houston in the 1966 West Region semifinal and again in the 2009 CBI Tournament.

Oregon players celebrate following a second-round game against Iowa. When another kink surfaced in the NCAA Tournament, the resilient, adaptable Ducks shook it off and soared. Chris Duarte scored 23 points and Oregon showed no signs of rust after a long layoff, beating No. 2 seed Iowa 95-80 on Monday to reach the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the past five NCAA Tournaments. “We did and it was a lot of fun.”The Ducks' sweet offensive movements left the Hawkeyes (22-9) flailing, one game short of the Sweet 16 for the fourth time under Fran McCaffery.

(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)For the third time since 2016, Syracuse is headed to the Sweet 16 as a double-digit seed. “It's hard to make the Sweet 16. Here are the six double-digit seeds who made the Sweet 16 from 2016-19:2016 SYRACUSE (No. 11 seed)The Bulldogs beat Seton Hall and Utah by a combined 39 points before falling 63-60 to Syracuse in the Sweet 16. Syracuse lost to Duke 69-65 in the Sweet 16.

The Cougars play No. By the time the first half ended, and the Scarlet Knights had forged a 30-27 lead, Rutgers and Houston each had two regulars mired in foul trouble. AdChaney took a seat with his fourth with 15:45 left and the Scarlet Knights went on the attack. And by the time there was 10 minutes to go, the Scarlet Knights had meticulously built a 50-40 lead. UP NEXTThe Cougars play the Orange next weekend for a spot in the Elite Eight.

Syracuse defeated Syracuse 75-72. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)INDIANAPOLIS – Buddy Boeheim kept shooting, carrying his Hall of Fame father and 11th-seeded Syracuse back into the Sweet 16. The Orange, a top program for four decades under Jim Boeheim, once again showed they're just as dangerous as an NCAA Tournament afterthought. Now they're heading to Jim Boeheim's 20th Sweet 16, thanks to his 6-foot-6, sweet-shooting son. They have advanced to the Sweet 16 each time they’ve been given a double-digit seeding, reaching the Final Four as a 10 in 2016 and the Sweet 16 as an 11 in 2018.

(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)The Latest on the second round of the NCAA Tournament (all times Eastern):___7:45 p.m.Florida guard Tyree Appleby has been cleared to play and was in the starting lineup for No. 1 seed in the second round for a third time, joining the 2000 team against Arizona and the 2017 squad against Villanova. Sister Jean Delores Schmidt gave an inspirational pregame prayer to her Loyola Chicago team before the eighth-seeded Ramblers met top-seeded Illinois in Sunday’s second round. UCLA and Abilene Christian face off Monday, assuring that at least one double-digit seed will reach the Sweet 16. This is the first time four teams seeded 13th or worse made it to the second round.

PORT HURON, Mich. – A teenage boy got a bittersweet gift from his dad on his Sweet 16, but it was the timing of the gift that made it all the more special. It was the first birthday the teen celebrated without his father. The birthday boy's sister, Chandler Mae Crow, posted on Facebook about the surprise that was left for Johnny Crow. Video of Johnny opening the guitar went viral, with more than 6 million views. Johnny's sister ended her post with a special message for her brother: "Happy 16th birthday buddy.