NCAA tournament takeaways: Sweet 16 delivers thrills for Purdue, Iowa; Houston, Kelvin Sampson may have missed their window

The Sweet 16 picked up where the first NCAA tournament weekend packed with thrillers left off.

Nebraska-Iowa and Texas-Purdue tipped off the second weekend of NCAA tournament action Thursday night, and both games delivered.

Houston and head coach Kelvin Sampson, meanwhile, met a disappointing tournament end playing just miles from home.

Purdue beats buzzer, Texas with last-second putback

Purdue-Texas came down to the final seconds after Texas tied the game on an and-1 Dailyn Swain layup and made free throw to tie the game at 77 with 11.9 seconds remaining.

But Purdue had an answer. All-America guard Braden Smith attacked the basket from a halfcourt set and attempted a go-ahead layup in traffic in the final seconds. It missed the mark and bounced off the rim, but Trey Kaufman-Renn was there to clean it up for Purdue.

The senior forward tapped the rebound back to the basket with his right hand. The ball went through the rim with 0.7 seconds for the final margin, a 79-77 Purdue win.

Texas didn’t have enough time to respond, and the No. 2 Boilermakers advance to Saturday’s West regional final against No. 1 Arizona, which rolled over Arkansas in the nightcap.

Late drama in Nebraska-Iowa

As Purdue and Texas went down to the wire, No. 4 Nebraska and No. 9 Iowa were battling late in the South region.

Iowa took its first lead of the night at 68-65 on a Bennett Stirtz 3 with 2:10 remaining as part of a 9-0 run that extended the Hawkeyes lead to 71-65.

Then, with 56.9 seconds remaining, Iowa’s Alvaro Folgueiras worked free for a breakaway and-1 layup. He hit the free throw for a 74-68 win that iced the 77-71 win. The Hawkeyes advance to their first Elite Eight since 1987, where they’ll face Illinois in the South regional final.

Nebraska’s critical unforced error

About that Folgueiras layup. There’s a reason he was so wide open.

Nebraska had only four defenders on the floor.

Folgueiras was standing near halfcourt on an Iowa inbounds play from its own basket and realized that nobody was defending him.

He waved for the ball, and Kael Combs hit him with a down-court pass. Folgueiras ran uncontested to the rim before a trailing Berke Büyüktuncel caught up with him just in time to foul him.

Folgueiras completed the and-1 with a made free throw for a 74-68 lead, and that was pretty much a wrap on Iowa’s win.

Head coach Fred Hoiberg took the blame for the miscue in his postgame news conference.

“Put that one on me,” he said. “It was a miscommunication. I’m the head coach, and that one’s on me.”

Nebraska finished a breakout season with the first two NCAA tournament wins in program history. But that’s a tough way to go out.

Houston, Kelvin Sampson still searching for first title

Houston and head coach Kelvin Sampson finished painfully short of the national title last season in a close championship game loss to Florida.

It entered Thursday’s Sweet 16 with another strong shot at the title. No. 1 seed Florida was out of its South region, and Houston was playing the Sweet 16 just miles from its campus as Houston’s Toyota Center.

But Illinois beat Houston at its own game, grinding out a 65-55 win on defense and on the boards. Sampson and Houston may have missed their best two shots to win an elusive title together; neither Sampson nor Houston has ever won one.

Houston’s losing a pair of senior starters in Emanuel Sharp and Milos Uzan. All-America freshman Kingston Flemings is almost certainly leaving to the NBA Draft. Fellow freshman starter Chris Cenac Jr. could join him in the lottery.

Houston has the nation’s No. 8 recruiting class coming in next season. But it’s facing an uphill battle to return to the contention of its last two seasons.

March Madness scores, resultsLive coverage is over91 updatesThu, March 26, 2026 at 6:50 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 9:26 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

The Wildcats may have their best team ever. This game was never particularly close; Arizona had a double-digit lead early and ran away with it in the second half of an offensive showcase.

Brayden Burries led the way for the Wildcats with 23, but Koa Peat had 21, Ivan Kharchenkov had 15 and three different Arizona players had 14 in the winning effort. The team shot 64% from the field. That’s as complete of an offensive performance as you’ll ever see in an NCAA tournament game.

Darius Acuff had 28 for Arkansas in the loss.

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 9:18 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

No. 3 Illinois pulls away from No. 2 Houston just miles from Houston’s campus to advance to the Elite Eight.

It will be an all-Big Ten matchup against Iowa for the South regional final on Saturday.

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 9:12 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

With over 5 minutes left in the game, the Wildcats have hit 100. This thing is cooked.

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 9:11 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

The Cougars have squeezed this thing down to a 7-point game with under a minute and Illinois is struggling to hit free throws. Could we see a miracle comeback here?

Illinois 62, Houston 55 | 42 seconds

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 9:10 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

Arkansas’ coach now had something to say to the refs and got his own technical foul. It’s completely unraveling for the Hogs.

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 9:07 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

Bodies are starting to fly a bit as frustrations are taking over for the Razorbacks. They just lost two players in a matter of seconds.

There’s still over 6 minutes left in the game.

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 8:58 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

Houston had cut the lead to single digits before Tomislav Ivisic knocked down this dagger 3 for the Illini.

Illinois is up 58-41 with 3:27 to play.

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 8:54 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

The rout is on folks. John Calipari’s Hogs have no answers and it’s starting to cascade a bit. The Wildcats are on a 8-0 run in the last 29 seconds and have extended the lead to 89-65.

The frustration is showing for Arkansas too. Nick Pringle just launched the ball up high and was given a technical foul for it.

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 8:51 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

Illinois is still in control but has gone on a bit of a scoring drought.

Illinois’ lead is down to 46-35 with under 8 minutes to play.

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 8:44 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

Arizona now has 46 paint points and five players are in double digits (with one more stuck at 9 points). There’s still 11-plus minutes to play, but Arkansas just doesn’t have any answers defensively.

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 8:36 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

If the Wildcats play like this on offense, there may not be a team in the tournament that can stop them. They’re shooting 70% from the field since halftime, after shooting a paltry 64% in the first half.

Four different Arizona players now have 12 or more points.

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 8:35 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

The Illini is on a 17-0 run and the Cougars are suddenly in massive trouble here in front of a very friendly crowd in Houston.

Illinois 44, Houston 26 | 11:52 to play

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 8:25 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

We are back for the second half and the Wildcats are picking up right where they left off. They’re back up 15 in the opening couple of minutes.

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 8:21 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

A quick 6-0 run has extended the Illini’s lead to 33-26 in the opening minutes of the second half.

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 8:14 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

Will one of these offenses wake up between Houston and Illinois?

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 8:12 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

Arizona’s 54 points at the half are more than Illinois and Houston have combined to score in the opening half.

Two very different games being played out right now.

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 8:00 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

Arizona is more than halfway to the century mark and the whole team is getting in on the fun. Six different Wildcats have 7 points or more; Ivan Kharchenkov and Motiejus Krivas have 11 and 10 to lead the way.

Arkansas, for its part, showed plenty of flashes offensively as well. But the Hogs head into the break down double digits.

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 7:55 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

Arizona’s Tobe Awaka is putting on an aerial show tonight in San Jose.

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 7:53 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

Kingston Flemings drained a 3 just before the half buzzer to keep it close. It’s otherwise been tough sledding on offense as the Cougars are shooting 27%.

Thu, March 26, 2026 at 7:45 PM PDT

Yahoo Sports Staff

We’re under the 4-minute mark now and the Wildcats are maintaining a double-digit lead. Arizona’s balanced attack is giving Arkansas trouble; the Hogs can’t seem to stop anybody.

The Wildcats are 15-for-22 shooting (68 percent) and half of their 44 points have come in the paint.

NCAA tournament takeaways: Sweet 16 delivers thrills for Purdue, Iowa; Houston, Kelvin Sampson may have missed their window

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