College Basketball

Two rounds down. Sixty-eight teams have been whittled to sixteen, and the bracket looks nothing like what most people had on their sheets. The first weekend of the 2026 NCAA Tournament delivered what March always promises: chaos wrapped in a buzzworthy highlight reel. Florida, the defending champion, is gone. Kansas is out. Gonzaga, a perennial second-weekend fixture, fell to an …

Free Press sports writer Chris Solari down Friday’s East region semifinal game between No. 11 Michigan State basketball (per the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll) and No. 7 Connecticut: Fast facts Matchup: 3-seed Michigan State (27-7, 15-5 Big Ten) vs. 2-seed Connecticut (31-5, 17-3 Big East); NCAA Tournament East region Sweet 16. Advertisement Tipoff 9:45 p.m., Friday, March 27; Capital …

Eight of 16 tickets to the second weekend of the 2026 NCAA Tournament were punched on Sunday. No. 1-seed Texas, No. 2-seed Michigan, No. 2-seed LSU, No. 3-seed Duke, No. 3-seed TCU, No. 4-seed North Carolina, No. 4-seed Minnesota and No. 4-seed Oklahoma are bound for the Sweet 16. Advertisement Although winning a tournament game is never easy, several teams …

PORTLAND, Ore. – Wisconsin men’s basketball wanted to be remembered for its fight. “It’s a group of fighters,” UW guard Braeden Carrington told the Journal Sentinel in the locker room shortly after the Badgers’ early exit from the NCAA Tournament. “I think people counted us out early in the year and didn’t expect us to even be in this position …

Free Press sports writer Chris Solari down Friday’s East region semifinal game between No. 11 Michigan State basketball (per the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll) and No. 7 Connecticut: Fast facts Matchup: 3-seed Michigan State (27-7, 15-5 Big Ten) vs. 2-seed Connecticut (31-5, 17-3 Big East); NCAA Tournament East region Sweet 16. Advertisement Tipoff 9:45 p.m., Friday, March 27; Capital …

Free Press sports writer Chris Solari down Friday’s East region semifinal game between No. 11 Michigan State basketball (per the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll) and No. 7 Connecticut: Fast facts Matchup: 3-seed Michigan State (27-7, 15-5 Big Ten) vs. 2-seed Connecticut (31-5, 17-3 Big East); NCAA Tournament East region Sweet 16. Advertisement Tipoff 9:45 p.m., Friday, March 27; Capital …

SAN DIEGO — Zuby Ejiofor gave Ian Jackson a pep talk Friday. Before tipoff Sunday, Rick Pitino was in the sophomore’s ear. Access the St. John’s beat like never before Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Zach Braziller about the inside buzz on St. John’s. Advertisement TRY IT NOW Both delivered the same message: We …

PHILADELPHIA — So much was going to have to go right for UCLA basketball, once again left without its leading scorer. Another solid showing from its defense and continued strong post play from Xavier Booker was a start. Advertisement But there was no way the Bruins were going to beat UConn on Sunday night with the sort of sloppiness they …

As exceptional as Illinois has been on the court for much of the 2025-26 college basketball season, there have been a number of lapses – inexplicable moments of inertia or indifference – and a handful of games that slipped through the Illini’s fingers as a result. That wasn’t the case in Saturday’s second-round NCAA Tournament matchup, in which the 11th-seeded …

St. John’s’ Rick Pitino wants Christian Laettner 1992 Final Four revenge vs. Duke appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here. History will be intently watching on the sideline on Friday as St. John’s battles Duke in the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament at Capital One Arena. Advertisement Red Storm coach Rick Pitino is …

UCLA’s Mick Cronin names a price for a deeper March Madness run appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here. UCLA was sent packing early in the NCAA Tournament after losing to Connecticut, 73-57, in the second round at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Sunday. Advertisement The No. 7 Bruins trailed by only five points, 38-33, …

PHILADELPHIA — Some cried with towels covering their faces. Others roamed the room with a dazed expression. Deep within the winding Xfinity Mobile Arena corridor and inside the UCLA locker room, silence washed over 15 players — six of whom had likely just donned the blue and gold jersey for the final time. Down the hall, a UConn placard was …

TAMPA − Alabama basketball roared through Texas Tech with ease on Sunday, March 22, winning 90-65 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide was hot from 3-point range and played some of its best defense of the season against the Red Raiders. Alabama will face No. 1-seeded Michigan in Chicago with a chance to …

UConn men’s basketball took down UCLA in their Round of 32 matchup in Philly, 73-57, after a masterclass from Alex Karaban, who posted a career-high 27 points. The 2-seeded Huskies will play Michigan State in the Sweet 16 on Friday night in Washington DC. Karaban was on from the start, finishing 9-for-16 from the field. Braylon Mullins got out of …

The first weekend of the NCAA tournament is in the books, and there are distinct winners and losers. Among the big winners are the Big Ten and John Calipari, who’s guided Arkansas to its second Sweet 16 in his second season as head coach. Kentucky, meanwhile, is headed home. Advertisement As for future lottery pick Darryn Peterson, he didn’t exactly …

The UCLA men’s basketball team’s 2025-26 season has come to an end after a 73-57 hard-fought battle with the NCAA Tournament’s East Region’s No. 2 seed UConn Huskies at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on Sunday. The Bruins put up a spirited fight against one of the best teams in the country without leading scorer, senior forward Tyler Bilodeau, …

PHILADELPHIA − Maybe all those blown leads in the regular season were good for Tennessee basketball? While it didn’t surrender a double-digit big lead, Tennessee fans certainly felt pangs of anxiety when Virginia pulled ahead late at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Advertisement This time, though, instead of collapsing, the No. 6 Vols (24-11) banded together and pulled off the 79-72 victory …

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Alex Karaban scored a career-high 27 points and had Bill Murray and the rest of the UConn crowd roaring with each splashed 3-pointer, helping send the second-seeded Huskies back to the Sweet 16 with a 73-57 win over UCLA in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night. The Huskies (31-5) will play third-seeded Michigan State in the East …

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Mick Cronin won the battle against Dan Hurley over who would receive a technical foul first. The UCLA men’s basketball coach was assessed a technical foul at the 4:41 mark of the second half of Sunday’s Men’s NCAA Tournament second round game against 2-seed UConn at Xfinity Mobile Arena. It led to Huskies forward Alex Karaban making …

Rick Pitino wants Sweet 16 revenge against Duke for what happened in 1992 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. Rick Pitino hasn’t forgotten about one of March Madness’ biggest moments. Unfortunately, he was one the wrong side of history. Advertisement However, the legendary coach made it clear after St. John’s …

On the final day of the first week of the 2026 NCAA Tournament, the reigning national champion saw its dream of a repeat come to an end. In arguably the biggest upset of the opening week of the tournament, No. 9 seed Iowa knocked off No. 1 seed Florida 73-72 thanks to a 3-pointer from Alvaro Folgueiras with 4.5 seconds …

For 15 years, Bill Self was college basketball’s most inevitable figure. The Big 12 couldn’t beat him. The NCAA and even the FBI couldn’t take him down. Maybe he left a couple national championships on the table, but he got two — and every year when March Madness began, Kansas was usually one of the teams to beat. Advertisement It’s …

UCLA vs. UConn box score: Full stats from 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament game originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. Two of the powerhouse basketball schools meet in a No. 7 vs. No. 2 matchup on Sunday night. For the UCLA Bruins and the UConn Huskies, a trip to …

What’s next for Kansas? Explaining Jayhawks, Darryn Peterson’s future after March Madness second-round exit originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. It might be hard to believe, but Kansas hasn’t played an NCAA Tournament game past the second round since winning the national championship in 2022. That drought will extend …

What’s next for Kentucky? How second-round March Madness exit impacts Mark Pope, Wildcats future originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. The Kentucky Wildcats remain one of the SEC’s many elite men’s basketball schools. But as they head into their offseason, fans may be growing a bit impatient for a …