Recapping how the Sweet Sixteen became the Final Four

Thursday's slate of Sweet 16 action lacked the drama that most of us were hoping for. In fact, each game was decided by at least 14 points. 

That gave way to two close games during Friday's action, including Syracuse's drama-filled 63-60 comeback win over Gonzaga. 

Fortunately for those of us who love watching tournament games come down to the end, the Elite 8 didn't disappoint. 

Culminating in a tremendous comeback performance from the 10th-seeded Syracuse Orange, the past two days of NCAA Tournament action gave us all the intrigue we were hoping for. 

In the end, only one top seed remains alive as the tourney enters the final weekend of action. Meanwhile, two seniors in Buddy Hield and Brice Johnson will look to cut down the nets before going pro. 

Here is a full review of this weekend's NCAA Tournament action. 

Sweet 16, South Region

Kansas 79, Maryland 63

The Terps' disappointing season came to a conclusion Thursday evening in Louisville, Kentucky. A team that ranked No. 3 in the nation heading into the season fell to the mighty Jayhawks by 16 points. And in reality, the game wasn't even that close. 

After falling down 32-29 with less than three minutes left in the first half, Kansas went on a lengthy 37-21 run to take hold of the game with about six minutes remaining in regulation. That stretch saw Maryland shoot just 25 percent from the field compared to 50-plus percent for the Big 12 champs. 

Perry Ellis led all scorers with 27 points while shooting a tremendous 10-of-17 from the field. Wayne Selden Jr. added 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists in a great all-around performance against a Maryland star in Melo Trimble who shot just 5-of-16 from the field, including 1-of-7 from three-point range. 

Overall, Maryland starters shot just 4-of-21 from beyond the arc. That right there was the major difference, especially considering Maryland had struggled from three-point range in the tourney leading up to Thursday's game. After all, that same starting five shot 1-of-14 from long range against Hawaii. 

Villanova 92, Miami (F) 69

The theme from Thursday's action was blowout after blowout. None more so than this one-sided affair. Miami was able to stay with a high-scoring Wildcat team in the first half, trailing just 43-37 when the two went into the half. 

Unfortunately for the Hurricanes, the second half was a completely different story. Nova outscored Miami 49-32 after intermission to win going away. 

Kris Jenkins and Ryan Arcidiacono did most of the damage for Villanova in this one, combining to score 42 points on a ridiculous 15-of-21 shooting, including 9-of-13 from three-point land. Daniel Ochefu added 17 points on 7-of-11 from the field. Overall, Villanova shot an absurd 63 percent from the field while committing only eight turnovers. You aren't going to lose many games playing at that high level. 

In this, head coach Jay Wright should be proud of his team. That's only magnified by the early exits this squad has seen in the tournament in recent seasons. 

Miami did shoot 53 percent itself, including 10-of-17 from beyond the three-point line. Unfortunately, it couldn't put up enough stops to hang with what was a well-prepared Nova squad. 

Sweet 16, West Region

Oregon 82, Duke 68

The defending champion Blue Devils stayed with the top-seeded Ducks through the entire first half. It was, however, a horrendous sequence late in the first half that gave Oregon momentum heading into intermission. 

Down 35-31 and in possession of the basketball with an opportunity to move to within one, Duke turned the ball over after an errant pass by Derryck Thornton landed in the hands of Oregon defender Chris Boucher. Unfortunately for Duke, Luke Kennard fouled Boucher on the play, eventually giving Oregon five-point lead. 

The Ducks would then push it to a double-digit lead less than two minutes into the second half, pretty much ending Duke's hopes of a repeat. It's in this that one bad play can change the entire momentum of a game. 

Sophomore forward Dillon Brooks led all scorers with 22 points while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out six assists. It was Brooks' second consecutive 20-plus point performance heading into the Elite 8. 

For Duke, it was the struggles of last year's tourney hero Grayson Allen that did the team in. The sophomore shot just 4-of-13 from the field en route to a pedestrian 15-point performance. Duke's lack of depth also played a role here. Both Allen and Brandon Ingram played all 40 minutes with the Blue Devils' reserves combining for just four points. Oregon reserve Jordan Bell scored 13 by himself. 

Oklahoma 77, Texas A&M 63

These former Big 12 foes took on one another for a chance to play Oregon during the weekend. It was a game for about a dozen minutes or so. In fact, Texas A&M boasted a 15-9 lead early on. Though, a 31-7 run by the Sooners over the next 11 minutes put this one away for good. 

Interestingly, it wasn't all-everything scorer Buddy Hield who put the Aggies away before the half. Instead, the 22 points fellow back-court mate Jordan Woodard scored is what did Texas A&M in. Woodard shot 8-of-11 from the field, including a ridiculous 5-of-6 from three-point land. That followed a solid 17-point performance in Round 2 against Virginia Commonwealth. 

Outside of Tyler Davis' 7-of-8 mark from the field, the rest of the Aggies starters simply couldn't put the ball in the bucket. The other four members of this team's starting five shot just 33 percent from the field while turning the ball over 10 times. In fact, they had just two more field goals than turnovers. Ouch! 

Sweet 16, East Region

North Carolina 101, Indiana 86

Simply put, Indiana ran into a juggernaut here. North Carolina shot 52 percent from the field, saw all five starters go for 14-plus points and hit 11 three pointers. That right there is the primary reason Indiana fell by 15 points despite putting up 86 itself. 

Brice Johnson put up 20 points and 10 boards for his second consecutive double-double. Meanwhile, North Carolina's starting back court outscored Indiana's 35-25. That's a pretty big thing considering Yogi Ferrell went for 25 himself for the Hoosiers. 

When looking at the overall game, these two things were prime factors in the Tar Heels coming away with the win. Simply put, when Roy Williams' squad gets tremendous inside play from Johnson and is able to hold its own out on the perimeter, it's going to win more often than not. 

Notre Dame 61, Wisconsin 56

Complete antithesis of the other East Regional semifinal played in Philadelphia on Friday. These two teams shot a combined 40 percent from the field, going for a combined 16 more points than North Carolina put up by itself. 

For the Irish, it was tremendous all-around defense out on the perimeter that made the difference. Wisconsin shot just 6-of-20 from three-point range, dished out a total of 11 assists while turning the ball over a ridiculous 17 times. 

While junior guard Steve Vasturia scored just two points on 1-of-6 shooting, he did a tremendous job stopping Wisconsin's second-leading scorer Bronson Koenig, who put up just eight points on 3-of-12 shooting. In addition to this, leading scorer Nigel Hayes put up 11 points while turning the ball over six times himself. 

Sweet 16, Midwest Region

Virginia 84, Iowa State 71

Despite Cyclone forward Georges Niang going for 30 points in this one, Virginia came away with a semi comfortable win against the heavy underdogs. Outside of Niang's performance, the rest of Iowa State's starters shot a combined 32 percent from the field. That was the primary difference here, as the Cavaliers saw four different players go for double figures. 

It really wasn't much of a game from the get go. Virginia opened up a 17-3 lead a little more than five minutes into the game. And while Iowa State would win the remainder of the game by one point, it was never closer than  eight points for the duration. 

Virginia's front-court tandem of Isaiah Wilkins and Anthony Gill combined to shoot a whopping 14-of-19 from the field en route to tallying a total of 35 points. That was enough for the team to overcome Niang's big game with the rest of Virginia's roster stepping up more than the Cyclones. 

Syracuse 63, Gonzaga 60

It really looked like the Zags were on their way to their second

consecutive Elite 8 appearance. Following two Domantas Sabonis free throws, Gonzaga boasted a five-point lead with just over three minutes remaining in regulation. It would go on to miss its final four shots from the field, turning the ball over three times en route to letting Syracuse come all the way back for the three-point win. 

Prior to that disastrous last three minutes and change, the Bulldogs were playing great defensive basketball. It was, however, on the boards where Gonzaga struggled down the stretch. Syracuse was able to put up 10 shots in the final three minutes. And while it hit on only three, that was more than enough for the Orange to come out on top. 

This was a dramatic turnabout from earlier in the game. After all, Gonzaga ended up out-rebounding Syracuse 37-33 when all was said and done. 

For the Orange, the strong interior presence of Tyler Roberson made all the difference. He tallied 12 boards, including a ridiculous nine on the offensive glass. That more than made up for a cold shooting night from leading scorer Michael Gbinije, who went 8-of-23 from the field. 

South Region Final

Villanova 64, Kansas 59

Talk about lock down defense. The Wildcats forced a ridiculous 16 Kansas turnovers, including four from both Frank Mason III and Perry Ellis. Meanwhile, Ellis himself put up a season low four points in his final game for the Jayhawks. 

However disheartening Kansas' offensive performance was, Nova's defense deserves a ton of credit. It put tremendous pressure on the ball, forced some big turnovers and bad shot after bad shot in the five-point win. 

It was the 25 first-half points Kansas scored that put Bill Self's squad behind the proverbial eight-ball, a deficit it was unable to overcome despite some better shooting in the second half. 

Holding a seven-point lead at the intermission, Nova would maintain the lead until a Devonte' Graham three pointer put Kansas up by four with just less than 13 minutes remaining in regulation. Kansas would score 15 points from there on out, enabling the Wildcats to pull away with the win. 

Four of Nova's five starters scored in double figures with Kris Jenkins, Josh Hart and Ryan Arcidiacono leading the way with 13 points a piece in a solid team-wide effort. Meanwhile, Kansas didn't get a single point from its bench — yet another reason why the tourney's top seed fell short of the Final 4. 

West Region Final

Oklahoma 80, Oregon 68

It was all about Buddy Hield here. Scoring 35-plus for the second time in three games, the likely lottery pick shot 8-of-13 from three-point range in a dazzling all-around performance. His 37 points led a Sooners squad that put up an 18-point lead at the half — a deficit that proved to be insurmountable for the Ducks. 

Oklahoma shot 47 percent from the field, 50 percent from three-point range and connected on 14-of-17 from the charity stripe. With numbers like that, most top-level teams would win going away. 

For Oregon, the issue on the offensive end of the court was from long range. Including a 1-of-9 mark for the starting backcourt, the Ducks shot 19 percent from three point range. Going up against an elite-level shooting team in Oklahoma, that proved to be the PAC 12 champion's undoing in this one. 

Midwest Region Final

Syracuse 68, Virginia 62

A double-digit seed is on its way to the Final 4 after a stunning comeback against the region's top seed Sunday afternoon in Chicago. Down 14 points at the half and facing a 15-point deficit with less than 10 minutes remaining, Syracuse came out of nowhere to hand the Cavaliers a six-point loss. 

In fact, Syracuse turned that 15-point deficit into a one-point lead in less than four minutes. Malachi Richardson and Tyler Roberson combined for 22 points during what ended up being a ridiculous 25-4 run to put the Orange up six with just over three minutes remaining. 

Despite wanting to give Syracuse a ton of credit for this performance, the top-seeded Virginia team choked big time. The Cavaliers shot 35 percent from the field in the second half, missing (from my estimation) 10 layups after intermission. That's simply an outlier that no one would have imagined possible from the team. 

By virtue of the comeback win, Syracuse becomes the lowest seed to earn a trip to the Final 4 since Virginia Commonwealth, an 11th seed, in 2011. It's an amazing turnabout for a team that nearly missed out on the tournament altogether. 

East Region Final

North Carolina 88, Notre Dame 74

About as consistent as it gets, senior big man Brice Johnson tallied his third consecutive double-double in another solid performance. Johnson went for 25 points and 12 rebounds. Meanwhile, fellow senior Marcus Paige added 13 points in yet another great outing from the Tar Heels. 

The Irish actually led 52-51 at the 13-minute mark before North Carolina reached a level Notre Dame simply couldn't match. All said, the Tar Heels scored 37 of the final 59 points, including a combined 17 points from Johnson and Paige in the final 10 minutes. 

By virtue of another dominating win, North Carolina is the only top seed heading to Houston for the Final 4. This means that Roy Williams' squad will be the odds-on favorites to earn the national title when all is said and done. 

Weekend's best performance

Brice Johnson, forward, North Carolina

In a tournament that has been defined by stellar performances from the nation's top seniors, Johnson stood out above the rest. Johnson followed up a 20-point, 10-rebound performance against Indiana on Friday by putting up 25 and 12 against the Irish on Sunday. 

This brings Johnson's tournament average to 21 points and 9.8 rebounds while shooting a stellar 63 percent from the field. If Johnson is able to continue this next weekend in Houston, North Carolina will likely be cutting down the nets — a culmination of what has been a tremendous career for the senior. 

Weekend's worst performance

Melo Trimble and Diamond Stone, Maryland

Maryland needed their two most-talented players to step up Thursday against Kansas. Instead, Trimble and Stone combined to shoot 7-of-20 from the field for 22 points in the disheartening 16-point loss. 

This came on the heels of the two combining for 39 points on 50 percent from the field against Hawaii in the Round of 32. 

For the Terps, it was the culmination of what has to be considered a disappointing season that saw them among the favorites to cut down the nets prior to the start of the year. 

Final takeaways

* It's going to be interesting to see who Villanova has guard Buddy Hield in one of the two national semifinals on Saturday. Even money has to be on junior guard Josh Hart, who matches up well in terms of build with Oklahoma's leading scorer. Playing a three-guard lineup will help Nova mix it up a bit, but it's unrealistic to believe Ryan Arcidiacono or freshman Jalen Brunson can stick with Hield on the defensive end of the court. 

* ACC rivals North Carolina and Syracuse played twice during the regular season with the Tar Heels coming out on top both times. Though, Brice Johnson did struggle to an extent in these two games. He averaged just 15 points and nine boards. Based on Johnson's performance up to this point in the tournament, the expectation has to be that the numbers will improve a great deal next weekend. 

* Jim Boeheim and Roy Williams have a combined 1,770 wins and three national titles during their Hall of Fame coaching careers. The two met in the national title game back in 2003 with Syracuse and Boeheim coming out on top over Williams' Kansas Jayhawks team by the score of 81-78. 

Interestingly, it was the first national title for either of these coaches. While Syracuse has not cut down the nets in the 14 years since, Williams has two titles to call his own. More than anything, this is what will be talked about in the lead up to the national semifinal game Saturday in Houston. 

* Oklahoma is the only program remaining in the tournament that has not won a national title. In fact, this is just the Sooners' third Final 4 appearance since the Truman Administration (1947).