On March 22, 2026, eight games took place in the second round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The winners advanced to the Sweet 16.
St. John’s defeated Kansas 67-65. St. John’s led 35-29 at halftime. Dylan Darling scored 24 points and added 6 assists for St. John’s. Hunter Dickinson recorded 19 points and 11 rebounds for Kansas. St. John’s shot 43 percent from the field and made 8 three-pointers.
Iowa defeated Florida 73-72. Iowa trailed 70-68 with less than one minute remaining. Bennett Stirtz scored 21 points and had 7 assists for Iowa. Alvaro Folgueiras scored 18 points, including a three-pointer with four seconds left that gave Iowa the lead. Florida led in rebounds 37-29. The teams combined for 14 lead changes.
Purdue defeated Miami (Fla.) 79-69. Purdue led 41-32 at halftime. Fletcher Loyer scored 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Trey Kaufman-Renn added 19 points and 10 rebounds. Purdue shot 48 percent from the field and outrebounded Miami 38-31.
Iowa State defeated Kentucky 82-63. Iowa State forced 20 turnovers and scored 25 points off those turnovers. They led 41-29 at halftime. Milan Momcilovic scored 19 points to lead Iowa State. Kentucky shot 37 percent from the field.
Tennessee defeated Virginia 79-72. Tennessee made 13 three-pointers and shot 51 percent from three-point range. Zakai Zeigler scored 18 points and recorded 7 assists for Tennessee. Virginia was led by 20 points from its top scorer. Tennessee outrebounded Virginia 38-31.
Arizona defeated Utah State 78-66. Arizona led for the majority of the game and shot 49 percent from the field. Kylan Boswell scored 19 points for Arizona. Great Osobor recorded 21 points and 12 rebounds for Utah State.
UConn defeated UCLA 73-57. UConn led 38-25 at halftime and extended the margin in the second half. Liam McNeeley scored 18 points for UConn. UConn held UCLA to 39 percent shooting from the field.
Alabama defeated Texas Tech 90-65. Alabama led by 18 points at halftime and shot 52 percent from the field. Aden Holloway scored 22 points for Alabama. Alabama outrebounded Texas Tech 42-29.
The eight teams that advanced are St. John’s, Iowa, Purdue, Iowa State, Tennessee, Arizona, UConn, and Alabama. The Sweet 16 begins later this week.
What do you feel like was the biggest surprise? Is your bracket busted or thriving. Discuss in the comment section below.
