Alabama cannot be stopped and it all starts with March Mark Sears.
The senior guard has scored 25 points, including seven 3-pointers.
BYU is in big trouble as the Tide extend the lead to 16 points.
Score: Alabama 63, BYU 47
BYU missed 11 straight 3-pointers but Trevin Knell finally connected on one to make it an 8-point game.
Knell, who appears to have no lasting effects from the first half elbow to the face, was assessed a technical foul after the made the three for celebrating in front of an Alabama player.
Score: Alabama 55, BYU 47
We are through with the first half in San Francisco, with No. 1 Florida holding a slim 2-point advantage over the Terps.
The Gators were pulling away from this one, leading by as much as 11 points, before losing forward Alex Condon.
Condon had four early points for the Gators, and were in the midst of an 11-0 run before the forward limped off with an ankle injury.
The TBS broadcast showed the sophomore on a stationary bike towards the end of the first half but he has yet to return.
Score: Florida 40, Maryland 38
It’s been a game of runs so far in the first half, and we find ourselves in a tight Sweet 16 affair in San Francisco.
Maryland’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Derik Queen are making the Gators pay for their three turnovers in their last four possessions, combining to score 23 of the Terps’ 30 points in the half.
The Gators have 11 turnovers, seven off of Maryland steals, as we’re at the four-minute mark in the first half.
Score: Florida 31, Maryland 30
Can Alabama keep up this offensive masterclass?
Can BYU start playing like the nation’s No. 1 offense and find their 3-point stroke?
During the break, TNT Sports’ Charles Barkley said Bama’s lead wasn’t good enough. He wanted Alabama to have more points considering how lopsided the half felt.
Note: Barkley went to Auburn.
We shall find out the answers to the questions as the second half from the Prudential Center is underway.
Score: Alabama 51, BYU 40
Here come the Terrapins! Florida appeared to be pulling away but not so fast.
No. 4 Maryland are not going away quietly. Following the Gators’ 11-0 run, now it’s the Terps who have caught fire.
Second-round hero Derik Queen made two layups and Ja’Kobi Gillespie added back-to-back 3-pointers to keep Maryland in contention.
Score: Florida 24, Maryland 19
Alabama is having themselves a Thursday night in New Jersey.
The Crimson Tide lead BYU 51-40 at halftime behind guard Mark Sears’ game-high 17 points, including five 3-pointers.
In defiance of Alabama’s offensive onslaught, the Cougars are still in the game despite only making one 3-pointer and committing seven turnovers.
BYU forward Richie Saunders has scored 12 points to keep ‘em within striking distance.
Score: Alabama 51, BYU 40
The No. 1 seeded Gators are starting to take control of this one.
In a moment’s notice, Florida has knocked down three straight 3-pointers to put together a 9-0 run as the Gators threaten to pull away.
Sophomore forward Alex Condon had to be taken to the locker room after appearing to injure his ankle. It is unclear if he will return.
Score: Florida 20, Maryland 9
It’s been a tight affair as both teams continue to establish their game this early on.
Florida’s Alex Condon has paced the Gators offense so far in the contest, tallying four points while shooting 2-of-3 from the field.
We’re approaching the 15-minute mark of the first half in San Francisco.
Score: Florida 7, Maryland 6
Alabama is shooting almost 50% from 3-point range, including 12 makes so far, as they jumped out to a 44-36 lead.
There was a scary moment just now. With six minutes to go in the first half, BYU guard Trevin Knell took an inadvertent elbow to the face from Tide guard Chris Youngblood while going for a loose ball.
Knell was bleeding from his nose and walked off the floor. He was seen on the bench with his nose plugged up to stop the bleeding.
Crimson Tide are up eight points with just over three minutes to go until halftime.
Score: Alabama 44, BYU 36
What an offensive display we’ve seen from this Alabama team.
The Crimson Tide has knocked down eight 3-pointers while the Cougars have hit just one.
Alabama got a big two-pointer thanks to a Grant Nelson one-handed slam.
GRANT NELSON DROPS THE HAMMER
#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/ZjFMJslW3q
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 27, 2025
Bama had a 4-point lead with about eight minutes to go before halftime.
Score: Alabama 32, BYU 28
No. 1 Florida and No. 4 Maryland are back on the court for an Elite Eight matchup at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
The Gators punched their ticket to a first Sweet 16 appearance since 2017 by defeating two-time reigning champions UConn in the second round. Leading the charge is the sensational senior guard Walter Clayton Jr., whose 23-point masterpiece against the Huskies still echoes through the brackets.
On the other side, the Terrapins are buzzin’ after Derik Queen’s stunning buzzer-beater to propel them to their first Sweet 16 since the 2015-16 season. Now, Maryland is eyeing its first Elite Eight berth since 2002, when they won the first national title in program history.
The winner will next square off against either No. 3-seed Texas Tech and No. 10 Arkansas on Saturday.
We got ourselves a game!
Bama quickly took over the game offensively, taking a 24-21 lead over BYU.
Crimson Tide guard Mark Sears caught fire, scoring 11 points with just over 12 minutes to play in the first half.
Score: Alabama 24, BYU 21
Its been a good, old-fashioned shootout between BYU and Alabama to start out.
Both teams are shooting at least 60% from the field as the Cougars lead the Crimson Tide 17-15.
BYU guard Trevin Knell has a game-high seven points.
Can the furious offensive pace continue?
Score: BYU 17, Alabama 15
A pair of surprise guests just showed up.
Auburn’s Bruce Pearl jumped on the TBS set along with Johni Broome – a Naismith National Player of the Year finalist – to discuss the Tigers’ Sweet 16 tilt versus Michigan in Atlanta Friday night.
“These guys hate to lose,” Pearl said while pointing to Broome.
Broome said, “We’ll be ready tomorrow night,” referring to the tough test it will take to defeat the Wolverines.
After a clock issue delay at the Prudential Center, the game between No. 2 seed Alabama and No. 6 seed Brigham Young University has tipped off in Newark, New Jersey, to get the men’s Sweet 16 going.
The Crimson Tide are looking to advance to their second straight Elite Eight while the Cougars can make it for the first in 44 years.
BYU enters its Sweet 16 tilt with mighty SEC powerhouse Alabama with some spuds-inspired history. Cougars forward Richie Saunders, who has won multiple awards this season for his play on the court, notably being named to the All-Big 12 team and the conference’s Most Improved Player of the Year, is the descendant of potato greatness.
You see, Saunders’ great-grandfather was F. “Nephi” Griggs, the inventor of the bite-sized potato tater tot.
Through family links Richie Saunders always wanted to play basketball at BYU. With that lifelong achievement also came the discovery of another family link that has accelerated his stardom off the court. pic.twitter.com/ieNH4gTADG
— CBS Sports College Basketball
(@CBSSportsCBB) March 27, 2025
The company that sells the crispy treat, Ore-Ida, has gone all-in on Saunders and No. 6 seed BYU’s Match Madness success by offering free tots during the Cougar’s game against the No. 2 Crimson Tide (tipping off shortly on CBS).
Ore-Ida says fans need to visit the company’s social media channels to find weblinks for free taters. The company has gone so far as to change its social handle to “Ore-Richie” in honor of the Junior hoopster.
Texas Tech has had plenty of men’s March Madness experience. In fact, the program reached the national championship game only six years ago – falling to Virginia during the Cavs’ “redemption run” in 2019. The Red Raiders lost their NCAA first round tournament game last season.
Names and faces change over the years, but these high-profile postseason games carry similar pressure and weight and are fraught with distractions. What should a head coach tell his players as the stress mounts before tipoff?
No. 3 seed Tech’s head coach Grant McCasland called for the Red Raiders to believe in the greater purpose that the team has been given and block out the noise ahead of their tilt against No. 10 Arkansas.
“There’s a lot of distractions that happen. People want to know if they can have tickets and people want your autograph and want to say ‘hi’ to you that did not want to say hi to you before,” McCasland said.
“And you know what? You lose and those same people do not want to say hi to you again.
“That stuff goes away like this (McCasland snaps).”
The coach, who has led the team for the past two seasons, said he wouldn’t want to go into this battle with anyone else.
“There’s nobody I’d rather do this with than y’all. Nobody.”
It’s hard to imagine this version of John Calipari as an underdog. He’s got a national championship, six Final Fours and six SEC regular season and tournament titles to his name.
And yet, here he is, a Hall of Fame coach leading No. 10 Arkansas into the Sweet 16 in the closest thing this tournament has to a Cinderella.
The Razorbacks are – of course, because it’s a Calipari team – stacked with talent. Three of Calipari’s players from Kentucky followed him to Fayetteville, Johnell Davis transferred in from Florida Atlantic University and freshmen Boogie Fland, Karter Knox and Billy Richmond all decommitted from the Wildcats to follow Calipari to Arkansas.
But despite all that talent, it was a mixed bag of a season for the iconic coach in his first season as a Razorback. Arkansas went 22-13, finished ninth in the SEC with a below .500 conference record, had a five-game losing streak and didn’t really start putting it all together until the end of the season. In taking down No. 7 Kansas and No. 2 St. John’s in the tournament’s opening weekend, the Razorbacks are suddenly looking very much like a typical Calipari team.
Next up for Arkansas is high-powered Texas Tech. The Red Raiders averaged 80 points per game during the regular season and are led by forward JT Toppin. Tech cruised past UNC-Wilmington and No. 11 Drake in its opening games of the tournament – it’s expected that the Razorbacks will be a much more even talent matchup than either of those mid-majors.
Florida was tested. So were Auburn and Houston. Duke rolled.
But all four No. 1 seeds made it to the Sweet 16.
In a year when chalk has been the name of the game – high seeds beating low seeds, with only a few upsets – the prospect of an all-top-seeds Final Four looms. Still, it’s possible that a chalky first weekend of the tournament leads to beautiful college basketball chaos in the second weekend.
The Friday matchups in particular look tasty. Auburn faces No. 5 Michigan at 9:39 p.m. ET on Friday, with Houston facing No. 4 Purdue about 30 minutes later. Michigan cruised against Texas A&M in the round of 32 on Saturday after surviving UC San Diego’s upset bid in the opening round and the Big Ten tournament champion Wolverines will be looking to keep up their late-season momentum against the Tigers.
The Boilermakers, meanwhile, have been out to prove that they are well and truly over their March flakiness. Matt Painter took his team all the way to the championship game last year and crushed possible Cinderella stories from High Point and McNeese State in the opening round. Purdue has a history of bowing out of the tournament in embarrassing fashion over the last decade – taking down a top seed in the Sweet 16 might be the way to show last year was no fluke and those days are gone for good.
