March Madness advances to Elite Eight

Three rounds of the annual tournament are already finished, and just eight teams remain to battle for the NCAA championship

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Virginia’s Kyle Guy holds the ball on an offensive possession. Guy has been a key factor in UVA’s success this season.

Jack Shields, Sports Editor
March 30, 2019

After just over a week, the NCAA basketball tournament is left with just 8 of the 64 schools competing. Tonight, the next round of action will kick off with a trip to the Final Four on the line. 

The Sweet Sixteen featured another round of extremely competitive basketball games. 12-seeded Oregon hoped to continue their tournament run by knocking off 1-seed Virginia, but fell 4 points short in a defensive battle. The game was tied with just 4 minutes left to play, and UVA managed to pull ahead thanks to a clutch three pointer by Ty Jerome. Virginia closed out the game and ended Oregon’s Cinderella story.

Purdue managed to best Tennessee in an instant classic overtime game. After trailing by 12 at the half, Tennessee surged back and even claimed a late lead over the Boilermakers. Protecting a two point lead in the closing seconds of the game, the Volunteers fouled Purdue’s Carsen Edwards who knocked down two of three free throws to send the game to overtime, where Purdue carried their momentum to a historic win.

Last night’s action featured 5-seed Auburn shocking North Carolina with a 17 point win, in a high scoring 97-80 game. Top seeded Duke also held on to win a tight game over Virginia Tech, who fell just short of a late comeback on a missed tip-in shot. Kentucky was also able to fight off a pesky Houston team to advance to the Elite Eight.

Gonzaga, Texas Tech, and Michigan State all took convincing wins to advance, knocking out Florida State, Michigan, and LSU.

The next round starts tonight with Texas Tech taking on Gonzaga, and Virginia matching up against red hot Purdue. Tomorrow Duke will face Michigan State and Auburn will hope to extend their tournament run in an SEC game against Kentucky.