The ACC swept the second day of the Sweet Sixteen, with North Carolina, Virginia, Notre Dame and Syracuse advancing into the Elite Eight, as all the higher seeds won their games for a second straight night.
#5 Indiana 86 #1 North Carolina 101: The Tar Heels scored early, often and from everywhere to take the reins quickly against the Hoosiers and coast into the Elite Eight. Marcus Paige scored 21 points, Brice Johnson had a 20-10 game and the entire lineup finished scoring in double figures. They shot 55% from beyond the arc, won the paint battle 34-20 and help Roy Williams make it to his 12th Elite Eight, with only Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski going to more during their careers.
#4 Iowa State 71 #1 Virginia 84: The Cyclones had no answer to Anthony Gill in the paint and Virginia overall, getting outscored 52-36 when close to the rim, a record for Virginia and a defensive no-no for Iowa State. Gill finished with 23 points to lead the Cavaliers while Mike Tobey added 18 points in 20 minutes off the bench. Georges Niang finished his college career with 30 points and did a lot to help himself in a terrific tournament, but it didn’t help Iowa State get close to Virginia from the moment they fell behind 17-3 to start the game.
#7 Wisconsin 56 #6 Notre Dame 61: A special win for Mike Brey and the Fighting Irish, scoring the final 8 points of the game, including Demetrius Jackson’s steal and go-ahead layup with 14.7 seconds left. The game went how the Badgers wanted it: With both teams scoring 40% from the field and shooting around 30% from long range and no one creating runs. But Nigel Hayes had another bad shooting day, the Irish put five fouls on Happ and no one kept up with V.J. Beachem, who scored 19 points. It’s a second Elite Eight in a row for Notre Dame, which hasn’t happened to the program since 1979.
#11 Gonzaga 60 #10 Syracuse 63: Gonzaga led for most of the game but couldn’t get away, punished in the end for their missed opportunities as a Michael Gbinije go ahead layup gave Syracuse a 61-60 lead with 22 seconds to go, winning the game for the Orange despite shooting poorly in compared to the Bulldogs. However, they did force 17 turnovers on Gonzaga, and managed to make it only about Sabonis and Wiltjer, who combined to score 42 points. Gbinije led Syracuse with 20 points.