Duke’s Jahlil Okafor made sure there were no surprises for the Blue Devils reaching the Sweet 16. No such luck for a pair of No 2 seeds in Kansas and Virginia.
Kansas lost to Wichita State in a victory for an upstart school thirsting for a shot against the Jayhawks. And Michigan State continued its March success under coach Tom Izzo thanks to Travis Trice, who took command from the start to hand the ACC its first loss in this NCAA Tournament.
A look at how teams fared Sunday in the round of 32:
EAST REGION
MICHIGAN STATE 60, VIRGINIA 54
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Travis Trice scored 23 points, and Michigan State knocked second-seeded Virginia out of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year, 60-54 on Sunday.
Branden Dawson added 15 points and nine rebounds for the seventh-seeded Spartans, who advanced to the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in the last eight seasons under coach Tom Izzo. The Spartans will play the winner of the Oklahoma-Dayton game in Syracuse, New York on Friday.
With top seed Villanova having lost Saturday, it is the first time a No. 1 and 2 seed from the same region didn’t advance to the Sweet 16 since Kentucky and Gonzaga in 2004.
The Spartans stole a page from last year’s regional semifinal win, limiting the Cavaliers to 29.8 percent shooting. Virginia finished 2 of 17 from 3-point range.
Last year, the Spartans upset the top-seeded Cavaliers in the regional semifinal by holding Virginia to 35.1 percent shooting.
The Cavaliers (30-4) were led by Anthony Gill’s 11 points and Darion Atkins’ 10 points and 14 rebounds.
SOUTH REGION
DUKE 68, SAN DIEGO STATE 49
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jahlil Okafor scored 18 of his 26 points in a dominating first half and Duke beat San Diego State 68-49 on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament, sending the top-seeded Blue Devils back to the Sweet 16.
Fellow freshman Justise Winslow added 13 points and 12 rebounds for Duke (31-4), which for the second straight tournament game ran out to a quick lead and stayed in control the rest of the way.
Duke — holding a No. 1 seed for the 11th time in 18 seasons but its first since 2011 — advanced to face fifth-seeded Utah in Houston’s South Region semifinals.
Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils are pushing for their 12th Final Four and completed their two-game stay in their home state with a pair of hot-shooting wins.
Duke shot 55 percent against the eighth-seeded Aztecs (27-9), two days after shooting 63 percent against Robert Morris.
MIDWEST REGION
WICHITA STATE 78, KANSAS 65
OMAHA, Neb. (A) — No wonder Kansas never wants anything to do with Wichita State.
Behind another steady performance from Fred VanVleet and the hot shooting of Evan Wessel, the No. 7 seed Shockers rolled past the second-seeded Jayhawks 78-65 on Sunday, earning a trip to the Sweet 16 at the expense of the school that has caused them so much chagrin.
Tekele Cotton led the way with 19 points for the Shockers (30-4). VanVleet finished with 17 and Wessel hit four 3-pointers and scored 12, sending the Missouri Valley champions to Cleveland for the Midwest Regional semifinal against third-seeded Notre Dame.
Devonte’ Graham and Perry Ellis had 17 points each, and Frank Mason added 16 for the Jayhawks (27-9), who blew an early eight-point lead and never really threatened in the second half.
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