On Friday night, in the South Region, the North Carolina Tarheels cruised to a relatively easy victory over the Butler Bulldogs with a 92-80 win and a return to the Sweet Sixteen.
The Tarheels made their statement that they may be the team that can beat the dominating Kansas Jayhawks who also cruised to a victory over the Purdue Boilermakers to earn an Elite Eight spot.
Kentucky Wildcats defeated the highest scoring team UCLA Bruins 86-75. Kentucky didn’t run away with the game until the end, but they also made a statement that they belong with the Tarheels and the Jayhawks. Kentucky will play North Carolina in the Elite Eight.
NCAA Tournament: South Region Sweet Sixteen Game Recaps
Here are the South Region Sweet Sixteen matchup game recaps from Friday March 24, 2017
FedEx Forum – Memphis, Tennessee
1 – North Carolina Tarheels (30-7) – 92
4 – Butler Bulldogs (25-8) – 80
The North Carolina Tarheels easily defeated the Butler Bulldogs 92-80 and earned their 27th birth to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. North Carolina scored 52 points in the first half and had a double-digit lead the entire second half. The Tarheels made a sizzling 54.4% of their shots compared to Butler’s 43.5% shooting percentage.
The Tarheels were led by Joel Berry II who scored 26 points on 8-of-13 shots. Justin Jackson scored 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting and added five rebounds and five assists. North Carolina also continued their dominance on the boards grabbing 38 rebounds, 10 of them offensive.
The Bulldogs were led by Andrew Chrabascz who scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Kelan Martin added 16 points. In the end, the Bulldogs did not have the size, the length or the quickness to match up with the Tarheels.
The Tarheels will face Kentucky in the Elite Eight.
FedEx Forum – Memphis, Tennessee
3 – UCLA Bruins (31-4) – 75
2 – Kentucky Wildcats (31-5) – 86
In the most talked about game in the NCAA tournament so far, the South Region match-up between the UCLA Bruins and the Kentucky Wildcats was a rematch from earlier in the season. In the first match-up, the Bruins won 97-92 in an offensive spectacle. Kentucky won the second match-up and the one that counted 86-75.
The South Region matchup did not open with as much scoring. Kentucky led 36-33 at halftime. Kentucky were led by De’Aaron Fox who scored 15 points on nearly 60% shooting. UCLA forward TJ Leaf scored 13 points.
Both teams shot nearly identical percentages with the edge going to Kentucky for both field goal (46.9% to 42.9%) and three-point percentages (41.7% to 33.3%). UCLA led in team rebounding 17-14 over Kentucky.
The second half was mostly dominated by Kentucky. Fox continued his dominance and Malik Monk got hot. Fox ended up scoring 39 points, a record for a Kentucky freshman. Monk added 21 points on 8-for-17 shooting.
Even though UCLA stayed in the game until the last few minutes, they just could not keep up with the Wildcats. The highest scoring team in the NCAA this season were held to 75 points.
Leaf only scored four points in the second half for 17 total. Isaac Hamilton also scored 17 points. Lonzo Ball scored 10 points and added eight assists. Bryce Alford scored 13 points.
UCLA fought valiantly, but Kentucky had too much fire-power. Kentucky will face North Carolina in the Elite Eight.
CHAPEL HILL, NC – FEBRUARY 18: UNC players on the bench react to a basket by their team. The University of North Carolina Tar Heels hosted the University of Virginia Cavaliers on February 18, 2017, at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina in a 2016-17 Division I Men’s Basketball game. UNC won the game 65-41. (Photo by Andy Mead/YCJ/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) South region Sweet Sixteen game recap
