On Friday night, the South Carolina Gamecocks easily upset the Baylor Bears 70-50 in the East Region to earn their first Elite Eight spot in team history. The Gamecocks again used their tough defense and high-scoring offense to thoroughly dominate the Bears.
Florida Gators were able to squeeze by the Wisconsin Badgers to head to the Elite Eight. Wisconsin had a furious comeback to send the game to overtime. But Florida hit a last second shot to win 84-83. It was possibly the best game of the tournament so far.
NCAA Tournament: East Region Sweet Sixteen Game Recaps
Here are the East Region Sweet Sixteen matchup recaps from Friday March 24, 2017:
Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
3 – Baylor Bears (27-7) – 50
7 – South Carolina Gamecocks (25-10) – 70
The South Carolina Gamecocks broke the game open at about the midway point down 13-15 in the first half with an 18-0 run. By the time the Baylor Bears finally scored, the Gamecocks were up 31-15.
South Carolina’s relentless defense held the Bears to only 22 points in the first half including a stretch of nearly eight minutes where the Bears did not score a point.
South Carolina was led by Sindarius Thornwell scored 24 points and grabbed six rebounds. DJ Dozier and Chris Silva each scored 12 points and Duane Notice scored 11 points. Silva also added seven rebounds.
Johnathon Motley scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds. No other Bear scored in double-digits. The Bears’ Terry Maston who scored 19 points against USC managed only two points against the Gamecocks. The Bears only shot 30.4 field goal percentage compared to 46% for the Gamecocks.
South Carolina goes on to meet Florida in the Elite Eight.
Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
8 – Wisconsin Badgers (27-9) – 83
4 – Florida Gators (27-8) – 84
Florida Gators played a relatively tight game with the Wisconsin Badgers. Gators led 34-32 at halftime and mostly dominated in the second half until a furious comeback by the Badgers to send the game to over-time tied at 72-72.
Zak Showalter hit the three-point shot to send the game to over-time. Wisconsin largely dominated the over-time period. Then, when it seemed Wisconsin had the game locked up with a two point lead with four seconds to go, Chris Chiozza hit a three-point shot to win the game for Florida.
Florida were led by KeVaughn Allen who scored 35 points on 11-for-24 shooting. No other Florida player scored in double figures. Nigel Hayes scored 22 points and made a drive at the end of the over-time where he was fouled. Hayes made both free throws. Hayes was 7 of 13 from the free throw line. Brandon Koenig was in foul trouble, but managed 13 points.
COLUMBIA, SC – FEBRUARY 07: South Carolina Gamecocks guard Duane Notice (10), guard Sindarius Thornwell (0), forward Sedee Keita (24), guard TeMarcus Blanton (5) and guard PJ Dozier (15) tiredly ready for another overtime period during the quadruple overtime SEC game on February 7, 2017 at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC. Alabama wins 90-86. (Photo by Jim Dedmon/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
