Friday Sweet 16 takeaways: Inbounds perfection for Houston
theScore runs down the top storylines and developments from Friday's biggest NCAA Tournament games and what it all could mean moving forward.
Houston wins on FUNdamental play
There are few things basketball coaches love more than highlighting to youth teams across the country that the most dangerous person on an inbounds play is the one throwing the ball in. Friday's late game showed exactly why.
Purdue battled back to tie things against Houston in the final minute, only for the Cougars to face an inbounds opportunity beside the Boilermakers basket with under three seconds to play. One team executed its fundamentals perfectly, and the other did not. We'll let you guess who's moving on to the Elite Eight and who's going home.
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said his team worked on the play in Thursday's practice, and it went off without a hitch to provide Milos Uzan with the game-winner. The play featured multiple options, and it appears Braden Smith bit on the first one, as he opted to dart toward a Houston player running around a screen instead of staying on Uzan throwing the ball in. That decision proved to be the difference.
It's fitting that the game came down to Uzan versus Smith, as those two turned in an incredible duel. Uzan hit a career-high six triples in the contest, helping the Cougars overcome L.J. Cryer's woeful shooting performance.
Smith carried Purdue throughout the contest with elite point-guard play. He dished out 15 assists in the close loss, including a brilliant one on the game-tying triple with just over 30 seconds to play. According to college basketball statistician Jared Berson, Smith is the first player ever to have two career 15-assist games in the NCAA Tournament.
Auburn roars back behind key trio
A lot of the talk entering Auburn and Michigan's Sweet 16 encounter had to do with the big men. How would Johni Broome fare against the Wolverines' 7-foot duo of Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin? The Wooden Award candidate looked anything but that a week ago against Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner, mustering just eight points on 4-of-13 shooting. The Tigers couldn't afford another subpar showing from Broome, and their marquee player delivered with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line.
Broome had his finest performance of the Big Dance, posting 22 points and 16 boards in 30 minutes of action. The fifth-year forward joined Chuck Person and Charles Barkley as the only players in Auburn history to register at least 20 points and 15 boards in an NCAA Tournament game. Wolf and Goldin had their moments defending Broome, but he couldn't be contained. Broome was relentless on the offensive glass, had success driving into Goldin's body, and even hit a three off a jab step for good measure. With Michigan trailing 51-50 with under nine minutes to go, Broome's screen-setting set up Denver Jones for eight points over three consecutive possessions.
Despite Broome's strong effort, the Tigers needed more firepower to counter Wolf's solid offensive performance. Enter Tahaad Pettiford. The freshman guard came through with a 23-point showing off the bench in the previous round against Creighton, and he stepped up again when Broome went to the bench with 6:51 remaining after picking up his fourth foul. Pettiford immediately went on an 8-0 scoring run to end any chance of a Wolverines rally.
Broome, Jones, and Pettiford each tallied at least 20 points, marking the first time in school history that three Auburn players cracked the mark in an NCAA Tournament contest. The trio combined for 62 points, which accounted for 79.5% of the Tigers' output.
Izzo's moves get Michigan State off the mat
Ole Miss versus Michigan State was far from the barn burner that opened Thursday's action between Alabama and BYU. The defensive battle initially suited the Rebels, as they flustered the Spartans' half-court offense. Chris Beard's squad took away the paint early and baited Michigan State into taking more threes than desired. Ole Miss' game plan worked to a degree, with its opponent misfiring on six of its first seven attempts from beyond the arc.
But there's a reason Tom Izzo is one of the most respected coaches in the sport. The Hall of Famer went back to the drawing board at halftime and made the proper adjustments, as he's done repeatedly in his career. The Spartans came out of the locker room with a different approach, consistently driving the ball to the basket instead of settling for 3-pointers. Their aggressiveness paid off, and they got into the bonus with 7:52 remaining.
Ole Miss couldn't be as physical with the fouls piling up, making it much easier for Michigan State to get to the basket. The Spartans got four layups and one dunk and went 13-of-14 from the charity stripe over the final 7:52 to erase an early 10-point deficit. The result marked Michigan State's eighth victory this season when trailing by 10 points or more, the most among major conference teams.
Tennessee drags Kentucky down
You'll often hear in sports that one of the hardest things to accomplish is to beat the same team three times in one season. Kentucky showed why that idea remains popular in 2025 by failing miserably in its attempt to do just that versus Tennessee. While the Wildcats will walk away with a 2-1 record against their SEC foe this year, the Volunteers showed up when it mattered most and booked a second straight trip to the Elite Eight.
The two teams technically play the same sport but approach basketball in a completely different manner. Tennessee wants to turn the game into a rock fight, while Kentucky wants to run early and often. The Volunteers rank 346th of 364 Division I teams in tempo, while the Wildcats sit 26th. It's safe to say Rick Barnes' outfit won that style battle Friday, with Kentucky's 62 possessions well below the season average of 74 per contest.
The story from the opening two games between the squads was 3-point shooting, with Kentucky red-hot to make a combined 24-for-48 from deep. The stout Tennessee defense wasn't having that again, swarming the 3-point line to hold the Wildcats to 6-of-15. Kentucky scored 33% of its points on the season from beyond the perimeter, but 18 wasn't going to get it done against the Vols.
Tennessee isn't a stranger to the Elite Eight, with Thursday's win booking a second straight trip to the regional final. However, the program has never made a Final Four. That could change Sunday when it takes on Houston.