Ncaa Men's Basketball Tournament, Sweet 16 | featured news

The Big East was a bust. The Jimmer lived up to the hype. There are plenty of 10s, 11s and 12s left in the bracket, along with a handful of talented freshmen and a few familiar faces from Tobacco Road. The second week of the NCAA tournament will be sprinkled with the typical blend of favorites and underdogs, the familiar and the obscure, with a notable lack of Big East flavor in that mix.

J.T. Tiller scored a career-high 23 points — 15 more than his season average — and Missouri held off Memphis’ frantic rally for a 102-91 win Thursday night in the semifinals of the West Regional.

The men’s tournament has been as predictable as a 401(k)’s decline. The four-day basketball binge that each year makes up one of the best stretches in American sports has ended. Now that the dust has settled after the first two rounds of the N.C.A.A. tournament, the residue looks chalky.

Your first Sweet 16 participant: Villanova. Dante Cunningham and the Wildcats routed UCLA on Saturday to punch their ticket.