BUFFALO, N.Y. — Coen Carr recorded his first career double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Jeremy Fears Jr. had 16 assists as Michigan State advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 17th time under coach Tom Izzo, beating Louisville, 77-69, on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“Back to the Sweet 16, where this program belongs,” Izzo said.
Fears added 12 points on 3-of-13 shooting but did the most damage for Michigan State with his precision passing. The country’s assists leader, who came in averaging 9.2, became the first Big Ten player with 10 or more assists in each of the first two games of an NCAA tourney. He had 11 in the Spartans’ first-round win over North Dakota State.
Ryan Conwell led No. 6 seed Louisville (24-11) with 21 points, and Adrian Wooley scored 17. The Cardinals were seeking their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2015, when they reached the Elite Eight under Rick Pitino.
Duke 81, TCU 58 — Duke got two tests to open its run as the No. 1 overall seed in March Madness. The Blue Devils responded both times, the latter coming when they got their defense and star freshman Cameron Boozer rolling after halftime.
Boozer shook off a quiet first half to finish with 19 points and Duke shot 61.5% after halftime to pull away from TCU to win a physical second-round game.
The forward voted a unanimous first-team Associated Press All-American earlier this week had just two points and missed his only shot in the first half. But he scored three times during the 11-0 second-half burst — twice on high-low feeds from fellow big Patrick Ngongba II in his return to the lineup — as Duke (34-2) finally shook free of the ninth-seeded Horned Frogs (23-12).
That 11-0 run was the capper on a 26-6 surge that spanned nearly nine minutes, with TCU missing 15 of 17 shots after Jayden Pierre’s layup tied it at 44-44 with 13 minutes, 56 seconds left. TCU shot just 10 for 38 after halftime and 33.3% for the game, and Duke finished with a 42-25 rebounding advantage.
Houston 88, Texas A&M 57 — Emanuel Sharp scored 18 points, Chris Cenac Jr. had 17 points and nine rebounds, and Houston rolled to reach the Sweet 16 for the seventh consecutive year.
Milos Uzan added 15 points for the Cougars (30-6), the No. 2 seed in the South Region. Houston will play in its home city Thursday against either No. 3 seed Illinois or No. 11 seed VCU, and coach Kelvin Sampson’s squad — which lost in the national title game to Florida last year — again looks like an opponent nobody wants to play.
Josh Holloway scored 12 points in a reserve role for Texas A&M. The 10th-seeded Aggies (22-12) struggled against Houston’s aggressive interior defense. The Cougars won the rebounding battle 46-29, had 19 offensive boards and blocked seven shots.
Michigan 95, Saint Louis 72 — Yaxel Lendeborg punctuated his 25-point outing with a massive dunk in transition, and the Midwest Region’s top-seeded Michigan advanced to the Sweet 16.
Morez Johnson Jr. had 15 and eight rebounds for Michigan (33-3), which matched a program record for victories set during its seventh and most recent Final Four appearance in 2018.
The Wolverines’ 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara had 16 points, five rebounds and four blocks to increase his season blocks total to 96, one short of matching Michigan’s single-season record set by Roy Tarpley in 1985-86.
The Wolverines advanced to the round of 16 for the second consecutive year and seventh time since 2017. They’ll play the winner of Texas Tech and Alabama at Chicago on Friday.
Amari McCottry had 14 points and five rebounds for Saint Louis (29-6), which saw its season end after setting a single-season record for wins with its 102-77 first-round victory over Georgia.
VCU — Yaxel