Surreal.
UConn is the reason I LOVE college hoops. With no pro sports growing up in CT, UConn was IT.
But I made the decision when I started at Michigan in 2014 that if this game happened, I wouldn’t waver.
To the best college team I’ve ever rooted for: let’s hang a banner.
Jared Berson retweeted
WILD stat from ESPN Research ..
Illinois' fewest points in a game over the last three seasons:
52 points: 2024 Elite Eight vs. UConn
61 points: Nov. 28, 2025 vs. UConn
62 points: 2026 Final Four vs. UConn
Illinois was held under 65 points twice this season: November 28 vs UConn and tonight vs UConn.
Illinois was held under 35% shooting twice this season: November 28 vs UConn and tonight vs UConn.
Jared Berson retweeted
The second half of that Uconn vs Duke game is why college basketball is the Best sport.
UConn’s Braylon Mullins’ game-winner is the deepest game-winning three ever hit in the final seconds of an NCAA Tournament game for a team trailing by 2.
UConn’s 19-point comeback is 2nd-largest ever to go to the Final Four, trailing only Louisville in 2005 (20).
Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg in tonight’s win over Alabama:
- 23 points
- 12 rebounds
- 7 assists
He’s the 3rd player with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists in the Sweet 16 or later since 1985 expansion, along with Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade, both in 2003.
6 Arizona players scored 14+ points in tonight’s win over Arkansas.
It’s the first time in NCAA Tournament history that 6 players on a team have scored 14+ points in a game and it’s the first time that’s happened in any Division I game this season.
Arizona shot 63.8% from the field tonight—the highest by any team in a 2nd weekend game since 2005, when Arizona shot 66% in a Sweet 16 win over Oklahoma State.
Alabama’s 19 3-pointers tonight are 3rd-most in a game in NCAA Tournament history.
The Crimson Tide made 15 more 3s than Texas Tech, the 3rd-largest differential in Tournament history.
Alabama set both of those records in its Sweet 16 win over BYU last year.
UConn’s Tarris Reed Jr. tonight in the win over Furman:
- 31 points
- 27 rebounds
- Out-rebounded Furman by 4
It’s the first 30-point, 25-rebound game in Division I in 11 years and the first in the NCAA Tournament since Elvin Hayes in 1968.
Iowa-Nebraska will be the first Big Ten vs Big Ten matchup in the second weekend or later since Michigan State beat Wisconsin in the 2000 National Semifinals.
It will be the first all-Big Ten meeting in the Sweet 16 round since Purdue beat Indiana in 1980.
Per @sports_ref, St. John’s’ Dylan Darling is the first player in NCAA Tournament history to make a true buzzer-beater for his only points of a game.
Iowa State’s Tamin Lipsey in today’s win over Kentucky:
- 26 points
- 10 assists
- 5 steals
He’s the 3rd player with 25 points, 10 assists & 5 steals in an NCAA Tournament game since steals became official in 1986, along with Markquis Nowell in 2023 and Anderson Hunt in 1990.
Purdue in today’s win over Miami:
- 53.2% from the field (25-47)
- 57.1% from 3 (8-14)
- 95.5% from the line (21-22)
The Boilermakers are the 3rd team in NCAA Tournament history to shoot 50-50-95 in a game, along with Marquette in the 2003 R32 and Syracuse in the 1996 R64.
Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr. is the first freshman with 35 points & 5 assists in a game in NCAA Tournament history.
Acuff Jr. and Rob Martin are the first pair of opposing players each with 30 points & 5 assists in a Tournament game since 1987—Mitch Richmond vs Willie Anderson.
Darius Acuff Jr. scored 60 points this weekend in Portland, the most all-time by a freshman in his first 2 NCAA Tournament games.
Houston is the 4th team since 1985 expansion to win by 30+ points in the Round of 64 and Round of 32, joining 2008 UNC, 1999 Duke, and 1998 Arizona.
The Cougars have now posted 30+ wins in each of the last 5 seasons, tied for the longest streak in Division I history.