Photo gallery: USC, Michigan, Gonzaga and UCLA head into Elite Eight

USC shuts down Oregon 82-68 to end 20-year Elite Eight wait

Isaiah White scored 22 points and Southern California shut down Oregon’s potent offense to reach the Elite Eight for the first time in 20 years with an 82-68 win in the West Region semifinals Sunday night.

Pac-12 After Dark Indy-style turned into a lights-out performance by USC.

The Trojans (25-7) clipped the high-flying Ducks with their length on the perimeter and 7-footer Evan Mobley in the middle. Offensively, the region’s No. 6 seed bobbed and weaved through the holes in Oregon’s defense, shooting 57% and 10 of 17 from 3.

The all-around domination put three Pac-12 teams in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2001 and gives USC a shot at undefeated Gonzaga in the region finals Tuesday.

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Unbeaten Zags keep rolling with 83-65 rout of Creighton

Gonzaga guard Andrew Nembhard believes he still has room to improve.

The scary part is, he thinks that also might be true for the undefeated Bulldogs.

Nembhard had 17 points and eight assists, both season highs, to keep the NCAA Tournament’s top overall seed rolling Sunday with a 83-65 rout of fifth-seeded Creighton in the West Region semifinals. Afterward, he insisted nobody was satisfied.

“I don’t think we have peaked,” he said. “I think, as I said earlier, we can always get better. We can always work on our stuff. So I think we’re getting close, and we need to squeeze out that five percent that we talked about.”

It’s hard to imagine the Bulldogs (29-0) could play much better.

They extended their school-record winning streak to 33, the Division I record for consecutive double-digit wins to 26 and reached the Elite Eight for the fourth time in six years. Next up is Tuesday’s West regional final against sixth-seeded Southern California, an 82-68 winner over seventh-seeded Oregon.

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No. 11 UCLA beats ’Bama 88-78 in OT to reach Elite Eight

Jaime Jaquez Jr. remembers the moment Mick Cronin introduced himself at UCLA, the new coach promising to restore the shine to the storied program by instilling a mental and physical toughness the team had never experienced.

It came in handy Sunday night.

After watching second-seeded Alabama’s Alex Reese take advantage of the Bruins’ soft defense to drain a buzzer-beating 3-pointer and force overtime, Jaquez and the rest of his boys in blue were completely nonplussed by the moment.

Instead, they scored the first five points of the extra session, then cruised from there to an 88-78 victory that gave the No. 11 seed Bruins their first trip to the Elite Eight since 2008 — and Cronin the first of his 18-year coaching career.

“When he came to UCLA,” Jaquez said, “he basically preached the entire time, no matter what was going to happen, we were going to be a tough team, and we were going to be a defensive team. That was his whole attitude. No matter what happens, we’re going to be the toughest team to go out and play.”

Now, after beating Michigan State in overtime just to escape the First Four, the unheralded Bruins are marching forward in the NCAA Tournament. Next up is top-seeded Michigan on Tuesday night for a spot in the Final Four.

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Michigan goes to the paint to top FSU 76-58

What was touted as the marquee matchup in the Sweet 16 turned into a dud.

For everyone but Michigan, that is.

Seven-foot-1 freshman Hunter Dickinson had 14 points and eight rebounds and the top-seeded Wolverines took the inside route to the Elite Eight, pounding away in the paint Sunday for a 76-58 takedown of surprisingly helpless Florida State.

Franz Wagner had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Michigan. The Wolverines scored their first 30 points of the second half from close range to turn this game into a blowout and lead coach Juwan Howard and Co. to a victory in the only “chalk” meeting between a 1 and 4 seed of the second weekend.

Michigan (23-4) moved to a regional final for the first time since 2018 under John Beilein, whose departure a year later led to Howard’s hiring. On Tuesday, the Wolverines will play 11th-seeded UCLA for a trip to the Final Four.