Purdue advances to third consecutive Sweet 16. Here’s what to know for Sunday’s March Madness action

By Kyle Feldscher, Jacob Lev, CNN

(CNN) — We’ve had buzzer-beaters, upsets, top seeds narrowly surviving and national title contenders looking like, well, national title contenders.

It’s been a mad, mad weekend and the Sweet 16 in the men’s and women’s NCAA tournament is starting to take shape.

With eight more games scheduled for Sunday, the men’s tournament will wrap up its first two rounds on Sunday. The women, meanwhile, are just getting started with the Round of 32, finishing up their first weekend action on Monday.

Purdue hangs on to advance to Sweet 16

When halftime came, it appeared the first game of the day was going to be an upset.

No. 2 seed Purdue trailed by two to seventh-seeded Miami.

But the Boilermakers quickly took the lead in the second half and despite the Hurricanes’ best attempt to stay in the game, Purdue would go on to win 79-69.

Purdue now advances to its third consecutive Sweet 16 appearance where the Boilermakers will look to stop No. 11 seed Texas’ Cinderella run on Thursday.

The question for Purdue will be the status of guard CJ Cox going forward. The 21-year-old, who finished with 11 points, went down hard in the second half and appeared to grab his knee in pain.

Cox was escorted to the tunnel by trainers but later returned to the bench, not entering the game again. Head coach Matt Painter told reporters after the win the guard hyperextended his knee and his availability will be determined by “how treatment goes.”

It was the 500th win of Painter’s coaching career at his alma mater.

Iowa State rolls without star

The Midwest No. 2 seed Iowa State Cyclones looked like Final Four contenders despite missing second-team All-American Joshua Jefferson in their 82-63 romp over Kentucky on Sunday.

The senior forward landed awkwardly after a layup and rolled his ankle during their opening game on Friday against Tennessee State. Jefferson left the court with assistance from athletic trainers and later returned with a boot on his injured left leg.

Iowa State got off to a slow start, finding themselves down 12 points at just about the halfway mark of the first half. But the Cyclones regrouped to take a one-point lead into halftime.

Iowa State found lightning in the second half, outscoring the expensive Wildcats roster 51-33 to coast to the program’s first Sweet 16 appearance since 2022. They will await the winner of Tennessee and Virginia.

Florida and Arizona look to cruise

The top seeds playing on Sunday barely broke a sweat in their opening games on Friday.

Florida put the hurt on Prairie View A&M on Friday, more than doubling them up with a 114-55 win. Arizona, meanwhile, barely had to get out of second gear against Long Island University, sending the viral 16-seed home after a 92-58 beatdown.

The Gators and Wildcats are Final Four picks for many bracketologists (professional and amateur alike), and it’s likely that they’ll not exactly face huge tests on Sunday. The Gators take on Iowa and Arizona takes on Utah State.

If either the Hawkeyes or the Aggies pull off the major upset, ignore everything you just read.

Bill Self vs. Rick Pitino

What a tasty matchup of coaches we’ll get in the Kansas-St. John’s game.

Two Hall of Fame coaches with multiple national titles going up against each other for a spot in the Sweet 16 – there are few things better.

Self and Kansas have been to 11 Sweet 16s during their time together, which began in 2003, but are looking to get to the second weekend for the first time since winning the 2022 national title. Kansas put together a 24-10 record this year and escaped California Baptist with an eight-point victory on Friday in a game that the Jayhawks would have liked to be a little less stressful.

Pitino and St. John’s, meanwhile, had that stressless experience. The Johnnies – smarting at being chosen as a 5-see despite being the Big East regular season and tournament champions – smacked Northern Iowa 79-53 and are looking to go further than they did in last year’s tournament. In that Round of 32 defeat to Arkansas, Pitino was defeated by another Hall of Fame contemporary, John Calipari and Arkansas.

Pitino has been to the Sweet 16 with three different schools – Providence, Kentucky and Louisville – and will be looking to take St. John’s to the second weekend for the first time this century; the last time St. John’s made it to the tournament’s second weekend was 1999.

Minnesota avoids first upset of day in women’s bracket

Friday was the chalkiest day possible in the women’s bracket as not a single upset took place in the Round of 64. With those same teams taking to the court on Sunday, the question remains: Can any of the underdogs pull off a win?

In the third matchup of the day, No. 5 seed Ole Miss remained in control against No. 4 seed Minnesota most of the game.

With under two minutes remaining, Gophers guard Mara Braun connected on a three-pointer to tie the game at 61. It remained a tie game as the final seconds ticked away until Amaya Battle made a 13-foot jumper with less than a second remaining to secure the 65-63 win for Minnesota.

The Gophers advanced to their first Sweet 16 appearance in more than 20 years and will await the winner of No. 1 seed UCLA and No. 8 Oklahoma State.

Men’s schedule

• Purdue 79, Miami 69
• Iowa State 82, Kentucky 63
• No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 5 St. John’s at 5:15 p.m. ET on CBS
• No. 3 Virginia vs. No. 6 Tennessee at 6:10 p.m. ET on TNT
• No. 1 Florida vs. No. 9 Iowa at 7:10 p.m. ET on TBS
• No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 9 Utah State at 7:50 p.m. ET on truTV
• No. 2 UConn vs. No. 7 UCLA at 8:45 p.m. ET on TNT
• No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 5 Texas Tech at 9:45 p.m. ET on TBS

Women’s schedule

• UNC 74, Maryland 66
• Michigan 92, North Carolina State 63
• Minnesota 65, Ole Miss 63
• LSU 101, Texas Tech 47
• Duke 69, Baylor 46
• No. 1 Texas vs. No. 8 Oregon at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN
• No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 5 Michigan State at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN
• No. 3 TCU vs. No. 6 Washington at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN

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