NCAA Scores 2015: Tournament Results Tracker for Friday's Sweet 16 Bracket

After an opening slate of Sweet 16 games on Thursday in which all the favorites won, Friday is the last chance for upsets to happen before the Elite Eight begins. 

Fortunately, thanks to the presence of an eighth seed in North Carolina State and an 11th seed in UCLA, Cinderella came into the day with life. It's just up to the Wolfpack and Bruins to follow through. 

Of course, if upsets aren't your thing, there's no shame in admitting that you want to see Duke, Michigan State or Louisville keep their dreams of playing for a national championship alive. 

The magic of March, especially this year, is there's something for everyone. Upsets haven't been as prevalent, but there's no time for any of the top teams to take their foot off the gas pedal. Friday's results, which will be updated here as games go final, are going to prove that one way or another. 

Matchup	Final/Start Time (ET)
No. 11 UCLA vs. No. 2 Gonzaga	Gonzaga, 74-62
No. 8 North Carolina State vs. No. 4 Louisville	Louisville, 75-65
No. 5 Utah vs. No. 1 Duke	Duke, 63-57
No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 3 Oklahoma	Michigan State, 62-58

Recap

No. 4 Louisville def. No. 8 North Carolina State, 75-65

Nick Lisi/Associated Press

In a thrilling back-and-forth affair, Louisville's shooting surge and tough-minded defense were enough to hold off North Carolina State in a 75-65 victory. 

Rick Pitino's team is not known for being able to shoot and score points in bunches, having failed to break the 70-point barrier since a January 31 overtime win against North Carolina, but the Cardinals got a balanced effort with four of the starting five scoring at least 10 points. 

As you would hope in a big game, Louisville's best player came up huge. Montrezl Harrell was too much for the Wolfpack with 24 points, six rebounds and four assists. 

There was a moment after Louisville defeat UC Irvine in the round of 64 when Pitino said his team wasn't that good, though, Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated does think an appearance in the Elite Eight means it's time to amend that:

Whether or not Louisville really is one of the top eight teams in the nation, it's one of the few left standing in the quest for a championship. Credit Pitino's coaching as well as his players adjusting to an unusual season for the program. 

To put things another way, Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports noted a lot of us may have given up on Louisville too soon:

This was also a revenge game for the Cardinals, who were outclassed by N.C. State in a 74-65 loss on February 14. Pitino's comments after that game, via Jeff Greer of The Courier-Journal, no doubt echoed in his players' ears prior to Friday night:

"

We got dominated. We're not getting any of our defensive stats. There were always times in the past when we didn't shoot a high percentage but our defense would carry us through. … We never get our deflection totals. We never get our steal totals. We never get our offensive rebound totals. I'm disappointed.

"

Even though N.C. State was able to keep things close for most of the game, including a 33-31 lead at halftime, Louisville's zone-defense attack was all over Trevor Lacey, Ralston Turner and Anthony Barber. The dynamic Wolfpack trio did have 38 points, but they needed 38 shots to get there. 

While the Wolfpack will be disappointed by this exit, there are reasons to be optimistic about Mark Gottfried's team. Per The Wolfpacker, most of the roster should be back next season:

In holding N.C. State to 38.3 percent from the floor, not to mention shooting 50 percent, Louisville has made the Elite Eight for the fifth time since 2008. The bracket has stacked up nicely, with either Michigan State or Oklahoma waiting on Sunday. 

Pitino and Tom Izzo are two of the best tournament coaches, so that showdown would surely make for the most compelling storyline. Of course, Louisville won't care about the opponent knowing it survived to play another day. 

No. 2 Gonzaga def. No. 11 UCLA, 74-62

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

In an ugly battle, Gonzaga found its stride in the second half to put away UCLA with an exclamation point. The Bulldogs were carried thanks to a career-best performance from center Przemek Karnowski, who finished with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting. 

Kyle Goon of The Salt Lake Tribune summed up Karnowski's all-around effort with one perfect word on Twitter:

If you wanted to take things even further than "wow," ESPN's Jeff Goodman invoked the names of two decent basketball players from years past:

It was a good thing Karnowski was around to elevate Gonzaga's shooting efforts, because the rest of the team combined to shoot 19-of-56. Kyle Wiltjer, who has been such a consistent shooter and scorer all year, could only muster eight points on 4-of-12 shooting, 

Yet that was nothing compared to the disappearance of UCLA's shooting touch, which carried the team in the previous two games. The Bruins shot 38.8 percent from the field, including 3-of-13 from three-point range. 

Steve Alford's team went 15-of-29 from three-point range against SMU and UAB, but it didn't hit its first deep shot until there were just over two minutes left. Per ESPN Stats & Info, it's been 15 years since the Bruins last failed to make a shot behind the arc:

Bryce Alford, who made the Bruins' first three and two total, was on the verge of becoming a breakout star in the tournament thanks to 49 combined points in the first two wins, but his disappearance mirrored everything that went wrong for UCLA. 

ESPN's Dick Vitale offered his analysis of what UCLA needed from Alford to win this game:

As far as what Alford provided, the numbers include only eight points on 3-of-11 shooting. The Bruins were considered a poor inclusion by the selection committee. Their two wins didn't necessarily validate things, but the way this loss plays out does give the detractors a lot of ammunition. 

Meanwhile, Gonzaga is on to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1999 when it lost to eventual national champion Connecticut. That was also the year before Mark Few took over as head coach, which doesn't seem possible. 

Coming into the game Few talked about being able to take time for celebrating victories was important for his team.

“The theme of this team is to celebrate wins,” Few said, via The Associated Press (h/t The St. Augustine Record). “There are so many expectations that they are supposed to do this that it was becoming like a job. We want to take time to celebrate wins.”

It's hard to imagine Few not taking a few extra minutes to celebrate this particular victory. Gonzaga has had stumbles in the past as a high seed, so finally breaking through to the Elite Eight is a big moment for the coach and program. 

There isn't much time for joy with the winner of Duke vs. Utah waiting on Sunday, but what fun is winning in the tournament if a smile doesn't creep across your face? The celebration huddle at the end of the game suggests there will be a lot of happiness over the next 48 hours. 

No. 1 Duke Defeats No. 5 Utah, 63-57

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

That potential Duke and Kentucky showdown in the national championship game?

It’s still on the table.

The Blue Devils held up their end of the bargain in the Sweet 16 Friday with a 63-57 victory over No. 5-seeded Utah in the South Regional. Duke is known for its offense, but it controlled the majority of this contest with its defense and held Utah to 34.4 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent shooting from three-point range.

The Utes also turned the ball over 15 times.

It was a critical performance on that end of the floor for Duke because it didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard on the offensive end either. Sam Vecenie of CBS Sports noted that NRG Stadium in Houston wasn’t a shooter’s haven for either team (or in the Gonzaga and UCLA game before this matchup):

"

Gonzaga, Utah and Duke are all top-17 teams nationally on offense. I’m inclined to blame the court here.

— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) March 28, 2015"

Not everyone struggled on offense, though, as Justise Winslow turned in an excellent performance for the Blue Devils. He finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks and a steal and earned some praise from Laura Keeley of the Raleigh News & Observer and Charlotte Observer in the process:

Brandon Taylor spearheaded the attack with 15 points for a Utah team that fell behind by double digits early in the game after a crucial turning point. Superstar Delon Wright picked up a controversial third foul on what looked like a jump ball in the first half, and Duke responded with a lengthy run to open up the lead. David Gardner of Sports Illustrated described the scene:

"

Third foul called on Delon Wright during a scrum for a loose ball. Terrible, terrible call.

— David Gardner (@byDavidGardner) March 28, 2015"

To Utah’s credit, it made a push in the second half to trim the deficit back to single digits and as little as five with less than a minute remaining, largely because it turned up the defensive effort. CJ Moore of Bleacher Report praised Jakob Poeltl’s performance on that end:

Was it not for clutch free-throw shooting from the Blue Devils in the final two minutes, the end of the game would have been much more stressful for those wearing Duke blue after Utah’s solid defensive effort. The game was never truly in doubt during the last five minutes, though, even if the Utes made it a respectable margin.

No. 7 Michigan State defeats No. 3 Oklahoma, 62-58

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Who saw Michigan State winning a critical game in March on the free-throw line?

The Spartans struggled from the free-throw line all season but drilled their final six on Friday to win 62-58 over Oklahoma. Michigan State may be a No. 7 seed in the East Regional, but it certainly doesn’t look like an underdog in March.

After all, this is what head coach Tom Izzo does, as ESPN Stats & Info noted:

Now the Spartans will play Rick Pitino’s squad in the Elite Eight for the right to play in the Final Four. Matt Norlander of CBS Sports offered his praise for both legendary coaches:

Michigan State had to get there first with a hard-fought victory over Oklahoma. Travis Trice put the team on his back with 24 points, three rebounds and two assists, but it was his performance late in the contest that caught the eye of Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports:

Trice drilled four shots from three-point range and all six of his free throws. He also got plenty of help from Denzel Valentine, who finished with 18 points and seven rebounds with four made three-pointers and two made free throws late in the contest.

Incredibly, they were the only two Spartans to score in double figures (although Branden Dawson grabbed 11 rebounds), but it was enough to outlast an Oklahoma squad that also only had two players in double figures. Buddy Hield led the way for the Sooners with 21 points, while TaShawn Thomas chipped in 16 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

It was a back-and-forth contest the entire 40 minutes, as both teams exchanged spurts and body blows. It was the Sooners that had the halftime lead and actually didn’t relinquish the advantage until there were less than 10 minutes remaining, but the Spartans made the critical plays with the game on the line. 

Sean Merriman on the Big Ten Network noted that Michigan State’s best players carried the day:

Sometimes all it takes is a monster finish from the best players on the floor.