Men's NCAA Tournament 2025: Friday's Sweet 16 Winners and Losers

Four teams claimed their spot in the Elite Eight on Thursday evening, and the rest of the field is now officially set following another exciting night of basketball across four games on Friday night.

Michigan State continued its longstanding dominance against the SEC in the NCAA tournament with a 73-70 victory in the first tipoff of the night, while Tennessee avenged two regular-season losses to Kentucky to advance to the Elite Eight for the second year in a row in the other early game.

In the late games, Auburn looked very much like the No. 1 overall team in the bracket with a decisive 20-2 run to bury Michigan. The last game of the night ended with a game-winning basket by Houston off an inbounds play in the waning seconds, sending Purdue home in a 62-60 final score.

While it's certainly true that the winners are the winners and the losers are the losers, let's take a deeper dive into some of the notable storylines from Friday's action to highlight our biggest winners and losers of the day.

Winner: Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament Against the SEC

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With this year's NCAA tournament field populated by a record 14 SEC teams, the Michigan State Spartans have an extremely relevant bit of history on their side.

According to Friday night's broadcast, the Spartans improved to 12-1 all-time against SEC opponents during March Madness with their 73-70 victory over No. 6 seed Ole Miss.

That impressive track record includes their 89-76 victory over the Florida Gators in the 2000 national championship game, and if they are going to hoist the trophy again they will need to go through the SEC some more.

Freshman Jase Richardson led the way against Ole Miss, finishing with 20 points on an efficient 6-of-8 shooting, while Coen Carr (15 points), Jaden Akins (13 points) and Tre Holloman (10 points) joined him in double figures.

The Spartans gave the Rebels plenty of extra opportunities with 10 turnovers and 10 offensive rebounds allowed, but they still managed to come out on top to advance on to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2019.

Up next? Another SEC opponent in the No. 1 seed Auburn Tigers.

Loser: Everyone Not Named Sean Pedulla on the Offensive End for Ole Miss

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Sean Peduilla

First things first, a tip of the cap to Ole Miss guard Sean Pedulla on a fantastic NCAA tournament performance.

The Virginia Tech transfer earned third-team All-SEC honors in a conference loaded with stars, averaging 15.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 39.2 percent from beyond the arc and knocking down 87 threes on the year.

He took his scoring to another level during March Madness, scoring 20 points each against North Carolina and Iowa State before pouring in a game-high 24 points on 9-of-17 from the floor and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc in Friday's loss to Michigan State.

Meanwhile, his teammates managed just 46 points on 17-of-47 (.362) shooting in the 73-70 defeat, with a Spartans defense that ranks No. 4 in KenPom's adjusted efficiency making things difficult all night.

This was just the second time ever that Ole Miss has reached the Sweet 16, with the other trip ending in a loss to Arizona, so despite the outcome this still stands as one of the best seasons in the Rebels history.

Winner: Tennessee over Kentucky...Finally

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Zakai Ziegler

It's difficult to beat the same team three times in the same season in college basketball.

That old adage was put to the test in the Sweet 16 when No. 2 seed Tennessee entered its Sweet 16 matchup against No. 3 seed Kentucky looking to avenge two earlier losses.

The Wildcats shot a blistering 12-of-24 from three-point range in both of those earlier meetings, coming away with a 78-73 win on Jan. 28 and a 75-64 victory on Feb. 11 to hand the Volunteers two of their seven losses.

That was clearly a focal point on Friday night, as the Volunteers did a much better job chasing the Wildcats off the perimeter, limiting them to just 6-of-15 from beyond the arc.

The Volunteers built a 43-28 halftime lead and cruised to victory in the second half, with veteran point guard Zakai Zeigler (18 points, 10 assists) logging a double-double, while Chaz Lanier (17 points) and Felix Okpara (11 rebounds, 7 offensive rebounds) also made a major impact.

All things considered, it was a solid first season at the helm for Kentucky head coach Mark Pope as he was forced to rebuild the roster from the ground up in the wake of John Calipari's departure.

For the Vols, they have now made back-to-back Elite Eight appearances and sit one win away from their first-ever trip to the Final Four.

Winner: The Auburn Supporting Cast

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Tahaad Pettiford

All-American and National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome turned in his best performance of the NCAA tournament in the Sweet 16, negating Michigan's size advantage with a dominant performance on the inside.

The senior forward joined Charles Barkley (1984 vs. Richmond) and Chuck Person (1986 vs. St. John's) as the only players in Auburn history with a 20-point, 15-rebound game in the NCAA tournament.

He finished with 22 points and 16 rebounds, with nine of those boards coming on the offensive end, helping lead a 49-33 advantage on the glass.

However, it was his supporting cast that was the difference.

With Danny Wolf turning in a 20-point, six-rebound performance on the other side for Michigan, it was the offensive production of Tahaad Pettiford and Denver Jones that ultimately tipped the scale.

The freshman Pettiford continued his breakout March Madness, scoring 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting in 29 minutes off the bench. That came on the heels of a 23-point game against Creighton and a 16-point, five-rebound, five-assist performance against Alabama State during the first weekend.

Jones also finished with 20 points, good for his second-highest scoring output of the year, hitting on 7-of-13 shots overall while connecting on four three-pointers.

The duo tallied 28 of their 40 points during the second half, helping the Tigers put the game away during a decisive run, but more on that in a bit...

Loser: Michigan During a Decisive 20-2 Auburn Run

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It's not often you see a team go on a 20-2 run this deep into the NCAA tournament, as that type of lopsided dominance is generally reserved for an overmatched opponent in the earlier rounds.

In what had been a back-and-forth game throughout the first half, the Michigan Wolverines took a 48-39 lead with 12:26 remaining in the second half when Will Tschetter made a pair of free throws.

Over the next five minutes of game time, Auburn ripped off a 20-2 run to take a 59-50 lead and seize complete control of the game's momentum en route to a convincing 78-65 victory.

After leaning on Johni Broome for 10 points and 11 rebounds during the first half, it was Denver Jones who led the way during that decisive run, connecting on three three-pointers and tallying 11 of the 20 points. Tahaad Pettiford added five points and a three of his own during the run.

Turnovers have been an issue at times for Michigan this season, while Auburn has been as good as any team in the nation at protecting the basketball.

Both teams finished the game with 15 giveaways on Friday night, but the Tigers had a 23-13 advantage in points off turnovers that helped them pull away and advance to the Elite Eight.

Winner: A Beautiful Inbounds Play by Houston for the Game-Winner

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Never forget the inbounder on an inbounds play.

That simple nugget of advice will hang over the Purdue Boilermakers for the entire upcoming offseason.

It looked like the final Sweet 16 matchup of this year's tournament was headed for overtime when Camden Heide connected on a game-tying three-pointer with 35 seconds left to play.

With 2.8 seconds to go, Houston had the ball under its own basket with a chance to set up the potential go-ahead shot.

Point guard Milos Uzan inbounded it to Joseph Tugler, who passed it right back to an open Uzan under the basket for what ended up being the game-winning basket, and the celebration was underway after Braden Smith's half-court heave missed the mark as time expired.

The Cougars advance to the Elite Eight despite shooting just 37.7 percent from the floor, grinding out another win on the strength of their elite defensive pressure.

Uzan (22 points, 6 assists) and Emanuel Sharp (17 points) led the way for Houston, picking up the slack in an off night by leading scorer LJ Cryer (5 points, 2/13 shooting) who was fresh off a 30-point game against Gonzaga.

The Cougars move on to face Tennessee in a matchup of two of the best defenses in the country.