NCAA Scores 2018: Tournament Results Tracker for Thursday's Sweet 16 Bracket

The regional semifinals of the 2018 NCAA men's basketball tournament tipped off Thursday, with the night's four games featuring an eclectic mix of teams looking to reach the Elite Eight.

The Kentucky Wildcats are one of the most prestigious programs in college basketball, while the Gonzaga Bulldogs are in the Sweet 16 for the fourth straight season and coming off a runner-up finish in 2017.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Nevada Wolf Pack, Loyola-Chicago Ramblers and Texas A&M Aggies are all looking for their first trip to the regional finals.

Here's a look at the updated bracket and a brief overview of how Thursday unfolded.

NCAA Tournament Bracket

Thursday Recap

Loyola-Chicago 69, Nevada 68

Loyola-Chicago's Cinderella run continued Thursday after the Ramblers defeated Nevada 69-68.

Marques Townes delivered the biggest shot of the game, as he drilled a three-pointer from the corner that put the Ramblers ahead by four points with 6.2 seconds remaining.

Marques Townes with the Dagger

Caleb Martin responded with a three-pointer for Nevada to bring the Wolf Pack to within a point, but Nevada ran out of time to complete the comeback.

Townes finished with a team-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He added four rebounds and five assists to what was a solid all-around performance. Clayton Custer, who hit the game-winner in Loyola-Chicago's second-round win over Tennessee, and Aundre Jackson each chipped in with 15 points.

Poor three-point shooting helped doom Nevada. Martin shot 5-of-11 from beyond the arc en route to scoring 21 points, but the rest of the Wolf Pack were a collective 2-of-16 on three-pointers.

Kendall Stephens will be disappointed with the way his college career ended. The senior guard was a 44.4 percent three-point shooter entering Thursday, but he missed all eight of his opportunities on the perimeter against Loyola-Chicago.

With the victory, the Ramblers will play Kansas State in the Elite Eight.

Michigan 99, Texas A&M 72

Michigan had one of the most dramatic games in the second round, as Jordan Poole hit a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer. The Wolverines saved their fans from another nerve-wracking finish by dominating Texas A&M in a 99-72 win.

Michigan shot 61.9 percent from the field and 58.3 percent from beyond the arc, which was a stark contrast from how the Wolverines performed in their first two games of the tournament.

Texas A&M helped out by turning the ball over 14 times, 10 of which came in the first half. Especially early in the game, the Aggies allowed Michigan to have easy scoring chances in transition, which helped the Wolverines build their confidence.

Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman did a little bit of everything, scoring 24 points, collecting five rebounds and dishing out seven assists. Moritz Wagner also scored 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

The bad news for the Aggies is their season is over. The good news is they only have two seniors, so their future remains bright. Thursday's defeat will provide plenty of motivation in the offseason for the players coming back in 2018-19.

Michigan will await Florida State.

Kansas State 61, Kentucky 58

Kansas State held on for a 61-58 win over Kentucky on Thursday.

Kansas State had an opportunity to tie the game at the buzzer. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's three-point attempted bounced off the backboard and rimmed out as time expired. The shot was only inches away from forcing overtime.

Kansas State prevailed despite having three players—Makol Mawien, Xavier Sneed and Levi Stockard III—foul out of the game. Leading scorer Dean Wade didn't play at all in the second half, either, while dealing with a foot injury.

Sneed finished as K-State's leading scorer (22 points) and narrowly missed out on a double-double after grabbing nine rebounds.

Balance was the key for Bruce Weber's team. His bench combined to score 15 points, six more than Kentucky's second unit. In a game decided by three points, that kind of difference can have a big impact.

PJ Washington had a monster game (18 points, 15 rebounds) for Kentucky a losing effort. Gilgeous-Alexander will likely look back at this game in frustration. His miss at the end was the finishing touch on a 2-of-10 shooting night. He also turned the ball over five times.

Florida State 75, Gonzaga 60

In what might be the most surprising result of the night, Florida State defeated Gonzaga 75-60.

The Seminoles smother the Bulldogs on defense. Gonzaga entered Thursday as the 10th-best scoring team in the country (84.2 points per game) and sat 12th in adjusted offense, per KenPom.com. Florida State limited the Bulldogs to 33.9 percent shooting and 25.0 percent from beyond the arc.

In particular, the Seminoles did an excellent job of neutralizing two of Gonzaga's best players, Johnathan Williams and Zach Norvell Jr. Williams attempted just seven shots, scoring eight points, while Norvell was 4-of-16 en route to a 14-point night.

According to CBS Sports' Dana Jacobsen, Killian Tillie was suffering form a hip injury, which kept him out of the game and was another blow for Gonzaga.

On the offensive end, it was a total team effort for Florida State. Terance Mann (18 points) was the only FSU player to score in double figures, but seven players registered at least seven points. All 11 Seminoles players who stepped on the floor scored at least two points as well.

Florida State is now one game away from its second Final Four in program history.