NCAA Tournament 2018: Thursday's Sweet 16 Scores, Updated Bracket and Schedule

After a few days off, March Madness is back with the start of the Sweet 16 Thursday.

The 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament began with 68 teams but only eight will remain after this round, with the real contenders finally starting to separate themselves. The Cinderella stories were fun, but everyone left has shown they can compete with the big boys.

Of course, with plenty of surprise teams still in the field, there was plenty of excitement to start the second week of competition.

Here are the latest results from the NCAA tournament along with an updated bracket.

Thursday Scores/Schedule

South Region: No. 11 Loyola-Chicago def. No. 7 Nevada, 69-68

West Region: No. 3 Michigan def. No. 7 Texas A&M, 99-72

South Region: No. 9 Kansas State def. No. 5 Kentucky, 61-58

West Region: No. 9 Florida State def. No. 4 Gonzaga, 75-60

Bracket

Recap

Loyola-Chicago 69, Nevada 68

Loyola-Chicago has come through with big shots late all tournament, and this game was no different.

The team didn't need a go-ahead basket in the final seconds like the first two rounds, but Marques Townes helped secure the win with a three-pointer to go up four points with 6.3 seconds left.

The junior finished with a team-high 18 points in the victory.

Loyola seemed overmatched in the opening minutes but was able to go into halftime with the lead thanks in part to its patience offensively:

Brian Hamilton of The Fieldhouse discussed the change in momentum:

A 20-8 Wolfpack lead turned into a 28-24 deficit at the half without much better shooting from the underdogs.

The Ramblers didn't slow down in the second half, impressively making their first 13 shots after intermission to gain a comfortable advantage. They seemed to easily penetrate into the lane and finish layups with little resistance.

However, Nevada wouldn't go away, and for the third game in a row, it fought back after trailing at halftime.

The Mountain West squad picked up its defense, forcing Loyola into bad shots and turnovers. The players used their athleticism on the other end to attack the basket and get easy looks at the rim.

However, the No. 11 seed made the big shots down the stretch to secure the win.

Caleb Martin did everything he could to keep Nevada alive, scoring 21 while his twin brother Cody Martin finished with 16. The duo also performed well on the defensive end with a combined six steals and four blocks.

Outside of 19 points from Jordan Caroline, however, there wasn't a lot of help elsewhere on the roster.

The Ramblers also made it tough to catch up while shooting 55.8 percent from the floor, keeping the miracle run alive with a trip to the Elite Eight.

The squad will face Kansas State on Saturday with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

Michigan 99, Texas A&M 72

Texas A&M had no chance Thursday against a team that seemingly couldn't miss.

Michigan put on an offensive exhibition in the Sweet 16, getting great performances from Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (24 points, seven assists), Moritz Wagner (21 points) and Charles Matthews (18 points). 

The team was unstoppable at the start of the game, going up 52-28 at halftime thanks to some ridiculous shooting from three-point range. The Wolverines shot 10-of-16 from deep in the first half with seven different players with at least made three.

Sam Vecenie of The Athletic summed it up well:

The defensive effort also helped, with 10 forced turnovers often leading to easy baskets on the other end.

Texas A&M performed much better in the second half, with big men Robert Williams and Tyler Davis finally getting going. Davis totaled 24 points and eight rebounds while Williams ended his game, and possibly his college career, with 12 points and three blocks.

However, Michigan wisely slowed things down in the second half while remaining just as efficient from the field. There was even time for some showboating on the fast break:

The squad made 61.9 percent of its shots during the game, including 58.3 percent from three-point range, and for good measure, 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Adding in the all-around effort from players such as Zavier Simpson, who totaled 11 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals, this team was too tough to beat.

It was enough for the third Elite Eight appearance in the last six years for Michigan. It will take on Florida State in the next game.

Kansas State 61, Kentucky 58

In a game that was defined largely by 51 combined fouls and 59 combined free throws, Kansas State outlasted Kentucky 61-58 to clinch its spot in the Elite Eight.

Xavier Sneed spearheaded much of Kansas State's offense throughout the contest with 22 points, nine rebounds and five made three-pointers, but someone else had to play hero after he fouled out.

Enter Barry Brown, who drove through Kentucky's defense with less than 20 seconds remaining and finished a layup to break the tie and give the Big 12's Wildcats the lead for good. Kentucky still had the opportunity to tie it at the buzzer when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander launched a good look from three-point range, but it just rimmed out.

Brown finished with 13 points and was just 4-of-15 from the field, but he drilled the biggest shot of the game and put his side one win away from the Final Four.

The primary issue for Kentucky was a lack of offensive execution, as it turned the ball over 15 times and shot just 3-of-12 from deep and 62.2 percent from the charity stripe. That allowed Kansas State to keep the SEC representative at bay for much of the second half, although Kentucky came storming back when Sneed was sidelined with foul trouble to set up the dramatic finish.

PJ Washington led the way for Kentucky with 18 points and 15 boards in defeat.

Kansas State will now play Loyola-Chicago for the right to go to the Final Four. It likely wasn't the Elite Eight clash many expected when the brackets were released, but the Wildcats are a win over a Missouri Valley Conference team away from reaching the sport's final weekend.

Florida State 75, Gonzaga 60

It appeared as if the Gonzaga Bulldogs were in the driver's seat to at least reach the Elite Eight in the West Region after the top-seeded Xavier Musketeers were eliminated by the Florida State Seminoles, but the ACC team wasn't done winning.

Florida State controlled much of Thursday's Sweet 16 clash and cruised to a 75-60 victory over the Bulldogs.

The Seminoles had an answer every time Gonzaga built momentum and kept the WCC representative at bay before putting the game away prior to crunch time.

Florida State closed the first half on an 8-0 run to seize a nine-point lead by intermission and never allowed Gonzaga to pull within four for the remainder of the game. It enjoyed a double-digit advantage for much of the second half as well.

The Seminoles used a balanced attack with 11 different players scoring and six different players finishing with at least seven points, but it was Terance Mann who led the way as the only one in double figures. He posted 18 points and five rebounds while shooting 8-of-13 from the field and providing too much firepower for Gonzaga to consistently counter.

The Bulldogs received 16 points and nine rebounds from Rui Hachimura in the loss and shot just 5-of-20 from three-point range.

Florida State will turn its attention to an Elite Eight showdown with third-seeded Michigan for a spot in the Final Four.