OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Braden Frager made a driving layup with 2.2 seconds left, and Nebraska advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time, outlasting Vanderbilt 74-72 in a scintillating second-round NCAA Tournament game on Saturday night when Tyler Tanner’s heave from beyond half court rimmed out at the buzzer.

Frager finished with 15 points and Pryce Sandfort also scored 15 for the fourth-seeded Cornhuskers (28-6), who had never won in March Madness until beating Troy two days ago. Nebraska advances to the South Region semifinals in Houston, where it will face either top-seeded Florida or ninth-seeded Iowa on Thursday.

Tanner scored 27 points and Tyler Nickel added 16 for No. 5 seed Vanderbilt (25-9), which was trying to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2007.

Vanderbilt guard Tyler Tanner (3) goes to the basket against Nebraska forward Rienk Mast (51) during the first half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP)

AP Photo/Nate Billings

Rienk Mast added 13 points for the Huskers. Sam Hoiberg, coach Fred Hoiberg’s son, finished with eight points, none bigger than his putback with 1:20 to go that tied the game at 70-all. The teams traded the lead four times over the final 2:08.

Cornhuskers fans took over Paycom Center, just like they did in the first round. “Husker Power!” chants broke out during the second half of Houston’s win over Texas A&M, about an hour before the Nebraska game tipped off.

Duke Miles, the Commodores’ No. 2 scorer, had his left thumb taped and was held to nine points. His quiet night put the scoring burden on Tanner, whose layup with 58 seconds left gave Vanderbilt its final lead at 72-70.

The Cornhuskers broke out to an 8-0 lead. Mast, Nebraska’s 6-foot-10, 250-pound center, made two 3-pointers in the first five minutes.

Sandfort did not score until just over five minutes remained in the first half, but his turnaround jumper put the Cornhuskers up 27-19. Nebraska led 39-32 at halftime, despite Tanner’s 15 points.

Vanderbilt chipped away in the second half. Tanner made a layup and was fouled with 9:05 remaining. He missed the free throw, preventing the Commodores from taking their first lead. Moments later, AK Okereke’s 3-pointer finally put Vanderbilt ahead, 58-55.

Vandy pulled in front 67-62, its largest lead of the game, on a 3 by Nickel with 5:34 left. Sandfort responded with a jumper and the margin was no bigger than three points the rest of the way.

Hoiberg, the Big Ten coach of the year, has overseen steady improvement over his seven years at Nebraska. He took the Huskers to the NCAA Tournament two years ago, and this season Nebraska got national attention for a 20-0 start that vaulted it to No. 5 in the AP poll.

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Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr. (5) drives the ball past Hawaii guard Isaiah Kerr (7) during the second half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP)

Acuff scores 36 as Arkansas holds off No. 12 seed High Point, 94-88

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Darius Acuff Jr. had 36 points and six assists to help No. 4-seeded Arkansas survive a scare from 12th-seeded High Point with a 94-88 victory in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night.

The Razorbacks (28-8) will face the winner of Sunday’s matchup between top-seeded Arizona and No. 9 seed Utah State on Thursday in the Sweet 16 in San Jose, California.

Two of the highest-scoring teams in the nation combined on a back-and-forth affair that featured 15 lead changes and six ties, before Arkansas had just enough late to send coach John Calipari to his 17th Sweet 16.

Rob Martin had 30 points, five assists and four rebounds for High Point (31-5), which pulled off a first-round upset of fifth-seeded Wisconsin. Cam’Ron Fletcher, who was recruited by Calipari when he coached at Kentucky, had 25 points.

Acuff, the SEC player of the year and freshman of the year, broke the school’s single-season record for points set by Todd Day in the 1990-91 season. Acuff is just the 27th Division I player with at least 700 points, 200 assists and 100 rebounds in a season.

He had an answer every time it seemed High Point might be set to knock off its second straight power conference team.

After Martin drove the lane to tie it at 83 with 3:17 left, Acuff answered with a layup to make it 85-83. After the teams exchanged turnovers, Acuff made another layup for a four-point lead. After Billy Richmond III blocked a shot, the point guard then hit a 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining to make it 90-83.

Meleek Thomas had 19 points and Malique Ewin had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Razorbacks.

Arkansas breezed by No. 13 seed Hawaii 97-78 in the first round, continuing a roll that propelled the Razorbacks to the Southeastern Conference Tournament title. The Razorbacks were are an 11 1/2 favorite over High Point according to the BetMGM Playbook.

But the Big South Tournament champions stayed with them nearly the entire way.

Johnston, who had the game-winning shot in High Point’s 83-82 win over Wisconsin, gave the Panthers a 42-41 with a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in the first half before Acuff drew a foul and made both free throws to give the Razorbacks a 43-42 halftime lead.

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Illinois guard Kylan Boswell (4) celebrates a basket during the first half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Virginia Commonwealth, Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Greenville, S.C. (AP)

Stojakovic scores 21 as No. 3 seed Illinois beats 11th-seeded VCU, 76-55

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Andrej Stojakovic transferred to Illinois following a standout sophomore season at California because he believed in coach Brad Underwood’s program and the Fighting Illini’s team chemistry.

That decision has paid off for him.

Stojakovic scored 21 points and No. 3 Illinois beat 11th-seeded VCU 76-55 on Saturday to advance to the Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons under Underwood.

“I think that we’re even closer off the court,” Stojakovic said. “We see how hard we work every single day, and we understand how much this means to us. It just translates on the court. We trust each other. We love each other. Now we’ve just got to keep it going.”

Tomislav Ivisic had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Keaton Wagler chipped in with 14 points for the Fighting Illini (26-8), who advanced to face South Region No. 2 seed Houston, an 88-57 winner over Texas A&M.

Underwood celebrated after the game by waving both arms up in the air simultaneously at the Illinois crowd.

Illinois, which had a huge height advantage, held VCU to 35% shooting and outrebounded the Rams 45-29. The Illini blocked five shots.

Terrence Hill Jr. had 17 points for VCU (28-8).

Illinois bolted to a 20-8 lead after VCU’s Nyk Lewis sprained his ankle in the opening minute of the game and did not return.

But just as they did on Thursday night against No. 6 seed North Carolina when they came storming back from a 19-point, second-half deficit to win 82-78 in overtime, the Rams got back in it with a series of 3-pointers to take a 28-26 lead behind 12 first-half points from Hill.

But VCU couldn’t sustain the momentum.

Illinois took control late in the first half with Stojakovic scoring all the points during a 9-0 stretch to close the half.

“Those runs are going to happen,” Stojakovic said. “Every team is going to make their runs and the ball just happened to find me in the right position, and we do a great job of spacing the floor, hence our versatility on the team. I just took what the defense was giving me really.”

He finished with 16 points in the half, including a dunk to punctuate the run.

“Andrej, what a first half,” Underwood said. “On the offensive side, on the glass, he sparked us. He was tremendous. His athleticism, the dunk he had that kind of ended a little dry spell for us was huge.”

The second half was all Illinois.

The lead got to 23 with 4 minutes remaining, setting off a celebration among Illinois fans.

Teammates amazed by Zvonimir Ivisic’s dunk

The Illini pushed their lead to 17 early in the second half after a highlight reel high-flying transition dunk from Zvonimir Ivisic off a feed from Kylan Boswell.

“He makes crazy plays in transition,” Boswell said. “I was coming down the court, and I just see this 7-footer running behind me and I knew to dump it off to him. He’s a freak athlete, makes tremendous plays for us, so that was a crazy play.”

Illinois’ strategy was to slow down Terrence Hill Jr.

Hill had 34 points in VCU’s win over North Carolina, so the focus of Illinois was to shut him down.

“We knew his ability to shoot from beyond the arc,” Boswell said. “For us, we knew he wanted to get downhill to his right. The whole purpose in these times in March Madness, with a player who has the ability to score like him, you have to make stuff difficult for him. His catches, nothing easy. I think we just did a great job of doing that tonight.”

Nyk Lewis’ injury changed VCU’s strategy

VCU coach Phil Martelli Jr. said losing Lewis to injury so early in the game “took the wind out of our sails.”

“Certainly what Nyk represents, you just can’t replicate,” Martelli said. “I feel terrible for him and for him to go out like that was just a shame.”

Up next

Illinois is 3-2 all-time against Houston, but the Cougars won the most recent meeting 68-53 victory in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.