Morning Wrap-Up: Favorites roll through to Elite Eight

Every day during the NCAA Tournament, theScore brings you the biggest, most interesting and most important stories as they happen. Check back each morning for a recap of what you may have missed the day before. It's OK, it's March Madness. There's a lot going on.

Much as the opening weekend of March Madness is fun in large part because of upsets and Cinderella stories, the best-case scenario for the NCAA tournament is often for those stories to cede to the country's best teams for the Elite Eight and Final Four.

That appears to be happening, with a fun four-set of games Thursday in which the favorite prevailed in each game. There were two scares, a game that never seemed all that in question and, well, there's Kentucky.

Kentucky is too real

When a team is making shots like this, it's not the opponent's night.

Then again, it hasn't been an opponent's night against Kentucky all season long, as the Wildcats are now an unprecedented 37-0, just three wins from the first ever 40-0 season.

Kentucky didn't even need contributions from potential No. 1 pick Karl-Anthony Towns on Thursday, rolling West Virginia 78-39. The Wildcats shot 48 percent, held the Mountaineers to 24.1 percent from the floor, and set a new shot-clock era record for fewest points allowed in a Sweet Sixteen game.

Kentucky has now topped a No. 16, a No. 8 and a No. 5 seed by a total of 75 points to start the tournament. Notre Dame is up next and should prove a good defensive test for the Wildcats, but it's tough to see them losing right now.

The Notre Dame hype train is real

While they haven't quite captured the larger public's attention, Notre Dame has been a deep sleeper for a good part of the season. A 14-4 mark in the tough ACC looks even better as the conference continues to perform well in the NCAA tournament. The Irish have won eight in a row dating back to March 4 after topping Wichita State 81-70 on Thursday.

The primary knocks on the Irish were a weak non-conference schedule and a questionable defense, even when adjusting for pace and opponent. That allowed Northeastern to hang around in the Second Round and made a Third-Round win over Butler tighter than it maybe should have been, but Notre Dame's No. 3-ranked offense continues to roll.

Said rolling included a 55.6-percent mark from the floor against the overmatched Shockers, who couldn't slow Jerian Grant's creation for others or Demetrius Jackson's red-hot outside shooting.

Kentucky now beckons. Notre Dame probably doesn't have the defense to pull out the victory, but they've definitely got the offense to make Saturday interesting.

Arizona survives scare from Xavier

Things were going so well for Xavier in their upset bid against Arizona. The Musketeers were up 51-47, they had plenty of momentum and they looked too strong for any stroke of midnight to slow them down.

And then midnight struck, literally and figuratively. Xavier would go 7:32 without hitting a field goal and saw their four-point lead turn into a seven-point deficit in that span. Given Arizona is the third-ranked adjusted defense in the country and the Wildcats shoot a respectable 70.8 percent from the line, that's a tough deficit to come back from in less than two minutes.

Not even a controversial out-of-bounds call could swing things back in the favor of the Musketeers, who ultimately lost 68-60. Arizona closed the game on a 19-7 run, working around 40.7-percent shooting and a 7-of-22 mark from outside by making hay at the free-throw line and winning both the rebounding and turnover battles.

It's a closer call than Arizona, perhaps the second-best team in the country, would have liked, and things won't get easier with Wisconsin on deck.

UNC provides glimpse of how to beat Wisconsin

North Carolina couldn't hang on in their upset bid against Wisconsin, coming up short 79-72. Nonetheless, the Tar Heels employed some effective late-game play-calling and may have provided Arizona the blueprint for how to beat the Badgers.

The Tar Heels frustrated Frank Kaminsky and Co. with a fast-paced attack. That's something that was necessary for undersized UNC but also something that just makes sense to try considering Wisconsin ranked 347th in the country in pace. Arizona's proven far more willing to run than Wisconsin, and that could be paramount in Saturday's Elite Eight matchup.

Of course, they'd also need to shutdown Kaminsky and Sam Dekker, something UNC proved incapable of, spelling their doom.

Prospect watch

Dekker did more than anyone else to make his case for the NBA draft on Thursday, saving his career-high in scoring for when Wisconsin needed it most. Dekker finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 10-of-15 from the floor and causing havoc all over the place for UNC. Teammate Kaminsky shook off a tough first half to finish with 19 points.

You can check out a full prospect breakdown here, but here are a few notable performances:

• Grant and Jackson continued their tag-team effort to increase their draft stocks. Grant played facilitator with 9-3-11 while Jackson carried the scoring load with 20-4-3 on 7-of-10 from the floor. This offense is the real deal, as are both guards.
• Fred VanVleet went out like a boss, scoring 25 points with six rebounds and three assists in Wichita State's loss. He had a heck of a tournament.
• Karl-Anthony Towns struggled through foul trouble in small minutes, posting the first one-point game of his career. Save for Towns and Tyler Ulis, Kentucky's bevy of draft prospects generally performed well.
• T.J. McConnell had 17-7-5 for Arizona, and while he was cold from outside, he shot 6-of-14 overall. His hot finish to the season will probably get him a look in Summer League.

Other top performers

• Darius Carter dropped 22 for the Shockers in support of VanVleet, adding a team-high eight rebounds. That's one heck of a way to end a career, if it has to end in a loss.
• Baltimore Orioles prospect Pat Connaughton will play at least one more basketball game, thanks in large part to his 16-10-2-2-2 performance on 7-of-12 shooting for the Irish.
• Matt Stainbrook finished his college career in style, scoring 17 points with 10 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and millions of hearts won.

Nice play, baby

There were plenty entertaining highlights on Thursday – check out the top five here. Here are a few that can't wait for a click and a page load.

Zach Auguste was flying around early and this dunk below wasn't even his best of the night. That one requires a little more attention to detail.

Dekker was out here Shammgodding the Tar Heels. For real. He was crafting buzzer-beaters, too. Couldn't love this player more.

And this is just too funny not to include.

Full Results

3 Notre Dame 81, 7 Wichita State 70
1 Wisconsin 79, 4 North Carolina 72
1 Kentucky 78 vs. 5 West Virginia 39
2 Arizona 68 vs. 6 Xavier 60

Need More?

If this recap wasn't enough, yesterday's live blog still exists.

Up Next

Friday's slate is just as enticing, with games tipping off in Syracuse and Houston:

• East: No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 8 NC State
• East: No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Michigan State
• South: No. 1 Duke vs. No. 5 Utah
• South: No. 11 UCLA vs. No. 2 Gonzaga

That includes what should be a terrific showdown between Duke's Jahlil Okafor and a pair of Utah 7-footers, plus a wide open East Region. 

Between these games and the Elite Eight, we've got another great weekend on our hands. Get excited. This excited.