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Morning Wrap-up: There are only favorites; Elite Eight field set

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

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.

If the headline raises an eyebrow considering a No. 7 seed is headed to the Elite Eight, consider that Michigan State was actually an oddsmaker favorite Friday against No. 3 Oklahoma. With the East Region wide open without a No. 1 or No. 2, no outcome would have surprised.

As it was, Michigan State won and becomes the de facto Cinderella of the Elite Eight, not that anyone is going to be rooting for Tom Izzo's squad as a true underdog. Elsewhere, it was the better-seeded team winning every game, giving the seed favorite seven of eight Sweet Sixteen games and the Vegas favorites a clean sweep.

As always, the lack of upsets or underdogs may be disappointing in the moment, but should serve to create even better games as the tournament progresses. The Elite Eight field is awesome.

Chief Justise of the Sweet Sixteen court

It was a 9-0 Utah run. Duke's lead had been cut to six points with 4:07 to play. And then the Justise League came to the rescue, as it had all night.

Justise Winslow came through with a timely and-one bucket to stop the bleeding, swinging the momentum back in Duke's favor.

Justise Winslow Makes The Shot, Gets Five From Coach K

The Blue Devils would settle in from there, and while Utah managed to cut the lead to five later in the fourth, Duke's terrific free-throw shooting helped ice the victory.

Utah played two-thirds of the type of game it needed to play to upset Duke. The formula would have been to slow the pace, hit the offensive glass with abandon and jack from outside, where it takes 37.5 percent of its field-goal attempts and hits better than 40 percent. The Utes managed to force their pace of play and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds, but they did themselves in with 15 turnovers and a 25 percent mark from 3-point range.

Duke will now head to the Elite Eight for the second time in three seasons, looking to topple Gonzaga for its first Final Four appearance since its 2010 national championship season.

A round of applause for the Utes, who made the Sweet Sixteen in their first tournament appearance since 2009 and really gave Duke a run Friday.

Gonzaga proves it can win a slugfest

Gonzaga's strong season was built primarily at the offensive end of the floor, with the 35-2 Bulldogs ranking fourth in adjusted offense but 28th on the defensive end. Because it plays in the WCC, Gonzaga's strength of schedule showed that it had been performing mostly against sub-elite offenses and defenses.

UCLA likewise had quality of competition concerns and wasn't elite at either end of the floor, but proved to be a decent litmus test for the Bulldogs.

Gonzaga shot 40.3 percent from the floor and 3-of-19 from outside, but still managed to control the game, thanks to strong free-throw shooting, timely defense and a plus-11 mark on the glass. The Bulldogs will have to score more effectively against Duke on Sunday, but there remains little evidence that Gonzaga will break when bent.

This will be the first Elite Eight appearance for Gonzaga since 1999 and its first with Mark Few at the helm.

You can't stop Rick Pitino

For the third time in four years, and the sixth time in 11 years, Rick Pitino's Louisville squad is headed to the Elite Eight. That's an incredible run of success, but it's a run of success that looked in grave trouble at times Friday.

NC State took a 33-31 lead into the half, looking to keep its own magical run going past the Sweet Sixteen. That lead would push as high as six in the second half, but Louisville slowly chipped, then pulled away, clamping down on defense and steadying at the free-throw line (6-of-9 in the game's final minute).

The Wolfpack shot 38.3 percent from the floor, hanging in as long as they did thanks to a 9-of-20 mark from outside and 11 offensive rebounds. Louisville couldn't hit from outside - it went 3-of-12 from beyond the arc - but shot 50 percent overall and really limited mistakes late.

The Cardinals now have a great chance to make their third Final Four appearance in three years, with Michigan State on deck in a winnable Elite Eight showdown Sunday.

Tom Izzo's pretty good, too

When Tom Izzo took over the Michigan State program in 1995, the Spartans made a pair of forgettable NIT appearances to start his tenure. Since then, the program hasn't missed the NCAA tournament, winning one national championship and making five Final Fours in the last 18 years.

Well, they're a win away from yet another. For the eighth time in 20 years on the job, Izzo has led Michigan State to the Elite Eight after a narrow 62-58 victory over Oklahoma on Friday. The whole "Michigan State peaks in time for the tournament" may seem tenuous and intangible, but the program's success in the tournament is remarkable.

Prospect watch

As much as Pitino's experience guides Louisville, Montrezl Harrell's makes one heck of a difference, too. The junior already has a national championship under his belt and was appearing in his third Sweet Sixteen, and it was clear he had a great handle on the pressure of the moment. Harrell shot 9-of-12, finishing with 24 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a block in the Cardinals' victory.

But it wasn't all sunshine for Harrell:

You be the judge... Did Cat Barber wipe a booger on Montrezl Harrell?

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

  • Terry Rozier supported Harrell with a 17-14-4 line of his own. He's a 6-foot-2 point guard. With 14 rebounds. That just doesn't happen.
  • The stat line is a little modest - 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting with eight rebounds - but Domantas Sabonis once again looked very good for Gonzaga.
  • Jahlil Okafor had a quiet night thanks to Utah 7-footer Jakob Poeltl, but Justise Winslow picked up the slack in a serious way with 21 points, 10 rebounds and a pair of blocks.
  • Buddy Hield struggled to a 3-of-10 mark from outside but finished with a 21-6-2 line in a loss for the Sooners.

Other top performers

Great feed by Gonzaga for the dunk! #marchmadness
  • This is Przemek Karnowski's world, and you're just living in it. The beastly Poland native had 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting Friday, adding nine rebounds, two blocks and a pair of beautiful assists.
  • Tony Parker tried to answer with 16 points and 11 rebounds for UCLA, but four turnovers and some poor defensive rebounding efforts left him on the wrong end of the decision against Karnowski.
  • Trevor Lacey hit 3-of-6 from outside to lead NC State with 18 points, while also chipping in five rebounds and three assists.
  • Brandon Taylor was the only Ute who could hit from outside, shooting 3-of-7 from deep en route to 15 points and five rebounds.
  • Travis Trice continued his terrific tournament with 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting for the Spartans. Give him 62 points and a 10-of-22 mark from long range in three tournament outings.

Nice play, baby

There were plenty of 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, and they all come from NC State-Louisville.

NC State was really trying to win the public over as an entertaining underdog:

Vinnyviner's post on Vine

Louisville's thoughts on NC State as a Cinderella summed up in one play:

Vinnyviner's post on Vine

At least NC State got a modicum of revenge late:

I have no idea which Martin it is but he dunked all over Montrezl Harrell

Full Results

2 Gonzaga 74, 11 UCLA 62
4 Louisville 75, 5 NC State 65
1 Duke 63 vs. 5 Utah 57
3 Oklahoma 58 vs. 7 Michigan State 62

Need More?

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

Up Next

The road to the Final Four is almost complete. Just one more win, and they're off to Indianapolis.

  • East: No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 7 Michigan State
  • South: No. 1 Duke vs. No. 2 Gonzaga
  • West: No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 2 Arizona
  • Midwest: No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 3 Notre Dame

The West and Midwest go Saturday - see the Elite Eight broadcast details here - and the East and South square off on Wrestlemania Sunday. We'd like to thank the basketball gods for this wonderful slate:

The #Gonzaga bench bows after every made free throw #UCLA #marchmadness #sweetsixteen

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