Round of 32 takeaways: Loyer legacy game puts Miami down

The brackets are set, the action has tipped off, and March Madness has officially arrived. Follow along as theScore highlights key takeaways from the Round of 32 and what the results mean moving forward.

Loyer steps up to send Purdue to Sweet 16

Braden Smith did something Sunday that he'd done only once before in his illustrious 146-game career: The NCAA's newly crowned all-time assist king turned the ball over an astonishing eight times versus Miami, looking lost throughout the contest as a result of the Hurricanes' defensive pressure. Despite Smith's tough outing, the evening will be a celebratory one for Purdue, thanks to a legacy-building game from Fletcher Loyer. The sharpshooting wing picked up the slack, scoring 24 points on just seven field goals. Loyer was a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc and 8-of-8 from the foul line, and he missed just one two-point attempt. His performance highlighted an outrageous shooting day for the Boilermakers as a whole.

Purdue is now headed to its seventh Sweet 16 in the last nine years, serving as the latest example of Matt Painter's success in building a perennial powerhouse. The victory also keeps the Big Ten in position to potentially make tournament history. The Boilermakers became the fifth team from the conference to reach this year's Sweet 16 - two shy of matching the all-time NCAA Tournament record. However, the feat will be tough to pull off with both UCLA and Iowa being heavy underdogs in their respective Round of 32 games.

Saturday's games

Nebraska-Vandy was LIT 🔥

Nebraska entered March Madness as the only major conference team in history without a win in the NCAA Tournament. With that backdrop in mind, Braden Frager's go-ahead layup in the dying seconds against Vanderbilt should have been the most celebrated moment in program history.

While plenty of people - mostly wearing red - will remember that bucket for years, it's probably a safe bet that the No. 1 talking point from this epic Round of 32 game is what happened afterward.

Vanderbilt's Tyler Tanner launched a last-second heave that somehow rimmed out, causing cardiac episodes all over the great state of Nebraska in the process.

It was a fitting end to what has arguably been the best game of the tournament thus far, with elite shotmaking littered across an enthralling 40 minutes of action. Vanderbilt stormed back in the second half, making over 44% of its triples down the stretch to give itself a chance for a memorable ending - and the Commodores certainly did that.

Nebraska's reward is likely a Sweet 16 matchup with Florida, provided it avoids an upset at the hands of No. 9 Iowa on Sunday. The Gators will probably be pleased that Vanderbilt's last chance rimmed out, especially since the Commodores took out the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament semifinal last weekend.

Texas, the double-digit darling

With an enrollment of 55,000 students, the nation's most valuable athletic department, and a head coach with nine Sweet 16 appearances in a 20-year career, Texas doesn't exactly qualify for Cinderella status. However, in a tournament largely void of double-digit seeds pulling off upsets, we're left with little old Texas to carry the mantle of "underdog" into the next round. The Longhorns are just the sixth team to advance from the First Four to the Sweet 16, toppling No. 3 Gonzaga on Saturday.

Scoring balance is the plan of attack for Sean Miller in his first season with Texas. The Longhorns have featured four different double-digit scorers in all three of their NCAA Tournament games thus far. Matas Vokietaitis has been a menace in the post, putting up 18 points and 11 rebounds per contest. The winner of Sunday's Purdue-Miami game now awaits the plucky underdog in the Sweet 16.

As for Gonzaga, a season-long struggle with outside shooting proved costly. This was the worst 3-point shooting team of Mark Few's lengthy tenure with the program, and it'll certainly be an area of focus ahead of Gonzaga's move to the Pac-12.

Can't stop Acuff

He won't be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft or win player of the year, but there's nobody hotter in college basketball than Darius Acuff. The fabulous freshman's latest high-wire act came in the form of a 36-point explosion versus High Point late Saturday to deliver a second straight Sweet 16 berth for John Calipari at Arkansas.

It's impossible to watch Acuff and not think of peak-Stefon Marbury with his ridiculous handle and lightning-quick pull on the jumper. And he's not just a scorer; his six assists against the Panthers now have him averaging 7.2 per game over his last five.

Arkansas' next opponent is the winner of Sunday's battle between No. 1 Arizona and No. 9 Utah State. Should the Wildcats prevail, Acuff's next matchup would come against the nation's third-ranked defense. Get your popcorn ready, should that materialize.

Illinois-Houston will be a banger

The nation's second-ranked offense versus the fourth-ranked defense. Choose your fighter wisely. The Sweet 16 matchup between No. 3 Illinois and No. 2 Houston will be a titanic affair. The Illini booked a date with the Cougars following a comfortable victory over No. 11 VCU on Saturday, with Andrei Stojakovic leading the way at 21 points.

Yes, that's Peja's son, but he's not a sharpshooter like his famous father. Instead, the younger Stojakovic is as crafty as they come at getting to the basket. He saved Illinois from a rough shooting night from deep with several timely buckets to help the Illini push a seven-point halftime edge to a 21-point victory.

That's a significant part of the challenge in playing Illinois - identifying which dude is going to pop off that given night. David Mirkovic, the star from the opening round, scored only seven points Saturday, but the combo of Stojakovic, Keaton Wagler, and Tomislav Ivisic poured in 49 of the team's 76 points. How defensive mastermind Kelvin Sampson attacks that in the next round will be one of the most fascinating things to watch in the Sweet 16.

Boozer's POY favorite for a reason

Duke's issues with No. 16 Siena on Thursday carried over to the weekend against TCU, as the Blue Devils struggled on offense for the first 25 minutes of the game. The No. 1 seed actually went without a field goal for an 8:45 stretch that spanned the end of the first half and the start of the second. That seems borderline impossible given the talent on Duke's roster, but the Blue Devils seemed lost on the offensive end, allowing TCU to take a two-point lead with just over 15 minutes to play. And then Cameron Boozer took the ball and sent the Horned Frogs home.

The likely national player of the year was all of that down the stretch, scoring 17 points with five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block in the second half alone. Duke cranked up the intensity on the defensive end at the same time, holding TCU to just 24 points over the final 20 minutes. A commanding 43-18 run to end the game turned a tight contest into a 23-point win for the ACC champs.

It hasn't been pretty for Duke in this tournament, as the team continues life without guard Caleb Foster. Despite the early issues, Saturday's second half has to be wildly encouraging for Jon Scheyer, with his offense operating efficiently against a top defense. That'll need to continue with a Sweet 16 contest against either Kansas or St. John's waiting.

Can't have a Sweet 16 without Houston

Can a Sweet 16 exist without Houston? The answer is an emphatic 'No!' for the seventh straight year. Kelvin Sampson's Cougars have taken up permanent residency in the NCAA Tournament's second weekend and are there once again after blowing out Texas A&M on Saturday.

The Round of 32 matchup was a clash of styles. Houston, playing at one of the slowest paces in the nation, faced off against an Aggies team eager to get out and run as often as possible. That uptempo approach requires turnovers based on pressing defense - not a formula you want to rely on against the Cougars. Houston protects the ball better than any team in college basketball and gave it away only six times versus the Aggies. That forced Texas A&M to run its half-court offense, a disastrous strategy that yielded just 57 points. The Cougars outrebounded the Aggies by an eye-opening 46-29 margin and ripped down 19 offensive boards in the process.

As we've seen over the past seven years, Houston likely won't lose if it's allowed to play the way it wants - slow tempo, fierce defense, and a reckless abandon on the glass. Essentially, if you can't force the Cougars out of that style, you're going to have a bad time.

Another clash of styles awaits Sampson in the next round, where Houston will face the nation's No. 2 offense in Illinois. That Sweet 16 matchup would be another chess match, but this time with the added advantage of playing in front of a home crowd as the regional semifinals and finals are taking place in Houston.

Good luck slowing down Michigan

Pour one out for the scoreboard operator in Buffalo this week, as Michigan put them through the wringer by orchestrating an electric offensive performance in its opening two games of the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines torched the nets versus both Howard and Saint Louis, scoring a combined 196 points across the two victories. The Big Ten powerhouse is the first team since 2008 to score at least 95 points in both the first and second rounds of the tournament, according to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press.

Red-hot shooting is required to hang 95 points in a 40-minute game - let alone in back-to-back contests - and the Wolverines have been scorching.

Saturday's meeting with the Billikens was close early, but Saint Louis simply couldn't match the play of Michigan's frontcourt - nor can 99% of the teams in the country. A lethal blend of size and athleticism gives the Wolverines a massive edge against any team in the bracket other than Florida.

Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. both stand 6-foot-9 but possess the athleticism of a ferocious wing. Aday Mara serves as the anchor at 7-foot-3, yet even he moves like a polished dancer in the post. Those three will present major problems for the winner of Alabama and Texas Tech, which will face off Sunday. Both teams have significant frontcourt issues that Michigan will certainly look to exploit in the Sweet 16.

Fears, the Point God

Michigan State has been churning out elite college point guards for a long time, but none have accomplished what Jeremy Fears Jr. did Saturday against Louisville. Fears played the role of quarterback to perfection, tossing out 16 assists in the victory to set a new program record in an NCAA Tournament game. The loudest connection came to human pogo-stick Coen Carr, with a perfect feed setting up a high-flying finish.

Between points and assists, Fears was responsible for 35 of the Spartans' 41 total points in the second half. His 16 helpers contributed to Michigan State's 22 total in the contest, with just four baskets coming unassisted. That's how a team that struggles shooting from the outside can put up 77 points.

Fears is averaging 13.3 assists across his last three games, while Michigan State has put up 84 points per contest in that span. He'll need to keep that clip rolling with a possible matchup versus UConn's 14th-ranked defense on deck.