Sweet 16 takeaways: Duke goes zone to stop St. John's

The race to the NCAA Tournament championship has hit the Sweet 16. Follow along as theScore highlights key takeaways from the regional semifinals and what the results mean moving forward.

Duke's zone flips script

The East Region should've come with an "elite coaches only" warning, as Rick Pitino, Dan Hurley, Tom Izzo, and Jon Scheyer made up the four men who led their teams into the regional semifinals. While Scheyer is still new to the game compared to the other three, he showed Friday that his name belongs in that elite tier.

Scheyer called for Duke to shift to a zone defense early in the second half with his team trailing St. John's 53-45. The Red Storm had taken advantage of a sagging defense in the opening frame, connecting on nine triples. The switch instantly built a wall that St. John's struggled to attack. The Blue Devils then went on a 35-22 run and ended the contest with a 80-75 victory.

Duke's star power has been its identity over the past four decades, and that's exactly what Scheyer leaned on offensively. The trio of Cameron Boozer, Isaiah Evans, and Caleb Foster combined for 38 of the team's 41 points in the second half. Foster's contribution was particularly impressive given that he was making his return to the lineup after undergoing foot surgery just 19 days ago.

Duke didn't exactly blow away the field for most of the first two rounds. You could even argue that it only played one good half across those games. However, Foster's return is a game-changer for the Blue Devils, especially with his ability to control the game at the point and limit turnovers - even against a strong St. John's defense. That should make Blue Devils backers very confident about their team's title chances heading into the Elite Eight.

Michigan overwhelms Alabama

Alabama had perhaps the narrowest path to victory of any team in the Sweet 16. The undermanned and undersized Crimson Tide needed to drop 3-pointers at an almost historic rate to upset No. 1 seed Michigan. For the opening 20 minutes, it appeared that script might play out in Chicago. The Crimson Tide hit nine triples in the first half, giving them a two-point lead in a back-and-forth affair.

However, as the second half rolled around, Dusty May looked like Lil Yachty troubleshooting his laptop with Drake, as the Wolverines finally realized they could simply wear down Alabama by utilizing their size and contesting threes. With Michigan's defensive intensity cranked up, the Tide canned just five triples and put up only 28 points in the second half, their lowest total in any half this season.

The Wolverines crushed them on the glass in the second frame by a 25-12 margin and doubled their number of points in the paint (20-10). With the brilliance of Yaxel Lendeborg working against the Tide as well, Alabama simply couldn't keep up.

Thursday's games

Iowa's ruthless efficiency delivers

Turns out, a 3-point game-winner in the dying seconds to beat heavily favored No. 1 seed Florida wasn't the most impressive thing Iowa would do in the NCAA Tournament. How about a 14-3 run in the final minutes against a heated rival to book the program's first Elite Eight berth since 1987?

The mad dash from the No. 9 seed Hawkeyes - who have emerged as the closest thing to a Cinderella we're getting this year - turned a late-game deficit into one of the most memorable wins in team history.

In football, Iowa versus Nebraska is a matchup that's sure to be heavy on punts and people falling asleep in front of the television. However, March Madness doesn't take place on the gridiron, and Thursday's Sweet 16 contest between the Big Ten foes was absolutely electric.

The teams combined to shoot 58% in the opening half - the best percentage in any half of an NCAA Tournament game this year. A Big Ten brawl this was not, with high-level offense being executed almost every time down the court.

Ben McCollum's offense thrives on efficiency. Mid-range jumpers are essentially outlawed; only triples and close buckets are permitted. It's also painstakingly slow, ranking 361st out of 365 teams in terms of tempo. But slow doesn't mean ineffective, and that was evident down the stretch. The Hawkeyes' final six buckets consisted of four 3-pointers and two dunks.

Ruthless efficiency: the Ben McCollum experience.

Nebraska's shocking blunder

If you're wondering how the hell Alvaro Folgueiras got so wide-open in a three-point game with a minute to play, you aren't alone. There's a simple answer, though: Nebraska only had four players on the court. Seriously. The Cornhuskers - coming out of a timeout they called, no less - didn't put enough players on the court to defend an inbound pass while trailing with a minute to play.

Folgueiras' and-1 pushed the lead to six, hurting the Cornhuskers' chances immensely. The outcome puts a massive damper on what was an incredible tournament for Fred Hoiberg's team.

Nebraska didn't just notch its first NCAA Tournament victory ever. It now has two of them, plus a Sweet 16 berth, on its resume. Unfortunately for Cornhuskers fans, they'll be reminded of this one by Iowa supporters for a long time.

Dominance creates late-night duds

Thursday's early matchups soaked up all the late-game drama, leaving little juice for the final two contests, which were essentially over by the opening minutes of the second halves.

Arizona exploded with a 54-point outburst in the first half versus Arkansas - the fifth-most first-half points in Sweet 16 history. In the other late game, which tipped at essentially the same time, Houston and Illinois combined to score 46 in the opening half. The contests may have happened concurrently, but you could argue they weren't the same sport.

The Wildcats' balance on offense should terrify anybody in the tournament, so you can forgive Arkansas for failing to keep up. Six Arizona players scored at least 14 points each.

Houston is one of the more annoying teams to play against, in large part because of its relentless rebounding. The Cougars won both of their games last weekend by at least 30 points and outrebounded opponents Idaho and Texas A&M by a combined margin of 93-61.

However, Illinois wasn't interested in letting Houston play its game, quickly shutting down any idea of bully-ball. The Illini didn't just limit the Cougars' rebounding edge; they dominated the glass 43-34. That forced Houston to take shots from the outside. The Cougars made just 34% of their field-goal attempts on the night, well off their season average of 45.1%.

Illinois' path to victory was thought to be a high-scoring affair led by KenPom's No. 2 offense in the country. But a 65-55 slobberknocker going the way of the Illini should make the remaining contenders very nervous.

European takeover in Sweet 16

Thursday might as well have doubled as European Night in the NCAA Tournament, with some of the continent's top talent taking center stage during the Sweet 16.

Illinois' Balkan brigade has been well-publicized this season, and that group once again shined versus the Cougars. The standout size of David Mirkovic and brothers Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic rendered Houston's swarming defense useless throughout. Those three, along with Peja Stojakovic's son, Andrej, who was born in Greece and is eligible for both the Greek and Serbian national teams, combined for 38 points and 13 rebounds.

Arizona has a formidable European contingent of its own. The pairing of Ivan Kharchenkov and Motiejus Krivas totaled 19 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in the Wildcats' comfortable win over Arkansas. And we already touched on the heroics of Iowa's Spanish star, Alvaro Folgueiras, whose late-game takeover set the table for the international party.

Purdue's size is the difference

On paper, Purdue's clear advantage over Texas was the matchup down low, especially if the Boilermakers could get Matas Vokietaitis in foul trouble. That's not an issue unique to the Longhorns, as Purdue's front line puts almost every opponent it faces in a precarious position. Clearly Matt Painter figured out that the Lithuanian big man couldn't stop the duo of Trey Kaufman-Renn and Oscar Cluff without fouling because the team ran pick-and-rolls all night to keep the whistles blowing in Vokietaitis' direction. As a result, he played just 23 minutes in the contest after averaging 32 in the previous two games. That tipped the scales heavily in Purdue's favor.

However, an incredible showing by Tramon Mark almost proved enough to overcome the Boilermakers' edge. The smooth lefty erupted for 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting despite limping for most of the night due to an ankle injury. Add in Dailyn Swain's clutch shotmaking late and Purdue somehow found itself in a tie game in the dying seconds.

Then the size advantage appeared one more time. Sean Miller opted to take Vokietaitis out for the final possession, perhaps not wanting him to earn a fifth foul with a possible overtime period looming. But that left the 6-foot-8, 220-pound Swain to deal with 6-foot-9, 240-pound Kaufman-Renn on the glass. That proved too difficult a task. The senior rose above Swain to tip in the game-winner, sending Purdue to the Elite Eight.