NCAA Tournament

In a rematch of the 2023 national title game, UConn cruised past San Diego State 82-52 in the men's NCAA tournament on Thursday.

Despite some first-half struggles, the Huskies pulled away during the final 20 minutes to advance to the Elite Eight. The Aztecs cut the deficit to 35-31 just before halftime, although they weren't able to get any closer throughout the duration of the game.

Senior guard Cam Spencer led the Huskies with 18 points, shooting 6-of-12 from the field while adding five rebounds and three assists. He also connected on two of his four attempts from behind the arc.

Stephon Castle recorded his first career double-double, as the freshman guard scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 28 minutes on the floor.

College basketball fans were impressed with the dominance shown by head coach Dan Hurley's team.

After finishing with a record of 33-3, UConn has shown no signs of slowing down in the tournament. The Huskies have won each of their three March Madness games easily, outscoring opponents 248-162.

The defending champions are now set to face off against the winner of Thursday's matchup between Illinois and Iowa State.

While fans are nervously watching March Madness games to see if their teams can keep their championship hopes alive, NBA scouts are watching for a different reason.

"You get to watch players in games where their backs are against the wall and see how they react to that," an Eastern Conference scout told ESPN's Jeremy Woo. "This is do or die. So some guys you can see that they shrivel in those situations, and some guys thrive, and I think that's an important piece to the puzzle."

Teams and scouts surely don't base the entirety of their evaluation on the small sample size of one or two games in the NCAA men's tournament, but those performances can be a clear tiebreaker if they are torn between multiple prospects.

After all, there is no better simulation for what Game 7 of an NBA playoff series will be like for a player than the single-elimination pressure of games in the Big Dance, and a history of performing at a high level on such a stage would surely catch the eye of talent evaluators.

That means players such as UConn's Stephon Castle (projected No. 6 in the latest mock draft from Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman), UConn's Donovan Clingan (No. 7), Duke's Jared McCain (No. 11), Illinois' Terrence Shannon Jr. (No. 12), Duke's Kyle Filipowski (No. 13), Tennessee's Dalton Knecht (No. 15) and Purdue's Zach Edey (No. 30), among others, will have additional pressure when their teams take the court in the Sweet 16.

Not only will they be playing for the opportunity to move one step closer to a national championship, they will be playing for the chance to boost their stocks in the eyes of NBA scouts.

One or two excellent performances in the upcoming games could be the difference between being a lottery pick or falling down draft boards.

Vanessa Bryant—the widow of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant—gifted the No. 1-seeded UConn men's basketball team pairs of yet-to-be released Kobe sneakers on Wednesday.

As seen in the following video on the UConn Men's Basketball X page, the players were taken by surprise and expressed gratitude for the offering:

According to TMZ Sports, the shoes given to the UConn players were Nike Kobe 6 "Italian Camo" Protros, which will not be available to the public until next month.

TMZ added that the Italian Camo aspect of the shoe is meant to pay tribute to Kobe's time in Italy, as he was raised there for part of his childhood while his dad played professional basketball in the country.

It was also noted that Kobe and his late daughter, Gianna Bryant, were fans of the UConn men's and women's basketball teams and attended games together, which is why Vanessa chose the Huskies for the gesture.

UConn surprised the college basketball world by winning the national championship last season, but it wasn't able to sneak up on anyone this season.

Even so, head coach Dan Hurley's squad has been the team to beat throughout the year, posting a 33-3 record and earning the No. 1 overall seed in the 2024 NCAA tournament.

The Huskies dominated in their first two tourney games, blowing out No. 16 Stetson 91-52 and No. 9 Northwestern 75-58.

On Thursday night at 7:39 p.m. ET, UConn will play its Sweet 16 game, and it will be a rematch of last year's national championship game against fifth-seeded San Diego State.

A win over the Aztecs would mean a trip to the Elite Eight and a matchup with either No. 2 Iowa State or No. 3 Illinois this weekend for a spot in the Final Four.

After last season's first-round exit from the NCAA Tournament, it's clear that Purdue star center Zach Edey is on a mission.

The two-time consensus first-team All-American put forth his second straight monster performance on Sunday to help the top-seeded Boilermakers trounce No. 8 Utah State 106-67 and reach the Sweet 16 for the second time in the last three years and 14th time in program history. It was the most points by Purdue in an NCAA Tournament game in program history.

Edey finished with 23 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals in the blowout victory. He shot 8-of-11 from the field and made seven of his eight free throws. He had 21 points and 11 rebounds in the first half alone, and he was pulled early in the second half when Purdue opened up a lead of as much as 41 points.

Edey's dominant showing on Sunday came after his 30-point, 21-rebound outing in the first round on Friday against No. 16 Grambling State. He's shot 67.9 percent from the field through two tournament games.

Fans on social media couldn't help but praise Edey for his second straight impressive performance to lead the Boilermakers to the Sweet 16:

Purdue became just the second No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed in NCAA Tournament history last season. Edey and the Boilermakers played inspired basketball over their first two tournament games, so it looks like they are motivated to erase the memory of last year's elimination.

In addition to Edey's big day, Trey Kaufman-Renn added 18 points and eight rebounds and Fletcher Loyer notched 15 points and six assists.

Purdue will face No. 5 Gonzaga in a marquee Sweet 16 matchup on Friday.