Braden Frager drove for the winning layup with 2.2 seconds left Saturday night and fourth-seeded Nebraska rallied for a 74-72 win over fifth-seeded Vanderbilt in the second round of the NCAA Tournament’s South Region in Oklahoma City.

The result wasn’t secured until the Commodores’ Tyler Tanner, who scored a game-high 27 points, barely missed a 3-point shot from beyond halfcourt as time expired. Tanner’s heave hit the glass and bounced out after hitting both the front and back rim, causing a gasp and then a wild ovation from the pro-Cornhusker crowd inside Paycom Center.

Frager and Pryce Sandfort each scored 15 points for Nebraska (28-6), which will play either top-seeded Florida or No. 9 Iowa Thursday in Houston in its first Sweet 16 appearance in program history. The Gators and Hawkeyes match up on Sunday night in Tampa.

Tyler Nickel added 16 points for Vanderbilt (27-9), which rallied in the second half by canning 10 of 22 3-pointers. Tanner’s layup gave the Commodores a 72-70 edge with 58 seconds remaining but Mast equalized with 37 seconds on the clock by tipping home Sam Hoiberg’s missed layup.

No. 2 Houston 88, No. 10 Texas A&M 57

Emanuel Sharp scored 18 points and the Cougars delivered an 18-0 knockout punch in the first half to sail into the Sweet 16 with a win over the Aggies in Oklahoma City.

Chris Cenac Jr. registered 17 points and nine rebounds and Milos Uzan added 15 points for the Cougars (30-6), who will face third-seeded Illinois in next week’s Sweet 16 in Houston. Mercy Miller added 12 points as the Cougars notched their fifth consecutive 30-win campaign and reached the Sweet 16 for the seventh straight season.

Josh Holloway was the only scorer in double figures for the Aggies (22-12) with 12 points off the bench. Leading scorer Rashaun Agee was limited to seven points. The Cougars connected on 44.1% of their field-goal attempts and held a commanding 46-29 rebounding edge, grabbing 19 on the offensive glass.

No. 3 Illinois 76, No. 11 VCU 55

Andrej Stojakovic scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half to help the Fighting Illini breeze past the Rams in Greenville, S.C.

Tomislav Ivisic added 14 points and 11 rebounds for Illinois (26-8), which advanced to its second Sweet 16 in 21 years. It will face No. 2 Houston on Thursday in Houston. Keaton Wagler scored 14 and Kylan Boswell finished with 12 for the Fighting Illini, who won their first two NCAA Tournament games by a combined 56 points.

Terrence Hill Jr. led VCU (28-8) with 17 points and seven boards, while Barry Evans and Tyrell Ward had 11 apiece. The Rams shot just 7-for-32 (21.9%) on 3-point attempts in the lopsided loss.

WEST REGION

No. 11 Texas 74, No. 3 Gonzaga 68

Matas Vokietaitis and Jordan Pope scored 17 points apiece and Camden Heide hit a key 3-pointer with 14.7 seconds left to lift the Longhorns past the Bulldogs in Portland, Ore.

With the Longhorns leading by one after a dunk by the Bulldogs’ Graham Ike, Texas called a timeout with 32 seconds left and inserted Heide, whose 3-pointer from the right corner pushed the lead to 72-68. Mario Saint-Supery missed a desperation Gonzaga 3-pointer for Gonzaga (31-4) and Vokietaitis hit a layup to close the scoring for Texas (21-14), the first First Four winner to win at least three games in the tournament since 11th-seeded UCLA won five straight to reach the 2021 Final Four.

West Coast Conference Player of the Year Ike had 25 points and Jalen Warley had 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Gonzaga.

No. 4 Arkansas 94, No. 12 High Point 88

Darius Acuff Jr. had 36 points, Meleek Thomas added 19, and the Razorbacks burst the Panthers’ tournament bubble, pulling away late for the victory in Portland, Ore.

Acuff scored nine of the Razorbacks’ last 11 points as they broke from a tie at 83-83 in the final three minutes to overcome a 30-point performance from High Point guard Rob Martin. Billy Richmond III had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Malique Ewin had 14 points and 12 boards for the Razorbacks (28-8), who have won seven in a row and nine of 10. Ewin’s two free throws with 44.4 seconds made it 92-85.

Cam’Ron Fletcher had 25 points and was two rebounds short of a third straight double-double and Terry Anderson had 15 points for High Point (31-5), which had a 15-game winning streak broken after posting the first NCAA Tournament win in school history Thursday.

EAST REGION

No. 1 Duke 81, No. 9 TCU 58

Cameron Boozer scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the second half to help lead the Blue Devils past the Horned Frogs in Greenville, S.C.

Isaiah Evans added 17 points and Dame Sarr scored 14 for Duke (34-2), which advanced to the Sweet 16 against the winner of No. 4 Kansas and No. 5 St. John’s. Boozer added a game-high 11 rebounds while Maliq Brown finished with 12 points and nine rebounds for the Blue Devils, who outscored TCU by 19 points in the second half.

Micah Robinson led TCU (23-12) with 18 points, followed by Xavier Edmonds’ 12. The Horned Frogs were outrebounded 42-25 for the game, but 24-14 during the second half.

No. 3 Michigan State 77, No. 6 Louisville 69

Coen Carr had 21 points and 10 rebounds, Jeremy Fears Jr. scored 12 points with 16 assists and the Spartans locked down the Cardinals to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 17th time under Tom Izzo.

Fears set a Michigan State NCAA Tournament assists record and Carr helped carry the offense for the Spartans (27-7) and fell one point shy of his career high. The Spartans head to the East Region semifinal in Washington, D.C., where their first game in the Sweet 16 will be the winner of seventh-seeded UCLA and No. 2 seed UConn

Louisville leading scorer Ryan Conwell played through a left foot injury in the second half and did not appear to have his typical spring. Conwell had 21 points and made 5 of 11 attempts from 3-point range for the Cardinals (24-11).

MIDWEST

No. 1 Michigan 95, Saint Louis 72

Yaxel Lendeborg scored 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting, and the Wolverines pulled away for a win over the Billikens at Buffalo, N.Y.

Morez Johnson Jr. added 15 points and eight rebounds for Michigan (33-3), which advanced to the Sweet 16 to face either Texas Tech or Alabama. Aday Mara finished with 16 points, and Elliot Cadeau scored 12 points to go along with a team-high eight assists.

Amari McCottry scored 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting to lead Saint Louis (29-6). Dion Brown finished with 13 points, and Robbie Avila contributed nine points.

–Field Level Media

Vladimir Tarasenko scored the winning goal 3:06 into overtime to lift the Minnesota Wild to a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn.

Bobby Brink also scored for Minnesota, which won in overtime for the second time in its past three games. Brink also picked up an assist on the winning goal. Quinn Hughes assisted on both goals and leads all NHL defensemen with 62.

Jason Robertson scored the lone goal for Dallas, which holds a five-point lead over the Wild for second place in the Central Division. Miro Heiskanen and Matt Duchene assisted on Robertson’s tally.

Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 28 of 29 shots to collect the victory. He made nine saves in the first period, nine saves in the second and 10 saves in the third. Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger allowed two goals on 28 shots.

Lightning 5, Oilers 2

Nikita Kucherov scored twice in a four-point performance to move to the top of the NHL’s scoring race (118 points) and lead visiting Tampa Bay to a victory over Edmonton.

Anthony Cirelli scored twice, Jake Guentzel added a goal and Brandon Hagel collected a pair of assists for the Lightning, who have won three straight to maintain a hold on the second spot in the Atlantic Division. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves.

Connor McDavid and Josh Samanski scored for the Oilers. Goalie Connor Ingram stopped 22 shots for Edmonton, which opened the scoring but was done in by a trio of second-period goals by the Lightning.

Bruins 4, Red Wings 2

Visiting Boston scored twice in a 3:20 span in the third period to turn around a one-goal deficit en route to a win over Detroit in a crucial matchup between Atlantic Division rivals.

Nikita Zadorov scored the eventual game-winner with 10:18 remaining to lift Boston, which is 3-0-2 in its last five. David Pastrnak and Elias Lindholm each registered a goal and an assist, Marat Khusnutdinov also scored, Morgan Geekie had three assists and Charlie McAvoy two. Jeremy Swayman backstopped the victory, making 41 saves.

Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat lit the lamp and John Gibson made 23 saves for Detroit, which had been on a 2-0-1 run but fell into the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, two points behind Boston.

Penguins 5, Jets 4 (SO)

After finding the net in regulation, Rickard Rakell scored the shootout clincher as Pittsburgh defeated visiting Winnipeg.

Defenseman Erik Karlsson scored twice for the second straight game while Egor Chinakhov scored and provided a helper for Pittsburgh. Parker Wotherspoon and Bryan Rust each had a pair of assists while netminder Arturs Silovs stopped 21 shots.

Brad Lambert had a goal and an assist for the Jets, while Morgan Barron, Cole Koepke and Neal Pionk also scored. Connor Hellebuyck made 26 stops.

Predators 4, Golden Knights 1

Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist and host Nashville defeated Vegas.

Ryan O’Reilly added a goal and an assist and Tyson Jost also scored for the Predators, who won their third straight. Justus Annunen made 39 saves, 20 in the first period. Nashville has passed Los Angeles and moved into the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

Defenseman Shea Theodore got the lone goal for the Golden Knights, who have lost three in a row and have only managed Theodore’s goal in those games. Akira Schmid stopped 16 shots. Slumping Vegas holds the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division.

Sabres 4, Kings 1

Zach Benson had a goal and an assist for visiting Buffalo, which allowed just its first goal in three games in a victory over Los Angeles.

Sam Carrick and Rasmus Dahlin scored 59 seconds apart midway through the third period, Josh Norris had two assists, Tage Thompson had a goal and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves for the Sabres, who have won four in a row, seven straight on the road, and 12 of 13 since the Olympic break.

Artemi Panarin scored and Anton Forsberg made 30 saves for the Kings, who had earned points in five of the previous six games (3-1-2).

Blue Jackets 5, Kraken 2

Cole Sillinger had a goal and two assists and Zach Werenski had three helpers as Columbus defeated visiting Seattle.

Mathieu Olivier had a goal and an assist and Danton Heinen, Damon Severson and Kent Johnson also scored for Columbus, which won its fourth in a row and extended its point streak to 12 (8-0-4). Elvis Merzlikins made 15 saves.

Kaapo Kakko had a goal and an assist and Vince Dunn also tallied for Seattle , which lost its third straight. Joey Daccord stopped 23 of 27 shots.

Senators 5, Maple Leafs 2

Ottawa did itself a world of good in the playoff picture, withstanding a late push to top visiting Toronto.

Tim Stutzle, Claude Giroux, Warren Foegele, Michael Amadio and Ridley Greig all scored a goal, while defensemen Tyler Kleven and Jordan Spence had two assists apiece for the Senators (36-24-9, 81 points). Linus Ullmark turned away 12 of 14 shots for Ottawa, which has won four of its last five.

Rookie Easton Cowan tallied a goal and an assist and John Tavares scored a goal for the floundering Leafs. Joseph Woll finished with 38 saves after Anthony Stolarz was hit in the throat by a puck during warmups. Stolarz was hospitalized for precautionary imaging, the team announced. Toronto coach Craig Berube said after the game that Stolarz was out of the hospital and would be on the team’s flight back to Toronto.

Flyers 4, Sharks 1

Christian Dvorak scored a power-play goal early in the third period, helping Philadelphia extend its season-high road winning streak to seven games with a victory over San Jose.

Owen Tippett scored in the second period and defenseman Travis Sanheim and Noah Cates each found the empty net 36 seconds apart in the third. Dan Vladar made 24 saves for the Flyers, who completed a sweep of their three-game California road trip and improved to 5-0-1 in their last six games overall.

The Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini notched an assist on defenseman Dmitry Orlov’s power-play goal, boosting the former’s career total to 99. Celebrini (19 years, 281 days) is one assist shy of becoming the second-youngest player in NHL history to reach that milestone behind only Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (19 years, 134 days on Dec. 19, 2006). Alex Nedeljkovic turned aside 24 shots for San Jose, which has lost four in a row and seven of its last nine (2-5-2).

Canadiens 7, Islanders 3

Cole Caufield had a hat trick and finished with a career-high five points to lead Montreal’s third-period surge past visiting New York.

Juraj Slafkovsky had two goals and two assists for his first career four-point game, and Kaiden Guhle had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens, who outscored the Islanders 4-1 in the third period. Nick Suzuki had four assists and Jacob Fowler made 19 saves.

Emil Heineman, Simon Holmstrom and Matthew Schaefer scored for the Islanders. Ilya Sorokin allowed six goals on 32 shots before being lifted in the third period.

Blues 3, Canucks 1

Pavel Buchnevich had a goal and an assist for St. Louis in a win over host Vancouver.

Pius Suter and Jordan Kyrou also scored for the Blues, who snapped a two-game skid and pulled within six points of the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Jordan Binnington made 14 saves.

Filip Hronek scored and Kevin Lankinen made 18 saves for the Canucks, who are 13 points behind the rest of the league.

–Field Level Media

World No. 2 Jannik Sinner continued his pursuit of the “Sunshine Double” by winning his opening match over Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday at the Miami Open in Miami Gardens, Fla.

The Italian, coming off a victory at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., needed only 71 minutes to dispatch Dzumhur, ranked No. 76, from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Sinner, a 25-time winner on the ATP Tour, can be the first player to win the consecutive California and Florida tournaments — the “Sunshine Double” — since Roger Federer in 2017.

A winner of 12 straight matches at ATP Masters 1000 events, Sinner also has tied Novak Djokovic’s record with 24 consecutive sets won at that level.

“I feel like the scoreboard matters at times,” Sinner said of the latter streak. “For me, I try to improve as a player and put myself in the position to play as many matches as possible. I always treat every opponent in the same way, trying to come on court and do my best with a great attitude and trying to go for it.”

Sinner, who won the Miami Open in 2024, had a distinct edge in aces (9-1) and winners (21-8), though each had 18 unforced errors. The Italian won 90% of his first serves (26 of 29), to 62% (23 of 37) for Dzumhur, who saved six of nine break points — to 1-for-1 for Sinner.

Third-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany handled American wild card Martin Damm 6-2, 6-4 in just under 70 minutes.

Zverev did not face a break point and converted three of eight opportunities. Damm was undermined by more double faults (6-0) and unforced errors (22-8) and fewer winners (16-12).

Kazakhstan’s Alexander Shevchenko knocked off eighth-seeded Ben Shelton 6-7 (3) 7-6 (3), 6-3 in a battle lasting two hours, 22 minutes.

The power-serving Shelton had 17 aces but also 44 unforced errors. Shevchenko had fewer aces (11) and winners (46-33) but also fewer unforced errors (24) as he saved all five break points on his serve.

Seventh-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada moved on following a tight 7-6 (3), 7-5 win over Marton Fucsovics of Hungary. Ninth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia dropped the opening set before ousting Japanese wild card Rei Sakamoto 6-7 (10), 6-3, 6-1.

Also victorious on Saturday were 12th-seeded Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic, 18th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, 19th-seeded Frances Tiafoe of the United States, 29th-seeded Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina, 30th-seeded Corentin Moutet of France and 31st-seeded Ugo Humbert of France as well as Spanish qualifier Rafael Jodar.

A host of seeded players lost, with Russia’s Andrey Rublev (15th) falling to Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (16th) eliminated by France’s Quentin Halys, American Learner Tien (20th) downed by Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak, Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie (23st) ousted by American Alex Michelsen, Arthur Rinderknach (26th) losing to fellow Frenchman Terence Atmane and American Brandon Nakashima (27th) beaten by Croatia’s Marin Cilic.

–Field Level Media