Catching up -- Subregional rewind

By Ross Lancaster Sports Central Columnist

With so much action going on at all times of the day this past weekend, I'll review what's happened in each location so far, taking us right up to the ever-so Sweet 16.

Greenville, South Carolina

In Greenville, Duke and Kent State, both from the South, advanced to the Sweet 16. The defending champion Blue Devils scored 84 points in a pair of games, with the second of which being a close call at the hands of Notre Dame. To Duke's credit, they hit free throws down the stretch, something that had been troubling them all year.

The other team to get out of Greenville unscathed was Kent State, who is one of three double-digit seeds still left in this year's tournament. The Golden Flashes, from the MAC, made a statement by beating two highly-ranked teams from power conferences in Oklahoma State and Alabama.

Duke and Kent State both play Thursday in Lexington, Kentucky.

Sacramento, California

From Sacramento, Indiana and Oregon emerged as the two teams still alive after each won two games in Arco Arena. After beating Utah very handily in the latest game on Thursday, the Hoosiers dealt UNC-Wilmington a reality check after their crushing blow to USC, in overtime on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, Oregon beat lower-seeded Montana and then beat Wake Forest in a shootout in which three pointers flew all over the place and was pretty much just fun-to-watch basketball.

Indiana will play in the South Regional on Thursday, while Oregon plays on Friday in the Midwest Regional.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh and UCLA came out of Mellon Arena happy on Sunday, with wins that put their teams into the Sweet 16. Pittsburgh clearly had the benefits of the "pod system" working for them under a home crowd in beating Central Connecticut State and California.

Meanwhile, UCLA shot down the advantage Cincinnati had in playing close to home with a 105-101 double overtime victory over the West's top seed. The UCLA that played in this game was without a doubt the UCLA that beat Kansas, and not the UCLA that struggled down the stretch, losing to Villanova and Arizona State.

UCLA advances to San Jose, while Pittsburgh goes to Lexington.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

In Albuquerque, surprising Missouri and Arizona each advanced to the West Regional with two wins. Missouri, a No. 12 seed who underachieved in the regular season, played what may have been the two best games of the tournament in beating Miami and Ohio State.

For Arizona, the Wildcats played an easy road to get to the Sweet 16, beating two double-digit seeds, and having trouble with their first round matchup of UC-Santa Barbara, but advancing no less.

Dallas, Texas

In Dallas, the two "home" teams advanced, Texas and Oklahoma. In their second round game with Mississippi State, Texas led by 23 in the first half, and almost blew the lead in the end with a 68-64 victory over the Bulldogs.

Meanwhile, the Sooners were tested in the second round by Xavier before Oklahoma pulled away by 13 in the end. Oklahoma will go to San Jose, while Texas goes to the Midwest Regional in Madison, Wisconsin.

St. Louis, Missouri

Traditional powers Kentucky and Kansas moved on to the Sweet 16, with one scare a piece. For Kentucky, Tayshaun Prince and Keith Bogans played as the combo that made them absolutely lethal for the past few years in Lexington with wins over Tulsa and Valparaiso, with the scare coming against Tulsa.

In the meantime, Kansas' scare came in the first round to Holy Cross, but that and a potential tournament-threatening injury to Kirk Hinrich disappeared in the second round with a blowout of Stanford.

Washington, D.C.

Maryland and Connecticut advanced to the East Regional in Syracuse with a win on Sunday and a hopeful meeting in the regional final. Maryland advanced to the East Semifinals with a two blowouts of Siena and Wisconsin.

It was much more difficult Connecticut. After dispatching of Hampton in the first round, N.C. State gave the Huskies all they could handle, as Julius Hodge missed a three pointer at the end of regulation that would have tied the game. Caron Butler scored 34 in the second round triumph over the Wolfpack.

Chicago, Illinois

The Cinderella of the tournament came out of Chicago, as Southern Illinois advanced with shocking wins over Texas Tech and Georgia, each very much favored over the Salukis. The second round win was controversial in the fact that Georgia's Jonas Hayes was called for an intentional foul in the closing seconds, which gave the Salukis two shots and the ball. However, it was a good call, as Hayes was driving Rolan Roberts out of bounds. Illinois also used a virtual home court to their advantage, as the Illini won by double digits over San Diego State and Creighton to get to the regionals.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.