The Sweet 16 continues on Saturday on the women’s side and two teams will punch the first tickets to the Final Four on the men’s side.
We have another loaded slate with six games and several stars in action. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and UConn’s Paige Bueckers are both back on the court and looking to prolong their teams’ NCAA tournament runs. On the men’s side, top-seeded UConn’s march to another title continues while Alabama and Clemson meet in a surprise Elite Eight matchup.
Strap in for another fun day of college hoops.
Sweet 16 Saturday schedule
Women’s schedule (all times Eastern):
1 p.m. — No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 3 LSU (ABC)
3:30 p.m. — No. 1 Iowa vs. No. 5 Colorado (ABC)
5:30 p.m. — No. 1 USC vs. No. 5 Baylor (ESPN)
8 p.m. — No. 3 UConn vs. No. 7 Duke (ESPN)
Men’s schedule:
6:09 p.m. — No. 1 UConn vs. No. 3 Illinois (TBS)
8:49 p.m. — No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 6 Clemson (TBS)
Live22 updates
UCLA was 8 of 18 (44.4%) that quarter, by far their best 10 minutes of the day with seven assists on eight baskets. Londynn Jones went 3 of 7 from 3-point range and Camryn Brown played clutch minutes off the bench with a basket and three rebounds in five minutes.
End of 3Q: UCLA 48, LSU 48
The 3-pointers have started to fall for the Bruins and they ended the third quarter on a tear while the Tigers struggled with foul trouble. We have a tight one heading to the fourth.
The Bruins have taken the lead on a Londynn Jones 3-pointer. They’re on an 8-0 run now.
Aneesah Morrow, Angel Reese and Aalyah Del Rosario all have three fouls now and the Tigers are not a deep team. We’ll see how that factors in down the stretch here as UCLA cuts the lead to 2.
Boos are raining down on the refs by LSU fans. UCLA is raining down 3s finally and moving the ball around. Maybe we’ll have a more exciting fourth quarter.
Angel Reese has three fouls after collecting two in 10 seconds here in the third. Kim Mulkey kept her in the game at first, then brought her to the bench. Kiki Rice has three on the other side for UCLA. Plenty of players with two.
Londynn Jones hits UCLA’s second 3 of the game to stop the bleeding. Half of the Bruins attempts are from beyond the arc, but they’re shooting 11.8%. They need a few to start falling, giving Lauren Betts a little more room in the paint.
End of 2Q: LSU 34, UCLA 27
The Tigers go into the break with a 7-point lead after a Londynn Jones 3-pointer in the dying moments of the half.
The Tigers are up by 8 now with just over 2 minutes left in the second quarter. They’re looking very much like the defending champs early in this one. Flau’jae Johnson has 13 already.
It’s going to be a long day if UCLA doesn’t start hitting shots. Gabriela Jaquez is the best Bruin on the court so far today going 3 of 7 and the team’s only 3 in 10 attempts. They’re winning the battle on the boards (6 to 1 offensive rebounds), but can’t capitalize.
The Tigers have opened up a 5-point lead after a spinning finish by Flau’jae Johnson. She’s cooking early in Albany.
UCLA hasn’t hit a 3 on eight attempts. The Bruins’ game average is 7 of 21.5. Londynn Jones missed all four. Instead, it’s a tie game going into the second quarter.
End of 1Q: LSU 15, UCLA 15
As expected, it’s a very even matchup through the first quarter. Flau’jae Johnson has 8 of the Tigers’ 15 so far.
UCLA is going to keep luring Angel Reese into taking those midrange shots that aren’t a strong part of her game. Flau’jae Johnson, who is the reason LSU made it this far, already has two 3s in a strong start for the Tigers. UCLA leads, 8-7, at the first official timeout.
Annnd we are underway with our first game of the day: No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 3
Checking in here from Albany where the star power is heavy in the Albany 2 regional. The arena capacity is around 15,000 and it’s not quite full yet, but is expected to be for Iowa vs. Colorado. A lot of Iowa gear and LSU purple here today.
