March Madness Sunday recap: Florida ends UConn's 3-peat quest, Maryland stuns with wild buzzer-beater

It took until Sunday, but the NCAA tournament finally provided a classic (and controversial) buzzer-beater.

Here are the biggest stories as the men's Sweet 16 field came together and the women reached the midway point of their second round on Sunday.

UConn's reign is done

UConn's reign is over after two consecutive national titles. The Huskies went down as expected — with a fight and some fire from head coach Dan Hurley.

UConn took on a top-seeded Florida team that many have pegged to win the national championship. Until the game's final moments, Florida's place in the tournament's second weekend was in peril. The Huskies led as late a 3:03 remaining and were done in only by a standout performance from Florida All-American Walter Clayton Jr., who provided a fitting knockout blow to a worthy outgoing champ.

Then came postgame. Head coach Dan Hurley was close to tears in his TV interview and at the podium while rightfully exalting his team, declaring "there's honor in the way we went out."

And, of course, villain Dan Hurley made one last appearance for the season. Hurley, who's leaned into an arrogant, brutish and sometimes profane heel turn since securing his second ring, released the beast one last time in the aftermath of Sunday's loss.

While leaving the floor to the locker room, Hurley shouted at a Baylor team awaiting its own demise at the hands of Duke: "I hope they don't f*** you like they f***ed us. I hope they don't do that to you, Baylor."

"They," apparently, was the officials.

It added up to the complete UConn package of a proud program rebuilt and revived in Hurley's image — for better and worse. And it begs the question: What will UConn look like moving forward removed from the championship spotlight under the leadership of their newly villainous leader?

-Jason Owens

Miracle Maryland

For a brief moment Sunday, Colorado State was poised to write the story of the tournament's first weekend, a true Cinderella that earned its spot in the Sweet 16 in clutch, thrilling fashion.

Then Derik Queen stole its thunder. Queen is now the story of the first two rounds with his stunning buzzer-beater that thwarted the Rams' bid to join a chalk-filled Sweet 16 as a 12 seed and the only mid-major representative of the bunch.

Here's the moment that Colorado State thought it had crashed the Sweet 16 with a go-ahead 3-pointer from Jalen Lake.

Here's the moment — 6.1 basketball seconds later — when Queen ripped out the hearts out of Colorado State and its fans with the only buzzer-beater of the tournament.

The shot wasn't without controversy, though, as many felt that Queen committed a traveling violation on the play. But it wasn't called on the floor, and CBS analyst Gene Steratore confirmed after the game that it was a correct no-call. So, Maryland is moving on.

Queen's shot secured a 72-71 win for Maryland, highlighting a standout season that earned him Freshman of the Year and first-team All-Conference honors in the Big Ten.

The Terps face a considerably stiffer challenge next week against No. 1 seed Florida. But for now, Queen is the hero and punch of excitement that this tournament needs.

-Jason Owens

Hailey Van Lith leads TCU past her former team

Hailey Van Lith has done it again, and taken TCU somewhere the program has never been before.

Van Lith led the Horned Frogs to a 15-point win over Louisville, her former team, on Sunday afternoon in Fort Worth. That officially sent the Horned Frogs into the Sweet 16 for the first time in history.

TCU outscored Louisville 27-9 in the second period alone while limiting the Cardinals to just 3-of-19 shooting from the field. The Horned Frogs entered the locker room shooting better than 70% from the field, too, which pushed them to the eventual win. Van Lith finished with a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists.

Van Lith, who spent her first three seasons at Louisville before transferring to LSU for last season. She’s been to the Elite Eight in all four of her seasons and reached the Final Four with the Cardinals once. The Horned Frogs will take on No. 3 Notre Dame next in the Sweet 16, where a win would give Van Lith a remarkable fifth Elite Eight trip in her career.

While this is uncharted territory for TCU, and Notre Dame has looked incredibly good so far in the tournament despite a rough finish to the season, Van Lith has proven she knows what it takes to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament. If anyone can pull this off for the Horned Frogs, it’s her.

-Ryan Young

Kentucky returns to Sweet 16, helps SEC make history

For the first time since 2019, Kentucky is in the Sweet 16.

Gone is John Calipari. In is past Kentucky champion Mark Pope, who's reinvigorated the stagnant blue blood into its rightful spot in the second weekend of the NCAA tournament. The Wildcats cruised past Illinois on Sunday to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16.

They'll be joined there by six of their SEC counterparts. The SEC sent a record 14 teams to the NCAA tournament. Now half of them have advanced to the tournament's second weekend. Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi, Auburn, Alabama and Arkansas will also play on for a record 7 teams from one conference in the Sweet 16.

That last team on that list offers a bit more intrigue to the storyline. Calipari — now the head coach at Arkansas — is also back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019. Sometimes breakups work for both parties. But for those hoping for a dramatic reunion, it's a long shot. The only way that Kentucky and Calipari can square off this tournament is if both advance to the title game.

-Jason Owens

UCLA, South Carolina survive scares to reach Sweet 16

Neither UCLA nor South Carolina made it easy on themselves. But both, after late runs, are into the second weekend.

The Bruins survived a scare against Maggie Doogan and Richmond, who stunted them early and entered the locker room tied up at halftime at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday night. But UCLA, which earned the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, erupted in the third quarter to seal the 84-67 blowout win and make it into the Sweet 16. Lauren Betts dropped 30 points and 14 rebounds, which made her the first UCLA player to have at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in a NCAA tournament.

The Gamecocks were in a similar boat against Indiana earlier on Sunday. After putting up just nine points in the first quarter, they entered halftime down by a single point. But, after shooting just 10-of-29 in the first half, they also rallied in the third quarter with a quick 20-7 run. South Carolina still picked up a double-digit win to make it to an 11th consecutive Sweet 16.

No. 2 Duke had to rally late against No. 10 Oregon, too, but the Blue Devils made it in. All three No. 5 seeds pulled off upset wins, too, which sent Kentucky, Baylor and Ohio State packing early.

The only true blowout of the day came from No. 3 Notre Dame — which entered the tournament with plenty of questions after stumbling hard to end the season. The Fighting Irish rolled to a wire-to-wire win over No. 6 Michigan to make it to their fourth straight Sweet 16.

The last two No. 1 seeds, Texas and USC, will play their respective second round games on Monday to wrap up the second round. NC State, UConn, LSU and Iowa will play in what should be a very entertaining day of basketball, too. But, at least so far, there hasn’t been a true shocking upset on the women’s side. Richmond, which fell apart late, has come the closest.

-Ryan Young