Walter Clayton Jr. rescued top-seeded Florida with two late 3-pointers, and the Gators rallied from nine points down late to reach the Final Four with an 84-79 victory over Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region final.

Anyone who witnessed college basketball in the '70s and '80s knows the manic hysteria the sport can achieve. There was nothing like those sweaty gyms in the final minutes, with students screaming and coaches hollering and teams racing up and down the court, every made basket ripping a hole in your eardrums.

SPOKANE, Wash. — Paige Bueckers scored a career-high 40 points, rescuing UConn from its first-half doldrums and single-handedly turning a tight game against Oklahoma into an 82-59 rout on Saturday that sent the Huskies to the Elite Eight of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

UConn, TCU and UCLA Bruins rode big performances by their stars -- Paige Bueckers, Hailey Van Lith and Lauren Betts. South Carolina, Duke and Texas leaned into defense. USC somehow overcame the loss of star JuJu Watkins. And LSU got production from an unlikely source.

Freshman Tahaad Pettiford and senior Denver Jones turned in dazzling performances when it mattered most, rallying top-seeded Auburn to a 78-65 victory over Michigan in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

In 1939, Henry V. Porter, the assistant executive secretary of the Illinois High School Association, wrote about the tournament in The Illinois Interscholastic, where he dubbed it “March Madness.” That helped the term get more usage from the state’s sports writers.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The first ticket to the Final Four in San Antonio will be punched on Saturday evening when No. 1 seed Florida meets No. 3 seed Texas Tech at Chase Center. The Gators are coming off a blowout win over No. 4 seed Maryland in the Sweet 16, while Texas Tech overcame a 16-point deficit en route to a dramatic overtime win over Arkansas.

The Sweet 16 further confirmed the trend of this men’s NCAA Tournament: The higher seeds are dominating the proceedings. Dramatic, last-second losses by 10-seed Arkansas and 6-seed Ole Miss were the closest we got to having “surprise” entries into the Elite Eight.

Maryland triumphed over Alabama in a double overtime thriller and UConn star Paige Bueckers delivered her second 30-point performance of the tournament in the team’s win over South Dakota State. Oh, and No. 5 seed Kansas State knocked off No. 4 seed Kentucky in overtime to advance.