What we learned: Duke glides into Sweet 16 behind its youth

The first day of the second round of the 2024 men’s NCAA tournament featured victories by every favored team, but the second day has not followed suit and there are opportunities for more.

Just ask third-seeded Baylor, which fell to sixth-seeded Clemson, or 2-seed Marquette, which had to battle 10-seed Colorado until the final seconds of an 81-77 win.

Elsewhere, top-seeded Purdue and fourth-seeded Duke had no problems advancing past Mountain West regular-season champion Utah State and Sun Belt tournament champion James Madison, respectively.

The rest of Sunday’s slate has potential for chaos. Stay tuned.

Scroll to read our breakdown of every game of the second day of the men’s round of 32. Find our takeaways to the first day here. Check your bracket here.

Why has Clemson suddenly become everybody’s tournament problem? Clemson has an NBA prospect in the post with PJ Hall and a willingness to run their offense off the block with others as well — Baylor coach Scott Drew had said Saturday “most teams are lucky to have one to play in the post, they’ve got four, five guys they can run (into the post)” — which already gave the Tigers a slightly different profile than many teams in the bracket. But when the Tigers (23-11) shoot it like they did early on Sunday from beyond the 3-point line as well that makes them a migraine. They were 6-of-11 in three-point attempts in the first half Sunday. Toss in the Tigers’ defensive efforts during their two games in Memphis (held New Mexico to 29.7% shooting in the first round, Baylor to 38.9% Sunday) and a Clemson team that came into the tournament having lost three of their last four games is suddenly a team with a robust helping of confidence. Chase Hunter led the Tigers with 20 points and Joeseph Girard III added 13.

What the win means for Clemson: The Tigers were on wobbly legs down the stretch as they almost let a 15-point lead with 6 minutes, 41 seconds to play slip away, but they are now in the Sweet 16 for the first time since the 2017-18 season. They move on to Los Angeles where they will face Arizona (27-8) on Friday. Clemson has moved this deep into the bracket without its usual output from Hall. The 6-foot-10 senior got into some foul trouble against New Mexico in the first round and again against Baylor, finishing with nine and 11 points, respectively. If Hall cranks up the offense to his usual output — he led the Tigers in scoring this season at 18.7 points per game — Clemson could give the Wildcats plenty to deal with.

What the loss means for Baylor: Drew had spoken to the difficulty of matching the make-up, consistent effort and injury luck it takes to get in position to win a national championship on Saturday. After a tough shooting night ended this year’s run, Drew could face significant roster makeover. Jalen Bridges and RayJ Dennis are seniors and freshmen Yves Missi and Ja’Kobe Walter on the NBA’s radar as potential first-round prospects. — Jeff Legwold

Baylor’s flaws exposed when the shots stop falling: Coach Scott Drew’s Baylor squad played in a Big 12 this season that was even more competitive than it had been in the past with Houston and BYU joining the league. But the Bears owned the most efficient offense in the league and hit 3-pointers at one of the highest rates in America (39.3%, third in the country). They also boasted a pair of projected first-round picks, Ja’Kobe Walter and Yves Missi. In recent weeks, however, the 3-pointers stopped falling. Outside a stellar effort in the win over Colgate in the first round (53%), the Bears entered Sunday’s game with a 15-for-64 success rate in three previous games and couldn’t find a rhythm against Clemson, either. Once they were no longer an elite 3-point shooting team, Baylor’s defensive pressure — they finished at the bottom of the Big 12 in efficiency — was insufficient to stop Clemson, despite their late rally. The Bears finished 6-for-24 from beyond the arc in the loss. It was another example that everything can change fast, for better or worse, in March. — Myron Medcalf

Is Jared McCain the best freshman in the tournament? He’s at least in the conversation, and might even be at the top of the list after Colorado’s Cody Williams got sent home Sunday. McCain, a 6-3 guard, came into the tournament as Jonathan Givony’s 20th-ranked prospect for the 2024 NBA draft. If anything, he has improved his stock, especially with the first half he had in Sunday’s second-round blowout of a good James Madison team. McCain scored 22 points in the first half against the Dukes, hitting 7 of 11 shots and 6 of 8 3-pointers. He finished with 30 points, going 8-of-11 from beyond the arc, despite sitting the final seven-plus minutes. It was quite the performance, the most points by any player during the first half of this year’s tournament. It came on the heels of a 15-point, six-rebound performance in the opening round against Vermont. McCain was a few inches from that being a big scoring night as well. He had two or three 3-pointers halfway down before they popped out in that contest. This is what the Blue Devils need from McCain to make a big run in the tournament.

What it means for Duke: The Blue Devils reached their 29th Sweet 16 since it officially began in 1975. Only North Carolina (31) has more. Duke goes into the Sweet 16 with confidence after blitzing James Madison with a dominant effort, led by McCain. But it was more than that. Duke outrebounded the Dukes 21-13 in the opening half, moved the ball well while assisting on 11 of 17 field goals and played suffocating defense that resulted in five steals. That continued in the second half as the Blue Devils’ lead ballooned to as much as 38. Some of that was from hitting 14 of 28 from beyond the arc in this game. If this version of Duke shows up the rest of the way, it’s probably capable of winning a national championship.

What it means for James Madison: The Dukes’ dream season concludes with 32 wins. They had their second 14-game win streak of the year end Sunday in the second round of the tournament at the hands of a national powerhouse. From the start, nothing went right for James Madison. Leading scorer Terrence Edwards Jr. picked up two fouls in the opening two minutes. Even though the Dukes (32-4) failed to reach their first-ever Sweet 16, this remains one of their most successful seasons in school history. — Jordan Raanan

Duke shows youth can still win in 2024: When Kentucky was upset by Oakland in the round of 64, Wildcats head coach John Calipari said the sport of college basketball has changed. “All of a sudden, it’s gotten really old,” he said. “So we’re playing teams — our average age is 19. Their average age is 24 and 25.”

Calipari was correct in saying UK was young this year, with an average age weighted for minutes of 20.7 years.

Coincidentally, Duke is the same age: 20.7. The Blue Devils are going to the Sweet 16 two years after reaching the 2022 Final Four with an average weighted age of 20.0.

Youth is no longer the default approach in the portal era. But when a rotation is both young and talented, it can still win in March. — John Gasaway

Is Purdue built for a deep run? The Boilermakers are more than center Zach Edey. Sure, Edey had a monstrous opening weekend and another 20-point, 10-rebound performance Sunday. But Purdue also knocked down a ton of shots from behind the arc. Purdue was 11-of-23 on its 3-point shooting. Myles Colvin hit three 3s coming off the bench and guards Fletcher Loyer, Braden Smith and Lance Jones each had at least one 3-pointer, including the one Jones banked in right before halftime. That kind of shooting will keep teams honest as they try to figure out how to stop Edey, who has been as dominant as advertised.

What the win means for Purdue: On Sunday, the Boilermakers confirmed what they had been saying all weekend in Indianapolis. This is indeed a better team than last year’s group that lost in the first round as a No. 1 seed. Purdue thoroughly dominated a Utah State team that thumped TCU in the first round. Now, the Boilermakers will advance to the Sweet 16 and face a tough fifth-seeded Gonzaga team in Detroit.

What the loss means for the Utah State Aggies: On Saturday, Purdue coach Matt Painter praised first-year Utah State coach Danny Sprinkle for his team’s communication. Painter initially called Sprinkle one of the best young coaches in the game before removing the age qualifier. The consensus appears to be that Utah State’s program is in good hands with the 47-year-old after winning its first NCAA tournament game in 23 years. — Ben Baby

Sprinkle’s next job will be …: Though the final game of the season won’t be remembered fondly, Sprinkle produced an incredible first-year coaching performance at Utah State. The Aggies didn’t return a single point per game from last season, but Sprinkle led them to their first Mountain West regular-season title in program history and then their first NCAA tournament win since 2001. This was Sprinkle’s third consecutive trip to the Big Dance, after he went back-to-back with Montana State. But it’s likely to be only a one-year layover in Logan for Sprinkle. He has been strongly linked to the vacancy at Washington, although athletic director Troy Dannen departing for Nebraska could leave the door open. If Sprinkle does leave, can Utah State strike gold again with its next coaching hire? The Aggies’ past three hires were Craig Smith, Ryan Odom and Sprinkle — who all led the program to the NCAA tournament very quickly and were pursued by bigger schools almost immediately. — Jeff Borzello

Is Tyler Kolek the best guard in the country? Perhaps. When Marquette needed a spark in the second half, it went to Kolek every time. As Colorado clawed back from an 11-point halftime deficit and forced the Golden Eagles to take the lead back, Kolek assisted or scored on nearly every trip down the floor. He finished with 21 points and 11 assists, his second double-double in as many games this weekend. If Kolek is scoring and creating at this level, Marquette will be in every game for the rest of the tournament.

What the win means for Marquette: The Golden Eagles are headed to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013. For the second straight year, Marquette was a 2-seed in the tournament. This time, however, coach Shaka Smart’s team avoided being bounced during the first weekend. Marquette will face 11-seed NC State in the Dallas Regional and will try to cool off the Wolfpack, who went on a run to win the ACC tournament and are now trying to be the latest double-digit seed to wreak havoc on the bracket.

What the loss means for Colorado: The Buffaloes were a few buckets away from reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time in the modern era. Freshman Cody Williams, who battled injuries all year, is likely headed to the NBA as a potential lottery pick. But if KJ Simpson returns for another season, Colorado will have an important player for a potential tourney run in 2025. — Ben Baby

Marquette’s guards give them a chance to get to Phoenix: There might not be a pair of guards in the country playing better than Kolek and Kam Jones. Jones has been on an incredible offensive run over the past month, averaging 23.8 points and shooting 52.2% from 3-point range in his past 10 games — including three 30-point outings. In the first half Sunday, he scored 16 points in 14 minutes before foul trouble forced him to the bench. But that simply allowed Kolek to take over. His second half was a masterclass in manipulating the defense, getting to his spots and constantly finding ways to use his left hand for finishes in the lane.

The six games Kolek sat because of an oblique injury have been hugely beneficial; he’s averaging 19.5 points and 11.0 assists in his two NCAA tournament games. If Kolek and Jones continue playing like this, they can get Marquette to its first Final Four since Tom Crean and Dwyane Wade managed the feat in 2003. A Kolek vs. Jamal Shead battle in the Elite Eight would be a matchup between the two best point guards in the country. — Borzello