The men’s Sweet Sixteen is now set, including three schools who are there for the first time since the field was first expanded to 64 teams back in 1985.

On Monday, the Creighton Bluejays held Ohio to a .39/.23/.56 shooting line and avoided the Bobbies shot-blockers, ripping off a decisive 23-4 run to close out the first half and open the second. From there they cruised 72-58 to their first Sweet Sixteen and graduated from the Never Been Kissed forever.

Facing a much tougher opponents, fellow 5-seed Colorado was not so fortunate. A relatively tight and slow game — led by Florida St. 24-20 at half — opened up in the second half and the deeper Seminoles wore out the Buffs. CU coughed it up 19 times on offense and had no answer on D for Anthony Polite, the well-mannered young man had 22 points, 4 steals, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Buffs senior guard McKinley Wright IV struggled with FSU’s length, closing out a career that will count him among the all-time best IV’s in college basketball history.

Abilene Christian followed a win in what would be Shaka Smart’s final game as coach of Texas with an underwhelming performance against suddenly sizzling UCLA. The Bruins took care of the ball — just 9 TOs — shot well from three and were all over the offensive and defensive boards. The Wildcast made their mark and their money but willl return for NBK consideration again next year.

Notes

Data courtesy Kenpom.com and NCAA.org.