Of the eight games that comprised the Sweet 16, only one was close in any way. That would be Xavier's overtime win over West Virginia. And the Muskies blew an 18-point lead in that one.
Sure, Western Kentucky made a mad dash to get back into the game against UCLA, but the Bruins then went away.
Every other game was won by double figures with each of the winning teams holding at least a 19 point lead at one point.
- North Carolina won by 21 (and had a 26 point lead)
- Texas won by 20 (had a 23-pt lead)
- Louisville won by 19
- Memphis won by 18 (had a 34-pt lead)
- Davidson won by 17 (had a 21-pt lead)
- Kansas won by 15 (had a 21-pt lead)
- UCLA won by 10 (had a 21-pt halftime lead)
In fact, Tennessee and Western Kentucky never had a lead in their games against Louisville or UCLA, respectively. Washington State did have a two-point lead over UNC at one point. Same goes for Stanford against Texas ... Michigan State against Memphis ... and Villanova against Kansas. Wisconsin actually was up on Davidson by three!
Now that is dominance. Six teams winning by at least 15 points ... that's never happened in Sweet 16 play.
The last time that seven of the eight Sweet 16 games were won by double digits was in 2001.
- Temple beat Penn State by 12
- Illinois beat Kansas by 16
- Michigan State beat Gonzaga by 15
- Duke beat UCLA by 13
- Stanford beat Cincinnati by 13
- Arizona beat Ole Miss by 10
- Maryland beat Georgetown by 10
The lone close game was USC upsetting Kentucky, 80-76.
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