Notre Dame guard Rex Pflueger, middle, celebrates as time expires after tipping in a winning basket against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks on March 20, 2016.Anthony Gruppuso
Upset in the NCAA Tournament the last couple years, Villanova and its seniors made it to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2009 and won't have to listen to talk of not making it to the second weekend.
Syracuse also silenced some doubters, and made it six ACC teams in the Sweet 16.
A look at those moving on:
EAST REGION
No. 6 Notre Dame 76, No. 14 Stephen F. Austin 75
Rex Pflueger tapped in a miss with 1.5 seconds left and Notre Dame survived a valiant effort by Stephen F. Austin 76-75 to reach the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season.
With 17.5 seconds left, Notre Dame grabbed an SFA rebound down one and put it in the hands of Demetrius Jackson. The point guard drove to the basket and missed. Zach Auguste followed for the Irish (22-12) but could not convert. The ball slipped off the rim and with one hand Pflueger flipped it in for his only basket of the game.
"I just crashed the board," Pflueger said. "I thought Zach was going to make that last layup, but coach always emphasizes going to the board hard, especially in situations like that, and it just turned out for the best for us."
A long heave from Stephen F. Austin (28-6) went wide and Notre Dame celebrated by swarming Pflueger.
"Are you kidding me? Are you freakin' kidding me? That was unbelievable," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said.
The Irish advance to play either Wisconsin or Xavier Friday.
Thomas Walkup, the hero of Stephen F. Austin's first-round upset of West Virginia, scored 21.
SOUTH REGION
No. 2 Villanova 87, No. 7 Iowa 68
Josh Hart scored 19 points and second-seeded Villanova advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2009 with a rout of Iowa.
Villanova's senior class, led by Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu, made it to the tournament's second weekend for the first time. They were upset in the round of 32 the last two seasons and didn't make it that far as freshmen.
The Wildcats (31-5) will meet third-seeded Miami on Thursday in Louisville, Ky.
There was no doubt in this one. Villanova led 54-29 at halftime and by as many as 34 points in the second half. The closest Iowa (22-11) got was 16 points in the final minutes.
MIDWEST REGION
No. 10 Syracuse 75, No. 15 Middle Tennessee State 50
The insufferable zone of Syracuse ground Middle Tennessee State's magical March ride to a halt, and the Orange beat the Blue Raiders.
Michael Gbinije poured in 23 points, Tyler Lydon added 14 and the Orange (21-13) used a 21-2 charge midway through the second half to crack open a close game and join five other ACC schools in advancing to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
After teetering on the bubble a week ago, they'll play No. 11 seed Gonzaga on Friday in Chicago.
The Blue Raiders (25-10), who shredded so many brackets with their upset of second-seeded Michigan State, made things tough on Syracuse for a while. They led early in the second half and still trailed just 40-39 with 16 minutes 2 seconds to go, but proceeded to make one of their next 16 field-goal attempts.
WEST REGION
No. 2 Oklahoma 85, No. 10 VCU 81
Buddy Hield scored 19 of his 36 points in the final eight minutes to help Oklahoma hold off VCU.
Hield, who didn't score for more than 10 minutes to start the game, made nine of 12 shots in the second half after going 2-for-8 in the first.
The senior guard posted at least 30 points for the 11th time this season.
Jordan Woodard scored 17 points and Isaiah Cousins added 15 for the Sooners (27-7), who advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second successive year. They will play either Northern Illinois or Texas A&M.
Melvin Johnson scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, JeQuan Lewis scored 22 points and Michael Gilmore added 12 for VCU (25-11), which was trying to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time since its Final Four run in 2011.