2024 March Madness Tournament West Region Day Four Results
The Round of 32 continued on Sunday with the remaining eight matchups for the final eight slots in the Sweet Sixteen. In the West region, North Carolina and Arizona clinched their Sweet Sixteen trip on Saturday. The first matchup of the West on Sunday featured the third-seeded Baylor Bears against the sixth-seeded Clemson Tigers. After ACC foes UNC and Duke advanced, the Clemson Tigers made it as the third ACC team to the Sweet Sixteen by defeating the Bears 72-64. Clemson led for the majority of the first half, going on a 10-3 run to end the half up by ten points.
The Tigers held their lead into the second half, but Baylor made a last push with around four minutes left to cut the deficit down to just two points. Clutch free throws in the final minutes secured the victory for the Tigers, as they made their last nine attempts. Senior guard Chase Hunter led the way for the Tigers with 20 points to go along with six assists. Clemson’s best player, PJ Hall, was only able to play 19 minutes due to foul trouble and scored just 11 points. Baylor was paced by their guard duo of RayJ Dennis and Ja’Kobe Walter, who dropped 27 and 20 points, respectively. The sixth-seeded Clemson Tigers move onto the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2018 and will face the second-seeded Arizona Wildcats in Los Angeles on Thursday.
The second game saw the fourth-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide top the twelfth-seeded Grand Canyon Antelopes by a score of 72-61. This was an extremely high-paced game that played into Alabama’s style of offense. The Tide shot 37% from the floor and 26% from the three-point line, while the Lopes shot just 32% from the field and a porous 10% from deep. Bama’s senior guard Mark Sears put together another masterclass with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists. Only one other player reached double-digits for the Tide. Grand Canyon guard Tyon Grant-Foster did his best to carry the offensive load, finishing with 29 points. The next highest scoring Lope were three players with just eight points. The Crimson Tide will head back to the Sweet Sixteen for the second consecutive year, and await a matchup with the top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels on Thursday.
