The Elite Eight of the 2017 NCAA tournament was officially set on Friday evening, and the night of games did not disappoint. Heading into the night, four teams had already punched their tickets in the No. 3 Oregon Ducks, the No. 1 Kansas Jayhawks, the No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs, and the No. 11 Xavier Musketeers.
Printable NCAA bracket 2017: Elite Eight officially set
Three teams from the SEC have made it.
Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
The first game of Friday night had the No. 1 UNC Tar Heels handling the No. 4 Butler Bulldogs with ease, winning 92-80. Joel Berry II, who entered the game having dealt with an ankle injury in recent weeks, finished with 26 points on the night.
Next, we had the No. 7 South Carolina Gamecocks taking on the No. 3 Baylor Bears. This thing was lopsided from the start, with the Gamecocks heading to the locker room with a 37-22 lead at the half and winning 70-50. South Carolina’s defense held Baylor to just 50 points and 30 percent shooting from the floor on the night. The 20-point loss was Baylor’s worst in program history in the tournament, too. South Carolina is headed to its first-ever Elite Eight, and Gamecock fans couldn’t help but break out an “SEC” chant after the victory.
The game between the No. 3 UCLA Bruins and No. 7 Kentucky Wildcats had a heavyweight title type feel to it. But Wildcat point guard De’Aaron Fox led UK to victory, finishing with a career-high 39 points on 13-of-20 shooting, four assists, three rebounds, and one turnover. The Wildcats won by a final score of 86-75. Bruins point guard Lonzo Ball had 10 points and four turnovers on a 4-of-10 night from the field.
The last game of the night was a thriller between the No. 4 Florida Gators and the No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers. After the Badgers hit a buzzer-beater three to send the game into overtime, Florida’s Chris Chiozza played the role of hero for Florida. Down by one point, the Gators were set to inbound from the opposite basket with just four seconds to go. Chiozza advanced it up the court and hit an incredible game-winning three to give the Gators the win.
Here’s a printable tournament bracket, available for your free downloading and use:
We’ll see what the Elite Eight of Saturday and Sunday hold.
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