Duke and UConn survive scares while Wolverines and Vols roll. Here’s what to know as teams punch tickets to the Elite 8

By Jacob Lev, Kevin Dotson, CNN

(CNN) — Both NCAA tournaments are in full swing on Friday as Sweet 16 action heats up, with the men’s bracket finishing up the round with four games and the women’s tourney showcasing four games as well.

Here’s a look at who triumphed so far on Friday and moved one step closer to the Final Four:

Duke squeaks past St. John’s

The ACC and Big East champions clashed as No. 1 overall seeded Duke Blue Devils faced off against No. 5 seed St. John’s Red Storm in Washington, D.C. Hoops fans were treated to a thrilling first half in the nation’s capital as the two conference champs traded haymakers in Friday’s opener.

Duke jumped out to an early lead, but St. John’s battled back to take the advantage behind swarming pressure defense. But foul trouble for two of the Johnnies biggest role players – Dillon Mitchell and Bryce Hopkins – gave Duke an opening.

The Blue Devils took advantage, thanks in large part to their twin freshmen stars Cameron and Cayden Boozer, who combined for 16 first-half points. Isaiah Evans added nine points for Duke in the first half.

But St. John’s surged back to take a 40-39 lead into halftime thanks to red-hot shooting from 3-point land. The Red Storm was 9-for-18 shooting from long-range in the opening half, including 3-of-3 from Ruben Prey coming off the bench.

St. John’s, which was appearing in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999, came out of the locker room hot, sprinting to a 10-point lead. But Duke once again had an answer and fought back to retake the lead as the clock ticked inside 10 minutes.

Neither team showed any sign of wilting as the Blue Devils and Red Storm traded buckets coming down the stretch.

But Duke began to assert its superiority in the closing minutes, thanks in large part to Caleb Foster. After a scoreless first half, Foster poured in 11 points in the second half. The junior guard was playing for the first time since surgery on his right foot less than three weeks ago.

Some spotty free throw shooting from Duke left St. John’s with a chance to tie it in the final seconds, but second round hero Dylan Darling could not connect with an attempt at a game-tying 3-pointer as Duke went on to win 80-75.

After the game, Foster was asked about the impact he made after his three-week layoff and recovery.

“I just poured everything into my teammates. I watched them battle, and I tried to do whatever I could to help them win. It’s a tough game and credit St. John’s – a really good opponent,” he told Tracy Wolfson of CBS.

The guard’s head coach, Jon Scheyer, got emotional reflecting on Foster’s comeback – calling it “one of the most special performances I’ve ever seen.”

Michigan outruns Alabama

No. 1-seeded Michigan and No. 4-seeded Alabama treated fans to a track meet in their Sweet 16 matchup in Chicago, with Wolverine and Crimson Tide players flying up and down the court throughout the game.

The frenetic pace seemed to suit Alabama just fine, as the Tide defense forced six turnovers by the Wolverines in the first half. Michigan, however, relied on its size advantage, blocking five Alabama shots before the intermission.

Alabama finished the first half on an 8-0 run to take a 49-47 lead into the locker room as sophomore guard Labaron Philon Jr. piled up 19 points before the intermission, finishing with 35.

Big Blue was fast out of the gates in the second half, quickly running up a double-digit lead over the Tide.

The Wolverines were carried by their star forward Yaxel Lendeborg, who had 23 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and dished out seven assists as Michigan began to pull away, leading by as many as 16 points.

The Wolverines’ defense also stepped up after halftime, holding Alabama to just 28 points in the second half, tying their season low for points in a half. Michigan would coast across the finish line with a 90-77 win.

Despite three convincing wins so far in the tournament, Michigan head coach Dusty May said after the game that the Wolverines can still play better.

“We still have another gear we can get to, or two gears,” May told TNT Sports. “We’re not playing anywhere near as good as we can or we have. So that’s the bright side that we still have a ways to go.”

UConn holds off a furious Michigan State comeback attempt

The UConn Huskies survived a feverish comeback from the Michigan State Spartans to move on to the Elite Eight and a massive showdown with Duke.

The Huskies jumped out to a big first half lead, capitalizing on a sleepwalking Spartan team that seemed to not be aware they were just two games away from the Final Four. Connecticut built up a lead that reached 19, seeming to put Michigan State away before things really even got going in the nation’s capital.

But MSU slowly cut into the UConn lead before making a run that spanned halftime that brought them back within striking range. As the clock passed the halfway point of the second half, the Spartans retook the lead and set up a dramatic finish as the two teams traded haymakers down the stretch.

The UConn lead was just one with a minute to go after Jeremy Fears Jr. hit a 3-pointer for Michigan State. Tarris Reed Jr. sank two free throws on the next possession to rebuild the Huskies’ lead to 3.

The teams traded free throws in the final minute, leading up to a key possession for Michigan State, trailing by three with 22 seconds left. Fears took the ball up court and wasn’t able to find a teammate or an open shot, holding onto the ball for far too long before finding Kur Teng. Teng jacked up a 3-pointer that missed, but MSU grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled.

Carson Cooper sank his first free throw and missed the second – possibly on purpose – but UConn grabbed the rebound and would seal the game from the charity stripe, winning 67-63.

Tennessee cruises past sluggish Iowa State to third straight Elite Eight

No. 6 seed Tennessee and No. 2 seed Iowa State met in the nightcap of a quadrupleheader of Sweet 16 basketball.

Both teams started off a tad slow, but once they settled into the flow of the game, the scoring really started to pick up in a first half filled with ties and lead changes. The Volunteers took a one-point lead to halftime at 34-33.

As the second half got underway, Tennessee started to impose its will on the Cyclones. Playing short-handed without their star senior Joshua Jefferson, who injured his ankle in the first round of the tournament, Iowa State struggled to find any consistent offense, and Tennessee’s lead began to grow.

Tennessee stifled the Cyclones with smothering defense and seemed to put a lid on the rim and Iowa State field goals were few and far between.

The Volunteers meanwhile, were having no trouble getting buckets. Four Tennessee players scored in double digits, led by Nate Ament with 18, as the Vols shot over 50% from the field as a team in the game.

A steady stream of Tennessee fouls was the only thing keeping Iowa State within shouting distance, though the Cyclones were struggling from the charity stripe as well. As ISU trimmed the Volunteer lead to single digits, Tennessee began to really milk the shot clock and shorten the game.

Iowa State’s shooting woes continued and they were never able to make a game of it as Tennessee pulled away again for the 76-62 victory.

Tennessee makes its third consecutive trip to the Elite Eight, where they will face Michigan as the Vols try to reach the Final Four for the first time in program history.

Four marquee games in the women’s bracket as top seeds UConn and UCLA roll

The women’s Sweet 16 kicked off Friday with four marquee matchups.

The slate was headlined by No. 1 seeds UConn and UCLA, both of which won comfortably.

The Huskies entered Friday with a perfect record and dominated No. 4 seed North Carolina 63-42 to extend their winning streak to 53 games dating back to last season.

Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo played lights out in the No. 6 seeded Irish’s 67-64 upset victory over No. 2 Vanderbilt. Hidalgo broke the NCAA’s single-season record for steals while recording a triple-double – scoring 31 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and bagging 10 steals in the victory. The Irish will face UConn on Sunday.

The Bruins faced No. 4 seed Minnesota, who are coming off a buzzer-beater win against Ole Miss in the second round. There was no magic for the Golden Gophers on Friday as the Bruins pulled away in the second half to win 80-56.

Duke goes around and around to shock LSU

It came down to the final two seconds.

Duke was trailing LSU by one with 2.6 in their Sweet 16 match up in the women’s NCAA tournament with one last chance to get the ball through the hoop and keep their season alive.

The ball was inbounded to Ashlon Jackson, who had to work to find some space against the Tigers’ tough defense, eventually pump faking Flau’jae Johnson and getting her shot away with the clock running out.

The ball hit the rim and went for a ride. One time around the rim and then another. Halfway through its third trip around the basket, the ball gently dropped through the nylon and set off a raucous celebration as the Blue Devils walked it off and will play on Sunday against top-seeded UCLA for a trip to the Final Four.

Here are the full women’s results from Friday:

• Notre Dame 67, Vanderbilt 64
• UConn 63, North Carolina 42
• UCLA 80, Minnesota 56
• Duke 87, LSU 85

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