March 22, 2026
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Virginia Cavaliers guard Jacari White (6) attempts an acrobatic lauup but comes up short in NCAA Tournament second-round action at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Hey, you actually can see exciting basketball in South Philly these days.
Round 2 of the Midwest Region and East Region brackets of the 2026 NCAA Tournament on Sunday brought a full, energetic crowd to Xfinity Mobile Arena after just an OK first round Friday with no signature tourney upsets.
In the opener, it was sort of an upset? Six-seeded Tennessee outlasted 3-seeded Virginia, 79-72, even though the Vols were actually favored in the spread.
In the nightcap, a matchup of two blue bloods that have 17 combined national championships, 2-seeded UConn rode some hot hands in the second half to pull away from 7-seeded UCLA, 73-57.
Here are the highlights from Round 2 of the big dance in Philly:
No surprise that UConn senior Alex Karaban was the top performer of the day, as he lit up the nets for a Uconn team that struggled from the perimeter in its Round 1 win over Furman and got off to another slow start from behind the arc.
But Karaban, a main part of UConn's back-to-back nattys in 2023 and 2024, nailed two three-pointers in the first half and went into the break with 11 overall and finished erupted in the second half to finish with 27 points, the most of any player from the four teams competing in Philly.
Karaban was on fire after the break, draining a three from the left wing with 12:17 to play to put UConn up 51-44 for its largest lead. He sank another one – from about 30 feet out – on a spot-up to put the Huskies ahead 56-44, bringing the crowd to its feet.
ALEX KARABAN IS ON ONE 🔥#MarchMadness @UConnMBB pic.twitter.com/RgNzoxvixD
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2026
Moments before the three-point barrage, Karaban had showed the other part of his game, scoring inside off an offensive rebound to untie a 44-44 game:
Alex Karaban is on a heater tonight ♨️#MarchMadness @UConnMBB pic.twitter.com/JURDLDq3Vj
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2026
Sixers center Andre Drummond, a former UConn star, admired from a court-side seat while another Sixers backup center, former UCLA standout Adem Bona, also watched from the crowd.
Tennessee guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie had few options left after losing handle of the ball about 30 feet from the basket, other than chasing down the ball, dribbling a few times, gathering himself and heaving it up right as the shot clock expired.
Naturally, the ball went right through the net – and the Vols had a 60-51 lead, which would be their largest of the game:
Beating the shot clock 🚨#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/mGtfFrzNad
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 22, 2026
Tennessee has great size – with three frontcourt players at 6-foot-10 or taller – and the big fellas played off eachother for easy buckets.
Vols guard DeWayne Brown II made a sweet lob to the 6-foot-11 Felix Okpara for an alley-oop that put Tennessee up 28-20 in the first half. Brown was in the low post, drew a double team and quickly flipped the ball weak side, where Okpara flushed the ball down for a thunderous dunk.
A few minutes later, on a fast break, Vols guard Gillespie heaved the ball weirdly over the Virginia defense from around the wing to seemingly nobody in particular – until Okpara came out of nowhere to rock the rim with a loud throw-down.
In the second half, 6-foot-11 J.P. Estrella dunked in a long pass in transition – this time Okpara was on the giving end – for another alley oop that energized the arena.
In the late game, UCLA's Donovan Dent kept the streak going early, finding 6-foot-11 forward Xavier Booker in traffic for an alley oop that put the Bruins up 6-2.
Xavier Booker got 🆙#MarchMadness @UCLAMBB pic.twitter.com/lJ0AidLW47
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2026
Philly is a city known for great point guard play. There were no shortages of no-looks and lobs that would've made Mo Cheeks proud.
Virginia guard Dallin Hall started it with a sweet no-look to Jonthan Grünloh as he drove the lane and dished led to a full-extension Grünloh dunk that trimmed Tennessee's lead to 66-64 with under six minutes to play after the Cavs had trailed by nine earlier. Dallin pulled up around the foul line and fed the trailing big fellas with a behind-the-back pass into an open lane:
CLEAR THE LANE 🗣️#MarchMadness @UVAMensHoops pic.twitter.com/oiKOyDzO15
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2026
Xavier Booker got 🆙#MarchMadness @UCLAMBB pic.twitter.com/lJ0AidLW47
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2026
UConn's Malachi Smith similarly drove baseline before a late dish to a wide-open Eric Reibe underneath leading to a dunk and UConn 32-28 lead.
Eric Reibe coming through 🚂#MarchMadness @UConnMBB pic.twitter.com/MXyg2X4bNA
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2026
JAYDEN ROSS DROPS THE HAMMER 🔨#MarchMadness @UConnMBB pic.twitter.com/tLAdV1pBPm
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2026
Tennessee's towering freshman Nate Ament – more on him later – made Virginia guard Sam Lewis regret passing up an open 3 when Ament swatted Lewis' driving layup into the lower mezzanine to wake up the Xfinity Mobile Arena crowd – the ball actually landed in a section of Vols fans.
Lewis had an open 3 at the left wing, hesitated, and drove the lane before Ament sent the ball out with an exit velo that MLB should've tracked.
Nate Ament sent that ball into the FIRST ROW!#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/miRwa3A02X
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 22, 2026
UConn forward Jayden Ross, a key Huskies reserve, played plenty of minutes in the first half with center Tarris Reed Jr. sitting because of foul trouble.
Ross hit some big shots, had some critical passes and played tight defense, including a steal under the basket from a driving Eric Dailey with under a minute to go in the first half. He also nailed one of the game's toughest shots:
Jayden Ross from the wing 🪽#MarchMadness @UConnMBB pic.twitter.com/8ivoBBXK01
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2026
Ross had nine points, three boards, a blocked shot and a steal all before halftime. He finished with 11 but his efforts in the first half helped UConn overcome Reed's foul trouble and an off shooting game from Solo Ball (0-for-5 from the floor).
Three starters combined from the Virginia-Tennessee game came from overseas: Vols senior forward Okpara is from Lagos, Nigeria; Cavs frontcourt duo Johann Grünloh and Thijs De Ridder each hail from Europe, with Grunloh coming from Germany and De Ridder from Belgium.
UConn backup freshman center Eric Reibe also hails from Germany.
Wonder what they think of cheesesteaks?
Two players on the court for the day are considered 2026 NBA Draft first-round picks, per Tankathon. How'd they do?
In the second half, he was much more aggressive, showing touch on a nice baseline fade and an elbow jumper, then drove hard to the basket for a lauyup on traffic. Tennessee's offense doesn't run through Ament, but with his long arms, nice touch, and athleticism, you can see why he's a projected first-rounder.
Here's an example of athleticism and finish around the rim:
Nate Ament going to WORK 💼#MarchMadness @Vol_Hoops pic.twitter.com/hn0jT4QU7m
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 22, 2026
Braylon Mullins, UConn: After missing his first three shots from behind the arc, the sharpshooter from Indiana warmed up late in the first half, dropping in two three-pointers and an elbow fadeaway to go into the break with eight points.
Here's a glimpse of his mid-range game:
Braylon Mullins sticks it from the stripe 🎯#MarchMadness @UConnMBB pic.twitter.com/wyZbn6TUfP
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 23, 2026
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