Four teams booked trips to the Elite Eight Thursday night as March Madness resumed with Sweet Sixteen action. Tonight’s games featured matchups from the East and West Regions.

The first game on the slate featured top seed Syracuse and the feisty four seed Wisconsin Badgers. The game was hotly contested throughout and came down to the wire. Syracuse held on to win 64-63 after Badgers guard Jordan Taylor’s long jumper fell short in the waning moments. The Orange advance to the East Regional Final on Saturday.

Friday, March 16th 2012

Friday’s tournament action was highlighted by the shocking upsets of number two seeds Duke and Missouri at the hands of Lehigh and Norfolk State respectively. The last 15 seed to earn a victory was Hampton over Iowa State in 2001.

With brackets locked and ready to bust, the 2012 NCAA men’s basketball tournament kicked off its first full day of action with 16 games on four networks. 64 teams entered Thursday with a shot at the ultimate prize.

Murray State (6) vs. Colorado State (11)

It was a raucous night at Mater Dei High School Tuesday as the Mater Dei Monarchs defeated the Loyola Cubs 75-63 to advance to the CIF Semifinals against Bullard (Fresno) on Saturday. The game got off to a frenetic pace with both teams pushing the ball up and down the floor.

The combination of Xavier Johnson and Stanley Johnson has allowed Mater Dei to eat up the glass thus far in the 2012 CIF State Playoffs. The Monarchs go into Saturday's matchup vs. Mission Viejo (3/10/12) with an extreme height advantage. Mater Dei suits up 8 guys that stand 6'5" and above, while the Diablos' tallest player checks in at 6 feet 7 inches.

Talk about a nail-biter at the Anaheim Convention Center. The Mater Dei Monarchs were in full control over Long Beach Poly for most of the game, until a late run by the Jackrabbits made things very interesting.

Prior to Saturday night's Mater Dei vs. Long Beach Poly matchup, everyone was fully aware of what the Gary McKnight coached Monarchs squad had in its arsenal. UNLV commit Katin Reinhardt, Colorado Buffaloes commit Xavier Johnson, junior Elijah Brown and stellar sophomore Stanley Johnson filled out the star-studded Mater Dei lineup.