Statistical notes from the weekend games that tell us how the Sweet 16 got there:

Washington State: Ferocious D against a potent Notre Dame team. Held the Irish to a stunning 13-53 from the field. Held on to the basketball as well, committing only 7 turnovers, while forcing 13.

North Carolina: When your opponent is giving you an open path to the basket and you shoot 44-65 you’re going to win a lot of games.

Louisville: Played a brilliant game offensively, with assists on 24 of their 32 baskets. Held OU to 15 field goals. Lone weakness shown was hitting only 5-15 from the charity stripe.

Tennessee: Gave up no easy baskets, holding Butler to 13-35 on two-point shots. The interior D combined with a 43-34 board edge permitted them to survive, advance, and (unfortunately) cover the 4 1/2 in a five-point OT win.

West Virginia: Only 11 of their 62 shots were from 3-point land, compared to 22 3-pointers in 50 attempts for Duke. Only 6 assists on 19 baskets for Duke. Mountaineers 19-22 from the free throw line sealed it.

Xavier: an efficient 22-38 from inside the arc, and 26-33 from the free throw line left few potential points unclaimed.

Western Kentucky: Caught Drake on a terrible shooting night in Round 1, scored by playing inferior San Diego in the 2nd round.

UCLA: Won evenly played (.444-.431 shooting, 27-26 rebounding) war with A&M on the sheer force of their will, with suffocating second half defense. Aggie defense was disruptive, as Bruins had only 7 assists on 20 FG’s. The ultimate “survive and advance” effort.

Villanova: Outmanned Siena couldn’t come up with a second big effort in three days. ‘Nova won shooting .535-.357, rebounding 35-30.

Kansas: 24-38 from inside the arc. Held UNLV to 12 made field goals, partially by fouling, as Rebels converted 27 free throws.

Davidson: Amazing box score, as Georgetown outshot Davidson .634-.386. 3-point shots were 10-18 for GU, 6-28 for DU. So how did the Wildcats do it? Try forcing 20 turnovers and committing only 4 yourself and see how meaningless shooting percentages become.

Wisconsin: Defense permitted guys not named Beasley or Walker to score only 14 of Kansas State’s 55 points. Discombobulated KSU notched only 4 assists on the day.

Michigan State: Similar defensive effort to that of Wisconsin above, holding Pitt to only 4 assists. Panthers were 2-17 from 3-point territory. MSU shot only 9 free throws, but hit them all.

Memphis: 42-31 board edge over Mississippi State was meaningful, 15-32 from the free throw line was troubling.

Stanford: Prevailed in a well-played overtime game where both the Cardinal and Marquette were in single digits in turnovers in 45 minutes of action. Assists on 23 of 28 baskets.

Texas: 13-26 from three-point land, 39-27 board edge. Those provided a buffer that permitted the Longhorns to hold off a late Miami Hurricane rally.