Walter Clayton Jr. and No. 1 seed Florida ended UConn’s pursuit of a third straight national championship, with Clayton burying two key 3-pointers in the final three minutes of a scintillating 77-75 victory for the Gators in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

Clayton, a first-team All-America guard, finished with 23 points as Florida (32-4), one of the favorites for this year’s title, survived a strong challenge from coach Dan Hurley’s Huskies (24-11), who came in with modest expectations as a No. 8 seed but led for most of the second half.

Florida advances to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017 and will play fourth-seeded Maryland in the West Region semifinals at Chase Center.

UConn was seeking to become the first team to three-peat since UCLA’s run of seven straight titles from 1967-73.

The Huskies won the 2023 title in Houston and last year in Glendale, Arizona, joining Duke (1991-92) and Florida (2006-07) as the only schools to win back-to-back since the Bruins’ run under John Wooden.

Liam McNeeley led UConn with 22 points.

Other West Region result

MARYLAND 72, COLORADO STATE 71 >> Derik Queen banked in a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer and the fourth-seeded Terrapins advanced to the Sweet 16 in a thriller, beating the Rams in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Jalen Lake drilled a rainbow 3-pointer with 6 seconds left for No. 12 seed Colorado State, which was seeking to become the lowest-seeded team to advance to a regional semifinal in this edition of March Madness, which had been light on upset or buzzer-beaters.

Queen led fourth-seeded Maryland (27-8) with 17 points, Rodney Rice scored 16 and Julian Reese had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Nique Clifford scored 21 points for Colorado State (26-10) and Lake had 13.

Midwest Region

KENTUCKY 84, ILLINOIS 75 >> Koby Brea matched a career high with 23 points and the third-seeded Wildcats beat the Illini to advance beyond the NCAA Tournament’s opening weekend for the first time since they reached the Elite Eight in 2019.

Kentucky (24-11) faces No. 2 seed and Southeastern Conference rival Tennessee on Friday in Indianapolis. The Wildcats have already beaten the Volunteers twice this season.

Kylan Boswell scored 23 points and Tomislav Ivisic had 19 for Illinois (22-13).

East Region

DUKE 89, BAYLOR 66 >> Tyrese Proctor made seven 3-pointers and scored 25 points to continue his recent tear, helping the top-seeded Blue Devils defeated the ninth-seeded Bears in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Freshman star Cooper Flagg had 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Duke (33-3), the headliner in the East Region and one of the favorites to win it all. The Blue Devils will face either Oregon or Arizona in the Sweet 16 on Thursday.

Freshman V.J. Edgecombe scored 16 points for the Bears (20-15).

WOMEN

Birmingham 2 Regional

South Carolina 64, Indiana 53 >> Bree Hall had 11 points and Chloe Kitts scored all her 10 points in the second half as top seed South Carolina pulled away after trailing at halftime to beat ninth-seeded Indiana in NCAA Tournament and reach the Sweet 16 for the 11th straight time.

Kitts added 10 rebounds for the Gamecocks (32-3), who will take on fourth-seeded Maryland or fifth-seeded Alabama next week. Those teams play tonight.

Shay Ciezki had 12 points to lead Indiana (20-13).

DUKE 59, OREGON 53 >> Ashlon Jackson scored 14 of her 20 points in the third quarter to power No. 2-seeded Blue Devils (28-7) to a victory over the 10th-seeded Ducks in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

In her eighth career game against Duke, former North Carolina guard Deja Kelly finished with 20 points on 8-of-18 shooting for the Ducks (20-12).

Duke will play the winner of tonight’s game between No. 3 seed North Carolina and No. 6 seed West Virginia in the Sweet 16.

Birmingham 3 Regional

NOTRE DAME 76, MICHIGAN 55 >> Hannah Hidalgo scored 21 points and the third-seeded Fighting Irish routed the No. 6-seeded Wolverines in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Notre Dame (28-5) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive season against either TCU or Louisville.

A pair of freshmen led Michigan (23-11). Olivia Olson scored 20 points and Syla Swords scored 17 points.

TCU 85, LOUISVILLE 70 >> Agnes Emma-Nnopu scored 23 points with four 3-pointers, Hailey Van Lith had a double-double against her former team and the second-seeded Horned Frogs advanced to their first NCAA Sweet 16 in the women’s NCAA Tournament with a win over the seventh-seeded Cardinals.

Van Lith had 16 points and 10 assists for TCU (33-3).

Jayda Curry had a career-high 41 points for Louisville (22-11).

TENNESSEE 82, OHIO STATE 67 >> Talaysia Cooper had 19 points, eight rebounds, seven steals and five assists and Zee Spearman added 17 points and five rebounds as the fifth-seeded Volunteers beat the fourth-seeded Buckeyes in the NCAA Tournament.

Tennessee (24-9) will play either No. 1 seed Texas or No. 8 seed Illinois on Saturday.

Jaloni Cambridge had 19 points for Ohio State (26-7).

Spokane 1 Regional

MISSISSIPPI 69, BAYLOR 63 >> Madison Scott scored 14 points, including a tiebreaking jumper in the final minute, and the fifth-seeded Rebels advanced to the Sweet 16 with a victory over the fourth-seeded Bears.

Sira Thienou scored 16 points as Mississippi (22-10).

Aaronette Vonleh scored 16 points for Baylor (28-8).

Ole Miss will next play either No. 1 seed UCLA or No. 8 seed Richmond.

Aaronette Vonleh led Baylor (28-10) with 15 points.

Spokane 4 Regional

KANSAS STATE 80, KENTUCKY 79, OT >> Temira Poindexter hit a corner 3-pointer with 56 seconds left in overtime — her eighth 3 of the game — and the fifth-seeded Wildcats dodged four misses by the fourth-seeded Wildcats in the closing seconds to beat Kentucky in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Poindexter scored 24 points.

Kansas State (28-7) will play either top-seeded USC or No. 9 seed Mississippi State in the Sweet 16.

Clara Strack led Kentucky (23-8) with 22 points.