Jared Sullinger scored 23 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and handed out three assists as Ohio State defeated Cincinnati 81-66 on Thursday at TD Garden in Boston in the Sweet Sixteen. Deshaun Thomas had 26 pointsa nd six rebounds.

Top-seeded Syracuse held on for a 64-63 victory over fourth-seeded Wisconsin on Thursday night in the East Regional semifinals. The Badgers had two shots at the win after Kris Joseph, a 75 percent free throw shooter, missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 18.9 seconds left and the Orange leading by a point. Jordan Taylor came down and missed a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left and Mike Bruesewitz’s toss with the rebound was off, at the buzzer.

Louisville’s defense shut down Michigan State as the Cardinals upset the Spartans 57-44 Thursday at US Airways Center in Phoenix in the Sweet Sixteen. Scoring so few points is rare for Michigan State (29-8), a team that came in averaging 74.1 points per game this season.

We tracked tonight’s three Big Ten games in the Sweet Sixteen. Wisconsin had a chance late but fell to Syracuse in the first game, 63-64. Then Michigan State was eliminated by Louisville. In the late game, Ohio State handled Cincinnati.

The Sweet 16 tips off Thursday night, with three Big Ten teams in action, which means players and coaches met the media and practiced at their respective arenas Wednesday. Ohio State and Wisconsin prepped for their games against Cincinnati and Syracuse, respectively, at TD Garden, while Michigan State got ready for Louisville at US Airways Center. See photos, courtesy of US Presswire, from all three teams in this post.

With the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament about to arrive, here’s a good reminder of what you can find on BTN TV: Full game previews and breakdowns and post-game press conferences. And yes, this goes for ALL teams playing Big Ten teams, too. We’re talking to you, Wildcats, Cardinals, Orange and Bearcats fans. Find the full schedule below in this post.

Four Big Ten teams are in the Sweet 16, which tips Thursday. Three of the teams — Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin — play Thursday, while Indiana is in action Friday. The times and opponents are known, but what about the announcing teams for the games? Those have been announced, too, and you can find them in this post. Oh, and here’s the interactive NCAA bracket.

For the first time since 1999 and the third time since the field expanded in 1985, the Big Ten has four teams in the Sweet 16. Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin all made it through the first weekend of the tournament, meaning each is two wins away from the Final Four, four from claiming the national title. The competition only gets stiffer the rest of the way, of course, so it’s important to consider what these teams did against elite foes. See how the Big Ten’s remaining teams fared this season vs. the Sweet 16 field in this post.

All season, the computer rankings said that the Big Ten was the nation’s strongest conference. The league lived up to that hype through the first week of the NCAA tourney. Four of the six schools that received bids are still playing, with No. 1 Michigan State, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Indiana and No. 4 Wisconsin advancing the second weekend of the tourney. No. 4 Michigan fell in the second round to No. 13 Ohio, while No. 10 Purdue lost in the third round to No. 2 Kansas.

As of this writing, there is a 45.9 percent chance your NCAA Champion will be from the Big Ten. It was a good weekend for the conference, as four teams advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. But before we get to that good stuff, let’s deal with the unpleasantness.

(AP) Elijah Johnson scored 18 points, including the go-ahead basket in the final minute, and No. 2 seed Kansas rallied to beat Robbie Hummel and No. 10 seed Purdue 63-60 on Sunday night. Thomas Robinson managed 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Jayhawks (29-6), who trailed nearly the entire game. Purdue was clinging to a 60-59 lead and had the ball and under a minute remaining when Lewis Jackson, the shot clock winding down, lost control at the top of the key. Johnson picked it up and went the other way for the go-ahead layup with 23.3 seconds left. Robbie Hummel scored a game-high 26 points. Read the full AP recap and check out the box score.

Michigan State held off Saint Louis on Sunday to advance to its fourth Sweet 16 in the last five seasons (recap). As usual, Draymond Green had an impressive all-around game (tweets). With the victory, Michigan State joins Indiana, Ohio State and Wisconsin in the Sweet 16. It looked like Purdue may join the group, too, but it fell to Kansas in the final seconds of a game it led throughout Sunday night (recap).

(AP) With Michigan State’s season in peril, Draymond Green turned to Keith Appling during a timeout and told him to be ready. His moment was near. And when it arrived, Appling delivered. His shot, the one Green urged him to take, helped save the Spartans. Appling’s critical 3-pointer with 1:34 left, a 20-foot jumper set up by Green’s pass, gave Michigan State a 65-61 win Sunday over Saint Louis and thrust the top-seeded Spartans into the round of 16. Read the full AP recap, check out the box score, and see the tweets about Green’s great game.

Ohio State, Wisconsin and Indiana came into Saturday looking to take the next step in the NCAA Tournament but all three had formidable challenges ahead of them. First off, the Buckeyes held off a very tough Gonzaga team before the Badgers battled Vanderbilt right down to the end to win. Finally, the Hoosiers got some late-game heroics from Will Sheehey and defeated VCU.

Will Sheehey made a 15-footer from the baseline with 12.7 seconds left after a shot was blocked right to him and No. 4 seed Indiana rallied to beat VCU 63-61 in the third round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday. Cody Zeller scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Victor Oladipo added nine points and five boards. The Hoosiers and Virginia Commonwealth (29-7) traded leads and momentum throughout the game, as the contest featured 14 lead changes.