Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Megan Gustafson scored 24 points with 19 rebounds, Makenzie Meyer had 18 points and second-seeded Iowa blew past Missouri 68-52 to advance to its second Sweet 16 in five years. Kathleen Doyle scored 15 points for the Hawkeyes (28-6), who put away the Tigers with a blistering 23-4 run in the second half.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — The last time Missouri State got this far in the NCAA Tournament, Jackie Stiles was leading the Lady Bears on a remarkable run to the Final Four. That was in 2001 and in all the years since, Missouri State had never made it to the second round — until now.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Tennessee avoided one of the biggest meltdowns in NCAA Tournament history, letting a 25-point lead slip away before two-time SEC player of the year Grant Williams scored six points in overtime for an 83-77 victory over Iowa. The Volunteers made it back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016, though there were more tense moments than the Vols imagined after they ran off to a huge lead in the opening half.

NEW YORK (AP) — Eight invitations to the Sweet 16 have been delivered and the other eight will be decided Monday night. UConn’s back in the regional semifinals for the 26th consecutive year, and the Pac-12 has yet to lose in the postseason, improving to 8-0 after wins by Arizona State and Oregon.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Desmond Bane had 30 points as TCU defeated Nebraska 88-72 in the second round of the NIT. Bane shot 6 for 9 from deep.

ATLANTA (AP) — Ron Hunter is leaving Georgia State to become Tulane’s coach. Less than 48 hours after the Panthers were eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Hunter said he’s moving on from the downtown Atlanta university where he coached the past eight seasons. Hunter takes over a Tulane men’s basketball program that fired Mike Dunleavy after the Green Wave failed to win a game in the American Athletic Conference.

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals think their lineup is coming together at the right time. Paul Goldschmidt hit his third spring homer in the Grapefruit League finale

UNDATED (AP) — Former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jeremy Maclin has announced he is retiring from playing football after nine NFL seasons. The 30-year-old Maclin announced his decision in a Twitter post. Maclin finished with 514 career catches for 6,835 yards and 49 TD catches for Philadelphia, Kansas City and Baltimore.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Megan Gustafson scored 24 points with 19 rebounds, Makenzie Meyer added 18 points and second-seeded Iowa blew past Missouri 68-52 on Sunday to advance to its second Sweet 16 in five years. Kathleen Doyle scored 15 points for the Hawkeyes (28-6), who put away the Tigers with a blistering 23-4 run in the second half. They’ll face either Kentucky or North Carolina State, who play each other on Monday, in the semifinals of the Greensboro Regional next week. Tania Davis hit her first 3 of the game to open the fourth quarter, putting Iowa up 50-41, and Meyer’s corner 3 pushed the lead to 13. Gustafson’s jumper over two defenders made it 60-43 with 4:21 to go, capping a spurt that helped Iowa clinch its highest win total in 31 years.

Hawkeyes fans will get at least one more opportunity to watch Gustafson, the greatest player in school history. Is Gustafson good enough to help lead Iowa to the Final Four? She might be — but Gustafson’s teammates will need to play above expectations for that to be possible. Gustafson received a standing ovation when she was finally pulled from her final home game with 22.4 seconds to go.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Tennessee avoided one of the biggest meltdowns in NCAA Tournament history Sunday, letting a 25-point lead slip away before two-time SEC player of the year Grant Williams scored 6 points in overtime for an 83-77 victory over Iowa. The Volunteers (31-5) made it back to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016, though there were more tense moments than the Vols imagined after they ran off to a 44-19 lead in the opening half.

The biggest NCAA Tournament comeback? BYU’s 25-point rally past Iona in the First Four in 2012. Tenth-seeded Iowa (23-12) nearly pulled off another one, sending it overtime tied at 71 — the first overtime game in this year’s tournament.

Jordan Bohannon scored 18 for Iowa, which never led but managed to tie it twice after falling so far behind. The Hawkeyes wrapped up a turnaround season. They improved their win total by nine games and were second in the Big Ten in scoring in coach Fran McCaffrey’s ninth season. They were prone to give up a lot of points and lost three games by at least 20.
UP NEXT
Tennessee heads to Louisville to play third-seeded Purdue on Thursday. The Boilermakers beat defending champion Villanova 87-61 on Saturday behind Carsen Edwards’ career-high 42 points.