Somebody call Hilary Duff

The GIST: Somebody call Hilary Duff because the women’s and men’s March Madness Sweet 16 fields are officially set. While we wait for the stacked women’s action to continue on Friday, the first four men’s games tip off tonight…

No. 6 Clemson Tigers vs. No. 2 Arizona Wildcats, 7 p.m. ET: It’s damn near impossible to keep Arizona senior Caleb Love from scoring, but Clemson proved they’re up to the task after a big second-round win over No. 3 Baylor. That said, the Tigers will have to put their regular-season inconsistency behind them to secure the dub.

No. 5 San Diego State Aztecs vs. No. 1 UConn Huskies, 7:30 p.m. ET: Both squads come charging into this 2023 title game rematch. UConn easily crushed their first two Madness foes, while San Diego State spun a narrow first-round dub into a second-round smackdown. Both teams boast excellent defenses, so poise under pressure will win this one.

No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide vs. No. 1 UNC Tar Heels, 9:30 p.m. ET: Expect buckets on buckets, as both teams operate under the philosophy that the best defense is a blockbuster offense. Two seniors — the Tide’s Mark Sears and the Heels’ Naismith Trophy finalist RJ Davis — promise an especially splashy three-point showing.

No. 3 Illinois Fighting Illini vs. No. 2 Iowa State Cyclones, 10 p.m. ET: Illinois’ offensive firepower will meet its toughest test yet in Iowa State, which has one of the nation’s fiercest defenses. But it’s offense the Cyclones need to worry about if they want to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 2000 — they’ve struggled to get hot early in the NCAA Tournament.

The GIST: The Toronto Raptors’ 11-game losing streak isn’t the only thing plaguing their mediocre season — fringe player Jontay Porter is now at the center of a sports gambling investigation.

The details: The NBA is looking into unusual prop bets involving Porter. A prop bet involves wagering on specific aspects of a game, like how many points a player will score.

• On January 26th and March 20th, an unusually high number of bettors wagered the “under” on Porter props, meaning an influx of bets believing he would not hit his relatively low average stat lines including points, rebounds, assists, and three-pointers.

• Porter played less than four minutes in both of those games before exiting due to either illness or injury. He did not reach the stats set in the prop bets, so anyone who bet the “under” won big.

• But because multiple accounts tried to place bets over $10K and $20K on these props (which are usually limited to max $2K bets), it caught bookkeepers’ attention.

Zooming out: The NBA is now investigating whether or not Porter purposefully tanked in those games. This comes at a time when professional athlete involvement with sports betting is under increased scrutiny, and at least one NBA head coach is speaking out about the dark side of sports gambling.

• Shortly before Monday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets, Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković became aware of the NBA’s probe, and Porter was removed from the lineup. It’s unknown if he will return before tonight’s 7:30 p.m. ET game against the NY Knicks.

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