For the first time in the event’s six year history, both participants in the Comcast Battle in Seattle advance to the Sweet Sixteen in the NCAA Tournament.

The No. 1 seed Connecticut Huskies defeated Chattanooga and Texas A&M in Philadelphia during the first weekend of the tournament. Jim Calhoun and company advanced to the West Region semifinals on Thursday where they will take on the No. 5 seed Purdue Boilermakers in Glendale, AZ.

The Huskies had a dominating opening weekend, despite the hospitalization of Calhoun. Stanley Robinson scored 24 points and pulled down seven rebounds as the top seed routed the No. 16 seed Chattanooga 103-47. The 54 point margin was the third largest margin of victory in a NCAA tournament game. The Huskies played the entire contest without their Hall of Fame head coach, who was absent from the game with an undisclosed illness.

In the second round, AJ Price led the team with 27 point and Jeff Adrien chipped in with 23 as the team took down Texas A&M. The Huskies improved to 29-4 with the 92-66 victory over the No. 9 seed Aggies. “This should be a message sent, ” said Price, “showing that we’re a good team. ”

Following two consecutive seasons of bowing out in the first round, Gonzaga took care of business as the No. 4 seed in the South Region. Led by senior forward Josh Heytvelt’s 22 points, the Zags wore down the Zips of Akron, 77-64.

In the second round, the Bulldogs ran into a hot shooting Western Kentucky team that had defeated No. 5 seed Illinois in the opening round. The game was back and forth throughout and the outcome wasn’t determined until freshman Demetri Goodson hit a game winning bank shot with 0.9 seconds left, making the score 83-81.

It was the 11th straight victory for the West Coast Conference champions who advance to the South Region semifinals to play top-seeded North Carolina on Friday in Memphis, TN. The Tar Heels defeated LSU, 84-70.