Musketeers move on to Sweet 16
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Xavier Musketeers didn’t put together the regular season they hoped to have, but they’re making up for it now.
The 11th-seeded Musketeers dominated third-seeded Florida State 91-66 during Saturday’s second round of the NCAA tournament. Their second upset in the West Region put them back into the regional semifinal round for the second time in two years and eighth time in program history.
“I’m so excited for the guys next to me and the guys in the locker room. They earned it,” Xavier coach Chris Mack said from the postgame podium. “Our team’s gone through a lot of adversity this year, and we stayed the course.”
But the Musketeers (23-13) found little adversity Saturday as they dominated the bigger and more athletic Seminoles (26-9) throughout the game. Trevon Bluiett led Xavier with 29 points, while Kaiser Gates came off the bench to add 14.
Xavier, which knocked off No. 6 seed Maryland in the first round, hit big shots on perimeter and then forced Florida State to try to shoot from long range by sitting in a 2-3 zone defense much of the game. Led by Gates’ four 3-pointers, the Musketeers converted 11 of 17 shots from beyond the arc, nearly 65 percent.
The Seminoles, meanwhile, made just four of 21 3-point attempts as they struggled to make up ground.
“We’ve been a very inconsistent 3-point shooting team this year, and obviously they knew that, and they packed it in,” said coach Leonard Hamilton, whose Seminoles finished second in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings this season. “We determined that if we were going to win the game, we were going to have to hit from the perimeter, and they did a good job of denying.”
Xavier knew the Seminoles like to slash to the basket and get out on fast breaks in transition. The Musketeers made it difficult for their opponent to get into its comfort zone by playing zone defense and also by limiting their turnovers to just nine to force the Seminoles to have to play halfcourt offense.
Dwayne Bacon led Florida State with 20 points, though he was 0-for-5 from 3-point range. Xavier Rathan-Mayes was the only Seminoles starter to convert a 3-pointer.
The Musketeers, meanwhile, got production on the perimeter from several different areas, with Bluiett knocking down three 3s. But Xavier also dominated inside, outscoring Florida State 27-17 in the paint with Sean O’Mara coming off the bench to contribute 11 points.
Xavier’s bench outscored the Seminoles’ 27-17.
“That’s the great thing about his team is we’ve got a lot of guys who can play,” said J.P. Macura, who had 10 points and five assists. “If somebody is not stepping up, another person is.”
› Gonzaga 79, Northwestern 73: In Salt Lake City, West Region No. 1 seed Gonzaga (34-1) fought off a wild rally by eighth-seeded Northwestern (2412), with the Zags getting some help from an untimely technical foul on Wildcats coach Chris Collins.
Northwestern trimmed a 22-point deficit to five and had the ball when Gonzaga’s Zach Collins reached up through the basket to reject Dererk Pardon’s shot with 4:54 left. There was no call, and Collins, jawing with the officials all day, ran on the court and was slapped with a technical foul.
Nigel Williams-Goss made both free throws, and eighth-seeded Northwestern, in the tournament for the first time in program history, never got closer.
A few minutes after the game, the NCAA released a statement saying goaltending should have been called but that Collins had violated “bench decorum” rules by running on the court to argue the call while the ball was in play.
Zags coach Mark Few wasn’t pinning Gonzaga’s win on that single turn of events, but he more than understood the emotion of the moment.
“You guys feel it and see it when it comes to these games,” he said. “You lose, your season’s over. You win, in Northwestern’s case, it’s probably the best thing they’ve done in the history of the school. You react spontaneously and stuff happens.”
Williams-Goss led the Zags with 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Collins and Jordan Mathews had 14 points each.
Bryant McIntosh, who hit the go-ahead free throws in Northwestern’s opening-round win — in which the Wildcats benefited when Vanderbilt fouled unnecessarily while leading near game’s end — scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half. Vic Law finished with 18.
› West Virginia 83, Notre Dame 71: In Buffalo, N.Y., Jevon Carter scored 24 points as West Region No. 4 seed West Virginia (28-8) outshot the fifth-seeded Fighting Irish (26-10) to clinch the program’s third Sweet 16 berth since 2010.
Don’t be fooled by the Mountaineers referring to themselves as “Press” Virginia as a result of their relentless defensive pressure. This team can score.
“They thought of us as defensive players,” guard Tarik Phillip said. “But the coaching staff instilled a lot of confidence in us, helped us develop our offensive game, and we became pretty good offensive players.”
West Virginia entered the tournament leading the nation by forcing an average of 20.4 turnovers per game, but it also ranked 15th in scoring, averaging 82 points. The Mountaineers topped 80 points for the 18th time this season and broke the single-season school scoring record set by the Jerry West-led 1958-59 squad.
Daxter Miles added 18 points for West Virginia, and Esa Ahmad had nine rebounds. Carter matched his season high in scoring on 8-for-15 shooting, including 4-for-5 from 3-point range. His last 3 all but finished the Irish as they attempted one final comeback bid.
Notre Dame’s Matt Ryan hit a 3-point basket in the right corner to cut West Virginia’s lead to 72-66 with 3:06 left. Carter responded by crossing through the middle and pulling up to hit a fadeaway bomb about 25 seconds later.
Bonzie Colson had 27 points and eight rebounds to lead Notre Dame, which was trying to reach the Elite Eight for a third consecutive year.
› Arizona 69, Saint Mary’s 60: In Salt Lake City, Lauri Markkanen and Allonzo Trier combined for 30 points as West Regional No. 2 seed Arizona (32-4) rallied to eliminate seventh-seeded Saint Mary’s (29-5).
The Wildcats were on the ropes in the first half, but they found life in the second half to pull away for the win.
The teams went back and forth in the second 20 minutes until Arizona went on an 11-2 run sparked by Trier, who took over the second half. He scored nine of those 11 points during the stretch with a dribble-drive layup, mid-range jumpers and a 3-pointer. The run gave the Wildcats a 55-48 lead and Saint Mary’s never led again.
Arizona shot 59.1 percent from the field in the second half.
Markkanen finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Trier scored 14 points.
Jock Landale battled with Markkanen throughout and had his 17th double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Gaels. Teammate Calvin Hermanson added 14 points.
› Florida 65, Virginia 39: In Orlando, Fla., Justin Leon and Devin Robinson had double-doubles as East Region No. 4 seed Florida (25-8) dominated fifth-seeded Virginia (23-10) to reach the Sweet 16 for the 11th time in program history.
Leon and Robinson each scored 14 points as the Gators had balanced scoring, and Robinson grabbed 11 rebounds while Leon had 10.
No player reached double figures in scoring for the Cavaliers, who trailed 31-17 at halftime and dug a deeper hole soon after the break by allowing the Gators to go on a 9-0 run to start.