Gonzaga staves off Northwestern

Top-seeded Gonzaga fought off a wild Northwestern comeback for a 79-73 victory Saturday night with help from an untimely technical foul on Wildcats coach Chris Collins.

Topseeded Gonzaga fought off a wild Northwestern comeback for a 79-73 victory Saturday night with 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 onto the court and was slapped with a technical foul.

Nigel Williams-Goss made both free throws, and eighth-seeded Northwestern (24-12), in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history, never got closer.

Williams-Goss led the Zags (34-1) with 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Collins and Jordan Mathews had 14 points each.

Bryant McIntosh, who hit the go-ahead free throws in Northwestern’s opening-round win, had 20 for the Wildcats and Vic Law had 18.

Arizona 69, St. Mary’s 60

Lauri Markkanen and Allonzo Trier combined for 30 points and No. 2-seeded Arizona rallied to defeat No. 7 Saint Mary’s 69-60 and advance to the West Regional’s Sweet Sixteen on Saturday night.

The Wildcats were on the ropes in the first half, but 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, midrange 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.

West Virginia 83, Notre Dame 71

Jevon Carter scored 24 points, and West Virginia is headed to the Sweet 16 for the third time since 2010 following a 83-71 win over Notre Dame.

Tarik Phillip added 12 points and Esa Ahmad had nine rebounds for the Mountaineers (28-8), the West region’s fourthseeded team.

Notre Dame’s Bonzie Colson hit 10 of 15 shots, scored 27 points and had eight rebounds. The fifthseeded Fighting Irish (2610) were stopped from making their third consecutive Sweet 16 appearance after entering the tournament as the only school to reach each of the past two Elite Eight rounds.

Carter ended the game by bouncing the ball untouched atop the Fighting Irish key and then slamming it emphatically to the court as the final buzzer sounded, ending a matchup of former Big East rivals.

Xavier 91, Florida State 66

Trevon Bluiett scored 29 points and Kaiser Gates came off the bench to contribute 14 as the 11 seed Xavier pulled off its second upset of the NCAA Tournament with a 91-66 victory over third-seeded Florida State during Saturday’s second round.

The Musketeers (23-13) advance to the West Region semifinal marking the second time in two years and the eighth time in program history they have made it to the Sweet 16. The Seminoles, the ACC runners-up, end their season at 26-9.

Florida State was the bigger program from a power conference, but Xavier came in as a tournament tested team and it showed. The Musketeers dominated the bigger and more athletic Seminoles inside and then put the game out of reach with their superior 3-point shooting.

South Region Butler 74, Middle Tennessee State 65

Kelan Martin scored 19 points, and Butler limited Middle Tennessee’s athletic scorers with smothering defense in a 7465 victory Saturday night to advance to the NCAA Tournament regional semifinals.

The Bulldogs (25-8) are going to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011, when they wrapped up back-to-back appearances in the national title game.

Andrew Chrabascz added 15 points for fourthseeded Butler, including a 3 with 3:25 left that snapped a 7-0 run for Middle Tennessee to get the lead back to 62-56.

The senior forward played an even more important role in leading a sterling defensive effort for the Bulldogs.

Conference USA player of the year JaCorey Williams finished with 20 points, but had to work hard for nearly every bucket for No. 12 seed Middle Tennessee (31-5).

Giddy Potts, who averaged nearly 16 points a game this year, was held scoreless, going 0 of 8 from the field.

GEORGE FREY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Northwestern head coach Chris Collins is held back by an assistant coach after receiving a technical foul during the second half against Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

RICK BOWMER — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Arizona guard Allonzo Trier tries to shoot over Saint Mary’s Dane Pineau (22) and Evan Fitzner, right, during the first half in Salt Lake City on Saturday.