West Virginia 83, Notre Dame 71:
go-ahead free throws in Northwestern’s opening-round win, had 20 for the Wildcats and Vic Law had 18.
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. Led by Jevon Carter’s 24 points, the Mountaineers (28-8) outshot the Fighting Irish (26-10) in Buffalo, N.Y., to clinch their third Sweet 16 berth since 2010.
“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 in forcing 20.4 turnovers, while also ranking 15th in averaging 82 points. The Mountaineers topped 80 points for the 18th time, while also breaking the single-season school scoring record set by the Jerry West-led 1958-59 squad.
Daxter Miles scored 18 points, and Esa Ahmad had nine rebounds.
Xavier 91, Florida State 66:
Trevon Bluiett scored 29 points, and reserve Kaiser Gates had 14 as the 11th-seeded Musketeers (23-13) pulled off their second straight upset by defeating the Seminoles (26-9) in Orlando.
Xavier shot nearly 65 percent from 3-point range, converting 11 of 17, while the Seminoles made just four of 21 3-point attempts for the game. The Seminoles were outscored in the paint 36-26.
Xavier, which defeated No. 6 Maryland in the first round, shot 55.6 from the field.
Dwayne Bacon led the Seminoles with 20 points.
Arizona 69, Saint Mary’s 60:
Lauri Markkanen and Allonzo Trier combined for 30 points as the No. 2-seeded Wildcats (32-4) rallied past the No. 7 Gaels (295) in Salt Lake City.
The Wildcats pulled away in the second half after trailing by 10 points midway through the first half.
The teams went back and forth in the second 20 half until Arizona went on an 11-2 run sparked by Trier. He scored nine of those 11 points during the stretch. The run gave the Wildcats a 55-48 lead, and Saint Mary’s never led again.
Markkanen finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Trier scored 14.
There are records TULSA, OKLA. — in Tom Izzo’s career he’s proud of, and then there are those the Michigan State coach would prefer to distance himself from.
The Spartans’ remarkable record as an underdog in the NCAA Tournament is one of those Izzo isn’t so sure is a good thing.
Still, Michigan State’s reputation as a giant-killer in the postseason has been well earned over the years. It’s a reputation that was only enhanced with the ninthseeded Spartans’ (20-14) dominating opening-round win over eighth-seeded Miami on Friday night, one they’ll put to the ultimate test when they face topseeded Kansas (29-4) today.
“Yeah, personally, I don’t like it,” Izzo said. “That means we’re a bad seed a lot of time, so I don’t feel as good about that as maybe I should.”
Michigan State’s win Friday made the Spartans 14-10 in the NCAAs as a lower seed under Izzo. That’s the most wins by a school as a lower seed in tournament history — though its penchant for toppling higher seeds didn’t begin until after its sixth NCAA appearance under Izzo in 2003.
That season, a seventh-seeded Michigan State ousted second-seeded Florida and sixthseeded Maryland before finally losing to No. 1 seed Texas in the Elite Eight. It followed with eight more wins over higher seeds in the next 11 years before cementing its reputation with a Final Four run two years ago.
That came as a No. 7 seed, the lowest-seeded team to reach one of six Final Fours under Izzo.
“I really think it’s the culture we’ve developed and the schedule we play,” he said. “I don’t think we’re afraid of anybody, because we’ve already played some of those teams.”