TAMING WILDCATS
Underdog Xavier takes on Arizona tonight in Sweet 16.
The Xavier Musketeers will try to keep their improbable run through the NCAA Tournament going tonight when they take on Arizona in the Sweet 16.
Seeded 11th in the West Region, Xavier (23-13) was one of the last at-large teams to make it into the field after a late-season stumble saw them lose six in a row. But the Muskies beat No. 6 Maryland by 11 in the first round and then routed No. 3 Florida State by 25 in the second round to reach the regional semifinals.
Arizona (32-4) has won 10 of 11 and enters as the No. 2 seed and 8-point favorite after victories against No. 15 North Dakota and No. 7 St. Mary’s.
Here are five things to know about Sweet 16 matchup between Xavier and Arizona:
Xavier and Arizona don’t have a storied history, but they do have a recent one.
The teams met in the 2015 Sweet 16, with the second-seeded Wildcats downing No. 6 Xavier 68-60 in what is the only other meeting between the schools.
Despite it being only two years ago, Arizona returns just one player who scored in that game (Parker Jackson-Cartwright, two points), while the Musketeers bring back two (Trevon Bluiett and J.P Macura, two points each).
Double digits
No. 11 Xavier is the only double-digit seed in this year’s Sweet 16, but at least one team seeded 10th or lower has made it to the regional semifinals 10 consecutive years.
That list includes Xavier as a 10 seed in 2012 and Arizona as a 12 in 2009.
Double-digit seeds have lost 21 consecutive games against single-digit seeds in the round of 16, with the last upset coming in 2008 when No. 10 Davidson beat No. 3 Wisconsin 73-56.
Sweet success
Xavier and Arizona are each making their sixth trip to the Sweet 16 in the last 10 seasons. Only North Carolina (nine), Duke (seven), Kansas (seven) Wisconsin (seven) and Michigan State (seven) have more in that span.
The Musketeers are 1-4 in their last five trips and 2-5 overall, while the Wildcats are 3-2 in their last five and 11-6 overall.
Coaching connections
Wildcats coach Sean Miller was the coach at Xavier for five seasons from 2004-2009. During that time, current Musketeers coach Chris Mack was his top assistant, and he took over the program when Miller went to Arizona.
Four other members of the Wildcats staff, Emanuel Richardson, Ryan Reynolds, Chris Rounds and Brian Brigger, worked with Miller at Xavier. And Musketeers assistant coach Luke Murray — son of comedic actor Bill Mur- ray — was on Miller’s staff in Arizona during the 200910 season.
Neither Mack nor Miller has had a losing season in Division I. Mack is 186-90 in eight seasons, all at Xavier. Miller is 220-65 in 13 seasons.
Extra effort
In the 152 regional semifinal games played since 1998, there have been nine that have gone to overtime. And Xavier has played in two of them.
The third-seeded Muskies fell to No. 7 West Virginia 79-75 in 2008. And two years later No. 6 Xavier lost to No. 2 Kansas State 101-96 in double overtime. That remains the only multiple-overtime game in NCAA Tournament history in the round of 16.