Officials pleased with fan support
While Florida and Florida State were first-round winners on the court, Central Florida and the city of Orlando benefitted greatly from having the first-andsecond round NCAA Tournament games at the Amway Center.
who is interim president and CEO of the Central Florida Sports Commission — the group that works to bring events like the NCAA Tournament to the area — said he and his staff have received positive reviews from this week.
“We’re pleased with what we think has been an excellent student-athlete experience,” Siegel said before the start of play Saturday. “We think our partners whether they be the hotels — there are so many volunteers involved in an event like this — everybody has gone above and beyond to welcome with open arms the eight schools. We hope that we get glowing feedback from schools regardless whether they win or lose about the experience that they had.”
Thursday’s four firstround games drew an average attendance of 15,453 fans to the Amway Center thanks, in part, to having instate schools like Florida, Florida State and Florida Gulf Coast featured.
“When you draw it up, you hope, and certainly as we went into Selection Sunday our fingers were crossed that we would get local schools and it was a bonus to get Florida Gulf Coast as well,” Siegel said. “I thought the energy in the building with Florida State playing Florida Gulf Coast was excellent. I thought it made for a terrific atmosphere. All and all pleased.”
He added that the out-ofstate programs like Xavier, Maryland, Virginia and UNC-Wilmington also contributed with those fans providing an economic impact to the region as well.
Siegel said the CFSC has already submitted bids to try and host first-and-second round games for 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 as well as submitting bids for the regional games as well. The group expects to hear back from the NCAA sometime in April. Orlando Mayor
Orange County Mayor and Orlando Police Chief
were named honorary captains for Saturday night’s NCAA games. The trio were honored for their work responding to the Pulse nightclub shooting last year.
had 29 points — 21 in the second half — leading Xavier to a 90-66 win over Florida State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday in Orlando.
It was the 18th time this season that the junior guard scored 20-or-more points in a game and his second-highest point total of the season.
“We stayed the course,” said Xavier coach
following the win. “The biggest thing for us going into the game today was taking care of the ball.”
Bluiett couldn’t exactly pinpoint why he’s put together such huge second halves in this tournament.
“I don’t know. That’s funny. The past couple of weeks, that’s what’s been happening. I just keep playing despite the first half. I just flip to the second page and try to keep shooting,” he added.
Bluiett had 21 points in the Musketeers first-round win over Maryland on Thursday.
Xavier is 17-5 this season when Bluiett leads the team in scoring.