Arizona holds off pesky Saint Mary’s

salt lake city» 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 (32-4) 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, mid-range jumpers and a 3-pointer. The run gave the Wildcats a 55-48 lead and Saint Mary’s (29-5) 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.

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.

buffalo, n.y.» 24 points, the Mountaineers outshot the Fighting Irish to clinch their third Sweet 16 berth since 2010.

West Virginia (28-8) entered the NCAA Tournament leading the nation in forcing 20.4 turnovers per game, while also ranking 15th in averaging 82 points. The Mountaineers topped 80 points for the 18th time, while also breaking the season school scoring record set by the Jerry West-led 1958-59 squad.

Bonzie Colson led the Fighting Irish (26-10) with 27 points, hitting 10-of-15 shots. orlando, fla.» Trevon Bluiett scored 29 points and Kaiser Gates came off the bench to contribute 14 as the Musketeers (23-13) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive year and the eighth time in program history.

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.