Xavier completes thrilling comeback, Mount St. Mary’s advances as men’s First Four comes to a close
changenow exchange
Wednesday saw the men’s First Four come to a close which means only one thing: the 64-team bracket is officially set following No. 11 Xavier’s thrilling come from behind win over No. 11 Texas and No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s victory over No. 16 American in Dayton, Ohio.
The Musketeers trailed by as many as 13 points, but their offense came alive in the second half behind guard Marcus Foster and forward Zach Freemantle to down the Longhorns 86-80.
The senior Foster scored a team-high 22 points while Freemantle, on his way to 15 points, threw down a dunk with a second left to seal the comeback win and ignite the fans at UD Arena, which is just over 50 miles away from campus in Cincinnati, Ohio.
With just under four minutes remaining, Xavier went on an 8-2 run to take a 78-74 lead, their first since the early going of the first half.
Musketeers head coach Sean Miller crowned Wednesday’s game as “one of the best” he’s been a part of.
“I thought we were dead in the water two different times,” Miller told the truTV broadcast after the game. “But that’s the one thing about our team — the resiliency of our group has always won out for us. Just when you thought we weren’t gonna make the tournament, we kept winning. Even in this game, just when you’re like, ‘It’s not gonna work out,’ we have a funny way of staying with it.”
The Longhorns did not go down without a fight as guard Tre Johnson scored a game-high 23 points in the loss.
Xavier will face No. 6 Illinois in the first round on Friday at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. |
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