Off a nice high-low feed from Malcolm Bernard, Sean O'Mara scored a layup with 40 seconds left, giving #11 seed Xavier a two point advantage, enough to upset No. 2 Arizona 73-71 in the West Region Thursday night. Arizona had a number of opportunities to score, but could not, their last chance a desperation heave from three-point land by Allonzo Trier that nicked off the front of the rim.
Leading all scorers was 6'6" junior, Trevon Buuiett, who has been nothing short of brilliant leading the Musketeers into the Elite Eight. Bluiett netted 25 points on 9-for-17 shooting with three three-pointers. He was 4-for-4 from the line and added two rebounds and a pair of assists.
Bluiett scored 21 in Xavier's 76-65 first round win over #8 seed Maryland, then had 29 when the Musketeers dumped #3 Florida State, 91-66.
Now having bested the #2 and #3 seeds in the region, Xavier next faces #1 Gonzaga on Saturday (6:09 pm tip), themselves narrow winners over #4 West Virginia, 61-58, in the other half of the regional semi-final.
At #11, Bluiett and his Musketeer mates are the highest seed remaining in the national championship tournament.
In the Midwest Region, #1 Kansas blew out #4 Purdue, 98-66; #3 Oregon barely escaped #7 Michigan, 69-68.
NCAA Tournament Conference Scoreboard
Through Thursday (3/23) Games
| Conference (# of teams) | Record | Winners (# of Wins) |
| ACC (9) | 7-8 | Notre Dame (1), Florida St. (1), Virginia (1), Louisville (1), Duke (1), North Carolina (2) |
| Big East (7) | 6-5 | Villanova (1), Butler (2), Xavier (3) |
| Big Ten (7) | 8-6 | Purdue (2), Wisconsin (2), Northwestern (1), Michigan (2), Michigan State (1) |
| Big 12 (6) | 9-4 | Kansas State (1), West Virginia (2), Iowa St. (1), Kansas (3), Baylor (2) |
| SEC (5) | 7-2 | Florida (2), Arkansas (1), Kentucky (2), South Carolina (2) |
| PAC 12 (4) | 9-2 | USC (2), Arizona (2), Oregon (3), UCLA (2) |
| Atlantic 10 (3) | 1-3 | Rhode Island (1) |
| American (2) | 1-2 | Cincinnati (1) |
| West Coast (2) | 4-1 | Gonzaga (3), St. Mary's (1) |
| All Others (23) | 4-23 | Mt. St. Mary's (1), UC Davis (1), Middle Tennessee (1), Wichita State (1) |
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