Xavier's OT 3s kill WVU's dreams
PHOENIX — So what if he hadn't scored in the first 40 minutes? In overtime, B.J. Raymond didn't hesitate to take — and make — the two biggest shots of the night.
His 3-pointers proved to be the difference as Xavier beat West Virginia 79-75 Thursday to advance to the West Regional final against No. 1 seed UCLA Saturday.
"I shot that shot probably 100,000 times in my life," Raymond said. "It is easy once you've shot it that many times. So it really wasn't like the shot was pressure."
There was plenty of pressure around him, though.
Third-seeded Xavier, a 30-game winner for the first time in school history, trailed West Virginia by six in overtime. Despite the deficit, the Musketeers insist they had no visions of 2007, when they lost in overtime to No. 1 seed Ohio State.
"I don't think anybody was necessarily thinking of that particular game," Xavier's Josh Duncan said. "We were thinking about not giving up, though."
Raymond hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Musketeers ahead 75-74 with 1:18 to play. He then shook loose on an inbounds play, took a crosscourt bounce pass from Stanley Burrell and made a 3 with the shot clock expiring for a 78-74 lead with 30 seconds left.
"I was kind of a nonfactor for the first 40 minutes," Raymond said. "I knew when I got back in there, I had to make something happen."
The second 3 was the dagger.
"It wasn't a great play that I drew up," Xavier coach Sean Miller said. "It was a terrific pass by Stanley Burrell and an amazing shot off the bounce by B.J."
WVU coach Bob Huggins said his defense clogged up the intended play but "somebody fell asleep" to allow the wide-open 3.
The Musketeers (30-6) are in a regional final for the second time. They made it this far in 2004. Xavier has never been in the Final Four.
Joe Alexander scored 18 and had 10 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Mountaineers (26-11) before fouling out in the overtime.
West Virginia missed four of six free throws in the overtime. Alexander missed one with 14.2 seconds left in regulation that would have given his team a 65-64 lead.
East Regional Louisville 79, Tennessee 60
At Charlotte, N.C., Louisville and North Carolina were supposed to meet earlier this season, but the banged-up Cardinals were upset by Brigham Young in a November tournament, spoiling the potential matchup of traditional powers.Since then the Cardinals have gotten healthy and Rick Pitino has them playing their best basketball of the season. Now Louisville will finally get that crack at the Tar Heels — for a spot in the Final Four.Earl Clark had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Pitino's mix of defenses made life miserable for Tennessee in a 79-60 victory Thursday night that put third-seeded Louisville in the East Regional final."The last three games, our offense and our defense have both been clicking," said Pitino, who is a victory away from a sixth trip to the Final Four. "There have been games where our offense has clicked or our defense has clicked, but our defense has stayed constant most of the year."The third-seeded Cardinals (27-8) overcame 20 turnovers by shooting 52 percent. On defense, Pitino's signature zone and pressure limited the high-scoring Volunteers to 34-percent shooting. The veteran coach improved to 8-0 in regional semifinals by finding a way to bottle up No. 2 seed Tennessee's top scorers.Chris Lofton, hounded all day on the perimeter, scored 15 points on 3-of-15 shooting. Tyler Smith got into foul trouble and made just 3 of 9 shots in an 11-point night.North Carolina 68, Washington St. 47Before North Carolina took the court in Charlotte against Washington State (26-9) and its deliberate offense, Roy Williams scribbled a message about defense on the board in the locker room."Tough enough, patient enough, poised enough," it read.His Tar Heels were all three. Now they're within a game of the Final Four again.Tyler Hansbrough scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half and the top-seeded Tar Heels held Washington State to 32 percent shooting in a 68-47 victory Thursday night, sending North Carolina to the NCAA tournament's round of eight for the second straight season.Danny Green had 15 points to help the Tar Heels (35-2) set a school record for victories while continuing their dominant run through the East Regional. The No. 1 overall seed has won its first three NCAA games by 20 or more points for the first time in program history as it chases a record 17th trip to the Final Four.West Regional UCLA 88, Western Kentucky 78The UCLA Bruins are one victory away from their third straight Final Four.They're not quite sure how.Even though Kevin Love scored a career-high 29 points, the Bruins nearly frittered away a 21-point halftime lead before they hung on to defeat Western Kentucky 88-78 in an NCAA West Regional semifinal at Phoenix Thursday night.In the second round, they pulled out a two-point victory over Texas A&M in a virtual home game."This is very typical of us," coach Ben Howland said. "We like to make things exciting, you know, make me lose hair."Given its recent history, top-seeded UCLA (34-3) is taking nothing for granted against No. 3-seeded Xavier Saturday, when the Bruins will play for a trip to San Antonio and the Final Four."We've got our hands full," Howland said. "We understand that."
