Xavier Pulls Off Great Escape
By BOB BAUM,
AP
Posted: 2008-06-02 23:41:51
PHOENIX (March 27) - In a span of 48 critical seconds late in overtime, B.J. Raymond made more 3-pointers than the entire West Virginia team did all night.
Stephen Dunn, Getty Images
Day Five
Storylines
3. Xavier 79, 7. West Virginia 75 | West
The Mountaineers rally from an 18-point first half deficit, but miss the go-ahead free throw in regulation and commit a costly late turnover to give this Sweet 16 game to the Musketeers. Details
He went from "non-factor" to nonplussed, calmly knocking down two long-range jumpers that lifted Xavier past coach Bob Huggins' Mountaineers 79-75 Thursday night in the West Region semifinals.
Third-seeded Xavier (30-6) rallied from a six-point deficit in overtime, and will seek its first Final Four appearance when it plays the UCLA-Western Kentucky winner on Saturday.
Raymond, who scored all eight of his points from overtime, 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 inbound 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 non-factor 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."
Huggins said his defense clogged up the intended play but "somebody fell asleep" to allow the wide-open 3.
Josh Duncan scored a career-high 26 points despite foul trouble to lead Xavier.
Xavier, which led by 18 early in the game, rallied from a 71-65 deficit in overtime.
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.
Xavier shot 11-for-19 on 3s while West Virginia was 1-for-11 from long range. The Mountaineers had only one worse performance on 3s this season, going 1-for-22 in a loss to Cincinnati.
Kansas basketball coach Bill Self poses with students in Boys Town, Neb., Wednesday, May 7, 2008. Self, who visited Boys Town before appearing at an Omaha sports banquet in the evening, said he'll have no idea what the roster for the defending NCAA champions will look like until after June's NBA draft. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
AP
Kansas basketball coach Bill Self, center, jokes during a visit to Boys Town, Neb., Wednesday, May 7, 2008, as he stands near Boys Town Executive Director Steve Boes, left. said he'll have no idea what the roster for the defending NCAA champions will look like until after June's NBA draft. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
AP
Kansas basketball coach Bill Self, left, takes questions from students during a visit to Boys Town, Neb., Wednesday, May 7, 2008. Self, who was in Omaha for a sports banquet, said he'll have no idea what the roster for the defending NCAA championship team will look like until after June's NBA draft. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
AP
** FILE ** In this Jan. 9, 2008 file photo, LSU's Garrett Temple (14) knocks the ball away from Mississippi State's Ben Hansbrough, right, and Temple eventually ends up with the ball during the first half of a college basketball game in Baton Rouge, La. Hansbrough, who helped Mississippi State advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament last month, is transferring to Notre Dame. (AP Photo/Bill Feig, File)
AP
Memphis head coach John Calipari smiles as he answers a question at a news conference at the college basketball Final Four in this April 6, 2008 file photo, in San Antonio. Calipari has signed a contract extension through the 2012-13 season that includes an annual raise of $500,000. Calipari will make $2.35 million per year and will receive a $5 million bonus if he stays through the end of the deal, athletic director R.C. Johnson announced Saturday, April 26, 2008. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
AP
** FILE ** This March 27, 2008 file photo shows Texas guard D.J. Augustin (14) smiling during a news conference at the NCAA South Regional basketball tournament in Houston. All-American point guard D.J. Augustin says he is leaving Texas after two seasons to turn pro. He said Wednesday April 23, 2008 that he has long dreamed of playing in the NBA and that he is "ready to start living this dream." (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
AP
** FILE ** In this March 22, 2008 file photo, Mississippi State guard Jamont Gordon responds to a question during a news conference at the NCAA men's basketball tournament South Regional in North Little Rock, Ark. Gordon has decided to turn pro but won't hire an agent before the NBA draft. Gordon told The Associated Press he planned to file the paperwork. In a phone interview Tuesday afternoon April 22, 2008, Gordon said he intends to go through with the draft if he remains injury free. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
AP
** FILE ** In this March 23, 2008 file photo, Mississippi State guard Jamont Gordon (44) takes a shot as Memphis guard Antonio Anderson (5) defends in the first half of an NCAA men's basketball second-round South Regional game in North Little Rock, Ark. Gordon has decided to turn pro but won't hire an agent before the NBA draft. Gordon told The Associated Press he planned to file the paperwork. In a phone interview Tuesday afternoon April 22, 2008, Gordon said he intends to go through with the draft if he remains injury free. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)
AP
** FILE ** This March 19, 2006 file photo shows Bucknell basketball coach Pat Flannery pleading with an official during the first half of their NCAA tournament second-round basketball game against Memphis in Dallas. Flannery is retiring after 14 years on the bench at his alma mater. A person at the university told The Associated Press of Flannery's retirement Friday morning, April 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam, File)
AP
** FILE ** Memphis coach John Calipari talks with Memphis freshman guard Derrick Rose (23) in the first half of the NCAA South Regional basketball final in Houston in this March 30, 2008 file photo, in Houston. Rose announced on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 he was jumping to the NBA, the same day Calipari agreed in principle to a contract extension with the school. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
AP
"I don't know what we are shooting on the year," Alexander said, "but it is definitely better than 10 percent. In a close game like that, if we would have shot even half of what we normally shoot, it would have made a big difference."
Going into the game, West Virginia had shot 35 percent from 3-point range.
Duncan was 3-of-4 on 3s, Drew Lavender 3-of-6 and Raymond 2-of-4.
"I shot that shot probably 100,000 times in my life," Raymond said of his late 3s. "It is easy once you've shot it so many times."
Da'Sean Butler added 16 points, 14 in the second half for West Virginia. Butler also fouled out in the overtime.
Xavier has been in a regional final only once, in 2004.
Despite the loss, Huggins has had quite the comeback with the school he played for. Out of work two years ago, he barely missed taking a team to the regional final for the fourth time.
Huggins got fired at Cincinnati - a school he led to the 1992 Final Four - after a drunken driving arrest and sat out a season before surfacing at Kansas State in 2007. He guided that team to the NIT, where it lost in the second round.
Cheerleaders perform during training for the beach volleyball events ahead of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, August 7, 2008. (Carlos Barria, Reuters)
Carlos Barria, Reuter
Chinese cheerleaders perform at the break of the USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team against the Russian National Team during the USA Basketball International Challenge exhibition game at the Qizhong Arena on August 3, 2008 in Shanghai, China. (MN Chan, Getty Images)
MN Chan, Getty Images
Cheerleaders dance during the men's preliminary round beach volleyball match between Russia and Italy at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, August 12, 2008. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (CHINA)
Reuters
Cheerleaders perform before the men's 69kg Group A weightlifting competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 12, 2008. REUTERS/Yves Herman (CHINA)
Reuters
A man rides a bicycle past tribunes as Chinese cheerleaders wave flags at the rowing venue during the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
AP
Cheerleaders perform during a time out in a 2008 Beijing Olympics Women's preliminary match of Beach Volleyball at Beijing's Chaoyang Park on August 11, 2008. AFP PHOTO/THOMAS COEX (Photo credit should read THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
Cheerleaders perform during a time out in a 2008 Beijing Olympic Women's preliminary match of Beach Volleyball at Beijing's Chaoyang Park Beach volleyball ground on August 11, 2008. AFP PHOTO/THOMAS COEX (Photo credit should read THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
Cheerleaders perform during a time out in a Women's preliminary match of Beach Volleyball at Beijing's Chaoyang Park Beach volleyball ground, August 11, 2008. AFP PHOTO/THOMAS COEX (Photo credit should read THOMAS COEX/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
A cheerleader is thrown up the air while performing during half-time break at the men's pool MB hockey match between Australia and Canada at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 11, 2008. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne (CHINA)
Reuters
Cheerleaders perform during break of men's field hockey match between Pakistan and Britain at the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games on August 11, 2008. Great Britain won 4-2. AFP PHOTO/ AAMIR QURESHI (Photo credit should read /AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
Huggins and his team seemed right among basketball's elite in reaching the round of 16.
"The reality is we played pretty well," he said. "We just didn't finish it."
Duncan drew his fourth foul with 12 1/2 minutes left in regulation. He came out briefly, then returned and was on the court almost the entire rest of the game. When it was over, he grabbed the ball and hurled it in to the wildly cheering Xavier booster section.
"We had been in so many tough situations throughout the year," Duncan said. "Instead of easily giving up or panicking, we stayed poised, stayed together."
The Musketeers built a big lead at the start, but West Virginia scored the final five points of the half to cut it to 32-25.
The Mountaineers took their first lead of the game at 51-50 on Butler's 8-foot bank shot with 9:41 left.
There were six lead changes and four ties the remainder of regulation.
Duncan's three-point play with 1:56 left tied it at 62, and his two free throws with 1:28 to play in the second half put Xavier up 64-62.
After that, West Virginia went cold. Alexander missed a jumper on one possession, and his teammates couldn't connect on three rebound shots.
Nobody could score again until Alexander's tough 15-foot bank shot with 14.2 seconds left tied it at 64. But he missed the free throw, and Lavender's 18-footer under pressure missed to send the game into overtime.
"We won the game, West Virginia lost, but you needed a little luck when it is this tight with so much at stake," Miller said, "and a couple of balls bounced our way."
For a while, with the Mountaineers misfiring from everywhere, it looked like an Xavier blowout.
The Musketeers made six of their first eight 3-pointers and West Virginia missed its first eight shots.
Lavender made two 3s and assisted on another, and the Musketeers led 28-10, thanks largely to 3-for-16 shooting by the Mountaineers.
But Wellington Smith brought West Virginia back, scoring the first eight in a 10-0 run that cut it to 28-20 on Jamie Smalligan's unlikely, awkward 12-foot bank shot with 4:05 left in the half.
West Virginia shot 33 percent for the half and 0-for-6 on 3s. Xavier made 6-of-11 on 3s.
Alexander, averaging 16.8 points per game, had two at the half on 1-of-4 shooting
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
