Recap: Pittsburgh vs. Xavier
Sports Network | March 21, 2010
Milwaukee, WI (Sports Network) - Jordan Crawford posted 27 points and sixth- seeded Xavier survived two game-tying three-point attempts in the closing seconds to come away with a slim 71-68 victory over third-seeded Pittsburgh in a second-round matchup out of the West Region.
Jason Love added 14 points and eight rebounds, and Terrell Holloway chipped in 13 points for the Musketeers (26-8), who lost to Pitt in the regional semifinals of the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
"I thought the game turned out what we thought going in. Tough physical Pittsburgh team. Runs by both teams. And I really credit our kids' toughness for hanging in there," said Xavier head coach Chris Mack, who also stated this was not a revenge game.
Xavier has now reached the Sweet 16 in each of the past three seasons and will next face second-seeded Kansas State in Salt Lake City on Thursday.
Brad Wanamaker scored 16 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out five assists for the Panthers (25-9), who were vying for their sixth Sweet 16 appearance in the last nine seasons.
Ashton Gibbs scored 18 of his 19 points in the opening 20 minutes, as Pittsburgh never led following Xavier's 16-0 first-half run.
Gilbert Brown had 14 points, including a trio of three-pointers in the final two minutes that gave the Panthers a shot at pulling off a comeback victory.
His last three cut the deficit to 69-66 with 16.9 seconds left, and it appeared Xavier threw the inbounds pass away. The initial ruling was Pitt ball, but another official came in and overturned the call.
Holloway then put in two free throws with 14.3 seconds showing and Travon Woodall put in a quick two for Pitt to make it a one-possession game again.
Dante Jackson followed with two misses from the foul line to give the Panthers a chance to tie. Gibbs had the first attempt at sending the game into overtime but was off the mark on his try from the right wing.
Xavier knocked the ball out of bounds, and with four tenths of a second showing, Pitt inbounded to Wanamaker, who was short on his quick release from the left side, sending the Panthers home early.
"Coach [Jamie Dixon] drew up a good play. I thought it was good when it left my hand but it came up short," Wanamaker said.
The second half was chock-full of runs from both teams, though Xavier, which beat Minnesota in the first round of the tourney on Friday, never gave up its halftime lead.
Dante Taylor put in a field goal with under five minutes to play that got the Panthers within 57-54. After trading buckets, Holloway rattled home a short fadeaway with 3:14 to play.
It was still a five-point game before Love's block on a Wanamaker attempt led to Crawford's fastbreak dunk.
Brown then started on his barrage of threes, while Xavier made eight consecutive free throws on the other end to help offset the scores before leaving the game open for debate on Jackson's two misses.
"I just wanted to make one," Jackson said of his trip to the line. "Thank God our team stayed strong like we did the entire game and just fought it."
Trailing 18-15 after Gibbs' jumper midway through the first half, Xavier netted 16 straight to take the lead for good.
Jackson hit twice from long range on the run, and Crawford's three-pointer resulted in a 31-18 game with 4 1/2 minutes left in the opening half.
Gibbs had a pair of makes from three-point range in the final two minutes of the half, which ended with Xavier holding a 35-28 edge.
The Musketeers continued to play front-runner after the break and led 50-37 with under 14 minutes to play following Crawford's two threes and mid-range jumper in a three-possession span.
Pitt, which rolled past Oakland on Friday, answered with a 12-point spurt to make it a one-point game. Wanamaker and Brown each converted three-point plays on the run and Woodall capped it with a layup for a 50-49 game with nine minutes remaining.
Holloway's three-point play ended a string of seven straight points that gave Xavier some breathing room with 6 1/2 minutes on the clock.
Xavier is now 19-20 in the tourney while Pittsburgh fell to 22-23...Jermaine Dixon shot 1-for-9 from the field and had just two points for the Panthers, who shot 39.1 percent from the field...Jackson scored nine points for the Musketeers, who made 48.0 percent of their shots.
