MBB Minute – Butler, Xavier Advance To Sweet 16
NEW YORK - Butler and Xavier moved on to the NCAA Regional Semifinals after impressive wins on Saturday, while Villanova’s season ended on the same day.
Butler, the No. 4 seed in the South Region, advanced to the Sweet 16 round for the first time since 2011 after defeating No. 12 seed Middle Tennessee State 74-65 in Milwaukee, Wis. Kelan Martin scored a team-high 19 points and Andrew Chrabascz added 15 points.
The Bulldogs will meet No. 1 seed North Carolina Friday at 7:09 ET on CBS. It will be the sixth time that Butler has played a No. 1 seed. The Bulldogs are 2-3 in the previous five meetings.
Xavier, the 11th seed in the West Region, won its second straight over a higher seeded opponent when the Musketeers pulled away from No. 3 seed Florida State 91-66 in Orlando, Fla. Trevon Bluiett scored 21 of his game-high 29 points in the second half. Xavier will be making its sixth Sweet 16 appearance in the last 10 years.
The Musketeers will meet No. 2 seed Arizona on Thursday in San Jose, Calif. Tipoff is approximately 10:10 p.m. on TBS. Two years ago, Xavier also met the Wildcats – and former Musketeer coach Sean Miller -- in the Sweet 16 in Los Angeles. Arizona won 68-60.
Villanova, the No. 1 seed in the East Region and defending NCAA champion, saw its season end in a 65-62 loss to No. 8 seed Wisconsin in Buffalo, N.Y. In his last game as a collegian, Josh Hart scored 19 points. The Wildcats’ year ended with a 32-4 record.
The BIG EAST landed seven of its 10 teams in the NCAA Championship, the highest percentage of NCAA representation for any conference this year. The 70 percent is the second highest mark in BIG EAST history. In 1991, the league placed seven of nine teams in the NCAAs. In its current 10-team alignment, the BIG EAST has earned 22 NCAA bids in four years.