Xavier rallies to beat Texas in NCAA tournament First Four game

DAYTON, Ohio — Marcus Foster scored 22 points and Zach Freemantle added 15 while overcoming foul trouble as Xavier rallied past Texas 86-80 in the First Four on Wednesday night.

The Musketeers (22-11) erased a 13-point deficit in their biggest comeback win this season and advanced to play No. 6 seed Illinois on Friday night in a Midwest Region game at Milwaukee.

Tre Johnson led the Longhorns with 23 points in an NCAA tournament matchup of No. 11 seeds. Tramon Mark scored 16.

Freemantle hit a turnaround jumper to break a 78-all tie with 1:48 remaining, and his two free throws extended Xavier’s lead to 82-79 with 1:09 left. Johnson missed a fadeaway jumper, and Dailyn Swain’s putback of Freemantle’s missed three-pointer upped the margin to five with 20 seconds to play.

Chendall Weaver made one of two free throws for Texas before Freemantle’s dunk sealed it.

Foster shot eight for nine from the field, including four of five on threes, and finished with eight rebounds.

The Longhorns (19-16) took advantage of early foul trouble for Xavier and got to the rim at will in the first half, scoring 26 of 47 points in the paint.

Freemantle, who averaged 19.8 points during the Musketeers’ seven-game winning streak to close the regular season, had two points and two fouls in the first half. He picked up his fourth foul with 7:10 left.

Texas led 47-39 at halftime. It was the first time Xavier trailed at the break since a Jan. 29 loss at Creighton.

The Musketeers were down by 13 in the first half and still trailed by 10 with 16 minutes remaining. Jerome Hunter’s three-pointer tied the score at 65 with eight minutes left.

A three-pointer by Oklahoma transfer John Hugley put the Musketeers ahead 75-74 with 5:07 to go.

It was the fourth time since 1990 the teams met in the NCAA tournament, with each school winning twice.

Mount St. Mary’s wins, will face Duke

Mount St. Mary’s Arlandus Keyes (2) reacts as teammate Dallas Hobbs (8) shoots during during an NCAA tournament First Four game Wednesday night in Dayton, Ohio.

(Jeff Dean / Associated Press)

Dola Adebayo and Jedy Cordilla each scored 22 points as Mount St. Mary’s defeated American 83-72 in an NCAA tournament matchup of No. 16 seeds at the First Four on Wednesday night.

The Mountaineers (23-12) earned a date with No. 1 seed Duke on Friday in an East Region game at Raleigh, N.C.

Geoff Sprouse led American (22-13) with 18 points on six three-pointers off the bench. Elijah Stephens scored 12.

American leading scorer Matt Rogers injured his right knee four minutes into the game.

Rogers attempted to play through the pain, but with 5:28 remaining in the first half he fell to the court, was helped off and did not return. Rogers, who averages 17 points per game, finished with seven points in eight minutes. He watched the second half from the bench on crutches.

Both teams were shooting better than 60% and went a combined eight of 19 from three-point range through the first 10 minutes. Dallas Hobbs beat the buzzer with a three to put Mount St. Mary’s ahead 48-38 at halftime.

Hobbs finished with 17 points.

Mount St. Mary’s was missing leading three-point shooter Carmelo Pacheco, who hasn’t played since breaking a finger in the regular-season finale.

But the Mountaineers stayed hot from long range in the second half. Malcolm Dread’s three-pointer put them ahead 64-51 with 11:26 left.

Mount St. Mary’s improved to 3-6 in the NCAA tournament.

It was the 71st meeting between the Washington, D.C., area schools. American leads the series 37-34 and had won four meetings in a row.

Wallner writes for the Associated Press.