DAYTON, Ohio — Marcus Foster sank four clutch 3-pointers scored a team-high 22 points to help Xavier rally past Texas 86-80 on Wednesday in the NCAA Tournament’s final First Four game.
Xavier (22-11) advances as the No. 11 seed to play No. 6 seed Illinois in a first-round Midwest Region contest Friday in Milwaukee.
Zach Freemantle overcame early foul trouble to finish with 15 points while Dailyn Swain and Ryan Conwell added 11 apiece for Xavier. Dante Maddox Jr. put up 10 points.
The final seven minutes featured intense momentum swings that saw Texas lose a 10-point lead, Xavier build a four-point lead and the Longhorns rally to tie.
Tre Johnson finished with 23 points for Texas (19-16), while Tramon Mark added 16 points and five assists. Kadin Shedrick contributed 11 points and seven rebounds.
In the first half, Texas took advantage of a Xavier team that was got off to a shaky start in front of a heavily partisan Musketeers crowd at the University of Dayton Arena, less than 50 miles from the Xavier campus.
Freemantle picked up his second foul just five-plus minutes into the game, and he was subbed out. With the team struggling to find offense without him, Xavier coach Sean Miller put Freemantle back into the game less than three minutes later.
Then, with just under six minutes left in the first half, Xavier’s Ryan Conwell was whistled for his third foul and subsequently took a seat. Texas took advantage by going to the paint, outscoring Xavier 26-16 in the lane before halftime.
The Musketeers appeared to gain valuable momentum just before the half on Jerome Hunter’s straightaway 3-pointer that cut Texas’ lead to six. But Mark answered with a drive into the paint and a floater that beat the buzzer and put Texas ahead 47-39 entering halftime.
Xavier cut the deficit to four and had several chances to get closer early in the second half but didn’t do so. Freemantle picked up his third foul with 13:20 remaining. On the ensuing possession, Johnson knocked down a trey to expand the Longhorns’ lead to 62-52.
However, thanks to threes from Foster and Hunter, Xavier forged a 65-65 tie with 8:10 left.
The score was 78-78 with 1:48 to go before Freemantle scored the Musketeers’ next four points on a jumper and two foul shots. A jumper from Swain with 20 seconds left put Xavier up 84-79.
