Xavier and UNC to Elite 8

UNC - Washington St.
Well, Washington St. didnt show up to fulfill the upset special. In fact outside of Baynes they looked downright awful. It was close for the first 12 minutes and then UNC went on to roll. Wash St. is a poor man's Wisconsin it seemed. UNC has looked dominant throughout the tournament and are in for a bigger test than anything they have seen in the elite 8.

Xavier - West Virginia
The other game was much more exciting. Xavier was up 18 in the first half before West Virginia cut it to 7 by halftime. I still don't know how they did because both Joe Alexander (CDTN favorite) and Darris Nichols had two fouls and sat for the majority of the half. In the second half it seemed that it was West Virginia's game and just a matter of time before they got over the hump (taking the lead). Well, they took the lead with about 5 minutes left in the game and without senior leadership from Josh Duncan I don't think this game gets to overtime. In the final minute Xavier was up 2 but couldn't get a good possession up so West Virginia had a chance to tie or take the lead. They dumped it down to Alexander and he hit a tough bank shot and got fouled in doing so. He missed the free throw and Drew Lavender's last second attempt was off the mark so they went to overtime.

On an aside, it was a pleasure to have Bill Raftery calling this game. It was obvious he has called scores of games this season and knew about every player on both teams. He even made the calls of the players names before Lundquist (the set PxP guy) on many plays.

In overtime it was a game of who can keep their guys in for longer. C.J. Anderson and Derek Brown both fouled out for Xavier and it seemed that West Virginia was winning that battle until down low Josh Duncan got bumped by Alexander which sent Alexander out with his 5th personal. Great job by Duncan playing with fouls and still remaining aggressive. He had picked up his 4th with 12 minutes to go in regulation yet he remained on the floor and a factor for the entirety. West Virginia got up 4 with two minutes left in this one and it seemed that even without their leader Alexander they were getting enough from contributors Alex Ruoff and Joe Mazzula to hold on. Then after Duncan went 1/2 from the line and Xavier got a stop on D, Drew Lavender hit a 3 to tie the game up. It was a big shot for Lavender who was virtually silent for the entire game. West Virginia answered with a 2 and then B.J. Raymond decided he was ready to join the game. He received the ball at the top of the key and despite not scoring yet in the game he let it fly- wet. Xavier was up 1 and got another stop. Xavier had possession and Wellington Smith punched Drew Lavender's shot out of bounds with 2 seconds left on the shot clock. On the inbounds play West Virginia misscomunicated and left Raymond open on the opposite side of the court as the ball. Stanley Burrell bounced it over to him and he cocked back and hit the biggest shot of his life. It was the dagger in West Virginia's spine and it was just a matter of free throws and clock running out before it was final. Xavier had avenged last year's tough loss to Ohio State and are now one win away from the final four.