Butler beat Middle Tennessee in second-round action at the NCAA tournament on Saturday, 74-65. The Bulldogs moved to the Sweet 16, where they’ll play either North Carolina or Arkansas next week in the South regional semifinals.
NCAA bracket update: Butler staves off upset bid from Middle Tennessee
The Blue Raiders almost mounted a Cinderella run to the Sweet 16, but Butler wasn’t having it.
James Lang-USA TODAY Sports
A live tournament bracket is here.
The Blue Raiders beat No. 5 Minnesota in the first round, in what was technically an upset but wasn’t really an upset. They announced a year ago, when they beat No. 2 Michigan State in the first round, that they could play. They were Conference USA’s best team by a good bit. Beating the Gophers didn’t catch anyone by surprise.
Butler has had to beat a couple of pretty good teams, now. No. 13 Winthrop has some good players and had been red hot entering the tournament, but the Bulldogs didn’t have any trouble with them. They had to work a little more to beat Middle Tennessee, but they got it done. Chris Holtmann’s team is still dancing.
Elsewhere ...
The No. 11 Xavier Musketeers blasted the heavy favorite No. 3 Florida State Seminoles on Saturday, 91-66, to advance to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA West.
The Seminoles had no answer for junior guard Trevon Bluiett, who torched Florida State for 29 points on eight-of-14 shooting from the field, including three-of-five on threes. He hit a dagger three-pointer deep on the right wing with 2:42 left in the second half to extend Xavier’s already insurmountable lead to 23.
Xavier used its deftness from beyond the arc to pelt Florida State at a 65 percent clip from downtown. The Musketeers connected on 11 of its 17 attempted threes while holding the Seminoles to just four-of-21 three-point shooting. They also out-assisted the Seminoles, 20-10.
Florida State enjoyed an impressive performance from sophomore guard Dwayne Bacon, who scored 18 points on nine-of-18 shooting from the field. Bacon had a nice one-handed finish with less than seven minutes left in the second half, but he was unable to connect on any of his five three-point attempts.
Xavier Rathan-Mayes also scored 16 points for the Seminoles, and P.J. Savoy chimed in with eight points off the bench. But Keiser Gates and Sean O’Mara combined for 25 points off of the Musketeer pine, and freshman starter Tyrique Jones chipped in with 13 points and four rebounds to help his team pull off an upset on Saturday.
Xavier will play the winner of Arizona vs. St. Mary’s.
See More:
