The Xavier Musketeers are moving on to the third round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament after a thrilling 67-63 win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Musketeers were down ten in the second half and fought back over the final ten minutes to finally take a one-point lead with three minutes remaining. It was their first lead since the five minute mark of the first half.
Tu Holloway led X with 25 points, including a beautiful off-balance runner off the square to give Chris Mack's club a one-point lead with 25 seconds remaining. Dezmine Wells would make one of two free-throws on their subsequent possession for a two-point lead. Then, with less than ten seconds to play, Notre Dame's Eric Atkins was fouled while driving to the hoop, sending him to the line for a one-and-one. On his first attempt, however, Jerian Grant was whistled for a lane violation which negated the made free-throw and turned it over to the Musketeers, sealing the win. An animated gif of the call lane violation call below:
In addition to Holloway, Dezmine Wells was huge for X, putting in a double-double effort with 14 points and 11 boards. Xavier will now face the No.15 seed Lehigh on Sunday after the Mountain Hawks pulled off an incredible upset over No. 2 seed Duke.
For more on the Xavier Musketeers, check out Banners On The Parkway. For more on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, head over to One Foot Down. If you want more on the 2012 NCAA Tournament bracket, stick with SB Nation's NCAA Tournament hub for a complete printable NCAA Tournament bracket and tons of analysis on every March Madness game.
