Following their impressive win over BYU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats watched Xavier upset Pittsburgh. K-State knew they would be in for a battle against the Musketeers, a team which they had thoroughly handled earlier in the season by a 15 points. The game against Xavier in December can be considered ancient history, as far as anyone is concerned. The Xavier team K-State faced off against Thursday night is simply not the same team.
Jordan Crawford and Terrell Holloway nearly willed Xavier to a win, repeatedly nailing ridiculous three-point shots against K-State’s swarming defense. However, the Musketeers simply had no answer for K-State’s bruising inside game, complimented by their streaky outside shooting, eventually falling 101-96 in double overtime.
Earlier this season, Kansas State and Xavier strapped up and the Wildcats won the heated battled easily by 15, only allowing Crawford to score sixteen points—four below his season average—and held the Xavier offense to just 56 total points. Xavier was an entirely different animal against K-State in the Sweet 16 match-up Thursday night. Quite simply, the game was one for the ages, one that will not soon be forgotten by anyone across the country.
The Wildcats began the game on fire, streaking to a 19-4 early lead. Everything looked to be going Kansas State’s way, but Xavier’s Holloway had other plans. Xavier stormed back with a 28-12 run to end the half. Shocked, the Wildcats found themselves trailing by one and had to do some soul-searching to get things turned around. After a ferocious halftime speech from Frank Martin where he called the offensive play “selfish” and added that the Wildcats could not play like this at this time of year, K-State came out of halftime on a tear.
K-State’s offense took on an entirely different look in the second half as it began sharing the ball and looking to distribute the ball to whoever had the best shot. Denis Clemente came out on a mission in the second half, collecting the first four points for the Wildcats. He continued to roll after that as Jacob Pullen sat on the bench with foul trouble.
After grasping a three point lead over Xavier with 10 seconds left on the clock, the referees missed Clemente’s foul attempt that would have sent Holloway to the line to shoot two free-throws. Instead, Chris Merriewether was whistled for fouling Holloway as he tossed a desperation heave toward the basket, allowing him to shoot three free-throws to tie up the game at 72.
With just seconds remaining on the clock, Pullen streaked down the court and took a clear shot at the basket. It fell short, hitting nothing but rim, and the game headed to the first overtime session.
In the first overtime, Kansas State and Xavier traded baskets until Pullen hit a driving lay-up and Merriewether hit a free-throw. Xavier was under serious pressure at that point, with the Wildcats leading by three with just 19 seconds left on the clock.
Xavier had the ball and rushed it down court. They finally got the ball to Crawford who was nearly 35 feet away from the basket. Checking the clock, Crawford fired it from 35 feet away and nailed it to tie the game. With just seconds remaining on the clock, Clemente streaked down the court and settled for a clean look at the buzzer which drew iron but would not go down. The Wildcats and the Musketeers were headed to double overtime in an instant classic.
In the second overtime, Pullen stepped up and began to take over the game. He nailed two key three-pointers and drained two free-throws. Pullen scored eight of the Wildcats’ 14 points in double overtime and the Wildcats escaped the Musketeers to advance to their first Elite 8 since 1988.
Crawford was already well-known across the country for his dunk over LeBron James last summer, but people will have a lot more to discuss now after seeing him post an astonishing 32 points against the Wildcats, including the deep 35-footer to send the game into a second overtime.
Holloway also played a big part in Xavier’s scoring efforts. He almost single-handedly ignited Xavier to their 28-12 run to end the first half, and he finished with 26 points.
Although it wasn’t enough to advance to the Elite 8, Xavier made this game into an instant classic—certainly one of the best in NCAA Tournament history—and made Kansas State fight every second of the game. In the end, with both teams exhausted, the Wildcats stood victorious and advanced to their 12th Elite 8 in school history.
The Wildcats were led in scoring by Pullen (28), Clemente (25), and Curtis Kelly (21). The three combined for 73 percent of the offense and played a key part in the win against Xavier.
The Wildcats scored 101 points, dished out 19 assists, and blocked an astonishing 11 shots. The three stats mark the most for the Wildcats this season. The win gives K-State the right to face off against Butler in the Elite 8 for the opportunity to play in the Final Four in Indianapolis, IN. The Wildcats and the Bulldogs will tip at about 3:30 on CBS.
