CINCINNATI — Xavier’s Jordan Crawford has decided to enter the NBA draft.

Xavier University sophomore Jordan Crawford has decided to keep his name in the upcoming June 24 NBA Draft. Crawford is bidding to become the 15th former Xavier player to play and/or be drafted to play in the NBA Draft since 1990.

The [...]]]> Associated Press

CINCINNATI — Xavier’s Jordan Crawford has decided to enter the NBA draft.

Xavier University sophomore Jordan Crawford has decided to keep his name in the upcoming June 24 NBA Draft. Crawford is bidding to become the 15th former Xavier player to play and/or be drafted to play in the NBA Draft since 1990.

The Atlantic 10’s leading scorer has hired agent Mark Bartelstein, the school announced Friday night. He had until May 8 to decide whether to return to Xavier for his junior season or make himself a candidate for the June 24 draft.

Crawford played one season at Indiana before transferring to Xavier and sitting out a season. In his only season with the Musketeers, he averaged 20.5 points and helped Xavier win a share of a fourth straight A-10 title.

He was at his best in the NCAA tournament, averaging 29 points in three games. He scored a career-high 32 points in a 101-96 double-overtime loss to Kansas State in the regional semifinals.

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Chris Mack enjoyed tremendous success in his first year as the head coach.

CINCINNATI — Xavier first-year head coach Chris Mack was named Basketball Times Rookie Coach of the Year. Mack, 26-9, was the winningest first-year head coach in Division I and the only rookie head coach to lead his team into the [...]]]> Associated Press

Chris Mack enjoyed tremendous success in his first year as the head coach.

CINCINNATI — Xavier first-year head coach Chris Mack was named Basketball Times Rookie Coach of the Year. Mack, 26-9, was the winningest first-year head coach in Division I and the only rookie head coach to lead his team into the 2010 NCAA Tournament field.

Mack became the first XU head coach to guide a team to the Sweet 16 in his first or second season. Mack tied the school record for the most wins ever by an XU rookie head coach with 26.

Members of the Butler Bulldogs celebrate after defeating the Kansas State Wildcats during the west regional final of the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament at the Energy Solutions Arena on March 27, 2010 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

SALT LAKE CITY — It’s an easy five-mile drive from the Butler [...]]]> Associated Press

Members of the Butler Bulldogs celebrate after defeating the Kansas State Wildcats during the west regional final of the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament at the Energy Solutions Arena on March 27, 2010 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

SALT LAKE CITY — It’s an easy five-mile drive from the Butler campus to the site of its next game, in downtown Indianapolis. Still, it’s hard to think of many programs that have taken a longer, more unlikely road to the Final Four.

Yes, the boys from Butler did it — defeating Kansas State 63-56 in the West Regional final Saturday to make their trip back home something much bigger than that.

The fifth-seeded Bulldogs, the team that plays in the fieldhouse where “Hoosiers” was filmed, are writing their own underdog story, even if they can’t really be called underdogs anymore.

Gordon Hayward scored 22 points and Shelvin Mack had 16 to help Butler (32-4) win its 24th straight game and become the first school from a true, mid-major conference to make the Final Four since George Mason in 2006 — a trip that also ended in Indianapolis.

Trailing almost the entire game, No. 2 Kansas State (29-7) rallied to tie it at 54 with 3:09 remaining. But Butler didn’t fold, it only got better. The Bulldogs scored the next nine points to seal the game before K-State guard Jacob Pullen’s shot at the buzzer dropped — but offered no consolation.

Enrollment at Butler is in the 4,500 range, about 15 of whom have reminded everyone why college basketball captures America’s heart this time every year.

They are weaving a story about the overlooked and under-appreciated getting their time in the limelight, the kind of tale every underdog, from Charlie Brown to Gene Hackman, has to love.

But make no mistake — this is not some scrappy, overmatched team that needed a break, no Danny and the Miracles, or Villanova shooting 79 percent to knock off mighty Georgetown.

This is a team that stood toe-to-toe with Syracuse on one night, then Kansas State the next, shutting down two power teams from power conferences with legitimate stars of their own.

Pullen and teammate Denis Clemente didn’t score a point for Kansas State until 15 seconds were left in the first half, and it was no matter of luck. Rather, it was the tough, in-your-face defense of Ronald Nored and Willie Veasley that did it — smothering a pair of players who had combined for 53 points two nights earlier in a double-overtime win against Xavier.

Clemente finished with 18 and Pullen with 14, but they shot a combined 11 for 30.

Lucky teams also don’t win the way Butler did. Much like in its 63-59 victory over Syracuse, the Bulldogs held the lead in this one for most of the night, but fell behind briefly toward the end.

Clemente made a 3-pointer with 4:49 left to cap an 8-0 run and give K-State its only lead of the game, 52-51. Teams like Butler are supposed to fold then, right?

Well, not quite.

Hayward got fouled going to the hole and made two free throws to take the lead back, and teammate Matt Howard made one more free throw to make it 54-52. Clemente dribbled for what seemed like forever for a layup to tie, and that was the last significant basket the Wildcats would make.

Butler took the lead on the next possession when Hayward — that rare NBA prospect playing at a mid-major — stretched his entire 6-foot-9 frame to not only collect a too-high, alley-oop pass from Nored, but collect himself and make the shot.

Pullen came back with an air ball and Butler pulled away from there, ending Kansas State’s equally gritty quest — an effort that will certainly gain the Wildcats more cachet in a state that has long thought about the Jayhawks first.

Big man Curtis Kelly also had 14 points for Kansas State, which shot 38 percent for the game didn’t make a basket outside of 15 feet in the first half.

Credit for that, once again, goes to the Bulldogs, coached by 33-year-old Brad Stevens, who has refused to buy into the underdog story.

Being a mid-major, he insists, is mainly about money and resources, not about 5-on-5 in a 40-minute game with nothing — or everything — on the line.

Stevens found the players who fit his style — players who like to work hard, don’t back down from a challenge and don’t care that the big schools didn’t come chasing after them. They’re players who loved Hinkle Fieldhouse, the home of the Bulldogs, but also a tourist stopover because it’s where the 1980s classic “Hoosiers,” starring Hackman, was filmed.

Players who appreciate it certainly appreciate team basketball, Stevens said, and now his team will play in a much bigger venue — Lucas Oil Stadium next Saturday against Michigan State or Tennessee. The stadium seats about 70,000 for basketball. Butler’s home games — all of them — drew a total of about 90,000 all season.

A great underdog story, most of America will call it.

Good bet, though, that the boys from Butler won’t settle with being happy to be there.

Kansas State's Jacob Pullen shoots over Xavier's Mark Lyons in the second half of an NCAA West Regional semifinal college basketball game in Salt Lake City, Thursday, March 25, 2010. Pullen led Kansas State to a 101-96 win in double overtime.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Long after the jump shots [...]]]> Associated Press

Kansas State's Jacob Pullen shoots over Xavier's Mark Lyons in the second half of an NCAA West Regional semifinal college basketball game in Salt Lake City, Thursday, March 25, 2010. Pullen led Kansas State to a 101-96 win in double overtime.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Long after the jump shots stop falling and their ballyhooed beards go gray, Kansas State players will look back on this game as one of the best they ever played.

Same for the guys at Xavier, hard as it was to appreciate after a heartbreaker like that.

Jacob Pullen – the guard who brought the phrase “Fear the Beard” to the Little Apple – hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second overtime to help K-State outlast Xavier 101-96 on Thursday night in the West Regional semifinals.

An instant classic.

“It was two teams that didn’t want their season to end,” said Pullen, who finished with 28 points.

It added yet another dramatic chapter to an NCAA tournament that has already been crazy. This was the fifth game to go to overtime – and the second that went to double OT.

After knocking off one so called mid-major, the second-seeded Wildcats (29-7) will play another – fifth-seeded Butler – on Saturday to try to make their first Final Four since 1964.

This is the first time Kansas State has made it this far since 1988.

The sixth-seeded Musketeers (26-9) were seeking their third trip to the regional finals in seven years. They missed, just barely, but it was hard to call anyone a loser on this night.

“As good a game as I’ve ever coached or been a part of,” coach Chris Mack said.

Trailing by three at the end of regulation, Xavier’s Terrell Holloway got fouled while heaving up a 30-footer with 5 seconds left and calmly made all three free throws. Xavier was down by three again at the end of the first overtime, but Jordan Crawford jacked up a 35-footer that hit nothing but net.

“It was just one of those moments,” Pullen said.

One that certainly belongs on YouTube, right beside Crawford’s dunk on LeBron James, for sure.

But for Kansas State, this victory might land in a more permanent archive.

It was the next great moment in a season that took on its own personality in January, when Pullen decided to let the beard he grows along his jaw turn into something Abe Lincoln could love – and the K-State administration went along with it, passing out fake beards to fans who came to Bramlage Coliseum.

Now, the whole team has facial hair and fans wear T-shirts that say “Fear the Beard.”

Only entertaining if the team plays well, and at this point, there’s no arguing that.

“Real proud of our guys to find the courage and character to figure out a way to overcome some of our mistakes and some of the shots that Xavier made,” K-State coach Frank Martin said.

With Pullen slowed down and in foul trouble, Denis Clemente kept Kansas State in it, scoring 21 of his 25 points in the second half.

It looked as though Kansas State had it wrapped up when Pullen made a 3-pointer and two clutch free throws late in regulation to help the Wildcats take a pair of three-point leads.

“It was an emotional roller-coaster,” Pullen said. “I hit a shot at the end of the game, I’m thinking, `That’s game. That’s the nail in the coffin.’”

Xavier still had 9.7 seconds left, though, and needed to go the length of the court and make a 3-pointer. Martin called on the familiar strategy of trying to foul before a Xavier player could take the shot.

Clemente and Chris Merriewether were hacking away at Holloway (26 points), but no whistle came – until Holloway, feeling the slaps, heaved up a shot from 30 feet and got the whistle with 5 seconds left. Hit all three free throws – and the first overtime was on.

“Denis tried to foul beforehand, but the ref didn’t see it,” Pullen said. “And then Chris went to foul again, and Holloway made a smart play and put the ball up.”

K-State’s inside team of Curtis Kelly (21 points) and Jamar Samuels (14) did most of the damage in the first OT to make it 87-84 with 18.1 seconds left. But, proving that no three-point lead is safe against Xavier, Crawford spotted up from 35 and made it to force the decisive OT. The sophomore finished with a career-high 32 points.

“When you make a couple of them shots, you do kind of start to think that it’s meant to be,” Crawford said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that way.”

Xavier led 93-91 with 1:23 left in the second overtime. Exhausted and in foul trouble, the Musketeers had no answer for Pullen at the end. He hit an open 3 from the top of the key for a 94-93 lead with 1:09 left. Jason Love made one of two free throws on the next possession, then Pullen hit the next 3 to make it 97-94.

Pullen and Clemente then combined for four straight free throws over the last 24 seconds to ice the game.

When it was finally over, K-State fans, who made the 1,000-mile trip from Manhattan, Kan., chanted “K-S-U! K-S-U!” Love stood near the foul line and drooped his head – dispirited and exhausted, certainly taking little consolation that he was part of an instant classic.

A game that nonetheless featured 53 fouls, as the refs tried to gain control of a meeting between opponents who were playing for the fourth time in four seasons. The first three were brutal contests that weren’t particularly close or fun to watch.

The fourth one – a masterpiece, especially for Pullen, who played 40 minutes, and Clemente, who played 48 and has less than 48 hours to get ready for Butler.

“I expected it to be a hard-fought game. I didn’t expect it to be like this,” Martin said. “But they were phenomenal. And our guys were pretty good, too.”

9:37 PM ET, March 25, 2010 EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Time is supposed to ease the pain of past embarrassments.

The way Kansas State guard Jacob Pullen sees it, though, there are some things you simply can’t forget.

Locked in Pullen’s memory is the way [...]]]> Associated Press

9:37 PM ET, March 25, 2010 EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, UT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Time is supposed to ease the pain of past embarrassments.

The way Kansas State guard Jacob Pullen sees it, though, there are some things you simply can’t forget.

Locked in Pullen’s memory is the way he felt on New Year’s Eve 2007 — the night his team got blown out by Xavier, the same team the second-seeded Wildcats face Thursday night in the West Regional semifinals.

“They laughed on the court, played around,” Pullen said. “You don’t forget things like that. So when you get the opportunity to play against a team like that, you always remember that, no matter if it’s one person from that team or 10 people from that same team.”

K-State got payback for the 26-point loss — the worst of coach Frank Martin’s short career — with a physical, grinding 15-point win this season in Manhattan.

Now, one of America’s hidden little rivalries resumes, this time with the stakes ratcheted up a few notches. Kansas State (28-7) is two wins from its first Final Four since 1964. Xavier (26-8) has never been.

“It rings a bell because they’re Xavier,” Martin said. “I know their program, firsthand. I understand the winning culture they have, the expectations they have. Then, we’ve played them. We got absolutely annihilated by them on national TV on Dec. 31.”

Martin’s familiarity with sixth-seeded Xavier comes thanks to his history as an assistant for Bob Huggins — first at Xavier’s crosstown rival, Cincinnati, then at Kansas State. When Huggins left for West Virginia, Martin took over Huggins’ program, along with his schedule.

It included two more in a three-game series against Xavier, and after the first of those — the Dec. 31, 2007, matchup — Martin might have been wondering what he got himself into.

His prized recruit and star player, Michael Beasley, forgot his shoes and didn’t make a basket until the final minute.

“Bill (Walker) lost his phone, I think. Clent (Stewart) didn’t have his shoes, either,” Pullen remembered. “It wasn’t the greatest trip we had made all season. But we still went out there and played. And we got beat.”

The Musketeers let them know about it, dissing the Wildcats by cracking jokes at the free throw line to turn a bad loss into something even worse.

Which might explain why this season’s game, still on some players’ minds nearly two years after the previous meeting, was such a physical affair. There were 57 fouls and 73 free throws, lots of hard screens and rough play in the post. K-State fans braved a heavy snowstorm to attend the game, and when the Wildcats finished up the 71-56 victory, they snaked behind the media table to celebrate with the students — the kind of celebration normally saved for March, not December.

Xavier forward Jamel McLean doesn’t think anyone should get this confused with Carolina-Duke. But he has a memory, too.

“I don’t think it’s a real rivalry,” he said. “I mean, we played the past couple years. It’s a team we have a series with. We’ve got them, they got us. We’re about to go out there again and rally up and knock each other’s heads off.”

Kansas State will be playing 22 years to the date of its last trip to the regionals, back when Lon Kruger and Mitch Richmond led the Wildcats on a run that ended one loss short of the Final Four. K-State was beaten by Danny Manning and Kansas that year in the regional final, a story line that’s been oft-repeated over the years — certainly too often in the minds of those in the Little Apple.

But for as long as they last in this tournament, the Wildcats won’t have to be the “other” team from Kansas. The Jayhawks lost last weekend, removing from the tournament a team responsible for three of Kansas State’s seven losses this year.

“To compare us to Kansas, we’re going to have to start beating them first,” Martin said. “If we’re not beating them, we’re not getting too much done.”

Xavier, meanwhile, joins Michigan State as one of the only two programs to make the second weekend of the NCAA tournament three years in a row.

But, in a theme that has been echoed often this week, calling the Musketeers a plucky mid-major isn’t really appropriate anymore.

The Jesuit school, with undergraduate enrollment of 4,200, recruits big-name players (See, Jordan Crawford — yes, the one who dunked on LeBron), plays in a big-time arena (capacity 10,250) and schedules big-time opponents (Duke, Florida, Butler — another “mid-major,” which plays Syracuse in the other West Regional semifinal).

“The double-edged sword is that you’ve got to be good at it,” athletic director Mike Bobinski said earlier this week. “If you are going to put that out front, it behooves you to be successful more often than not.”

Xavier was successful twice against Kansas State — a 10-point home win in 2006-07 when Huggins was still there, followed by the 26-point blowout the next season.

Then, the 15-point K-State win. But that was back in December.

The teams are familiar with each other, and know exactly what they’re getting into.

“When you reach this point in the season, you’re not going to play a pushover,” Xavier coach Chris Mack said. “You’re going to play a team that’s earned it. We have a healthy respect for those guys.”

Jordan Crawford #55 of the Xavier Musketeers drives to the basket against the Pittsburgh Panthers in the second half during the second round of the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament at the Bradley Center on March 21, 2010 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

MILWAUKEE — Jordan Crawford scored 27 points, including a breakaway [...]]]> Associated Press

Jordan Crawford #55 of the Xavier Musketeers drives to the basket against the Pittsburgh Panthers in the second half during the second round of the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament at the Bradley Center on March 21, 2010 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

MILWAUKEE — Jordan Crawford scored 27 points, including a breakaway dunk with just over 2 minutes remaining, to help the sixth-seeded Musketeers beat Pittsburgh 71-68 on Sunday night to advance to the round of 16 for the third straight year.

“I know I’m not taking it for granted and I know my teammates aren’t taking it for granted,” Crawford said. “I love the fact I’m getting a chance to do this and hopefully we can take it further.”

Jason Love had 14 points and a key block down the stretch for the Musketeers (26-8), who advanced to play second-seeded Kansas State in the West Regional semifinals in Salt Lake City on Thursday.

Xavier joined Michigan State as only schools to reach the round of 16 the last three years.

“We weren’t scared or rattled or anything like that,” Love said. “We kept our poise and you saw that.”

Ashton Gibbs scored 19 points and Brad Wanamaker had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the third-seeded Panthers (25-9), who nearly rallied with two 3-pointers by Gilbert Brown in the final 28 seconds of the game.

Gibbs missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with less than a second left. Pittsburgh had one last chance to inbound the ball with 0.4 seconds left, but Wanamaker left the shot short.

“We’ve been here before so I had all the confidence we could come back and tie the game and maybe go to overtime,” Wanamaker said. “‘Ash’ got a good look, I got a good look. It just didn’t go in.”

It’s only the fourth time in nine straight tournament appearances that the Panthers have failed to advance past the first week of the tournament.

“Obviously when you lose one that close, it’s going to sting,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said.

It was another strong performance for Crawford, who had 28 points Friday to bail the Musketeers out from a poor first-half shooting performance and beat Minnesota in the first round.

Before his big first weekend in the tournament, Crawford was best-known among basketball fans for dunking on James at an offseason basketball camp. He spent the past few days downplaying his big moment.

But because he sat out a season after transferring from Indiana, that clip was pretty much the only thing fans knew about him.

“It was tough,” Crawford said of sitting out. “But I went through it all and I fought through it and now I get to play with my team.”

The job of guarding Crawford fell primarily to Jermaine Dixon, the Panthers’ top defensive stopper.

Dixon held Crawford in check for the first 13 minutes of the game, but he eventually got into a rhythm, finishing the game 9 of 15 from the field and 4 of 7 from 3-point range with a few taken from well beyond the arc.

“He started knocking down deep shots and then began getting to the foul line,” Jermaine Dixon said. “It was definitely difficult to stop him.”

Sunday’s game was a rematch from last year’s tournament, when the Panthers beat the Musketeers one round later.

Revenge didn’t seem to be a significant source of motivation for the Musketeers, but Xavier players did seem to be put off by people who lump them in with other overachieving mid-major programs.

“I don’t feel like we’re a mid-major at all,” Love said. “You look at our schedule, we played some of the best teams in the country.”

With the Musketeers leading by five points, Love swatted away a shot at the other end and Crawford went in for a breakaway dunk with 2:04 left.

Brown hit a 3-pointer, cutting the lead to four with 1:45 left. Crawford was fouled and hit both free throws, giving Xavier a 65-59 lead with 1:22 remaining. Gibbs went to the line but hit only one of two free throws.

Terrell Holloway then made two free throws but Brown hit another 3-pointer, cutting Xavier’s lead to 67-63 with 27.8 seconds left.

After two free throws by Crawford, Brown hit another 3-pointer to cut the lead to three with 16.9 remaining. The inbounds pass went out of bounds, but officials gave the ball back to Xavier.

Brown fouled Holloway, who made them both, and Pitt’s Travon Woodall drove for a layup to cut the lead to 3 with 8.2 left.

Dante Jackson missed two free throws for Xavier, but Pittsburgh couldn’t convert either of its final two chances to tie.

4:50 PM ET, March 21, 2010 Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI

MILWAUKEE (AP)—Xavier coach Chris Mack faces a challenge going into Sunday’s second-round NCAA tournament game against Pittsburgh: The Panthers had six players score in double figures in their first-round win over Oakland—and leading scorer Ashton Gibbs wasn’t even one of [...]]]> Associated Press

4:50 PM ET, March 21, 2010 Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI

MILWAUKEE (AP)—Xavier coach Chris Mack faces a challenge going into Sunday’s second-round NCAA tournament game against Pittsburgh: The Panthers had six players score in double figures in their first-round win over Oakland—and leading scorer Ashton Gibbs wasn’t even one of them.

Pittsburgh doesn’t have a true star player. But take away one scorer, and the Panthers can simply turn to four or five more.

“I like Pittsburgh, so I’ve been watching them throughout the year,” Xavier guard Terrell Holloway said. “I know they’re all great players. Any given night any one of them could go out there and score 20 points a game.”

Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon won’t have to look very hard to identify Xavier’s No. 1 scoring threat, but that doesn’t make the task any easier. The Panthers must find a way to stop Jordan Crawford.

Dixon said it will take a team effort to contain Crawford, who bailed Xavier out from a poor first-half shooting performance with 28 points in a victory over Minnesota on Friday.

“One thing you know, he gets a lot of shots,” Dixon said. “So he’s going to score some points.”

Panthers forward Gilbert Brown said Crawford is a tough player who can score in a variety of ways, but he isn’t unstoppable.

“I think with the type of defense that we play, we’ll be able to manage him,” Brown said. “So I’m not really worried about like what they’re going to present offensively to us. I really have a lot of faith in our defensive abilities.”

The winner of Sunday’s game will advance to face the winner of Kansas State-BYU.

It’s a rematch of Pittsburgh’s victory over Xavier in last year’s tournament. But it’s unlikely either team will get a lot out of film study from that game.

Pittsburgh lost four starters from last year’s team, including DeJuan Blair and Sam Young, who went to the NBA. Xavier has a few new faces, too—and a new head coach, Mack, who took over when Sean Miller left for Arizona.

“We’re two completely different teams,” Xavier’s Jamel McLean said. “It’s not a rivalry game between us. But we do know in the back of our minds that this was the team that knocked us out last year. We’re not going to try and make it bigger than it is.”

The Musketeers appear to be a more offense-oriented team this year, but Mack says that’s more a function of having different players.

“When you have faster players, it lends itself to being a faster team,” Mack said. “We replaced really good players, B.J. Raymond (and) C.J. Anderson, with guys like Mark Lyons and Jordan Crawford. If you had those guys run a foot race, it wouldn’t even be close.”

Holloway said the Musketeers remain committed to defense.

“It’s just that we scored so many points sometimes that people forget how great we defend,” Holloway said.

Despite the changes for both teams since last season, Dixon said he still will watch film of last year’s tournament game.

“I guess you can read into that,” Dixon said. “We’ll get something out of it—or hope to, anyway.”

When he does, he’ll see Blair, Young and Levance Fields, who made big plays to help beat Xavier in the tournament last year. Those players are gone, but the Panthers still have plenty of scoring options.

“I feel it’s a tough challenge for them,” Pitt’s Brad Wanamaker said. “It shows that we’ve got other guys capable of scoring other than Ashton. We had six guys in double figures. I mean, that tells you how dangerous our team is.”

Jordan Crawford #55 of the Xavier Musketeers goes up for a shot over Colton Iverson #45 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the first half during the first round of the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament at the Bradley Center on March 19, 2010 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

MILWAUKEE — Jordan Crawford [...]]]> Associated Press

Jordan Crawford #55 of the Xavier Musketeers goes up for a shot over Colton Iverson #45 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the first half during the first round of the 2010 NCAA men's basketball tournament at the Bradley Center on March 19, 2010 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

MILWAUKEE — Jordan Crawford made a strong return to the NCAA tournament.

Crawford scored 17 of his 28 points in the second half and Xavier kept its run of tournament success with a 65-54 victory over Minnesota in the first round of the West Regional on Friday.

Xavier (25-8) will be in the second round for the fourth straight year, this time under first-year coach Chris Mack.

“There are different ways to motivate kids and we’re really tired of being The Little Engine that Could,” Mack said. “We’re a really good program and our kids aren’t scared to play anybody. We don’t always win, but we’re not afraid to compete.”

Crawford has embodied that, playing in his first NCAA tournament game in two years after transferring from Indiana, where the program was rocked by Kelvin Sampson’s departure. Crawford has had five coaches in two years and endured another switch from Sean Miller to Mack before the season.

“I give him a lot of credit for getting ready and being hungry over the offseason,” Mack said. “I give our school and Jordan a lot of credit for maturing as a person in the past year and a half.”

But Xavier was far from a one-man show.

Dante Jackson smothered the Gophers’ best shooters on defense, Jamel McLean had 14 rebounds and Crawford provided the highlight plays for the sixth-seeded Musketeers.

Lawrence Westbrook scored 15 of his 19 points for Minnesota (21-14) in the first half, and the 11th-seeded Gophers went cold from 3-point range late.

Crawford never stopped shooting despite a sluggish start. By his last attempt, he looked like he had no desire to leave the court.

With 38 seconds left and Blake Hoffarber’s hand in his face, the sophomore guard hit a 3-pointer falling away into the Xavier bench with his teammates jumping up and down behind him to give Xavier a 63-54 lead.

“I was thinking about how lucky I was to be here,” Crawford said.

But he didn’t show much emotion, moving slowly to center court to embrace Terrell Holloway.

“[I] can smile now because we’re happy to win, but I want to win again,” he said. “Whoever we play, Pittsburgh or Oakland, I want to go out and win that game. There’s going to be no smiles again.”

Maybe not, but Crawford has found his place as one of the Atlantic 10′s top talents.

After a 4-of-11 first half, he came alive with a driving, off-balance scoop with just over 17 minutes left, and kept making layup after layup before finding his range from beyond the arc.

“It’s like watching somebody playing a video game,” teammate Kenny Frease said. “It’s so fun to watch him play, because you don’t ever want to get used to seeing somebody do the things he does. He went through the lane and made that scooping layup, and he starts hitting 3s.

“It’s like you can’t stop him. Ever. Nobody can stop him.”

The Musketeers seemingly had every answer down the stretch against Minnesota, which had played its way into the tournament by winning seven of its previous 10 under Tubby Smith.

Smith was looking for his 30th NCAA tournament win and first with his fourth program after stops at Tulsa, Georgia and Kentucky, but Minnesota lost for the fourth straight time in the first round to join early exits in 1999, 2005 and 2009.

The Gophers haven’t won an NCAA tournament game since 1997′s Final Four run, and those wins since have been vacated. Now there’s questions of whether Smith will stay, but he said no other school has made him an offer.

“I’m looking forward to coming back to Minnesota,” Smith said.

Mack, an assistant, took over when Miller left for Arizona. In some ways, his season has been one of the Musketeers’ most impressive because they didn’t return a single player who averaged double figures last year.

Xavier certainly has few worries with Crawford, who grabbed brief fame for his dunk on LeBron James at a summer camp in the offseason and is making a lasting impression on college’s biggest stage.

“I can relish this right now,” Crawford said. “But we’re trying to win another one.”

12:25 PM ET, March 19, 2010 Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI

MILWAUKEE — Minnesota watched a movie about LeBron James for inspiration on the way to Milwaukee for its first round NCAA tournament game.

Xavier’s Jordan Crawford? He dunked on James this summer.

When the Gophers and Musketeers meet Friday in the West [...]]]> Associated Press

12:25 PM ET, March 19, 2010 Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI

MILWAUKEE — Minnesota watched a movie about LeBron James for inspiration on the way to Milwaukee for its first round NCAA tournament game.

Xavier’s Jordan Crawford? He dunked on James this summer.

When the Gophers and Musketeers meet Friday in the West regional, the styles and defensive philosophies will be very similar, but who carries each in the clutch is quite different.

No. 11 Minnesota (21-13) doesn’t have a go-to player with three starters averaging double figures. Crawford averages 19.7 points per game for No. 6 seed Xavier (24-8), which is looking to sustain its run of NCAA tournament success under first-year coach Chris Mack.

“There’s been so many games where he’s been just unbelievable,” Xavier sophomore guard Brad Redford said. “He makes the big shot. He always wants the ball in his hands. As a team, we all want it in his hands, too.”

Xavier has been in nine of the last 10 NCAA tournaments and won at least one game in each the last three seasons, but Crawford brought a different dynamic when he transferred from Indiana.

“There’s no question he’s our best player,” Mack said. “We lean on him a lot on the offensive and defensive end. We’re not relying on him, but there’s no question he has the ability to take over a game.”

For Crawford’s part, he was desperate to get back on the court during his redshirt year. His chance to play against James this summer during a pickup game at a skills academy run by the superstar at the University of Akron came as a welcome distraction.

Now, there’s more than 1 million hits on Google for “Jordan Crawford dunks on LeBron James” online, but Crawford downplays the video that went viral.

“It was great to just be on the same court with him,” he said. “It was very important. I was sitting out a year. I got to see where my skills were against the top player.”

Minnesota coach Tubby Smith coached Crawford’s older brother, Joe, at Kentucky and Smith said he’s known of Jordan’s abilities since he was young.

“You don’t stop great players. Players like Jordan, you just have to try to contain them and hope that you can keep the ball off him as much as possible, make it tough to get his shots, make him work both ends of the court,” Smith said. “One of the problems we have is guarding perimeter players that are long and athletic.”

The Gophers turned their year around without three expected contributors. Royce White and Trevor Mbakwe became involved in legal entanglements before the season and point guard Al Nolen was ruled academically ineligible in January.

“It looked bad for us for a while,” guard Lawrence Westbrook said. “We got off on the wrong foot.”

That gave opportunities to guard Devoe Joseph and center Colton Iverson, two sophomores. For all the public problems the Gophers had, Smith said the locker room was calm.

“Usually the perception is that there may be something else wrong when something happens with one or two players,” Smith said. “We really haven’t had many internal issues, and that’s the beauty of it, because, you know, we have good people and good players that have done the things we’ve asked them to do.”

Minnesota’s last tournament win came in 1997, but Smith has coached in 43 NCAA tournament games. For Mack, it’ll be his first even though he doesn’t feel any different after spending seven years at Xavier as an assistant.

“I get off the bus and I’ve got my 4-year-old and 3-year-old and they’re screaming at me to get their camera and stuff like that,” Mack said. “I wouldn’t say I’m the man.”

At least the Musketeers’ trip was shorter. The Gophers drove six hours because the team’s travel distance was under the 400 miles the NCAA requires to be reimbursed for airfare.

The long trip started with guys joking and making up rap songs, then the team napped and watched movies.

“I thought Milwaukee was a little closer than that,” Minnesota forward Damian Johnson said. “It was kind of painful.”

Ralph Sampson III, Minnesota’s 6-foot-11 center, said he spent the majority of the trip bent awkwardly between two seats, waking up at times to adjust his position the best he could.

A win over Xavier would keep the Gophers from the long trip home at least another day.

“Hopefully,” Sampson said. “We can stay off that bus.”

(11) Minnesota (21-13, 9-9 Big Ten) vs (6) Xavier (24-8, 14-2 A 10), 12:25 PM ET, March 19, 2010 Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI

CINCINNATI – The Xavier men’s basketball team has earned a trip to the 2010 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. The Muskies drew a six seed in the West Region and [...]]]> Associated Press

(11) Minnesota (21-13, 9-9 Big Ten) vs (6) Xavier (24-8, 14-2 A 10), 12:25 PM ET, March 19, 2010 Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI

CINCINNATI – The Xavier men’s basketball team has earned a trip to the 2010 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. The Muskies drew a six seed in the West Region and play 11th seed Minnesota, which lost big today to Ohio State in the Big 10 tourney final. XU (24-8) and Tubby Smith-led Minnesota (21-13) play Friday in Milwaukee.

Tubby Smith’s Golden Gophers were one of the last teams to receive an at-large bid. They learned their fate soon after being thumped by Ohio State 90-61 in the Big Ten Tournament championship.

The NCAA Tournament announcements came just one day after XU lost an overtime contest to Richmond in an Atlantic 10 Championship semifinal in Atlantic City, N.J.

Xavier fans looking for travel packages can go through Provident Travel, the Official Fan Travel Partner of Xavier Athletics. Details on the travel packages will be released Monday.

Please visit www.ProvidentVacations.com for more information or call 800-989-8900 or 513-763-3080 for all your travel needs. Phone lines will be open Monday morning beginning at 8:00 a.m.