DAYTON, Ohio — Sean Miller called Xavier's Wednesday night First Four win over the Texas Longhorns "one of the greatest games I've been a part of."
The Musketeers toughed out a fast-paced matchup against the Longhorns, 86-80, in Dayton Wednesday night to advance to the Round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament.
XU scarcely held a lead until late in the second half, when what was essentially a home crowd willed them to the win. Trailing for more than 30 minutes of the game, Xavier finally broke through when a 3-pointer from big man John Hugley IV put them up 75-74. After a few minutes of back-and-forth play, with 1:48 left in the second half, Zach Freemantle hit a turnaround jumper to break a 78-78 tie, and XU never trailed again on the back of some lockdown defense down the stretch.
Miller credited the crowd as a big factor in Xavier's ability to come back from "on the ropes" against what he called an "excellent" Texas team.
"We had a number of players rise to the challenge. I thought we kept fighting through the game, and no doubt about it, the energy of the crowd helped us," Miller said after the game.
The Longhorns largely held serve in the first half, shooting 58% from the field. But Xavier improved its defense in the second half and continued to shoot the ball well, ending the game at 55% from the field and 48% from 3-point range. That effort from beyond the arc involved unusual contributions from Jerome Hunter (3-4 from 3), Marcus Foster (2-2 from 3) and Hugley IV.
Watch UD Arena ERUPT when Xavier tied the game 65-65 on a Jerome Hunter 3. #Xavier @WCPO pic.twitter.com/1hy04qEfyP
— Marshall Kramsky (@marshallkramsky) March 20, 2025
Foster ended up being the offensive spark the Muskies needed after Zach Freemantle, Dailyn Swaim and Ryan Conwell all got into early foul trouble. Foster finished the game with 22 points on 8-9 shooting to lead the Muskies.
Texas' NBA prospect freshman Tre Johnson had an uncharacteristic game, shooting only 6-14 and missing four free throws while shooting 90% for the season. Foster guarded Johnson for a large portion of the night, and said after the game that going against a player who might get drafted motivated him.
"It made me want to play even harder and even better," Foster said.
It was those second half adjustments that Xavier made on the defensive side that got them off the ropes.
"We made a big emphasis at halftime to get in the gaps, get in the paint," Freemantle said.
Freemantle ended the game with an exclamation point dunk to send the Muskies through to the next round.
Xavier plays 6-seed Illinois in Milwaukee Friday night at 9:45 p.m.
