Gophers fall to Xavier in first round of NCAA tourney
The University of Minnesota men's basketball team had a short drive to its first-round game in Milwaukee against Xavier but came up short on the court.
The Musketeers defeated the Golden Gophers 65-54 Friday, ending the Gophers hopes for an inspired NCAA tournament run after a surprising run to the Big Ten championship game a week ago.
Minnesota lost for the fourth straight time in the first round of the NCAA tournament 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 have since been vacated.
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Jordan Crawford of Xavier (25-8) led all scorers with 28 points, scoring 17 in the second half.
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.
Xavier will face the winner of Pittsburgh-Oakland in the second round.
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.
Minnesota fell apart after it couldn't get a shot to fall from beyond the arc. One of the better 3-point shooting teams in the tournament, the Gophers were 5 of 11 from 3-point range at halftime, but 2 of 15 after.
And while Minnesota's stifling defense early forced Xavier into shooting 21 percent from the field in the first half, the Gophers couldn't keep pace after half.
Westbrook missed all eight of his second-half shots after starting 6 of 8 from the field. Blake Hoffarber, who came in shooting 47.2 percent from 3-point range, went 2 of 6 for the game.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
