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Xavier advances with win over Lehigh

Mar 19, 2012 - 4:52 AM Greensboro, NC (Sports Network) - Lehigh recorded one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history against Duke on Friday, but Kenny Frease and Tu Holloway were too much for the Mountain Hawks on Sunday.

The pair combined for 46 points as 10th-seeded Xavier knocked off No. 15 seed Lehigh, 70-58, in the South Region.

Frease made 11-of-13 attempts from the floor en route to 25 points and added 12 rebounds while Holloway poured in 21 points for the Musketeers (23-12), who return to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since back-to-back trips in 2009-10.

"My guards were really putting me in a lot of good positions. I wouldn't have been able to score a lot of the points that I did if it wasn't for those guys putting me in good positions," said Frease.

They will bid for their first Elite Eight appearance since 2004 when they face off against third-seeded Baylor.

Mackey McKnight netted 20 points and CJ McCollum finished with 14 points while grabbing eight boards for the Mountain Hawks (27-8). Gabe Knutson scored 11 points in defeat.

Tied at 52 with just under seven minutes to play, Holloway opened an 8-0 Xavier run with a three-pointer from the top of the key.

He missed his next three-point try but Frease was there for the put-back before adding 1-of-2 from the line on the next possession. Andre Walker completed the spurt with a driving layup as the shot clock expired.

McKnight responded with a running trey, but Lehigh did not take advantage when the Musketeers missed the front end of two separate one-and-ones. Other than those two misses, Xavier was able to convert enough free-throws down the stretch to secure the victory.

Lehigh shot an abysmal 14.7 percent (5-of-34) from the field in the second half.

The Hawks did not make a field goal for more than seven minutes to open the second stanza -- as Xavier turned a four point halftime deficit into a seven point advantage -- before McCollum split two defenders for a reverse layup, part of a 10-3 run that tied the game at 50-50.

Lehigh scored seven of the game's first nine points, added a 10-0 run midway through the first half, and led by as many as 15 in the frame, but Xavier finished on a 13-2 flurry to trail just 37-33 at intermission.

"Certainly I'm very disappointed, particularly with the last 25, 28 minutes of the game," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "However, that does not take away some of the memories that I believe our team will have, these young men will have moving forward as a byproduct of their experience together."

Game Notes

Knutson fouled out with 34 seconds remaining...No 15-seed has won its second tournament game (0-6)...Xavier outrebounded Lehigh 43-36 and held a 32-26 advantage in the paint...Lehigh shot 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from the floor in the first half.