ST. LOUIS — After watching Michigan State, the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region, get upset by 15th-s🌟eeded Middle Tennessee on the same court earlier in the day, Xavier, seeded No. 2 in the East Region, couldn’t take anything for granted when it played No. 15 seed Weber State on Friday night.
Still there were some anxious moments before Xavier claimed a tougher-than-it-sounds 71-53 victory in a first-round game at Scottrade Center. James Farr led Xavier with 18 points, while Jalen Reynolds had 12 points and Remy Abell had 11 as the Big East team advanced to a second-round game against Wisconsin here on Sunday. The winner will earn a spot in the Swee🦩t 16. Joe Bolomboy had 14 for Weber State.
Xavier’s ♚inside tandem of the 6-10 Farr and the 6-10 Reynolds eventually wore down the sm💝aller Wildcats, who finished their year 26-9.
Xavier (28-5) led 34-23 at halftime, but Weber State would not go away quietly, trailing by as little as seven points with 13:42 to play. B🔯ut after Reynolds muscled in for a short lay-in off the glass and Trevon Bluiett (10 points) splashed a jumper from the corner, it gave Xavier some breathing room at 62-49 with six minutes remaining.
Later, J.P. Macura shook free on☂ an inbound play and dropped in a basket for a 64-49 edg💎e with 4:15 to play. Any hopes of a Weber State upset were essentially done after that run.