First Four Tidbits - Wednesday

Mt. St. Mary's 83 American 72

Both Duane Simpkins of American and Donny Lind of Mt. St. Mary’s are coaching in their first NCAA tournament game.  All #16 seeds in the First Four featured a coach in his first tournament game.

Mt. St. Mary’s wins an Opening Round game for the 3^rd time.

Mt. St. Mary’s is the first team from the MAAC to win a First Four game (since First Four started in 2011)

American is 0-4 all-time in the tournament.

Xavier 86 Texas 80

This is the 4^th time Texas and Xavier have faced each other in the NCAA Tournament.  The other three games were all in the Sweet Sixteen.

• 1990: Texas 102 Xavier 89
• 2004: Xavier 79 Texas 71
• 2023: Texas 83 Texas 71

Xavier is the 5^th Big East team to play in the First Four.  Big East schools are now 2-3 in the First Four.  Xavier is 1-1 in the First Four.

Xavier wins their 5^th consecutive tournament game against an SEC School. 

• 1997 Round of 64 – Defeated Vanderbilt 80-68
• 2004 Round of 32 – Defeated Mississippi State 89-74
• 2008 Round of 64 – Defeated Georgia 73-61
• 2015 Round of 64 – Defeated Mississippi 76-57

Xavier is 6-0 in the tournament on March 19.  They are tied with Georgetown for the best record on March 19.

Texas’s loss is the 3^rd straight in the First Four for an SEC school.