NCAA TOURNAMENT ROUNDUP: Wisconsin Badgers derail defending champ Villanova

SALT LAKE CITY — Nigel Williams-Goss scored 20 points, while Jordan Mathews and Zach Collins added 14 apiece to help No. 1 seed Gonzaga survive a late rally and beat Northwestern in the second round of the West Region.

The Bulldogs (34-1) prevailed despite scoring just four baskets over the final 3 minutes of the second half. Gonzaga has advanced to the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive season.

Bryant McIntosh scored 20 points and Vic Law added 18 and eight rebounds to lead the eighth-seeded Wildcats. Northwestern (24-12) rallied from a 21-point deficit in the second half, but ultimately couldn’t fully overcome a sluggish start on offense.

Gonzaga, which led by as many as 22 points late in the first half, will face fourth-seeded West Virginia on Monday night.

West Virginia 83, Notre Dame 71

West Virginia is pressing on in the NCAA Tournament.

The No. 4 seed Mountaineers dictated tempo with their full-court pressure defense and were efficient at the offensive end in defeating fifth-seeded Notre Dame 83-71 in a second-round game on Saturday at KeyBank Center.

With the victory, West Virginia (28-8) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in 11 years and will face the winner of Saturday’s game between No. 1 seed Gonzaga and eighth-seeded Northwestern at the West regional in San Jose, Calif.

Jevon Carter led the Mountaineers with 24 points, matching a season high. Daxter Miles Jr. (18 points), Tarik Phillips (12 points off the bench) and Carter combined for 54 of West Virginia’s 83 points on 17-of-29 shooting.

“All year we’ve been telling ourselves that we got the best group of guards in the country and we truly believe that,” Carter said. “So, when it’s time for us to play, we got out there and give it our all.”

West Virginia shot a season-best 57 percent (8 of 14) on 3-pointers and 50 percent overall. The Mountaineers also hit 81 percent (21 of 26) at the foul line.

“I didn’t expect them to shoot it from outside as well,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “I thought we could play a little more zone and make them make more threes, and they made every big 3-point shot.

“And Carter is a big-time winner. What a stud guard he is. He’s fabulous. He’s just a veteran winner in college basketball.”

Notre Dame, the only team to reach the Elite Eight round of the last two NCAA tournaments, finished the season at 26-10.

Butler 74.

Middle Tennessee 65

Kelan Martin scored 19 points and Andrew Chrabascz added 15 as fourth-seeded Butler advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 74-65 victory over No. 12 Middle Tennessee on Saturday night in a second round NCAA Tournament game at the Bradley Center.

After shooting 49 percent in their opening game against Winthrop on Thursday, the Bulldogs stayed hot against the Blue Raiders. Butler connecting on 51.1 percent of their shots including 8 of 15 from beyond the arc while making 18 of 23 free throws.

Butler (25-8) will face either top seed North Carolina or No. 8 Arkansas on Friday in the South Regional semifinal Friday in Memphis.

JaCorey Williams led the Blue Raiders with 20 points and Reggie Upshaw added 12. Giddy Potts, the Blue Raiders’ second-leading scorer this season at 15.8 points per game, was held scoreless on 0-of-8 shooting, including 0-of-3 from 3-point range.

Middle Tennessee (31-5) overcame a slow start and heated up in the second half, but struggled from distance, hitting just 1 of 8 attempts in the first half and 4 of 19 overall

Butler shot 50 percent and hit six of nine 3-pointers — two each from Avery Woodson, Kamar Baldwin and Martin — in the first half. A late cold spell allowed Middle Tennessee to sneak back into the game and cut the deficit to 36-31 at halftime.

Arizona 69, Saint Mary’s 60

Freshman center Lauri Markkanen scored 16 points and collected 10 rebounds to help Arizona rally after halftime.

Allonzo Trier added 14 points — all in the second half — for the Wildcats (32-4), who will play No. 11 seed Xavier in the Sweet 16. Arizona coach Sean Miller coached the Musketeers from 2004 to 2009 before taking over in Tucson.

Jock Landale finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds and Calvin Hermanson added 14 points for the Gaels (29-5), who have advanced to the Sweet 16 just one time during coach Randy Bennett’s tenure.

Florida 65, Virginia 39

Best known for a fast-paced transition offense that likes to get up and go behind talented guards, Florida showed the remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament something else Saturday night.

These Gators can play defense.

Behind a suddenly ferocious group that hampered fifth-seeded Virginia on seemingly every possession, fourth-seeded Florida advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 65-39 victory at Amway Center.

Florida will play No. 8 seed Wisconsin, which shocked top-seeded Villanova earlier in the day, next week at Madison Square Garden.

The Gators will take with them some newfound confidence after putting together maybe their best game of the season. And it started on the defensive end of the floor.

Nothing came easy for the Cavaliers, who shot just 29.6 percent from the floor (16 of 54), including 1 of 15 from behind the arc while also setting a season low with 17 first-half points.

Florida (26-8), which came in averaging 66.5 points per game, set a season low for fewest points allowed in a game.

Justin Leon (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Devin Robinson (14 points, 11 rebounds) each had double-doubles to lead the Gators.

The game shifted when the Gators used a 12-0 run to close out the first half, largely spurred by Leon. The senior forward did a little bit of everything, converting a layup and drawing a foul, hitting two free throws and connecting on a 3-pointer in quick fashion.

Leon continued his impressive performance by making consecutive 3-pointers early in the second half, the second of which put the Gators ahead 40-17 with 17:39 remaining.

The only question remaining at that point was how ugly it would get for the Cavaliers (23-11), who used a gritty comeback effort to beat UNC Wilmington on Thursday but had no answers for the Gators.

Two days after scoring a game-high 24 points, Virginia guard London Perrantes was held to six points. Marial Shayok, who contributed 23 points on Thursday, was equally underwhelming while scoring seven points.