Xavier advances over Georgia State with 75-67 win

Xavier 75, Georgia State 67: Jalen Reynolds scored a career-high 21 points and the Xavier Musketeers shot a season-high 67.6 percent from the field to hold off the Georgia State Panthers in the third round of the NCAA Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla.

Reynolds went 8-of-9 from the field as sixth-seeded Xavier (23-13) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in the past eight seasons, and will face second-seeded Arizona in the West Regional semifinals Thursday in Los Angeles. Myles Davis hit a career high-tying five 3-pointers en route to 17 points and Dee Davis added 15 points.

R.J. Hunter scored 20 points for the 14th-seeded Panthers (25-10), who hit 56.5 percent of their shots from the floor but were outrebounded 23-12. Markus Crider added 10 points before fouling out with 2:24 remaining and Georgia State forced 14 turnovers two days after stunning Baylor in the second round.

Xavier led by as many as 11 in the first half and weathered a Georgia State surge, with Reynolds’ dunk on the half’s final possession giving the Musketeers a 32-28 halftime advantage. The Panthers tied the game on Crider’s basket with just over 15 minutes left, but Myles Davis’ 3-pointer and Reynolds’ dunk sparked a 7-0 spurt to put the Musketeers up 45-38.

Myles Davis’ fourth 3-pointer of the game pushed the Xavier cushion to 54-44 with 8:13 to play, but Hunter’s triple and two free throws brought Georgia State within 57-53 with 5:05 remaining. Reynolds muscled home a shot in the lane to extend the lead to six, while Myles Davis’ 3-pointer with 1:32 to go gave Xavier a 67-57 advantage.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Xavier finished 22-of-25 from the free-throw line, while Georgia State shot 9-of-13. … The Musketeers outrebounded the Panthers 17-5 in the opening half, but Georgia State scored 10 points off nine turnovers. … Georgia State G Ryan Harrow, the team’s second-leading scorer, scored six points while playing sparingly after missing the past two games with a hamstring injury.