The talented sharpshooter who failed to hit from beyond the arc in a first-round win over Pittsburgh connected from well beyond the 3-point line to tie it at 63 with 11.7 seconds remaining.
Edmond Sumner brought the ball up court for second-seeded Xavier (28-6), and then drove to the basket, running over the Badgers’ Zak Showalter and getting called for an offensive foul with 4.3 seconds to go.
No. 7 seed Wisconsin (22-12) called timeout after crossing half court and coach Greg Gard drew up a play for his best outside shooter. Koenig got the inbound pass in front of his own bench and buried the fallaway shot, sending the jubilant Badgers streaming onto the court and into another Sweet 16.
“I just tried to channel my inner Steph Curry,” Koenig said, referring to the reigning NBA MVP.
“I just let it fly and I knew it was going in,” Koenig added.
Wisconsin advanced to play Notre Dame in the Sweet 16 in the East Region in Philadelphia on Friday.
Xavier had hoped to join Big East rival Villanova in the Sweet 16.
The elder Murray had been with Xavier this past week at the Big East Tournament, where the Musketeers were upset by Seton Hall in the semifinals.
I spoke with him briefly courtside, while the Rutgers job opening was still available. Told that Rutgers might pay up to $2 million annually, he joked: “I’ll take the Rutgers job for 3 years but then I gotta get back to work.”
Murray was also interviewed by ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, and Murray said he thinks Xavier should press more than it does and that he had some suggestions for the team.
“I’m not thinking I’m going to be a coach,” Murray said on SportsCenter. “I wanna get that straight. I’m not out there for the Rutgers job.”
Told that Rutgers had filled its coaching vacancy with Steve Pikiell, Murray said, “It’s been filled? No phonecall.”
Luke Murray reiterated that he’s never seen “Caddyshack” — something he’s told me before .
“I’ve never seen ‘Caddyshack,’ I’ve heard it’s pretty good,” Luke said.
(The AP contributed)
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