NCAA tournament: Xavier cruises past Mississippi, 76-57

Matt Stainbrook scored 20 points, Dee Davis added 17 and sixth-seeded Xavier beat No. 11 Mississippi, 76-57, in the NCAA Tournament’s West Regional on Thursday.

Stainbrook took advantage of his size in the post, making 8 of 10 shots in the paint and adding nine rebounds and five assists.

Davis was nearly as good from the outside, hitting four of nine shots from three-point range. Coach Chris Mack pulled them to a rousing ovation with 1:51 remaining and the game in hand.

Xavier (22-13) advanced to face 14th-seeded Georgia State on Saturday.

Xavier’s inside-out duo was considerably better than Mississippi’s two-man guard tandem. Stefan Moody and Jarvis Summers finished a combined five of 26 from the field. Moody led the Rebels (21-13) with 14 points.

Maybe they had dead legs. After all, the Rebels exerted significant energy in overcoming a 17-point deficit to beat BYU in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, about 43 hours earlier.