Jack Nunge made the play Xavier desperately needed.
Nunge, the Musketeers’ 7-foot senior, came through with the clutch block of Kennesaw State’s Terrell Burden to allow his team to escape the first round of the NCAA tournament with a 72-67 win and avoid becoming the latest highly-seeded team to be upset by a double-digit seed.
At the time of Nunge’s block, Xavier was holding on to a 68-67 lead in the game’s final seconds. Burden looked to have a path to the rim that would give the underdog Owls a late lead, but Nunge slid to his left and made a massive defensive play.