Xavier's clutch win, UCLA's squeaker and more

Joe Alexander led West Virginia with 18 points and 10 rebounds, but he missed a free throw at the end of regulation and fouled out in overtime. AP

MAILBAG Seth Davis will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his Hoop Thoughts column. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

SI.com caught up with Seth Davis, who's serving as a CBS studio analyst during the tournament, to get his impressions of Thursday's Sweet 16 action.

SI.com: So what did you think about West Virginia-Xavier?

Seth Davis: It was a great game. I definitely sensed early on that Xavier was just not going to run away with it -- West Virginia just came out tight. The Musketeers made 4-of-6 from the three, and that was sort of like fool's gold for them. Their M.O. is to out-tough and drive teams and get to the foul line -- they lost the free-throw battle tonight. Their first two games of the tourney, they made twice as many free throws as their opponents attempted -- that's really their game, driving. [Against West Virginia] they made a lot of threes and got away from what they do really well. If Joe Alexander didn't foul out in overtime, West Virginia really would have won. The Mountaineers really just didn't have that go-to guy once he was gone.

SI.com: Speaking of Joe Alexander, how badly does that hurt to miss that last free throw in regulation?

SD: It's gotta hurt -- you feel for the kid because he played so well. They wouldn't have gotten where they were without him -- he made a big-time shot to tie the game. That's the cruelty of the event -- you don't get another chance.

SI.com: And then UCLA almost lost ... what happened there?

SD: Clark Kellogg and I were talking about this in the dressing room before the show. In a regular-season game, you get up big on a team and there's a pretty big chance they're going to pack it in. Just say, you know, it's not our night and let it go. But no one in the tourney does that, they just get panicked. Western Kentucky turned up the tempo. They couldn't score against UCLA's half-court defense, so they switched to full-court pressure, trapping Kevin Love at half court. It was a quick comeback where they got it to within four with 5½ minutes left, and Darren Collison fouled out, which was a problem because the one thing UCLA doesn't have is depth in guards. Collison, Russell Westbrook and Josh Shipp are their only guards -- everyone else is a forward. Collison goes out and it's really kind of a problem. But I really hope at this point there's no one doubting Kevin Love. I don't think Love has had a bad game all year, from the first game he's just been ready to play every single game. He wears you down. Tonight he had 29 points, 14 rebounds, four assists; he was 9-of-12 at the foul line, had three blocks. And then there's his outlet passing when he gets that ball on the baseline. It's not just how strong he is -- it always floats right into the hands of his teammate. He's a real artist with that outlet. He's the reason I picked UCLA to win the championship, I don't think anyone has an answer to him. As a freshman, its pretty incredible what he's doing.

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