Xavier vs. Wisconsin: Score and Twitter Reaction from March Madness 2016

Bronson Koenig is now a hero in Madison after his three-pointer as time expired capped off a thrilling 66-63 victory for the Wisconsin Badgers over the second-seeded Xavier Musketeers on Sunday night in St. Louis.  

Koenig made a fallaway three-pointer from the right corner less than 12 seconds after he tied the game on a three-pointer. Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports knows it's March, but he had another reaction when the three swished through the net:

Charlotte Hornets big man Frank Kaminsky, who led Wisconsin to two straight Final Fours, was more than elated, per Dylan Flood:

ESPN.com's Jeff Borzello shared his thoughts on the insane moment, as did ESPN's Jeff Goodman:

NFL Network's Albert Breer only had one word on his mind:

That game-winning three from Koenig capped off a game-high 20-point night in which he made six threes. Ethan Happ also chipped in with 18 points for the seventh-seeded Badgers.

Jalen Reynolds made all six of his shot attempts, scoring 13 points, and Remy Abell tied him for the team lead with 13 points of his own.

The first half was a seesaw affair that started out with an early 17-8 Wisconsin lead. Despite a slow start shooting the ball, Xavier quickly erased that nine-point deficit thanks to a 7-0 run highlighted by an Abell three-point play to make it 17-15.

Happ, who showed flashes of Kaminsky, was part of the reason the Badgers took the early advantage, via Wisconsin Basketball:

Speaking of that former Wisconsin great, Kaminsky found out actor Bill Murray was rooting for the enemy:

Wisconsin pushed the lead back to six, 25-19, after a Vitto Brown jumper with five minutes, 14 seconds remaining in the first half. But Xavier responded with a 14-5 run, sparked by Edmond Sumner and Abell to take a 33-30 lead into halftime.

Xavier stole the momentum so quickly that even head coach Chris Mack couldn't hear CBS sideline reporter Dana Jacobson speak, via SB Nation:

The second half remained an even battle for the first 10 minutes. Wisconsin tied the game on a Nigel Hayes layup with 9:51 to go. Then, it became the Reynolds Dunk Show in St. Louis. Part of Reynolds' 100 percent shooting performance came from three consecutive dunks in the second half, like this putback dunk, per NCAA March Madness:

Reynolds capped off an 8-0 run with a steal, tipped it to himself at the half-court line and threw down a one-handed dunk to give Xavier a 57-49 lead.

Rob Dauster of College Basketball Talk chimed in with his thoughts on Reynolds' dunking display:

Wisconsin, however, did not go away. The Badgers responded with a 14-3 run over the next six minutes to cut Xavier's lead to one point. This was going on in the midst of the Texas A&M Aggies' magical comeback over the Northern Iowa Panthers, which Borzello pointed out:

Sumner made a layup with 34 seconds left to give Xavier a three-point lead, but Koenig drilled a pull-up three-pointer with 11.7 seconds left to tie the game at 63. Moments later, after an offensive foul was called on Xavier, Koenig drilled the three that set the stage for a Wisconsin-Notre Dame showdown on Friday in Philadelphia.

Wisconsin seemed like it ran out of time, down by eight points late in the second half. But its defense clamped down at the right time, and shots fell when they needed to. The Badgers are now in the Sweet 16 once again, and their quest for a third straight Final Four continues.

This will be viewed as the game Xavier let slip away. The Musketeers seemed to be in command in the second half, but the team that has been down this road before decided this game.

Postgame Reaction

Koenig said after the game he's tried that jumper many times. He's comfortable attempting that step-back corner three because he's tried to be like the best shooter on the planet.

"I just tried to channel my inner Steph Curry," he said, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com).

Koenig is a Wisconsin native, so it had to be more thrilling that someone from the state won the game for the program. Wisconsin coach Greg Gard thought of it differently, per Zack Miller of BadgerBlitz.com:

Seeing the magnitude of the moment, Mack had never been a part of anything like this, per Marty Smith of ESPN:

Check out Bleacher Report's live updating bracket to track your picks along the road to the Final Four.