Washington, DC -- (Sports Network) - Josh Duncan had 20 points and eight rebounds as Xavier came from behind to defeat Georgia, 73-61, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's West Region at the Verizon Center.

Derrick Brown had 19 points and 10 rebounds while Drew Lavender added 13 points for the third-seeded Musketeers (28-6), who next face sixth-seeded Purdue, a 90-79 winner over 11th-seeded Baylor.

Terrance Woodbury had 16 points and seven rebounds while Sundiata Gaines totaled 13 points and six assists for the 14th-seeded Bulldogs (17-17), who were in the tournament for the first time since 2002 and just the eighth appearance overall.

Georgia had an amazing run to make it to the tournament. The Bulldogs opened their SEC championship run with a 97-95 overtime win over Ole Miss. After having to switch venues due to dangerous tornadoes in Atlanta, the Bulldogs went on to win the quarterfinal and semifinal in the same day before winning the championship the next day.

"We're just coming off an experience where we had a real tangible experience of learning how we don't have to succumb to fatigue," Georgia head coach Dennis Felton said. "So I thought we remained aggressive and played really hard all the way to the end. I wouldn't count fatigue as an issue."

Trailing by seven points, Xavier surged ahead of Georgia with 12 straight points. After B.J. Raymond tied the game on a three-pointer, Dante' Jackson gave Xavier its first lead since early in the contest with a three-ball from the left side. Duncan's jumper with a bit over six minutes to play capped the outburst and gave Xavier a 54-49 lead.

Jeremy Price stopped the run with a layup to make it a three-point game, but Duncan hit a pair from the stripe and Brown completed a three-point play to give the Musketeers a 59-51 lead with 5:04 to play.

A bit later, Woodbury connected on a three-pointer and followed with 1-of-2 from the line to cut the Bulldogs' deficit to 61-57 with 3:13 left.

C.J. Anderson got two from the line, but Gaines answered with a layup. Stanley Burrell connected on one free throw before Georgia's Dave Bliss made it a three-point game, 64-61, on a slam with 1:35 to play.

After Lavender hit two free throws to give Xavier a 66-61 lead, Woodbury had a chance to make it a two-point contest, as he had a clean look at a three- pointer from the left side, but it rimmed out. Duncan was fouled as he came down with the rebound and he calmly drained his two free throws for a 68-61 lead with 52 seconds left.

Gaines' three-pointer fell short, and two free throws from Brown with 39 seconds to play sealed the win.

"We didn't play our best in the first half," Duncan admitted. "But we're a team that's been through a lot of tough situations and we tend to stay together throughout the year. We don't break down. We stay together and keep our focus and we came out in the second half a totally different team."

Georgia had a tough time scoring early, but seven straight points capped on a slam from Price put the Bulldogs up, 11-8, with 13:59 left in the first half.

The Bulldogs built their lead to 17-12 on a three-ball from Woodbury with 10:13 left in the opening 20 minutes, but a Lavender layup a minute later cut the deficit to 19-17.

The score stayed tight for the next couple of minutes, but a Woodbury jumper with 3:51 left keyed a 12-5 run to close the half and Billy Humphrey's basket gave the Bulldogs a 35-26 advantage headed to the locker room.

Gaines' slam just 2:39 into the second half staked Georgia to a 41-30 lead. A bit later, after a pair of free throws from Anderson cut the lead to seven points, Humphrey drained a three-pointer for a 46-36 advantage with 14:55 to play.

Georgia went quiet for the next five minutes as Xavier was able to cut into the lead. Duncan made a pair of free throws, Raymond connected on a jumper and Burrell followed with a pair of free throws to make it a 46-42 game with 12:05 to play.

The Bulldogs stopped the bleeding and got their first bucket in close to five minutes of play as Humphrey buried a long three-ball for a 49-42 lead with under 10 minutes to play.

Game Notes

This was just the second matchup between these schools. Xavier won the first contest, also...Xavier finished 27-for-33 from the line while the Bulldogs had only five chances and made three...Each team went 6-for-18 from three-point range...Xavier shot 42.6 percent while Georgia connected on 47.3 percent of its shots.