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Marquette Rallies to Beat Xavier

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NEW YORK – Marquette’s Kam Jones scored 28 points, including the go-ahead basket with 1:16 remaining, as the No. 25 Golden Eagles rallied for an 89-87 victory over Xavier in the Big East quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon.

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Marquette will face St. John’s in the first of a Friday night semifinals doubleheader at Madison Square Garden.

Chase Ross and Stevie Mitchell added 16 apiece for the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (23-9), who advanced to the semifinals for the third straight season. David Joplin chipped in 14 as Marquette shot 61.3 percent in the second half and 48.5 percent overall.

Ryan Conwell scored a career-high 38 points by hitting 13 of 18 shots and seven 3s, but fourth-seeded Xavier (21-11) saw a seven-game winning streak stopped. Zach Freemantle added 15 and Dailyn Swain 11 as Xavier shot 52.6 percent.

Jones made 11 of 22 shots and hit five 3-pointers to help the Golden Eagles move into a semifinal matchup with top-seeded St. John’s. No shot was bigger than the one that gave Marquette the lead for good at 81-80 after it trailed by 14 in the opening minutes of the second half.

After Conwell hit a 3 over Ben Gold with 1:36 left, Jones got the ball in the paint. He made a move around Conwell and converted the difficult layup.

Marquette followed Jones’ clutch hoop by getting a major defensive stop when Ross stole the ball from Freemantle in the middle of the paint. Jones fell down in the paint but was able to pass to Joplin, who pushed the lead to 84-80 with a 3-pointer from the right side with 26.1 seconds.

Xavier was within 84-82 when Swain hit a layup with 26 seconds left. After Gold split two free throws, Conwell sank two at the line with seven seconds left to make it a one-point game.

After avoiding a five-second violation on the inbounds, Mitchell got two free throws to roll in with six seconds left. Conwell missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with three seconds left and Ross sank two free throws to clinch it.

Late in the first half, Dante Maddox Jr.’s corner 3 gave the Musketeers their first 10-point lead. Conwell’s transition 3 pushed the lead to 46-34 with 89 seconds left and Xavier held a 46-36 edge by halftime.

Conwell racked up 10 points in the opening 4:47 of the second half to help Xavier make it 58-48. Marquette roared back with a 15-4 run to take a 63-62 lead with 10:26 remaining on Jones’ 3-pointer.

Xavier took a 68-65 lead on a difficult hook shot in the lane by Freemantle with 8:26 left. Marquette regained the lead when Jones sank an open 3 from the left side to make it 72-71 with 5:31 left to set up the dramatic finish.

– Field Level Media

Big East: Xavier Looking for Upset

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NEW YORK – Many March Madness bracketologists are describing Xavier with the phrases “last four in” or “first four out.”

A well-timed seven-game winning streak gives Xavier a chance at being the fifth team from the Big East to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

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The fifth-seeded Musketeers’ next chance to enhance their resume occurs Thursday afternoon in a Big East tournament quarterfinal matchup against No. 25 Marquette.

Xavier (21-10) enters the tournament with the conference’s longest active winning streak and a NET ranking of 44. Despite a top 50 ranking, the Musketeers are 1-8 in Quad 1 games and are among four teams in the top 50 in the NET rankings with one win or fewer in Quad 1 games.

“I think we’re playing our best basketball of the season right now,” Xavier coach Sean Miller said. “I feel like we’re an NCAA Tournament team.”

Xavier is unbeaten since a 12-point loss at Villanova on Feb. 9, though six of its wins are against the combination of DePaul, Butler, Seton Hall and Providence — the bottom four in the Big East standings.

However, the Musketeers also earned a two-point win over Marquette on Jan. 18 when the Golden Eagles were ranked No. 7 in the AP Top 25. Xavier also owns a four-point victory over UConn when the two-time defending national champions were ranked No. 19 in the poll on Jan. 25.

“I’ll also tell you, there’s some smart people on the committee. I know there’s a lot of worthy teams,” Miller said. “We have to be at our best in New York City. That’s when you want to play your best.”

Among those playing their best down the stretch is Zach Freemantle, who ended the regular season with 25 points in Saturday’s 76-68 win over Providence. Freemantle is averaging 24.0 points in his past three games.

Xavier is averaging 82.1 points during its winning streak, and contributions from Ryan Conwell are helping. Conwell scored 21 on Saturday and averaging 21.0 points in his past four outings.

These schools meet in the conference tournament for the first time since Marquette defeated Xavier to win the 2023 Big East title game.

Marquette (22-9) has reached the past three Big East title games, but enters Thursday after splitting its final 14 regular-season games. The Golden Eagles took five of those losses to the top three Big East seeds and ended the regular season with an 86-84 overtime loss to St. John’s on Saturday, three days after a 72-66 loss at UConn.

“Don’t have a choice,” Marquette coach Shaka Smart said after his team tied a season worst by missing 10 free throws. “Response is a huge key in our program, the ability to focus on the next most important thing.”

Kam Jones scored 32 against St. John’s to follow up a 21-point showing at UConn. Jones finished third in the league in scoring at 15.3 points, and the senior guard was a unanimous pick for the All-Big East first team.

“Now’s the most important time, the postseason of your senior year,” Jones said.

– Field Level Media

Xavier Opens Big East with W

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Desmond Claude scored 26 points and ninth-seeded Xavier earned a 76-72 victory over Butler in the opening round of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.

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Claude and the Musketeers (16-16) advance to the conference tournament quarterfinals against No. 1 seed UConn. Voted the league’s most improved player, Claude scored at least 25 for the fourth time this season and hit 11 of his 20 shots.

Xavier made winning plays down the stretch. The Musketeers led for the final 11:12 and pulled away in the final minutes, taking a 75-68 lead on Dayvion McKnight’s strong drive to the rim and bucket with 53 seconds left.

Butler had a chance thanks to DJ Davis’ 3, cutting the deficit to 75-71 with 45 seconds left.

Posh Alexander split a pair at the line with 13 seconds remaining. After Alexander missed the second free throw, Butler got the offensive rebound after a lengthy review. But Davis lost the ball in the lane with four seconds to go.

McKnight scored 16 of his 20 in the second half and Xavier shot 51.5 percent in the final 20 minutes and 46.3 percent overall. Quincy Olivari hit three of Xavier’s seven 3s and contributed 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Pierre Brooks scored 21 to lead Butler (18-14), which entered with a NET rating of 65 and likely needed at least one win in the tournament and some outside help to be invited to the NCAA Tournament.

Jalen Thomas and Posh Alexander, who appeared to suffer a scary right knee injury with about five minutes left in the first half, added 14 points apiece.

Xavier withstood Butler’s charge and held a 32-31 lead at halftime after Claude hit a floater in the lane with 28 seconds left.

After missing their first eight 3s, the Musketeers heated up with four 3s in the opening minutes of the second half to take a 46-43 lead on Claude’s triple just inside of the 16-minute mark.

Olivari’s 3 snapped a 54-54 tie with 11:12 left and his fastbreak layup made it 61-56 with 8:46 remaining.

–By Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media

Big East: Seton Hall, Xavier Cruise

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NEWARK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Seton Hall and Xavier gained homecourt victories in rivalry games on Tuesday. The Pirates took control late in the first and went on to post an 80-65 win. Xavier overcame Butler’s second-half rally to register an 85-71 victory.

At Prudential Center, Seton Hall and St. John’s were tied 24-24 with 4:33 left in the first half. The Pirates (13-5, 6-1 BIG EAST) scored the game’s next 28 points – 14 in the first half and the first 14 in the second half. Five Pirates reached double figures. Al-Amir Dawes scored a game-high 21 points. Dylan Addae-Wusu added 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. St. John’s (12-6, 4-3) competed without coach Rick Pitino, who missed the game due to illness. Daniss Jenkins led the Red Storm with 17 points.

At Cintas Center, after Butler had erased a 19-point deficit with the help of a 20-3 run, Xavier used a late spurt of its own to pick up an 85-71 victory. The Musketeers (9-8, 3-3) were led by Desmond Claude, who netted a career-high 26 points.  Dayvion McKnight added 20 points. Butler (11-7, 2-5) got 22 points from Pierre Brooks and a season-high 21 from Posh Alexander.

Like Tuesday, Wednesday’s two-game schedule is a doubleheader on FS1. Connecticut, newly-anointed No. 1 in this week’s AP poll, hosts No. 18 Creighton at Gampel Pavilion at 7 p.m. ET. The Bluejays (13-4, 4-2) have won six of the seven meetings since the Huskies (13-4, 4-2) rejoined the BIG EAST with UConn’s only win coming in last year’s contest 69-60 at Gampel.

Providence visits DePaul at 9 p.m. Both teams are aiming to end four-game losing streaks. Devin Carter has been on a hot scoring run and leads the Friars (11-6, 2-4). In BIG EAST games, he ranks first in scoring with a 21.7 average. DePaul’s top scorer in league play is forward Da’Sean Nelson, who sports a 16.2 scoring mark.

Xavier Tops Providence in O.T.

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CINCINNATI – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – In a battle of ranked teams on Wednesday, No. 16 Xavier and No. 17 Providence went into overtime before the Musketeers prevailed. No. 14 Marquette, Seton Hall and Creighton also picked up victories.

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Xavier edged Providence 85-83 at Cintas Center. It was the fourth win over a ranked opponent for the Musketeers (18-5, 10-2 BIG EAST). Jack Nunge produced his seventh double-double of the season with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Guards Souley Boum and Colby Jones each scored 20 points. Noah Locke made 6-of-7 from 3-point range and finished with 22 points for the Friars (17-6, 9-3 BE). Jared Bynum’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer rattled out.

Marquette remained in a tie with Xavier atop the league standings with a 73-64 victory over Villanova. The Golden Eagles (18-5, 10-2) trailed 62-61 with five minutes left before outscoring the Wildcats (10-12, 4-7 BE) 12-2 to close the game. Marquette’s Tyler Kolek posted 20 points and six assists. Eric Dixon and Caleb Daniels each scored 14 points for Villanova.

Seton Hall earned its fourth BIG EAST road win with an 84-72 victory over St. John’s at Carnesecca Arena. The Pirates (14-9, 7-5 BE) recovered from a 13-point deficit in the first half to win their sixth game in their last seven. Al-Amir Dawes scored a game-high 21 points and Kadary Richmond filled his stat line with 15 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and three steals. AJ Storr continued his recent strong play with 15 points for the Red Storm (14-9, 4-8 BE).

Georgetown held Creighton to its lowest scoring total in BIG EAST play, but the Bluejays still recorded a 63-53 victory, their fifth straight win. Ryan Kalkbrenner led the Bluejays (14-8, 8-3 BE) with 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Baylor Scheierman added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Qudus Wahab had 14 points, seven boards and three steals for the Hoyas (6-17, 1-1 BE).

BIG EAST play returns on Saturday with four games.

Missed Free Throws Cost Xavier

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NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – After closing out their regular season schedule with a 3-7 skid, and continuing a history of struggles in the months of February and March during the past two seasons, Xavier’s hopes of hearing its name called on Selection Sunday really needed a boost in the form of a victory over Butler in its BIG EAST Tournament opener Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.

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A win and the Musketeers could sleep soundly Saturday night and wait to see who the NCAA Tournament would match them up with for next week’s Big Dance. A loss, and well, there could be night sweats. But thanks to Butler freshman Simas Lukosius’ coming out party, Xavier will now have to sweat out Sunday’s NCAA proceedings as the Bulldogs knocked Xavier out of the BIG EAST Tournament for the second straight year with an 89-82 overtime victory. Last season’s tournament win over Xavier also came via overtime.

Lukosius, who came into the game averaging a mere 6.3 points a game, erupted for a career-best 27 points while doing the bulk of his damage in overtime. With Chuck Harris and his game-high 28 points having fouled out at the end of regulation, Butler needed someone to step up with the hopes of extending the Bulldogs’ season and it was Lukosius who answered the bell. And after scoring seven points in the first half and eight more in the second, Lukosius poured in 12 points in the extra session to help the Bulldogs pull away.

But Lukosius thinks it was his final two points of regulation – a pair of free throws with 5.1 seconds to play which knotted the game at 68-68 – that were his most important of the night.

“If I don’t make those free throws we don’t have overtime,” Lukosius said. “Those were the biggest points.”

Lukosius was darn near unstoppable in the overtime with his jumper with 4:47 to play giving the Bulldogs a 70-68 lead and they would never trail again. But he was just getting started.

Lukosius followed with a three-pointer at the 3:59 mark, then added another three-ball and a free throw with 2:20 to play for a 77-72 Butler lead. At that point Lukosius had scored all nine of the Bulldogs’ points in the extra session. He would add three more free throws down the stretch with the final two coming with 20.3 seconds to play that put the finishing touches on the Butler victory.

As you might expect, Butler head coach LaVall Jordan was impressed with his freshmen’s effort in his very first BIG EAST Tournament game.

“The kid’s got a big heart and he’s got courage, man,” Jordan said. “I love him because he’s not afraid. That gets you in trouble sometimes but it also allows you to have a moment like this. He rises to the occasion and I know his teammates are excited for him.”

If Xavier does not hear its name called Sunday, the Musketeers can look to their poor foul shooting as a reason for the NCAA snub. After missing five straight free throw attempts in the final 40.4 seconds of regulation, the Musketeers sank just five of 10 in the overtime to help seal their fate.

The Muskleteers (18-13) seemingly had things in hand at the end of regulation when Paul Scruggs converted a layup and was fouled with 8.5 seconds to play for a 68-66 lead. But when Scruggs missed the ensuing free throw, it left open the door for Butler. Lukosius’ two free throws with 5.1 seconds to play sent the game to overtime and he took things from there for the Bulldogs.

While Xavier awaits its fate on Sunday, Butler will have little time to celebrate its victory as the Bulldogs need to prepare to face top-seeded Providence in Thursday’s noon quarterfinal. Butler dropped both games to the Friars this season, losing 69-62 at Providence before dropping a 71-70 overtime decision on Feb. 20.

Xavier, Providence Continue to Roll

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CINCINNATI – (Staff report from Official News Release) – Xavier and Providence both pushed their overall records to 11-1 and won their BIG EAST openers on Saturday. St. John’s, Georgetown and Butler dropped decisions in non-league competition.

The 22nd-ranked Musketeers knocked off visiting Marquette 80-71. Xavier’s Dwon Odom came off the bench to score a career-high 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field. Nate Johnson added 17 points. Jack Nunge helped with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Marquette (8-4, 0-1 BIG EAST) cut a 10-point second-half deficit to 70-69 with 3:03 left before Xavier pulled away. Greg Elliott led the Golden Eagles with 18 points.

Providence built a 16-point lead before surviving a late rally in a 57-53 win against No. 20 UConn at XL Center. PC’s A.J. Reeves scored 16 points, which included 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Reserve Ed Croswell added 11 points in 15 minutes. R.J. Cole led the Huskies with 16 points and eight assists. The Friars limited the Huskies to 31.1 percent shooting from the field.

St. John’s (8-3) played without Julian Champagnie because of COVID protocols and lost 59-57 to Pittsburgh on a shot just before the buzzer in the Gotham Classic at Madison Square Garden. Dylan Addae-Wusu scored a team-high 12 points. Posh Alexander finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals.

Georgetown (6-5) made it close in the final minute but fell to TCU 80-73 in the final game of the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle. Aminu Mohammed posted his fifth double-double this season with game highs of 21 points and 11 rebounds. Kaiden Rice, who missed Wednesday’s win against Howard, added 14 points.  The Hoyas played without an injured Dante Harris.

No. 3 Purdue pulled away from Butler in the final minutes of the first half en route to a 77-48 victory over the Bulldogs at the Crossroads Classic. Bryce Golden led the Bulldogs (7-4) with 17 points. Chuck Harris missed the game due to illness. Butler connected on only 4-of-28 from 3-point range.

After Saturday, BIG EAST teams have an overall record of 91-27 (.771) against non-league opponents.

No games are scheduled for today and the two games on Monday were canceled due to COVID-19. Play resumes on Tuesday with Xavier visiting Villanova and Marquette hosting UConn.