Seton Hall Ends Xavier's Home Win Streak

The Xavier Musketeers are very tough to beat at home but the Seton Hall Pirates won in their first trip to Xavier's home court since 1948, 68-60.

The Pirates beat Xavier at its own game, hitting 8-of-22 3-point shots while Xavier managed just 2-of-14.  Xavier had some good looks from beyond the arc late in the game but missed its last five 3-point shots and six of the last seven.

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Fuquon Edwin led Seton Hall with 18 points, including three 3-point goals in eight attempts.

Jaren Sina scored 12 points, using a pair of 3-point shots.  His four point play after he was fouled by Semaj Christon gave the Pirates extended a one-point lead to a 56-51 advantage at the 6:16 mark. Brandon Mobley made three 3-pointer while scoring 11 points. Sterling Gibbs scored 10 for Seton Hall.

Xavier trailed for all but 50 seconds in the first half but held a one-point lead at halftime.  Xavier slipped out of the opening tip and had to battle back from an 8-0 deficit to inch into the lead.

"It felt like we weren’t ready to play the first four or five minutes _ at least from my vantage point," Xavier coach Chris Mack said.

Seton Hall (13-9, 4-5) came into the game with a losing Big East record of 3-5 but had snapped long home winning streaks at Providence and Marquette.  They handed Xavier (15-6, 5-3) its first home loss of the season.  The Musketeers lost at home for the first time after 13 straight Cintas Center wins.

"We just came off a tough loss to Butler.  We felt we had something to prove.," Edwin said.  Seton Hall was not aware of the extent of Xavier's home dominance just that it was difficult to beat the Musketeers at the Cintas Center.

The eight point loss was the largest home losing deficit since Oral Roberts beat Xavier 64-42 on December 18, 2011.

Christon lead Xavier with 21 points.  Matt Stainbrook scored 16 points and gathered 14 rebounds for his fifth double-double.

"The effort was there. We were trying to ramp up on defense and make an effort there, and we did. But it’s for naught if you don’t play smart, too," Stainbrook said.  "We’ve got to put it all together. We’ve got to say, Hey, we’re playing for the Big East championship and the NCAA tournament."

Xavier has a tough task in two days when it takes on Villanova on Monday in Philadelphia.  The Wildcats own an 18-2 record overall and a 7-1 Big East record, second only to Creighton's 8-1 conference mark.