Two weeks ago the Providence Friars defeated the Xavier Musketeers in Rhode Island. The loss started a three-game losing streak for Xavier.
The Musketeers exacted some revenge and righted their listing ship with a 59-53 win over Providence (16-8, 6-5) at the Cintas Center.
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Two weeks ago Providence senior Bryce Cotton scored 25 points with three 3-point shots and seven assists. This time Cotton still dished out seven assists but made just one 3-point shot while scoring just nine points, 14 points below his season average. LaDontae Henderson scored 23 points in the first meeting but scored only 14 this time.
"They (Xavier) gave me a lot of attention like most teams do but it didn't affect our game plan," Cotton said "I made a couple bonehead plays so I take some of the blame."
"I'm not a selfish player. If I have a shot, I take it. If not I will dish it to someone that's open," Cotton said.
Xavier shot its lowest 3-point percentage of the season and were outrebounded 39-32 but managed to overcome a one-point halftime deficit by holding the Friars to 21 points in the second half.
"Having seen them once already, we knew they were physical," Xavier coach Chris Mack said. "We concentrated on stopping the guy that makes them go (Cotton)."
Semaj Christon was on the Providence star most of the 40 minutes.
It’s tough to chase him around. But if you’re locked in, you should be all right," Christon said.
Christon was below his scoring average too but not by as large a differential as his opponent from Providence. Christon scored 12 points but averaged 17.1 coming into the game.
Justin Martin and Matt Stainbrook led Xavier with 13 points. Stainbrook pulled down nine rebounds as well.
Josh Fortune scored a game-high 17 for the Friars. He scored just seven in the previous meeting.
Xavier plays at Butler on Tuesday and Marquette on Saturday before returning on February 19th to host DePaul.
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