Xavier Traps Bears On The Way To The Crosstown Shootout

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The Musketeers got off to a fast start as they pushed the ball on fast breaks to build a  23-10 lead midway through the half.

The Xavier Musketeers bounced back from an embarrassing loss to Arizona State in Las Vegas with a xx-xx win over the previously undefeated Baylor Bears.

The Musketeers led by as many as 10 points against Arizona State but ended up with a 102-86 loss.  Against Baylor who was ranked 16th in the AP poll and just had tough wins over Wisconsin, their only common opponent, and Big East member Creighton.

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Kaiser Gates and J.P. Macura each contributed to the lightning start, both ending up with a game-high 19 points.  Gates made three 3-point shots and Macura made two plus he contributed with a fastbreak layup.

“The one thing you don’t want to do on the road is to fall behind and let the crowd get into the game,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said.  “That’s exactly what happened.  You don’t want to let them get up and down the floor in transition."

Baylor (5-1) wasn’t going to go away quietly and fought back in the game.  They closed the gap to within one at the 4:41 mark but Macura hit a big three at the halftime buzzer to send the Musketeers into the Quick Change halftime show with 39-34 lead.

“We tried to come back but it was a bad night,” said Baylor senior point guard Manu Lecomte, who with 11 points was one of four Bears in double figures.  Terry Maston led them with 15 points,  Mark Vital scored 11 and King McClure added 10.

“We played really tough,” Gates said.  “We played good defense.  I think we could have played better at times but I think we takeaway a lot of good things from this game.”

The Xavier defense came through in a second half spurt that let the Musketeers earn a 57-43 lead with 11:42 left.  Baylor came back and cut the lead to six but Xavier forced seven turnovers in the second half.

Trevon Bluiett scored 10 points to crack Xavier’s top 10 list by passing Brian Grant’s 1,719 points by four.  

Naji Marshall scored 10 and was 4-for-6 from the foul line.  

Sophomore Quentin Gooden scored just six points but distributed nine assists without a turnover in the game.

“I take pride in taking care of the ball,” Goodin said.  “My role is to get my teammates involved.

Xavier (6-1) will take some momentum into Saturday’s noon matchup with arch rival Cincinnati at the Cintas Center.  The Bearcats are 7-0 and ranked 11th.

Xavier coached auditioned for the Comedy Channel by making a bols prediction.

"The  game will start at noon," Chris Mack said.

Xavier Reaches Century Mark Against Rider

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The Xavier Musketeers scored over 100 points for the second straight game in a 101-75 win over the Rider Broncs in the second game for both teams.

Xavier 2-0 defeated Morehead State  101-48 on Friday and kept their shooting eye over the weekend.

Rider came in with confidence beating Xavier's nest home opponent Hampton 90-75.  Xavier travels to Wisconsin, who ended Xavier's NCAA run two years ago.

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Rider suffered some jitters and fell behind 10-2 early.   Xavier built a 17-point lead with 8:25 left in the first half.   Rider found itself and trimmed the lead to 10 by halftime.

"We came out a little jittery," Rider coach Kevin Baggett said.  "We found ourselves and cut it to 10 at the half. Then five in the second half."

The Broncs scored the first five points in the second half until Xavier's 15-2 run put the Musketeers in control.

"We had some good and some bad things," Xavier coach Chris Mack said.  "We had too many turnovers in the first half (8).  It had more to do with my coaching than the players decisions, although they could always make better ones."

Xavier's 57-point second half propelled the Musketeers to the rare 100-point mark.

Trevon Bluiett, who thought about going to NBA, led all scorers with 26 points and a game-high nine rebounds.  Tyrique Jones scored 19 to set a new career-high.  J.P. Macura had 14 points and six assists. Freshman Paul Scruggs had 13 points while Kaiser Gates scored 12.

"We started rushing shots," Baggett said.  "There are no moral victories but I liked the way our team competed."

The Broncs were led by Jordan Allen and Stevie Jordan.  Both scored 14.  Jordan had six rebounds and nine assists to lead Rider, who host Hartford on Wednesday.

Noteworthy:

This was the first meeting between the two teams....It was Xavier's 32nd consecutive home win against non-conference opponents....The last time the Musketeers won scored over 100 points in two straight games since they defeated Kansas State and Virginia in the 2007-08 season. Those are the only set in the last 22 years.