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.
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