No. 5 Xavier Unable to Complete Comeback, Fall 90-81 at Seton Hall

Sunday, February 28

South Orange, N.J.

12:30 P.M.

Xavier University

25-4 (13-4BE)

Seton Hall University

21-7 (11-5BE)

Xavier

Seton Hall

Photo by: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

No. 5 Xavier Unable to Complete Comeback, Fall 90-81 at Seton Hall

02.28.16 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Musketeers faced largest halftime deficit of the season

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

NEWARK, N.J. – A 19-point halftime deficit proved too much to overcome, as No. 5 Xavier men's basketball fell, 90-81, at Seton Hall on Sunday. The Musketeers moved to 25-4 overall and 13-4 in BIG EAST play.

James Farr and Trevon Bluiett each finished with a team-high 17 points. Myles Davis added 15 for the Musketeers, all scored in the second half.

Seton Hall jumped out to a 9-0 lead less than two minutes into the game before a pair of threes settled the Musketeers on offense. Farr scored an early six points to lead the Musketeers as they erased the deficit, climbing to within two, 16-14, with 12 minutes to play before halftime.

Eight quick points from SHU's Desi Rodriguez helped the Pirates retake control of the game. Seton Hall grabbed 10 first half rebounds off the offensive glass (to Xavier's 11) and turned those second chances into 16 points to just three for the Musketeers, helping the Pirates extend the lead out to 19, 45-26, at the half – Xavier's largest halftime deficit of the season.

Farr led the Musketeers with 11 points and four rebounds in the first half. Xavier hit just 10-of-37 percent from the floor to the Pirates' 16-of-30. Seton Hall owned a 24-14 advantage in the paint in the first half. SHU outrebounded the Musketeers 28-18 overall.

Six points for Bluiett fueled an 8-3 run to open the second half cut the SHU lead down to 14, 48-34, less than five minutes into the period.

A J.P. Macura bucket on a breakaway and a Davis three-pointer cut the Pirate lead down to 13, 54-41, with 12 minutes to play before a 7-0 run gave Seton Hall it's largest lead of the game at 20.

SHU held on to the sizeable lead until an 8-0 run to cut the lead down to 11, 75-64, with 3:24 remaining, but the Pirates' Isaiah Whitehead scored five unanswered to push the lead back out to 16 with three minutes to play.

Xavier would get as close as nine in the final two minutes of the game, but SHU's Rodriguez went 4-for-4 from the free throw line to seal the game for the Pirates.

Bluiett scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor. Davis' 15 second-half points came on the strength of 3-of-4 shooting beyond the arc for the half.

The Musketeers shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half, including 8-of-15 from three, to finished shooting 39 percent from the floor.

Farr finished with a team-high eight rebounds as the Musketeers closed the rebounding gap in the second half by grabbing 21 boards to SHU's 16 to narrow the overall rebounding margin to 44-39 in favor of SHU. The Musketeers grabbed 20 offensive boards but were only able to convert those to 15 points, compared to SHU's 18 points off 16 offensive boards.

SHU's Rodriguez posted game highs with 27 points and 12 rebounds.

Xavier returns home for its final game of the regular season, when the Musketeers host Creighton on Saturday, March 5, at Cintas Center. The game with the Bluejays is set for a 2:30 p.m. tip off and will broadcast nationally on FOX affiliates, including FOX-19 in Cincinnati.

POSTGAME