No. 5 Xavier Falls to Seton Hall in BIG EAST Semifinals

Friday, March 11

New York, N.Y.

9 P.M.

Xavier University

Seton Hall University

Seton Hall

Xavier

No. 5 Xavier Falls to Seton Hall in BIG EAST Semifinals

03.12.16 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Second half comeback falls shorts for the Musketeers

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

NEW YORK – A furious comeback on the closing minutes nearly erased a 15-point Seton Hall lead held with under three minutes to play, but the No. 5 Musketeers were unable to get closer than four, falling in the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals on Friday night. The Musketeers await the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday, March 13 at 5:30 p.m. on CBS.

Edmond Sumner finished with a team high 21 points to lead four Musketeers who finished in double figures, marking the first time Xavier lost this season with four players in double figures.

James Farr finished with 18 after a 14-point second half, and grabbed 10 board for his fifth double-double of the year.

Trevon Bluiett added 15, also scoring the bulk of his points in the second half, scoring 12 points after the break. J.P. Macura added 10 for the Musketeers.

Xavier took a 5-0 lead to open the game, holding the lead until the 15:25 mark when the Pirates inched ahead, 11-9.

A Sumner three put the Musketeers back ahead briefly before Seton Hall put together a 15-3 run to take a 26-15 lead with nine minutes remaining before the half.

The Seton Hall lead extended out to as many 17, 34-17 with six minutes to play in the first, but a 9-2 response from the Musketeers cut the lead down to 10 with just under five minutes remaining before heading in to the half down 11, 41-30.

Sumner led the Musketeers in the first half with nine points. Xavier went into the break shooting 30 percent to 47 percent for Seton Hall.

Xavier committed 13 first half turnovers to 10 for SHU, but the Pirates turned those 13 miscues in to 15 points to just three points off turnovers for the Musketeers.

Jalen Reynolds led the Musketeers with six first half boards as the Pirates owned a 23-20 advantage on the boards in going into halftime.

Xavier used five points from Bluiett and four from Farr in the first four minutes of the second half to cut the Seton Hall lead down to nine, 50-41, the first time the XU deficit was in single digits since the 8:41 mark in the first half.

After the Pirates briefly pushed the lead back to double figures, a 7-2 run for the Musketeers cut the lead back down to seven, 55-48, with 14 minutes to play.

Farr and Bluiett combined for 22 of the Musketeer's 28 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half as the Musketeers closed to within four of the Pirates, 60-56.

Seton Hall responded with a 14-2 run that pushed the lead back out to 15, 74-56, with five minutes to play.

Seton Hall maintained double-digit lead into the final minutes, leading by 15 with 2:50 to play. In the the final minutes, Xavier ramped up its full-court defense, forcing three steals to outscore the Pirates, 19-8, in the final minutes of the game, but the Musketeers were not able to erase the lead completely, falling, 87-83.

Xavier finished shooting 29-of-83, 35 percent, to SHU's 29-of-56, 52 percent, for the game.

Xavier earned the extra shots by battling on the offensive boards, owning a 28-13 advantage on the offensive boards, which the Musketeers turned into 21 second chance points to just 11 for the Pirates. Xavier owned a 49-46 advantage on the boards overall, led Farr's 10. Sumner grabbed nine for Xavier.

Xavier will await its next match up when the NCAA Tournament seeding is announced on Sunday, March 13 at 5:30 p.m. on CBS. Stay tuned to GoXavier.com for more information.