Xavier University Athletics
Xavier University
Louisiana State
No. 15 Xavier Bounces LSU in Baton Rouge, 80-70
01.24.09 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2009
Box Score |
AP Photo Gallery 
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -Derrick Brown scored 22 points and No. 15 Xavier handed LSU its first home loss of the season, 80-70 on Saturday night.
Marcus Thornton scored 30 for LSU, his 3-pointer giving the Tigers (15-4) a 40-36 lead early in the second half. Brown responded with a pair of 3s to tie it at 44, and Xavier (17-2) gradually built a lead as large as 11 before holding on.
B.J. Raymond added 21 points for Xavier, driving past Thornton for a layup inside the last two minutes to put the Musketeers up 70-63. Kenny Frease had 12 points.
Xavier went ahead for good when Raymond scored inside to make it 48-47. Jason Love, who had 10 points, added a pair of free throws and a jump hook in the lane, then Raymond added another foul shot to cap a 7-0 run that gave the Musketeers a 53-47 lead.
Raymond's 3 soon after made it 59-50 and brought former Xavier player and current New Orleans Hornet James Posey to his feet behind the Musketeers bench, his hand in the air.
Terrell Holloway's 3 made it 62-52 with 5:41 left, and LSU, which came in 14-0 at home, was not able to get closer than five points after that.
Tasmin Mitchell scored 10 points for the Tigers and Bo Spencer 10.
Brown and C.J. Anderson each grabbed nine rebounds for Xavier, which outrebounded LSU 40-27 overall.
The Pete Maravich Assembly Center was packed to the top row with an overflow crowd of 13,839. Xavier, 5-0 on the road coming in, hardly looked intimidated.
The Musketeers led 12-4 after Raymond's 3. Brown's alley-oop jam on a feed from Dante Jackson ignited a 6-0 surge that put Xavier up 20-10.
LSU made a game of it after that, responding with a 10-0 run that began with Terry Martin's 3 started and ended with Mitchell's baseline jumper to tie it at 20.
The rest of the half was tight, with neither team leading by more than three. Scoring on an array of jumpers and hanging shots high off the glass, Thornton scored 14 points in the first half, the last on a free throw giving LSU a 37-36 lead at halftime.
