Xavier University Athletics
XU vs. SLU Postgame Notes
01.25.12 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2012
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Game Notes
St. Louis (16-4, 4-2 Atlantic 10) snapped Xavier's (13-7, 4-3) 43-game Atlantic 10 home winning streak by defeating the Musketeers, 73-68. Brian Conklin led the Billikens with 19 points. Rob Loe added 14 and Jordair Jett and Cody Ellis had 11 apiece. Loe grabbed 8 rebounds and Kwamain Mitchell had 7 assists. Xavier was led by Mark Lyons who scored a career-high 27 points off the bench. Tu Holloway added 22 points and Jeff Robinson added 10 points. Robinson grabbed 6 rebounds and Holloway had 5 assists.
St. Louis ended Xavier's 43-game home court winning streak in A-10 play, which stands as the longest in league history. The last A-10 team to defeat XU at home was Saint Joseph's, which handed the Musketeers a 68-58 defeat on February 28, 2006, at Cintas Center. XU was 8-0 at home in A-10 play in each of the last five seasons, and entered tonight's game 3-0 this season.
Senior All-American Tu Holloway moved into 16th place on XU's all-time scoring list with 1,527 points. He moved ahead of Gary Lumpkin (1995-99), who scored 1,507 points during his career at Xavier. Next on the scoring list in 15th place is Lionel Chalmers (2000-04), who scored 1,556 points.
Xavier had its best free throw shooting performance of the season, connecting on 90.6 percent (29-for-32) of its attempts. The previous high was 80 percent (16-for-20) at La Salle (1-4-12).
Tu Holloway was 14-for-14 from the free throw line. This marks the sixth time he's been perfect from the line and taken at least 10 shots during his career. His career-best performance from the line was 17-for-17 against at Richmond (1-29-11). He's scored more than 10 points from the free throw line 17 times in his career.
Tu Holloway became the eighth Musketeer to record at least 100 assists in three seasons. He joins Anthony Hicks, Jamal Walker, Lenny Brown, Gary Lumpkin, Michael Hawkins, Ralph Lee, and Stan Kimbrough. Hicks had at least 100 assists in all four of his seasons at Xavier.
Mark Lyons scored a career-high 27 points. His previous career high was 25 points, which he accomplished twice. He scored 25 against Wofford (11-27-10) and at Charlotte (2-2-11). He scored 22 of his 27 in the second half. With 991 career points, he is now 9 points shy of becoming the 49th player to score 1,000 points in a Musketeer uniform.
Runs
Leading 30-26 at 2:42, St. Louis went on a 9-0 run to take a 39-26 lead with 59 seconds remaining. Cody Ellis scored 5 points during the spurt.
Trailing 48-36 at 15:07 of the second half, XU went on a 14-2 run to tie the game at 50-all at 10:20. Mark Lyons scored 6 points to pace the Musketeers.
With the scored tied 50-all, St. Louis went on an 8-0 run to take a 58-50 lead at 7:12. Brian Conklin scored 6 points for the Billikens.
Up Next: Xavier embarks on a three-game road swing, beginning at Charlotte on Saturday, January 28, at 7 p.m. XU leads the all-time series with the 49ers, 9-2, including victories in three of the last four meetings. Last season, the Musketeers split the season series, losing 66-62 in Charlotte, but defeated the 49ers in Cintas Center, 68-48. In the game at Charlotte, Xavier jumped out to a 16-4 lead, but Charlotte regrouped to take a 29-27 lead at half, and extended the advantage to 9 points with under eight minutes left. Xavier cut the lead to 4 points on several occasions, but could get no closer. Mark Lyons scored 25 points and Jamel McLean added 17 points and 10 rebounds. In the rematch at Cintas Center, XU clinched at least a share of its fifth straight A-10 regular season championship with the "Senior Night" rout. Appropriately, senior Dante Jackson led all scorers with 18 points to pace the Musketeers. XU got off to a slow start, trailing 7-0 early and 15-11 with 12:30 left in the first half, but then went on a 12-0 run to take a 23-15 lead to go in front for good. Jamel McLean scored 11 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Kenny Frease added 14 points, and Mark Lyons chipped in 10 points. Tu Holloway scored just 4 points, but dished out 8 assists
