No. 7 Xavier Falls at No. 9/11 Baylor

Saturday, December 3

Waco, Texas

3:30 p.m.

Xavier University

7-1 (#7/7)

Baylor

8-0 (#9/11)

Xavier

Baylor

12.03.16 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Stats (PDF)

Strong second half performance for Bears gives Musketeers first loss of season

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

WACO, Texas - No. 7 Xavier suffered its first setback of the season after No. 9 Baylor used a strong second half performance to pull away from the Musketeers in the second half. The Musketeers, moved to 7-1 on the season after the Bears erased a three points halftime lead to win 76-61 at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.

XU STATS

Trevon Bluiett led the Musketeers with 23 points despite going to the bench early in the second half with foul trouble. The junior guard with 6-of-10 from the floor, with all 10 field goal attempts coming from behind the arc. He also went 5-5 from the free throw line.

The game marks the 20-plus point game of the season for Bluiett, and the seventh game in double-figures on the season.

Edmond Sumner also hit double-figures, scoring 19 points after a 12-point performance in the second half.

Xavier owned 47-35 advantage on the boards, let by an eight-rebound effort for RaShid Gaston.

Despite Xavier's advantage on the glass, the Bears owned a decided advantage in the paint, outscoring the Musketeers 38-18 down low.

FIRST HALF

Baylor took inital lead, but a 12-2 run put the Musketeers in control, leading 14-8 less than eight minutes into the game. Xavier's advantage grew to as many as nine in the first half, 21-12, after Kaiser Gates posted five points and less than a minute. The Bears responded to their largest deficit of the game with a 11-2 run to tie the game 23-23 with seven minutes remaining in the half. Xavier would lead by six late in the first half before heading into the break up three 34-31.

Bluiett led Xavier with 12 points in the first half, hitting on 3-of-5 shots from outside the arc. XU shot 45.5 percent from outside overall.

Bluiett also led the Musketeers with five boards in the first, as Xavier owned a 26-16 advantage on rebounds in the first half, including grabbing 10 off the offensive glass for nine second chance points.

SECOND HALF

Xavier's lead extended to four in the first six minutes of the second half when an 8-0 run for the Bears swung the advantage to four in their favor. Sumner responded with a pair of free throws an a three to put Xavier back ahead, 51-50, with 11 minutes to play.

The Musketeer lead was short lived as a 21-2 run for Baylor put XU in a 19-point hole, 66-53, with under four minutes to play. During that run the Bears held the Musketeers without a field goal for nearly eight minutes.

The run was ended with by a Bluiett's sixth three of the day, and a pair of Bluiett free throws put Xavier down 13, 71-58, with under two minutes to play.

XU would get as close as 12 in the final seconds, but Baylor secured the 76-61 win.

Sumner led the Musketeers with 12 points in the second half. Xavier shot 23 percent from the floor in the second half, including 4-17 from outside.

Xavier owned a 21-19 advantage on the boards in the second half, including grabbing eight offensive boards, but only turned those boards into four second-chance points, while the Bears turned four offensive boards into seven points.

UP NEXT

Xavier remains on the road for its next match-up, traveling to Boulder, Colo. to face off with Colorado on Wednesday, Dec. 7. The Musketeers and the Buffs are set to face off at 9:00 p.m. ET on the Pac-12 Network.