No. 5 Xavier Holds off Creighton on Senior Day

Saturday, March 5

Cincinnati, Ohio

2:30 P.M.

Xavier University

26-4, 14-4

Creighton University

18-13, 9-9

Creighton

Xavier

No. 5 Xavier Holds off Creighton on Senior Day

03.05.16 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Five Musketeers hit double figures as XU tied the school record for regular season wins at 26

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – A 22-2 run midway through the game allowed No. 5 Xavier to erase a Creighton lead, helping the Musketeers grab a 98-93 win on Senior Day in front of a sellout crowd at Cintas Center. The five-point win, Xavier's narrowest of the season, moved the Musketeers to 26-4 overall and 14-4 in BIG EAST play to close the regular season.

Five Musketeers hit double figures, led by a season-high 24 points for Myles Davis after hitting 5-of-8 from outside.

Trevon Bluiett added 17 for the Musketeers after a 13-point second half, while seniors James Farr and Remy Abell added 16 and 15 respectively in their final game at Cintas Center.

Kaiser Gates added 11 points to match his career high and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds to lead the Musketeers.

Creighton jumped out to an 11-3 lead early after opening the game 3-of-4 from outside.

Five quick points for Macura off the bench helped the Musketeers cut into the Creighton lead down to four, 16-12, with seven minutes gone from the game.

After opening the game 0-for-4 from three, the Musketeers connected on three straight three pointers to stay within two possessions of the Bluejays.

Creighton stayed hot from outside, hitting 6-of-10 on threes to open the game, pushing its lead out to as many as nine, 29-20, with nine minutes left before halftime.

A pair of threes and a pair of free throws from Gates helped cut the CU lead down to four, 29-25.

A Bluiett jumper, a Reynolds layup and a Davis three erased the CU lead, tying the game at 32-32 with five minutes to play before halftime.

The Bluejays and Musketeers traded scores until back-to-back baskets for Farr put the Musketeers ahead, 42-41, with a minute to play before halftime.

A pair of Bluiett free throws in the final seconds of the half sent the Musketeers into the locker room with the 44-41 lead.

Farr led Xavier with 10 first half points. Gates added eight, grabbing a team-high seven rebounds as the Musketeers were narrowly edged on the boards, 16-15.

Threes for Davis and Bluiett to open the second half helped extended the Xavier run to 17-0, pushing the Musketeer lead out to 14, 55-41, less than three minutes into the second half.

Xavier's run extended to 22-2, pushing Xavier out to a 17 point lead, 55-41, with 15 minutes to play.

The Bluejays climbed back into the game, closing into within six, 65-59, with an 11-3 run.

Threes from Abell and Bluiett fueled a 7-0 response for the Musketeers, putting Xavier up 72-59 with nine minutes to play.

Xavier held on to the double-digit lead until a three for Creighton, followed by a pair of free throws, cut the Musketeer lead to eight, 82-74, with under four minutes to play.

The Bluejays continued to chip away, closing to within one possession, 91-88, with just over a minute remaining.

Creighton scored five points in the final minute, getting the lead down to two, but the Musketeers went 7-of-8 from the free throw line to seal the 98-93 win.

The Musketeers finished shooting over 50 percent from the floor, including 13-of-24 from threes.

Each team finished with 30 rebounds, led by Gates' eight.

CU's James Milliken led all scorers with 22 points and Cole Huff added 21.

The Musketeers head to New York for the BIG EAST Tournament at Madison Square Garden next week. Xavier, the two-seed, will open play in the quarterfinal against the winner of a first round game between No. 7 seed Marquette and No. 10 seed St. John's. Xavier is set to tip off at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 10, on FOX Sports 1.

POSTGAME