No. 24/22 Xavier Holds Off St. John's at Madison Square Garden

Sunday, January 29

New York, N.Y.

6 p.m.

Xavier University

15-6 (5-3)

St. John's

10-13 (4-6)

Xavier

ST. JOHN'S

No. 24/22 Xavier Holds Off St. John's at Madison Square Garden

01.29.17 | Men's Basketball

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

Quentin Goodin scores career-high 16 points

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

NEW YORK - No. 24/22 Xavier held off a late-second half surge by the Red Storm to take the 82-77 win at Madison Square Garden on Sunday evening. Four Musketeers hit double figures as Xavier moved to 15-6 overall and 5-3 in BIG EAST play.

NOTABLE

Trevon Bluiett posted his second double-double of the season, leading the Musketeers with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Quentin Goodin scored a career-high 16 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor and hit 7-of-9 from the free throw line.

Edmond Sumner finished with 17 points and a team-high seven assists.

J.P. Macura add 14 points for the Musketeers.

Xavier outrebounded St. John's 45-26, including a 17-6 advantage on the offensive glass.

XAVIER BUILDS FIRST HALF LEAD

Sumner hit his first four shots from the floor for nine points in the first six minutes of the game, helping the Musketeers lead by as many as six, 19-13 in the first 10 minutes of the game.

A 7-2 SJU run cut the Xavier deficit to one, 21-20, before the Musketeers went on an 11-2 run to push out to a 10-point lead, it's largest of the half, in the final minute, before going into the break ahead, 32-25.

Sumner finished the first half with a team high 11 points. Bluiett and Goodin each added six in the first 20 minutes.

Both teams struggled from outside in the first half, shooting under 20 percent from beyond the arc, but the Musketeers connected on 11-of-15 two-point field goals, including outscoring SJU 12-4 in the paint.

Xavier owned a 22-12 advantage on the boards in the first half, led by six for Bluiett.

ST. JOHN'S STORMS BACK

St. John's pulled to within four to open the second half, but after only hitting one three in the first half, the Musketeers connected on four in the first 10 minutes of the second half to push the advantage out to 59-44.

After the Xavier lead hit 15, the largest for the Musketeers of the game, SJU outscored XU 12-4 over the next 3:05 to get the lead down to seven.

Xavier scored five unanswered to lead 67-56 when Sumner came out of the game due to an apparent leg injury. With Sumner out of the game, the Red Storm went on a 10-0 run to cut the lead down to two, 68-66, with under five minutes to play.

After the game was cut to a single possession, the two teams traded baskets with Xavier holding onto the lead. Goodin scored seven of his 10 second-half points in the final five minutes of the game to help the Musketeers hold on to the lead, winning 82-77 in a game where Xavier never trailed.

Bluiett had 15 in the second half, shooting over 70 percent from the floor, including going 3-of-4 on threes.

Xavier owned a 23-14 advantage on the boards in the second half, with Kaiser Gates grabbing five of his nine boards in the second period.

UP NEXT

Xavier returns home to host Seton Hall on Wednesday, February 1 at Cintas Center. The Musketeers and Pirates are set to tip at 9:00 p.m. on FS1.