No. 15/14 Xavier Pulls Away From George Washington Late in Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational

Thursday, November 23

Las Vegas, Nev.

5 p.m.

Xavier University

George Washington

No. 15/14 Xavier Pulls Away From George Washington Late in Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational

11.23.17 | Men's Basketball

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

Bluiett leads with 20, Goodin matches career-high with 16 points

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

LAS VEGAS – No. 15/14 Xavier moved to 5-0 on the season after topping the George Washington Colonials (2-3) in the Continental Tires Las Vegas Invitational on Thursday afternoon. The Musketeers, in search of a third-straight holiday tournament title, will face the winners of tonight's game between Kansas State and Arizona State tomorrow afternoon.

Trevon Bluiett led three Musketeers in double-figures, including a career-best tying mark for Quentin Goodin. Tyrique Jones matched his career high in boards.

FIRST HALF

Xavier jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game before GW climbed back into the game, eventually tying the score, 13-13, with under 13 minutes to play in the half.
The Musketeers steadily built an advantage out to 12, the largest lead of the first half, before back-to-back threes for George Washington cut the Xavier lead to 33-27 with five minutes remaining in the half.
The Colonials would get as close as five in the final minutes of the half before heading into the break with the Musketeers ahead seven, 43-36.
Trevon Bluiett led the Musketeers with 12 points in the first half, matching GW's Jair Bolden for game-high.
Quentin Goodin scored eight and dished out four first-half assists.
Paul Scurggs added seven, hitting 3-of-3 on field goals. The Musketeers hit 54.5 percent from the floor overall, including 4-of-7 from there.
The Musketeers built their advantage in the paint, outscoring the Colonials, 26-8, on points in the paint. GW countered with outside shooting, hitting seven threes in the first 20 minutes.
Xavier owned a slight advantage on the boards, grabbing 19 to 16 for GW. The Musketeers were led by seven boards for Tyrique Jones.

SECOND HALF

GW pulled to within five on the opening bucket of the second half, but the Musketeers re-extended the lead, holding a two-to-three possession advantage for most of the first five minutes of the half.
A 7-2 run, capped by back-to-back dunks for Sean O'Mara, put Xavier ahead 14, 60-46, less than eight minutes into the second half, for the largest lead of the game at that point.
After building a 14-point lead, four Xavier turnovers helped fuel an 8-0 GW run over the next two minutes to cut the lead back to six, 62-65, with less than nine minutes to play.
Both teams failed to score over the next three minutes, a streak broken by a Bluiett lay-up off a turnover, followed by a pair of free throws for the senior for a personal 4-0 run, putting the Xavier lead back to 10, 66-56, with five minutes to play.
After GW cut the lead to six, the Musketeers held the Colonials without a field goal for over six minutes, while Blueitt's four points started a 13-2 run for the Musketeers, helping Xavier take control of the game going into the final three minutes.
Xavier built the lead out to as many as 21 in the final minute before winning by 19, 83-64.
Goodin and Bluiett each scored eight in the second half. Four Musketeers scored six in the final 20 minutes.
Xavier connected on 62.5 percent on the floor in the second half while the Musketeers limited GW to just 37.9 percent from the floor, holding the Colonials to 1-of-9 shooting from outside in the second 20 minutes.

NOTABLES

Trevon Bluiett finished with a game-high 20 points. The senior guard has has scored at least 20 in every game this season.
Quentin Goodin finished with 16 points, matching his career-high set at St. John's last season. Goodin connected on six of nine shots from the floor and hit 4-of-4 at the free throw line. The sophomore also dished out a game-high four assists.
Tyrique Jones' game-high 11 rebounds match a career-high, set against Buffalo last season. Jones also added eight points for the Musketeers.
The Musketeers shot 58 percent from the floor, outscoring GW 54-16 on points in the paint.
Xavier owned a 38-26 advantage on the boards overall.
The Musketeers never trailed, leading for over 39 minutes.

UP NEXT

Xavier continues play tomorrow in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational, facing the winner of tonight's game between Kansas State and Arizona State, scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Friday's game is set fo 5:30 p.m. ET and will be available on FOX.

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