Trevon Bluiett Leads No. 10 Xavier Over No. 25 Creighton, 92-70

Saturday, January 13

Cincinnati, Ohio

2 p.m.

Xavier University

16-3, 4-2BE

Creighton

14-4, 4-2BE

Creighton

Xavier

Trevon Bluiett Leads No. 10 Xavier Over No. 25 Creighton, 92-70

01.13.18 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Stats (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)Photos

Coach Mack records his 202nd win to tie Pete Gillen as Xavier's winningest coach

By: Isabel Hamilton, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – No. 10 Xavier defeated No. 25 Creighton by 22 points, 92-70, on Saturday afternoon at Cintas Center in front of a sell-out crowd. Trevon Bluiett led Xavier with 24 points and five rebounds, while going 9-for-16 from the field and 5-for-7 from behind the arc.

Xavier moved to 16-3 for the season and moved to 4-2 in BIG EAST play while breaking a two-game losing streak. Creighton dropped to 14-4 for the season and 4-2 in BIG EAST play.

FIRST HALF

The Musketeers and Bluejays traded baskets in the first four minutes, but Xavier went on a 4-0 run before the first media timeout to make it 10-7. J.P. Macura scored six of the Musketeers's first 10 points.
A layup by Sean O'Mara and a three-pointer by Trevon Bluiett got Xavier on the board after the media timeout, but then Creighton and Xavier traded baskets to make the score 21-15 at the 11:37 mark.
The Musketeers went on a 14-4 run from the 8:34 mark to the 4:02 mark to improve their lead to 42-26. They held Creighton scoreless from the field during the run and Kaiser Gates contributed six of those points with a three-point field goal, a jumper and a free throw.
Creighton and Xavier went shot-for-shot for the rest of the half, ending the half with a score of 50-34.
Kaiser Gates led the Musketeers with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Trevon Bluiett contributed nine points in the first half.
Xavier shot 52.9 percent from the field and 58.3 percent from behind the arc while holding Creighton to 32.3 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from behind the arc.
The Musketeers' largest lead at the half came at the 4:05 mark where they led by 16 points.

SECOND HALF

Xavier and Creighton exchanged baskets at the beginning of the half, but from the 14:13 mark to the 11:40 mark, Sean O'Mara led the Musketeers on a 9-0 run as he scored seven points in a row. This run increased Xavier's lead to 65-43, marking its first 20-point lead of the game.
The Bluejays outscored the Musketeers 14-11 from the 11:40 mark to the 8:00 mark to decrease the Musketeers' lead to 19 points, making it 76-57.
Xavier went on an 8-0 run off of a jumper and layup from Kerem Kanter, a free-throw from Naji Marshall and a three-pointer from Bluiett to improve their lead to 84-62 at the 3:44 mark.
For the remainder of the game, each team scored eight points and Xavier ended the game with a 22-point-win, 92-70.
Xavier's largest lead of the game came at the 10:13 mark of the half when the lead was 27 points.
Trevon Bluiett scored 15 points during the half, with Kerem Kanter adding eight points.

NOTABLES

Trevon Bluiett finished the game as the leading scorer with 24 points and five rebounds and this was his 11th game of the season scoring 20 points or more.
Six Musketeers finished in double figures, with Bluiett scoring 24 points, Kaiser Gates scoring 16 points, Sean O'Mara scoring 12 points, Kerem Kanter scoring 12 points, Naji Marshall scoring 10 points and J.P. Macura scoring 10 points. The last time six Xavier players scored in double figures was on January 7, 2017 against St. John's.
Xavier shot 47.9 percent from the field and 45.8 percent from behind the arc and they held Creighton to 40.7 percent from the field and 37 percent from behind the line.
Xavier out-rebounded Butler, 39-34, with Kanter and Gates each grabbing eight rebounds.
The Musketeers improved their home record to 12-0 this year.
Coach Mack recorded his 202nd win, tying Pete Gillen for most wins in Xavier history.