Xavier Opens Regular Season with 82-69 Win Over IUPUI

Tuesday, November 6

Cincinnati, Ohio

8:30 p.m.

Xavier University

IUPUI

Xavier Opens Regular Season with 82-69 Win Over IUPUI

11.06.18 | Men's Basketball

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

Graduate transfer Ryan Welage scores 21 of 24 points in second half, giving Xavier offensive boost in Musketeer debut

By: Brandon Eckman, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier men's basketball defeated IUPUI, 82-69, on Tuesday night in the regular season opener at Cintas Center. Three Musketeers scored in double figures, led by graduate transfer Ryan Welage with 24 points in his regular season debut for Xavier.

FIRST HALF

Xavier began the game on a 10-0 run and did not allow IUPUI a successful field goal attempt for the first 5:10 of the contest.
Tyrique Jones scored 10 points in the half and was successful on 5-of-7 shooting attempts. Jones added two open-court steals resulting in fast-break dunks on consecutive IUPUI possessions and shot 71.4 percent from the field in just eight minutes of play.
The Musketeers shot 14-for-32, 43.8 percent from the field and scored 20 points in the paint while holding IUPUI to just four points down low.
Elias Harden tied his career high in scoring in the first half with 5 points, shooting 2-for-3 from the field with one coming from three-point range.
Zach Hankins made his Xavier debut and scored six points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked two shots in the half.
Xavier ended the half with a 37-34 lead after leading the Jaguars by as many as 18 points.

SECOND HALF

Xavier opened the half on 7-for-14 shooting from the field and received an offensive spark from Ryan Welage with back-to-back three-pointers, giving Xavier a 53-48 lead with 14:00 left to play.
Welage scored 15 consecutive points for the Musketeers and scored 18 of Xavier's 26 points in the first ten minutes of the half.
Harden capitalized on the front end of a 1-and-1 free-throw, scoring his sixth point of the night, his Xavier career high.
A steal by Marshall resulted in a fast-break dunk by Keonte Kennedy, his first points as a Musketeer, gave Xavier a 72-61 lead with 4:28 left to play in the game.
Xavier shot 17-for-34, 50.0 percent in the second half.
Welage scored 21 of his 24 points in the half on 9-for-17 shooting with five made shots from beyond the arc.
Hankins added to the Musketeer defensive presence, adding two rebounds and three more blocks in the half.
Jones ended the game with 17 points, four steals and six rebounds in 22 minutes of play.

NOTABLES

The Musketeers grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and capitalized by scoring 11 second chance points in the game.
Welage led Xavier in scoring with 24 points on 9-for-17 shooting and capitalized on 6 of 13 three-point attempts in his regular season debut with the Musketeers.
Tyrique Jones added 17, going 8-of-11 from the floor, and Naji Marshall added 13 points.
Marshall dished out a career-high seven assists.
Elias Harden's career-high six points came on a career-best two made field goals.
Xavier finished hitting 47 percent from the floor, while holding IUPUI to 35.7 percent.
Travis Steele picked up his first regular season win as Xavier's head basketball coach.
Xavier has now won 39 straight non-conference home games. It marks the 29th-straight season opening win including a 19-0 mark in season openers at Cintas Center.

UP NEXT

Xavier remains home for the next game, hosting Evansville on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 4:00 p.m. in the opening game of the Maui Jim Invitational. The Musketeers and the Purple Aces will be televised on FSN.

PHOTOS

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