No. 1 Seed Xavier Runs Away From St. John's Late to Advance to BIG EAST Semifinals

Thursday, March 8

Madison Square Garden

12 p.m.

Xavier University

St. John's

No. 1 Seed Xavier Runs Away From St. John's Late to Advance to BIG EAST Semifinals

03.08.18 | Men's Basketball

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

Bluiett leads with 27 points; Musketeers commit a season-low seven turnovers

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

NEW YORK – No. 1 seed Xavier advanced to the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals four the fifth-straight year after topping St. John's, 88-60, at Madison Square Garden on Thursday afternoon. After going into the break with just a four-point lead, Xavier used a 9-0 run early in the second half to take control of the game. The Musketeers steadily built the lead with over-60 percent shooting from outside after halftime, with the Musketeers only committing two turnovers after the break.

Trevon Bluiett led three Musketeers in double figures with 27 points as Xavier moved to 28-4 on the season and advanced to Friday's BIG EAST Semifinal game against the No. 5 seed Providence, which topped No. 4 Creighton in the game immediately following Xavier/St. John's.

FIRST HALF

Xavier took an early 4-0 lead on four made free throws before five straight points for St. John's erased the advantage.
A J.P. Macura bucket at the 16:41 mark, Xavier's first made field goal, stopped the SJU run.
Macura's basket started a three-minute stretch where the Musketeers outscored the Red Storm 9-4 to push the lead back out to four, 13-9, with 14 minutes before halftime.
SJU responded with a 10-2 run over the next two minutes to take a 19-15 lead, stopped by a Sean O'Mara layup.
St. John's led by as many as five before a Kaiser Gates bucket after battling for two offensive rebounds on the same possession, and a Trevon Bluiett three, the Musketeers' first three of the game, tied the game at 22-22 with under eight minutes remaining before the half.
A Red Storm shot-clock violation allowed Xavier to stretch the run to 8-0 on a Kaiser Gates three. A put-back layup for Tyrique Jones made it a 10-0 run, pushing the Xavier lead out to five, 27-22, and forcing SJU to call a time out with five minutes to play before halftime.
Xavier extended its lead to seven, 31-24, over a stretch where the Musketeers out-scored the Red Storm 14-2.
SJU would get as close as four in the final minutes of the half, with Xavier leading 33-29 at the break.
Trevon Bluiett led the Musketeers with nine points in the first half.
Kaiser Gates added seven on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor.
Xavier shot 10-of-28 from the floor in the first half but grabbed seven offensive boards to one for SJU.
Xavier owned a 20-13 margin on rebounds overall, led by three each for Gates and Naji Marshall.
The turnover margin was narrow with SJU committing eight to five for the Musketeers, but Xavier took full advantage of the Red Storm miscues, outscoring St. John's 16-0 in points off turnovers.

SECOND HALF

The two teams traded baskets to open the second, with Red Storm getting the lead down to four before a 6-0 run for the Musketeers gave Xavier its first 10-point lead, 45-35, with 15 minutes to play.
The 6-0 run started a three-minute stretch where the Musketeers outscored the Red Storm 11-2 to push the lead out to 13, 50-37.
After leading 53-42 with 12 minutes remaining, Xavier outscored SJU 14-4 over the next four minutes to take a 21-point lead, 67-46, into the under-eight timeout. Bluiett scored 10 for the Musketeers in that stretch.
St. John's would get as close as 15 in the closing minutes but an 13-0 run pushed the Xavier lead out to 28 in the final minute, setting the final score at 88-60 in favor of the Musketeers.
Trevon Bluiett had 18 points in the second half, shooting 60 percent from the floor including going 3-of-5 from outside.
Kaiser Gates added nine in the second half, connecting on 3-of-4 outside shots.
Xavier shot 58 percent from the floor and hit on 7-of-11 from outside, while limiting SJU to 31 percent and just 1-of-12 from outside.
Xavier owned a 22-17 advantage on the boards in the second half, led by five for Bluiett.
The Musketeers committed only two turnovers in the second half.

NOTABLES

Trevon Bluiett finished with a game-high 27 points, setting a new career-high in BIG EAST Tournament play. His previous career-high was 24, set against Marquette in the 2016 Quarterfinals.
Kaiser Gates added 16 points, hitting 6-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-5 from outside.
Kerem Kanter added 12 points, going 4-of-4 at the free throw line.
The Musketeers outrebounded the Red Storm, 42-30, led by seven each for Bluiett and Naji Marshall.
Xavier's bench owned a sizable advantage over St. John's, outscoring the SJU bench 28-5.
Xavier committed only seven turnovers, a season low, to 11 for the Red Storm. The Musketeers outscored SJU 22-2 on points off turnovers.
Xavier finished with 18 assists on 28 field goals. J.P. Macura dished out five, and Quentin Goodin and Marshall each finished with four.
The Musketeers are 5-0 in BIG EAST Quarterfinal games, advancing to the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals in each of the five years Xavier has competed in the BIG EAST.
The Musketeers own a 7-4 record in BIG EAST Tournament play.

UP NEXT

Xavier advances to tomorrow's semifinal game against No. 5 seed Providence, played at 6:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden. The game will be televised on FS1. A radio broadcast will be available on 55 WKRC.

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