Musketeers Fall Narrowly to No. 12/11 Marquette

Saturday, January 26

Cincinnati, Ohio

2 p.m.

Xavier University

11-10,3-5BE

Marquette

18-3, 7-1BE

Marquette

Xavier

Musketeers Fall Narrowly to No. 12/11 Marquette

01.26.19 | Men's Basketball

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

Paul Scruggs and Tyrique Jones lead Xavier with 21 points each

By: Patrick Knapinski, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier men's basketball fell, 87-82, after a tight battle with No. 12/11 Marquette on Saturday afternoon. The Musketeers move to 11-10 on the season and 3-5 in the BIG EAST. Both Tyrique Jones and Paul Scruggs scored 21 points while two more scored in double-figures: Naji Marshall (16) and Quentin Goodin (10). Xavier out-rebounded MU, 34-30, and out-scored the Golden Eagles in the paint, 36-18, but was unable to overcome Marquette's three-point shooting.

FIRST HALF

Xavier took a 22-18 lead into the first break at 10:40 left, led by Paul Scruggs (nine points) and Tyrique Jones (six points).
Marquette utilized a 7-0 run over 1:26 to tie the game at 30 with by the 5:56 mark, led by Joey Hauser with 13 points.
Quentin Goodin tied the game at 39 after drawing a shooting foul and making one of two free throws with 3.9 seconds left in the half.
XU shot 55.6 percent (5-9) from the three and 51.9 percent (14-27) from the floor.
MU shot 58.3 percent (7-12) from three and 48.4 percent (15-31) from the field.
Scruggs led Xavier with 12 points on 4-5 shooting from the field along with two assists at the end of the half.
Jones added 11 points (4-8) and grabbed eight rebounds.

SECOND HALF

Xavier took a nine-point lead, 53-44, into the first media timeout at 15:50, fueled by a 7-0 run over 1:34.
The 7-0 run turned into a 12-3 run for the Musketeers, who led by as many as 11, 58-47, in the second half.
Marquette chipped away at the Xavier advantage, until a three-minute scoring drought by Xavier allowed Marquette to take the lead, 71-69, with 3:46 on the clock.
Naji Marshall scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half to keep the Musketeers in the contest
MU knocked down 15 of 17 free throws (88.2 percent) in the second half
XU outscored Marquette 24-8 in the paint in the second half, but Marquette hit 7-of-13 shots from outside.

NOTABLES

XU had four scorers in double figures: Jones (21), Scruggs (21), Marshall (16), and Goodin (10).
Jones logged his sixth double-double of the season and seventh of his career with 21 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. His 21 points match his career-high.
This was Jones' eighth double-figure rebounding game of his career
Marquette had three players score 20-plus points: Howard (31), J. Hauser (21), and S. Hauser (20).
XU led for over 29 minutes of the game versus Marquette's 6 minutes of lead time.
MU shot 56 percent (14-25) from the three-point line with J. Hauser making 5-6 and S. Hauser making 4-7.

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