Second Half Run by Hoyas Gives Musketeers Road Setback

Thursday, January 31

Washington, D.C.

8 p.m.

Xavier University

11-11, 3-6

Georgetown

14-7, 4-4

Xavier

Georgetown

Second Half Run by Hoyas Gives Musketeers Road Setback

01.31.19 | Men's Basketball

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Musketeers led by as many as 10 before late run by Georgetown erased lead

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A barrage of threes by Georgetown in the second half erased a Xavier lead that reached as high as 10 in the first half. Xavier retook the lead briefly in the final five minutes, but GU responded late, giving the Musketeers the 80-73 loss at Capital One Arena on Thursday evening.

After going nearly 30 minutes of game time without hitting an outside shot, GU connected on five in a four-minute period to erase the Xavier advantage and take the lead going into the final minutes. Naji Marshall led three Musketeers in double figures as Xavier moved to 11-11 on the season and 3-6 in BIG EAST play.

FIRST HALF

Xavier opened up a 9-0 lead, scoring seven off of three GU turnovers, forcing the Hoyas to call a time out just over three minutes into the game.
A bucket by Tyrique Jones stopped a 6-1 Georgetown run over the next four minutes, giving the Musketeers a 12-6 lead at the 12 minute mark.
Jones' basket started a 9-3 run for the Musketeers to push the lead out to 10, 19-9, with just under 10 minutes remaining in the half. Seven different Musketeers scored in the first 11 minutes of the game to build out the double-digit lead.
After Xavier went ahead by 10, the largest lead of the half, GU responded with a 6-0 run to get within four, 23-19, before five straight points for the Musketeers pushed the advantage back out to nine.
GU would get no closer than four the remainder of the half. Xavier took a six-point lead into the final minute and a Quentin Goodin basket at the buzzer set the halftime score at 36-28.
Paul Scruggs led the Musketeers with nine points. Naji Marshall added seven in the first half.
Xavier shot 46 percent from the floor, connecting on 10-of-17 shots from inside the arc.
The Musketeers connected on 30 percent of its three-point shots, including a 2-of-2 mark for Kyle Castlin. The Hoyas went 0-for-8 from three.
Xavier owned a 20-13 advantage on the boards, with five Musketeers each grabbing three rebounds in the first half.
The Musketeers held a 5-2 advantage on offensive boards and outscored GU 6-0 on second-chance points.

SECOND HALF

GU opened up the second half with a 10-3 run to cut the lead back to one, 38-38, with 17 minutes to play.
A Paul Scruggs three stopped the GU run to push the lead back out to four. Xavier held on to a 1-to-4 point advantage, including answering three straight threes from the Hoyas with outside shots from Naji Marshall, Ryan Welage and Quentin Goodin. Georgetown had not made a three until that point.
GU responed with a fourth-three pointer, then a Hoya basket put Georgetown ahead for the first time and another three spread the GU lead to four.
A 9-3 run for Xavier, featuring a pair of threes by Goodin, gave the Musketeers back the lead, 66-64, but back-to-back threes for the Hoyas put GU back ahead with four minutes remaining.
Xavier would get as close as two in the final minutes, but the Hoyas pushed the lead out to nine, 79-70, in the final 15 seconds of the game before winning 80-73.
Goodin finished with a team-high 11 points in the second half, going 3-of-4 from outside. Naji Marshall added nine, going 2-of-2 from outside the arc.
Both teams shot 8-of-12 from outside in the second half, but the Musketeers connected on 5-of-16 on two-point field goals compared to 9-of-17 shooting inside the arc for GU.
Xavier held a 17-13 advantage on rebounds in the second half, led by five for Zach Hankins.
The Musketeers committed seven turnovers in the second half, allowing GU to outscore Xavier 12-0 in points off miscues.

NOTABLES

Naji Marshall finished with 16 points, including going 3-of-4 from outside.
Paul Scruggs added 15 for the Musketeers, and grabbed a team-high seven boards.
Quentin Goodin added 14 after scoring 11 points in the second half.
Xavier shot 46 percent from the floor, and 48 percent on three (12-25).
The Musketeers held a 37-26 advantage on rebounds, including a 12-6 advantage on the offensive glass to outscore GU 16-7 on second-chance points.