Xavier University Athletics
Xavier University
St. John's
Men's Basketball Takes A Four-Game Winning Streak To New York
02.26.19 | Men's Basketball
Musketeers have won their last two BIG EAST road games.
CINCINNATI --- The Xavier University Musketeers, 15-13 overall and 7-8 in the BIG EAST Conference, take a four-game winning streak to New York for a Thursday night matchup with St. John's, 20-8 overall and 8-7 in the BIG EAST Conference. Xavier, 3-4 in BIG EAST road games this season, has won its last two BIG EAST road games.
Xavier leads the series 9-3, including seven straight wins over the Red Storm. XU beat SJU three times last season, including 73-68 during the regular season at Carnesecca Arena. St. John's is the only BIG EAST team that Xavier has not yet played this season. XU hosts SJU on March 9 in the regular season finale for both teams.
Xavier is coming off its fourth straight win with a 66-54 win over then-No. 17 Villanova on Sunday. Xavier trailed 30-27 at halftime and still trailed 44-41 with 12:46 left. That's when the Musketeers took control of the game with an impressive 17-0 run to take a 58-44 lead with 6:26 left. In fact, XU held VU scoreless for over nine minutes from that 12:46 mark until the 3:37 mark. Sophomore Naji Marshall led four Xavier double-figure scorers with 17 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists.
Xavier's defense has allowed 61.2 ppg. and 36.9 percent shooting (28.4 percent from 3-point range) during the four-game winning streak compared with 70.9 ppg. and 43.4 percent shooting (35.5 percent from 3-point range) for the season. The 54 points scored by Villanova mark the lowest point total by an XU opponent since the 2017-18 season opening 101-49 win over Morehead State (11-10-17); it's the lowest point total by an XU opponent in BIG EAST play since XU defeated Marquette 64-44 in the 2014-15 season (2-10-15).
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THE MATCHUP |
Xavier University Musketeers (15-13, 7-8 BIG EAST)
St. John's University Red Storm (20-8, 8-7 BIG EAST)
Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. ET
Carnesecca Arena (5,602) in Queens, N.Y.
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TV, RADIO AND LIVE STATS |
Television: FS1 with Brian Custer and Sarah Kustok.
Radio: 700 WLW-AM, including via iHeart Radio, TuneIn and via Sirius XM (380) and Internet (971) with play-by-play from XU Hall of Famer and former Musketeer standout Joe Sunderman ('79). Analysis will be provided by Xavier Hall of Famer and XU all-time leading scorer Byron Larkin ('88).
Live Stats: Media stats at Statbroadcast.com. Fan stats at GoXavier.com.
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X FACTORS |
• Xavier, 15-13 overall and 7-8 in the BIG EAST Conference, won its fourth straight game with a 66-54 win over then-No. 17 Villanova on Sunday.
• Xavier's opponent, St. John's, is the only BIG EAST team that XU has not yet played this season. XU hosts SJU on March 9 in the regular season finale for both teams.
• Xavier sophomore Naji Marshall is the BIG EAST Player of the Week after averaging 22.5 ppg., 6.5 rpg. and 4.5 apg. in wins at Seton Hall and vs. Villanova this past week. Marshall has averaged 20.5 ppg., 6.8 rpg. and 4.5 apg. during XU's win streak.
• Xavier's Naji Marshall leads the team in scoring (13th in the BIG EAST at 14.4 ppg.) and is second in rebounding (ninth in the BIG EAST at 6.7 rpg.) and assists (10th in BIG EAST at 3.5 apg.).
• Xavier soph. Paul Scruggs is XU's second-leading scorer (20th in the BIG EAST at 12.0 ppg.) and team leader in 3-point percentage (third in the BIG EAST at .436).
• Xavier junior Quentin Goodin, who leads the team in assists (third in BIG EAST at 4.7 apg.), has 415 career assists and is ninth on XU's all-time career assist leader list. He has 113 assists this season in 24 games, his third straight 100+ assist season.
• Xavier junior Tyrique Jones, who has averaged 13.8 ppg. and 10.3 rpg. while shooting 68.6 percent from the field during Xavier's four-game winning streak, leads the team in rebounding (fourth in the BIG EAST at 7.7 rpg.) and offensive rebounding (first in the BIG EAST and 16th in the nation at 3.4 rpg.).
• Xavier graduate transfer Zach Hankins leads the BIG EAST Conference in field goal percentage (.674) and is second in the BIG EAST in blocks (1.5 bpg.). Hankins is on pace to break the XU single-season field goal percentage mark of former NBA standout Brian Grant (.654 in 1992-93).
• Xavier has four players averaging in double figures in scoring through 28 games and a fifth at 9.9 ppg.
• Xavier has graduated 109 straight men's basketball seniors dating back to the 1985-86 school year.
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PRESS CONFERENCE |
