Naji Marshall's 31 Points at St. John's Leads Musketeers to Fifth-Straight Win

Thursday, February 28

Queens, N.Y.

6:30 p.m.

Xavier University

(16-13, 8-8BE)

St. John's

(20-9, 8-8BE)

Xavier

St. John's

Naji Marshall's 31 Points at St. John's Leads Musketeers to Fifth-Straight Win

02.28.19 | Men's Basketball

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

Xavier moves to 8-8 in BIG EAST play, standing in a tie with St. John's in third place

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

JAMAICA, N.Y. - A career night for Naji Marshall led Xavier to a fifth-straight win, picking up the 84-73 win at St. John's on Thursday evening. Marshall, who finished with 31 points, led four Musketeers in double figures as the Musketeers moved to 16-13 overall and 8-8 in BIG EAST play. Xavier now stands in a tie for third place in the BIG EAST with the Red Storm.

FIRST HALF

After SJU hit the opening basket, Xavier outscored the Red Storm 10-3 over the next three minutes to take an eight-point lead, 23-15, into the first media timeout. The Musketeer run featured three three-pointers, including a pair from Naji Marshall.
The Red Storm responded with an 8-0 run to tie the game, 13-13, with 14 minutes left in the half.
A pair of Naji Marshall free throws started a 12-2 run for Xavier retake the lead and push the Musketeer advantage out to 10, 25-15, with nine minutes remaining before halftime.
The Red Storm would pull within five after a 5-0 run, but the Musketeers held on to the multiple possession lead, using a 7-0 run to lead by as many as 12 before going into halftime up eight, 38-30.
Naji Marshall led Xavier with 15 points, including three outside shots.
Quentin Goodin added eight for the Musketeers in the first half.
Zach Hankins had seven points and seven rebounds in the first half as Xavier out-rebounded the Red Storm, 20-13.
Xavier grabbed seven offensive boards to three for SJU, leading 9-4 on second chance points.
The Musketeers shot 47 percent from the floor compared to 45 percent for SJU.

SECOND HALF

SJU opened the second half with a basket to cut the lead to six before Zach Hankins scored four straight to put Xavier back ahead by 10, 42-32.
After Xavier went ahead 10, the Red Storm chipped away at the Xavier lead, outscoring Xavier 10-4 over the next 3:30 to pull within four, the closest SJU had been since the 12:48 mark in the first half.
Naji Marshall responded for Xavier, hitting a three to put Xavier back up seven, and a Tyrique Jones dunk and free throw pushed the lead back to 10.
The Musketeers opened the half 5-of-5 from the floor and with a 7-1 advantage on the boards in the first six minutes.
SJU would use an 8-2 run to get as close as three, when five straight for the Musketeers put Xavier back ahead eight.
The 5-0 run started a 17-4 run to extend the lead out to 16, 75-59, with under four minutes remaining.
After taking the largest lead of the game, SJU outscored Xavier 12-3 over the next two minutes to cut the Xavier lad to seven, 80-73, going into the final 45 seconds.
Marshall went 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the final seconds to seal the 84-73 win.
Marshall led Xavier with 16 points in the second half.
Xavier shot 57 percent from the floor for the half.
Tyrique Jones' led Xavier with six rebounds as the Musketeers owned an 18-9 advantage on the boards. That mark included 7-5 advantage on offensive boards to outscore the Red Storm 13-2 on second-chance points.

NOTABLES

Naji Marshall's 31 points sets a new career-best mark for the sophomore, topping his previous career-high of 28 set on Feb. 20, 2019 at Seton Hall. It's the first 30-point game for a Musketeers since Trevon Bluiett's 37-point performance last season against Seton Hall at Cintas Center.
Marshall's five made three pointers matches his career best mark, set twice this season.
Quentin Goodin added 13 points for the Musketeers.
Tyrique Jones finished with a double-double, scoring 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor, and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.
Zach Hankins finished with 11 points, shooting 4-of-6 from the floor.
The Musketeers shot 51 percent from the floor to 47.5 percent for the Red Storm
Xavier owned a 38-22 advantage on the boards, including a 14-8 advantage on the offensive glass, leading to a 22-6 advantage on second-chance points.
Xavier had 16 turnovers to nine for SJU, leading to a 29-8 advantage on points off turnovers for St. John's.

UP NEXT

Xavier remains on the road for its next match-up, traveling to Butler on Tuesday, March 5 to face the Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. on FS1.

BIG EAST STANDINGS

SCHOOL	CONF	OVERALL	STREAK
Marquette	12-3	23-5	L1
Villanova	12-4	21-8	W1
St. John's	8-8	20-9	L1
Xavier	8-8	16-13	W5
Georgetown	7-8	17-11	W1
Seton Hall	7-8	16-11	L2
Butler	6-9	15-13	L2
Creighton	6-9	15-13	W2
Providence	6-10	16-13	W1
DePaul	5-10	13-13	L4