Electrifying Second Half Propels Musketeers to NIT Victory Over Toledo

Wednesday, March 20

Cincinnati, Ohio

7 p.m.

Xavier University

Toledo

Electrifying Second Half Propels Musketeers to NIT Victory Over Toledo

03.20.19 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Stats (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)

Xavier plays at Texas on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN

By: Brandon Eckman, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier men's basketball defeated Toledo, 78-64, on Wednesday evening in the opening round of the postseason National Invitational Tournament. Four Musketeers scored in double figures, led by sophomore Naji Marshall with 20 points to go along with a career-high 21 rebounds. Tyrique Jones, Quentin Goodin and Paul Scruggs also added double figures for Xavier. The Musketeers play their second-round game on Sunday at Texas at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN.

FIRST HALF

Xavier scored its first basket of the game with an alley-oop dunk thrown down by Zach Hankins, assisted by Paul Scruggs. Two possessions later, Kyle Castlin gave Xavier a 4-3 lead, hitting an elbow jump shot as the shot clock expired with 17:00 to play in the half.
Naji Marshall opened the contest shooting 2-of-3 from the floor and scored four of Xavier's first 10 points. Marshall also grabbed six total rebounds in the first seven minutes of play.
Elias Harden connected on a corner three-pointer with 7:50 left to play in the half to tie the score, 19-19. On the following possession, after a media timeout, Tyrique Jones pulled down an offensive rebound for the Musketeers and made a contested layup as Xavier regained a 21-19 lead.
Jones grabbed his second offensive rebound of the half following a missed three-pointer by Paul Scruggs and tipped in a layup to tie the score at 27 with six seconds left in the half. The score remained tied, 27-27, when the first half expired.
The Musketeers shot 12-for-35, 34 percent, from the field in the half and made two three-point field goals.
Jones led the way in scoring for Xavier with six points in the first half on 3-of-5 shooting. He also grabbed two rebounds, both of which were offensive rebounds.
Harden added five points for the Musketeers on 2-of-4 shooting and connected on one of Xavier's two makes from beyond the arc.
Xavier held a 25-16 advantage on boards in the half and had eight total offensive rebounds, compared to Toledo's two.
Xavier's bench contributed 11 of their 27 first half points.

SECOND HALF

Jones opened the half with two more offensive rebounds. The Musketeers capitalized with five second-chance points in the first two minutes of the half to take a 33-29 lead with 18:00 left to play.
A steal by Marshall resulted in a fast-break dunk to give Xavier a 40-36 lead with 15:21 remaining. On the Toledo's next possession, Jones blocked his second shot of the night out of bounds. After a media timeout, Marshall collected another steal, resulting in a Musketeer layup.
Xavier put together a 23-2 run over a 5:30 span, forcing three Rocket turnovers in that time and extending their lead to 20 points.
The Musketeers shot 63 percent from the field through the first 10 minutes of the second half and connected on 5-of-9 three-point shot attempts.
Toledo cut Xavier's lead to 15, but two made free-throws from Marshall and a three-point make from Ryan Welage made the score 69-49 with 4:54 left to play in the half.
The Rockets responded with a 7-0 run over a 1:45 span. Marshall was fouled with 2:50 remaining in the contest and connected on both foul-shots, making the score 71-56 in favor of the Musketeers.
Xavier shot 46 percent from the floor and from beyond the arc in the second half and scored 15 of its 51 points in the half on fast breaks.
Naji Marshall led the way for the Musketeers, producing a double-double in the second half alone. Marshall scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 19 minutes of second-half play.
Scruggs added double figure scoring in the half with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and connected on two three-pointers.
The Musketeers outscored Toledo 51-37 in the half on their way to a 78-64 win in the opening round of the National Invitational Tournament.

NOTABLE

Four Musketeers scored in double figures, led by Naji Marshall with 20 points on 5-of-16 shooting. Jones, Goodin and Scruggs also scored double figures for Xavier.
Tyrique Jones grabbed eight rebounds on the night for Xavier, five of which were offensive rebounds.
Naji Marshall collected a career-high 21 rebounds, contributing to his double-double.
Xavier attempted a season-high 72 shots in the contest.
Wednesday's victory is Xavier's first postseason NIT victory since its last appearance in the tournament, when the Musketeers defeated Marquette on March 15, 2000 at Cincinnati Gardens.
Xavier is now 16-6 overall in the National Invitational Tournament and is a perfect 7-0 as the home team in NIT games.

UP NEXT

Xavier will be back in action later this week in the second round of the National Invitational Tournament. The Musketeers will take on No. 2 seed Texas on on Sunday at 4 p.m. on ESPN.

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