Men's Basketball Takes A Five-Game Winning Streak To Butler On Tuesday

Tuesday, March 5

Indianapolis, Ind.

6 p.m.

Xavier University

Butler

Men's Basketball Takes A Five-Game Winning Streak To Butler On Tuesday

03.04.19 | Men's Basketball

Xavier Game Notes at Butler

XU has won three straight BG EAST road games.

By: Tom Eiser, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI --- The Xavier University Musketeers, 16-13 overall and 8-8 in the BIG EAST Conference, take a five-game winning streak to Indianapolis on Tuesday night to take on the Butler University Bulldogs, 15-14 overall and 6-10 in the BIG EAST. XU has won its last three BIG EAST road games.

Xavier leads the series with Butler 41-20, including a 70-69 win at Cintas Center on Jan. 13. Xavier has won four straight and 20 of the last 26 meetings. XU holds a 10-3 advantage since the two teams became BIG EAST rivals.

Xavier recorded a 70-69 win over Butler on Jan. 13 at Cintas Center. Xavier, playing without junior Quentin Goodin, trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half, including a 10-point, 64-54, deficit with under four minutes left. Xavier used a 12-2 run to tie the score at 66-all with 1:29 left. After Butler took a 69-66 lead on its next possession, XU answered with a 3-pointer by graduate transfer Kyle Castlin to tie the score again at 69-all with 54 seconds left. Sophomore Naji Marshall drew a foul with three seconds left on a drive to the basket and sunk what proved to be a game-winning free throw on his second try. Castlin finished with a Xavier career-high 12 points (all of in the second half). Sophomore Paul Scruggs led Xavier with 23 points to go with eight rebounds and six assists. Marshall added 14 points and three assists. Last season at Hinkle Fieldhoues, Xavier came away with a 98-93 overtime win at Butler on Feb. 6, 2018.

Xavier head coach Travis Steele is a 2004 Butler graduate. Sophomore Paul Scruggs (Southport High School), who transferred to Prolific Prep in California for his senior season, is XU's latest Indianapolis standout. The long line of XU stars that came from Indy also includes 2018 graduate Trevon Bluiett (Park Tudor), 2006 graduate Will Caudle (Warren Central), 2007 graduate Justin Cage (Pike High School) and 2008 graduate Stanley Burrell (Ben Davis High School), who was inducted into XU's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Xavier closes the regular season on Saturday vs. St. John's at Cintas Center.

THE MATCHUP

Xavier University Musketeers (16-13, 8-8 BIG EAST)
Butler University Bulldogs (15-14, 6-10 BIG EAST)
Tuesday, March 5, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. ET
Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,100) in Indianapolis, Ind.

TV, RADIO AND LIVE STATS

Television: FS1 with play-by-play from Tim Brando and analysis from Nick Bahe.
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.

X FACTORS

• Xavier, 16-13 overall and 8-8 in the BIG EAST Conference, won its fifth straight game overall and its third straight BIG EAST road game with an 84-73 win at
St. John's on Feb. 28.
• Xavier has five players averaging in double figures in scoring through 29 games.
• Xavier needs one more BIG EAST win to clinch its 37th straight season at .500 or better in conference play (MCC, Atlantic 10 and BIG EAST). No other school in NCAA Division I has an active streak of more than 32 years.
• Xavier sophomore Naji Marshall earned a BIG EAST Conference weekly honor for the third straight week, earning a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll this time after leading Xavier with a career-high 31 points, including a career-high tying five 3-pointers, in the win at St. John's on Feb. 28.
• Xavier's Naji Marshall leads the team in scoring (12th in the BIG EAST at 15.0 ppg.) and is second in rebounding (ninth in the BIG EAST at 6.6 rpg.) and assists (10th in BIG EAST at 3.4 apg.).
• Xavier soph. Paul Scruggs is XU's second-leading scorer (21st in the BIG EAST at 11.8 ppg.) and team leader in 3-point percentage (fifth in the BIG EAST at .427).
• Xavier junior Quentin Goodin, who leads the team in assists (third in BIG EAST at 4.6 apg.), has 418 career assists and is ninth on XU's all-time career assist leader list. He has 116 assists this season in 25 games, his third straight 100+ assist season.
• Xavier junior Tyrique Jones, who has averaged 13.2 ppg. and 10.2 rpg. while shooting 70.0 percent from the field during Xavier's five-game winning streak, leads the team in rebounding (fourth in the BIG EAST at 7.8 rpg.) and offensive rebounding (first in the BIG EAST and 13th in the nation at 3.5 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.). His 43 blocks are the most by a Musketeer in a season since Jason Love blocked 50 in 2009-10.

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