Career Night for Tandy and James Lead Xavier in Win Over St. John’s

Sunday, January 5

Cincinnati, Ohio

4:30 p.m.

Xavier University

12-3,1-1BIGEAST

St. John's

11-4,0-2BIGEAST

St. John's (NY)

Xavier

Career Night for Tandy and James Lead Xavier in Win Over St. John’s

01.05.20 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photos Box Score Season Stats

Marshall adds 20 points in first BIG EAST win of the season

By: Brandon Eckman, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier men's basketball returned to the win column on Sunday evening in a 75-67 win over St. John's at Cintas Center. Junior Naji Marshall led the way in scoring for the Musketeers with 20 points, while Dontarius James and KyKy Tandy recorded career-highs in scoring to give Xavier their first BIG EAST Conference win of the season.

FIRST HALF

The Musketeers began the game with a made floater by Naji Marshall off an in-bounds pass from Quentin Goodin as the shot clock expired. Two minutes later, Marshall connected on a driving layup from the left side to give Xavier an early 4-0 lead.
St. John's went on an 11-0 run over the next 3:17, forcing the Musketeers to call a timeout with 13:50 remaining in the half. Xavier trailed 11-4.
Paul Scruggs snapped Xavier's scoring drought with a driving layup, making the score 11-6 in favor of the Red Storm. Back-to-back made three-pointers by KyKy Tandy and Marshall brought the Musketeers back within three, making the score 15-12 with 11:46 left to play in the half.
Four straight points scored down low by Tyrique Jones off assists from Tandy gave Xavier a 19-18 lead with 8:35 left. Another made dunk by Jones, along with made free-throws from Dontarius James and Marshall gave the Musketeers a 24-20 lead with 5:30 left to play.
A teardrop jumper made by Goodin off a fast break with 2:20 remaining gave the Musketeers a 30-28 lead. Marshall then connected on his third three-pointer of the game, giving Xavier their final bucket of the half. The Musketeers went into the locker room with a 34-32 lead despite trailing by as many as seven points in the half.
Marshall led the way for Xavier, scoring 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor. Marshall grabbed four rebounds, blocked a shot, dished out an assist and had one steal in the half.
Jones added six points on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor with four rebounds in the half. James, Tandy and Zach Freemantle all added three points for the Musketeers.
Xavier shot 13-of-26, 50 percent, from the field and connected on four three-pointers in the half. The Musketeers turned the ball over 13 times, resulting in 16 points scored by the Red Storm.

SECOND HALF

Paul Scruggs opened the half for Xavier with a made corner three-pointer on the first possession of the half, giving Xavier a 37-32 lead. The Musketeers grabbed three offensive rebounds in the first two minutes of the half, resulting in four second-chance points scored.
Scruggs drained another three-pointer from the left wing with 16:55 remaining to give Xavier a 44-35 lead.
KyKy Tandy connected on two consecutive three-pointers with 12:00 remaining in the half to give the Musketeers a 56-46 lead. Two minutes later, Tandy hit his fourth three-pointer of the game as the Musketeers regained a 10-point lead.
St. John's cut the deficit to four before Jones finished a dunk down low off an assist from Marshall, giving the Musketeers a 61-55 lead with 7:30 left to play. The dunk began Xavier's 7-0 run over the next 3:40, giving them a 68-55 lead.
The Musketeers and St. John's traded fouls, sending both teams to the free-throw line. Scruggs connected on one of two free-throws, giving Xavier a 70-61 lead with 1:25 left to play.
Scruggs was sent to the free-throw line again on the following possession after an offensive rebound by Jones gave the Musketeers a second chance opportunity. The lead was extended to nine with 0:53 to play.
Two made free-throws by Marshall with 0:07 to play in the game gave Xavier their last points of the game, making the final score 75-67 in favor of the Musketeers as they picked up their first BIG EAST Conference win of the season.
Scruggs led the way in scoring for the Musketeers in the half, scoring 12 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field with two three-pointers. He also added two assists and three rebounds.
The Musketeers held St. John's to just 33 percent shooting from the field in the half and allowed only one three-pointer in the half. Xavier blocked three shots in the half and grabbed seven offensive rebounds.

NOTABLE

Junior Naji Marshall led the way in scoring for the Musketeers with 20 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the floor. Marshall grabbed eight rebounds, dished out three assists, had one block and one steal in the game.
Tyrique Jones recorded his 20^th career double-double on Sunday evening and ninth of the season. Jones scored 12 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in 25 minutes of play.
Dontarius James scored a career-high six points and brought down a career-high eight rebounds in the contest. He added an assist and a blocked shot in 26 minutes of play, which was also a career high for James.
Freshman KyKy Tandy scored a career-high 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Tandy added two rebounds and two assists in 22 minutes of play.
Xavier is now 12-2 all time against St. John's and have won 10-straight against the Red Storm.
The Musketeers are now 1-1 in BIG EAST Conference play and remain a perfect 9-0 at home.