Musketeers Move to 5-0, Top Golden Eagles on Wednesday Night

Wednesday, December 2

Cincinnati, Ohio

7 p.m.

Xavier University

5-0,0-0Big East

Tennessee Tech

0-3,0-0OVC

Tennessee Tech

Xavier

Musketeers Move to 5-0, Top Golden Eagles on Wednesday Night

12.02.20 | Men's Basketball

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Nate Johnson scores a game-high 16 points; Xavier defeats Tennessee Tech, 79-48

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier men's basketball moved to 5-0 on the year with a 79-48 win over Tennessee Tech on Wednesday night at Cintas Center. Nate Johnson led the Musketeers with a team-high 16 points on 4-for-7 shooting.

The Golden Eagles dropped to 0-3 with the loss. Wednesday's game also ended a five-game homestand for the Musketeers.

FIRST HALF

• Tennessee Tech scored five unanswered points to open the game before the Musketeers used an 8-2 run on 3-for-3 shooting, taking their first lead of the game (8-7). The Golden Eagles regained the lead, 11-10, at the 14:21 mark before Xavier went on a 15-5 run to take a 25-16 advantage with 6:06 on the clock. The Musketeers went 7-for-12 from the floor during the run with six points coming from Bryan Griffin.

• Xavier outscored Tennessee Tech, 10-5, to close the half with five points coming from Nate Johnson. Defensively, the Musketeers held the Golden Eagles to only one field goal in the final 6:43. The Musketeers led Tennessee Tech, 35-21, at the break.

• Xavier hit 46 percent (13-for-28) of its shot attempts in the half, while limiting the Golden Eagles to a .270 field-goal percentage (7-for-26). Both teams pulled down 19 rebounds in frame.

• Nate Johnson led the team in scoring with 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting. He made three 3-pointers and was 2-for-2 from the foul line.

• Jason Carter and Bryan Griffin both added six points, while Carter had a team-high six rebounds. Paul Scruggs chipped in five points, four assists and one steal.

SECOND HALF

• Xavier opened the second half by scoring six unanswered points, taking a 41-21 lead. The Musketeers never relinquished their double-figure lead and led by 22 points (60-38) at the 9:05 mark on a KyKy Tandy basket.

• Tennessee Tech responded with an 8-0 run to close within 14 points (60-46) before the Musketeers scored 17 unanswered to take their largest lead of the game, 77-46, with 2:37 on the clock. Dieonte Miles scored the Musketeers' final four points to seal the 79-48 victory.

• Zach Freemantle scored 11 points in the half, while KyKy Tandy added 10. Paul Scruggs chipped in nine points and five assists.

• The Musketeers finished the half with a .571 field-goal percentage (16-for-28). Xavier also had seven of its 10 blocks in the frame.

NOTABLES

• Nate Johnson led four Musketeers in double figures with 16 points on 4-for-7 shooting. He was 3-for-5 from behind the arc and 5-for-5 from the foul line. The guard added two steals and one assist.

• Zach Freemantle and Paul Scruggs both added 14 points, combining to go 10-for-19 from the floor. Scruggs added nine assists, two steals and two blocks, while Freemantle added six rebounds, two steals and two blocks.

• KyKy Tandy rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points. Bryan Griffin chipped in nine points, eight rebounds and a team-high three blocks.

• Both teams finished with 36 rebounds. Jason Carter finished with a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with eight points.

• Xavier held a 15-4 advantage in point off of turnovers and scored three more second-chance points (14-11).

• Jason Carter has recorded four straight double-figure rebound games. He had three double-figure rebound efforts in 32 games last season.

• Xavier just completed a very busy stretch of five games in eight days. Xavier has played five games in eight days five other times in its history but this marks only the second time XU has won all five games. XU went 5-0 over an eight-game stretch in the 2003-04 season, including a four-game sweep of the Atlantic 10 Tournament at Dayton. That championship run included an 87-67 win over No. 1 and previously unbeaten St. Joseph's and a win over host Dayton in the championship game.

HIGHLIGHTS