Men's Basketball Comes Back From 17-Point Deficit to Pull Within Five in Loss at No. 19 Butler.

Wednesday, February 12

Indianapolis, Ind.

6:30 p.m.

Xavier University

16-9,5-7Big East

Butler

19-6,7-5Big East

Xavier

Butler

Men's Basketball Comes Back From 17-Point Deficit to Pull Within Five in Loss at No. 19 Butler.

02.12.20 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Season Stats Box Score Photos

Naji Marshall scores 18 of his 20 points in the final 20 minutes.

By: Laura Topp, Xavier Athletic Communications

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., -- After trailing by 17 in the second half, the Musketeers went on a late run to come within five in the final seconds, but fell short to No. 19 Butler, 65-61, on Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Naji Marshall led all scorers with 20 points, with 18 coming in the second half, while grabbing seven boards and marking seven assists. Tyrique Jones posted 19 points with 10 rebounds, to account for his 17th double-double of the season, his seventh consecutive double-double.

The Musketeers fall to 5-7 in BIG EAST action and 16-9 overall.

FIRST HALF

After Xavier won the tip, Tyrique Jones opened the competition with a slam to give the Musketeers an early lead. Jason Carter added to the 4-0 start with a hook shot in the paint at 18:32.
Naji Marshall found Paul Scruggs for a step-in three pointer on the right wing to put Xavier up 7-2.
After an offensive foul on KyKy Tandy, Butler's Sean McDermott equalized the game with a deep three off the turnover, 7-7 15:51.
Zach Freemantle erased a three-minute scoring drought, with a jumper in the paint to put Xavier back in the lead, 11-9.
On the next possession, Kamar Baldwin gave Butler its' first lead of the night with a three-pointer to put Xavier down one, 12-11 into the second media of the half.
Tyrique Jones connected for a turnaround jumper to erases a three-minute scoring from the field drought, 15-14 with 9:52 remaining in the first.
Butler extended to its's larges led thus far after five quick points from Kamar Baldwin and Aaron Thompson, forcing a Xavier timeout. The Musketeers trailed 20-14 with 9:02 in the half.
Jason Carter silenced a 10-0 Butler run with a driving layup in transition, 25-16 Butler.
After the offensive board, Tyrique Jones connected for the second-chance dunk off a missed pull up, 27-18 at the 5:50 minute mark.
Quentin Goodin found Bryce Moore as he delivered on the triple in the corner to bring Xavier's deficit back within six, 27-21 into the final media of the half, 4:00.
Naji Marshall contributed to Xavier's 7-0 run to bring Xavier within four, after connecting for a jumper at the elbow, forcing Butler to call a 30-second timeout with a little over one-minute remaining.
Out of the timeout, Butler's Sean McDermott connected for a three, erasing a scoreless five minutes for the Bulldogs.
The Musketeers trailed 32-23 at the break.
Tyrique Jones led all scorers at the break, posting nine points on 3-4 of shooting.
Zach Freemantle dominated on the boards, leading all rebounders with four at the half.
The Musketeers entered the locker room, shooting 75 percent from the line and grabbing a total 16 boards.

SECOND HALF

Butler pushed the lead to 11 to open the second half, with back-to-back finishes under the basket forcing a Xavier timeout, 36-23 with 18:10 remaining.
Naji Marshall found Tyrique Jones for Xavier's first points of the half, with a lob and dunking finish.
Zach Freemantle laid in a bucket from Tyrique Jones off a backdoor cut, to bring Xavier's deficit to 42-27 with 15:07 to play in the half.
Naji Marshall connected with a curl-around jumper from KyKy Tandy.
On Xavier's next possession, Tyrique Jones added to Xavier 6-0 run with the under the basket layup from Naji Marshall.
KyKy Tandy drained a three-point shot off the defensive board from Naji Marshall, to extend the Musketeer run 9-0 over 3:20 of play.
Tyrique Jones came from behind on the next defensive possession with a monster block that turned into Zach Freemantle hook shot to bring Xavier's deficit within six, 42-36 at 11:42.
Tyrique Jones connected for a three-point play, drawing the and one to keep Xavier's deficit within single digits, 47-39.
Butler's Jordan Tucker added back-to-back three-pointers for the Bulldogs, forcing a Xavier timeout at 5:47, trailing 57-43.
After Quentin Goodin drew the offensive foul on Butler's Jordan Tucker, Zach Freemantle connected for the triple from KyKy Tandy. On the next possession, Naji Marshall took the ball coast-to-coast to bring Xavier within seven, 57-50 with 4:05 remaining.
Out of the final media, Tyrique Jones kicked out the ball to Naji Marshall, to bring the Butler lead within six with three minutes to play, 59-53.
Kamar Baldwin connected for five points over a minute of play, to bring the Bulldog lead to nine, forcing a Xavier timeout with 1:03 to play, 65-55.
Naji Marshall drew a foul on the inbounds play, hitting both free throws to bring Xavier within seven with 1:02 left.
After a Butler shot clock violation with 31 second remaining, Tyrique Jones added a free throw to make a two-possession game.
Sean McDermott of Butler hit both his free throws after Naji Marshall fouled to put Butler up eight.
Naji Marshall hit a three with 0.6 seconds remaining to bring Xavier within five. The Musketeers fell 65-61.

NOTABLE

Zach Freemantle added nine points for Xavier on 4-8 of shooting while grabbing five boards.
KyKy Tandy and Bryce Moore each added three points and a rebound for the Musketeers.
Xavier dominated on second chance points, 13-6 but Butler's bench outscored Xavier's 23-6.
Xavier shot 64 percent from the line shooting 7-11.
Quentin Goodin is now just one-point shy of joining Xavier's 1,000-point club.