Paul Scruggs Leads Musketeers to 77-71 win at Oklahoma State

Sunday, December 5

Stillwater, Okla.

5:00 p.m.

Xavier University

7-1,0-0Big East

Oklahoma State

6-3,0-0Big 12

Xavier

Oklahoma St.

Paul Scruggs Leads Musketeers to 77-71 win at Oklahoma State

12.05.21 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score Photos

Scruggs scores 19, Jones and Johnson each hit double figures to move Xavier to 7-1

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

STILLWATER, Okla. - A trio of Musketeers hit double figures to lead Xavier men's basketball to a 77-71 win over Oklahoma State at Gallagher-Iba Arena on Sunday evening as part of the BIG EAST/Big 12 Battle.

Paul Scruggs led the way with 19 points, Colby Jones added 17 points as part of his third double-double in the last four games, and Nate Johnson finished with 15 to move the Musketeers to 7-1 on the season. Oklahoma moved to 6-3.

FIRST HALF

Xavier took the early lead on a Nate Johnson three to start the game and led by as many as five, 7-2, in the early minutes.
Oklahoma State scored six-straight points to take its first lead, 8-7, five minutes into the game.
Xavier went back in front, leading by as many as six over the next 10 minutes before the Cowboys went on a 7-0 run to go in front in the final minutes of the half.
OSU led by as many as four in the first half, including a 39-35 lead at the half.
Nate Johnson led Xavier with 11 points after connecting on three outside shots.
Xavier shot 36.4 percent from the floor compared to Oklahoma State's 55.2 percent but had a 22-16 advantage on the boards, led by Colby Jones' five.
Among those 22 Musketeer rebounds were nine offensive rebounds, leading to seven second-chance points.

SECOND HALF

Oklahoma State scored out of the half to lead by six, what would be the Cowboys' largest lead of the game.
Xavier chipped away at the lead over the next five minutes, tying the game on a Paul Scruggs three 48-48, with 14:28 to play to start a 13-2 run to push the lead out to eight, 58-50, Xavier's largest lead of the game to that point.
After five-straight Cowboy points made it a one-possession game, Xavier went on an 11-0 run to extend the lead to 14, 69-55, with four minutes to play, the largest lead of the game for either team.
The Cowboys outscored Xavier 16-8 through the final minutes of the game but wouldn't get closer than six, 77-71, setting the final score with a basket in the final seconds.
Colby Jones scored 12 points in the second half, shooting 4-of-6 from the floor and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Paul Scruggs also went 4-of-6 from the floor to finish the second half with 11 points.
The Musketeers shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half, holding OSU to 31.4 percent.

NOTABLES

Paul Scruggs finished with 19 points after scoring 11 in the second half to lead the Musketeers. Scruggs moved into 23rd on Xavier's all-time scoring list.
Colby Jones finished with a double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing a game-high 12 boards. He also dished out a team-high four assists.
Nate Johnson finished with 15 points, shooting 3-of-6 from three.
Xavier finished with a 42-33 advantage on the boards.
OSU's Avery Anderson led all scorers with 26 points.