Musketeers Fall in BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinals vs No. 2 UConn

Thursday, March 14

New York, N.Y.

12 p.m.

Xavier University

16-17,9-11Big East

UConn

29-3,18-2Big East

Xavier

UConn

Musketeers Fall in BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinals vs No. 2 UConn

03.14.24 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Stats (PDF)Postgame Quotes (PDF)

Quincy Olivari scored a game-high 17 points on Thursday at Madison Square Garden

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

NEW YORK CITY - Xavier men's basketball fell in the BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon, 87-60, vs No. 2 UConn at Madison Square Garden.

The Musketeers dropped to 16-17 on the year, while the Huskies improved to 29-3.

Xavier opened the game on a 10-0 run behind 4-for-5 shooting. The Huskies responded by scoring 13 unanswered points to take three-point lead (13-10) with 13:10 on the clock. The Musketeers used a 10-1 run over the next three minutes to regain the lead, 20-14.

All told, the first half had four ties and five lead changes. The final tie of the stanza was 31-31 with 20 seconds left on the clock. Cam Spencer sank a three pointer with 10 seconds left in regulation to put UConn ahead by three (34-31) before Dayvion McKnight hit a jumper as time expired, making the score 34-33 heading into the break.

The Huskies never relinquished the lead took their first double-figure advantage, 52-42, with 11:09 left in regulation. UConn maintained its double-figure lead for the remainder of the contest to pull away for the 27-point victory.

UConn outscored Xavier, 53-27, in the second half behind a .786 field-goal percentage (22-for-28).

NOTABLES

Quincy Olivari scored a game-high 17 points on 6-for-16 shooting with three, 3-pointers. The guard added six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Desmond Claude added 13 points on 5-for-15 shooting with six rebounds. The guard chipped in two assist and two steals.
Dayvion McKnight scored seven points, two rebounds and two assists. Lazar Djokovic finished with six points, four rebounds and two assists.
Brad Colbert and Trey Green both added five points. Abou Ousmane finished with four rebounds, two blocks and two points.
Xavier finished the game with a .344 field-goal percentage (21-for-61) and went 5-for-21 from behind the arc. The Musketeers were also 13-for-15 from the foul line.
UConn held a 54-24 advantage in points in the paint and scored 12 more bench points (27-15) than the Musketeers. Xavier scored one more point off of turnovers (9-8) and had one more second-chance point (7-6). UConn also scored 11 more fastbreak points (15-4) than Xavier.