Musketeers Drop BIG EAST Opener vs Creighton

Wednesday, December 17

Cincinnati, Ohio

6:30 p.m.

Xavier University

8-4,0-1Big East

Creighton

6-5,1-0Big East

Creighton

Xavier

12.17.25 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Stats (PDF)Photos

Malik Messina-Moore led Xavier with 14 points on Wednesday night

By: Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI - Xavier dropped its BIG EAST opener vs Creighton, 98-57, on Wednesday night at Cintas Center.

Xavier moved to 8-4 (0-1 BIG EAST), while the Bluejays improved to 6-5 (1-0 BIG EAST).

The Musketeers return to action on Saturday, Dec. 20 at Georgetown. The game is being aired nationally on FS1 at 8:30 p.m.

NOTABLES

The opening minutes of the game saw three lead changes with the Musketeers leading by one point (10-9) with 15:30 on the clock. The Bluejays outscored Xavier, 40-12, on 15-for-24 shooting to close the first half and take a double-figure lead they would never relinquish.
Malik Messina-Moore paced three Musketeers in double figures with 14 points. He went 5-for-12 from the floor with two, 3-pointers. The guard pulled down a team-high five rebounds and dished out three assists.
Roddie Anderson III added 12 points on 6-for-12 shooting. He added two steals, two rebounds and two assists.
Pape N'Diaye scored a season-high 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting in 18 minutes of action off the bench. The forward added two blocks, two assists and two rebounds.
Tre Carroll added seven points and two rebounds. Filip Borovićanin finished with five points, a game-high six assists and two steals.
Xavier finished with a.364 field-goal percentage (24-for-66) and went 6-for-24 from behind the arc. The Musketeers were also 3-for-6 from the foul line.
Creighton won the battle on the glass, 42-28, and held a 43-27 advantage in bench points. The Bluejays also scored 10 more fastbreak points (21-11) than the Musketeers and held a 42-28 advantage in points in the paint.
Xavier scored one more second-chance point (6-5) than Creighton and scored two more points off of turnovers (19-16).
Creighton posted a .603 field-goal percentage (38-for-63) and went 16-for-33 from behind the arc. The Bluejays were also 6-for-10 from behind the arc.
Austin Swartz posted a game-high 27 points and seven rebounds for the Bluejays.