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No. 6 Xavier rallies past Marquette, moves to 21-2

Shannon Russell
srussell@enquirer.com
Xavier's Edmond Sumner drives to the hoop against Marquette during the first half at the Cintas Center Saturday, February 6, 2016.

Coach Chris Mack has said for weeks that good things will happen for No. 6 Xavier when players shoot from the perimeter the way he knows they can.

The Musketeers made good on that prediction Saturday at Cintas Center, burying a season-high 13 3-pointers behind a season-best 65 percent perimeter shooting in a 90-82 defeat of Marquette at Cintas Center.

It wasn’t just that Trevon Bluiett tied a career high with five triples. Factor in three Edmond Sumner 3-pointers and three more by J.P. Macura – including two within 44 seconds that gave Xavier a permanent lead with 2:55 remaining – and it was veritable three-for-all.

“There were a few plays where I was basically wide open so my mind-set is to just knock down the shot they give me,” said Macura, who finished with a career-high 20 points.

Box score

On a day in which Xavier’s rebounding lagged, its defense allowed 82 points and its free-throw shooting sputtered, the Musketeers thrived behind accurate shooting. XU (21-2, 9-2 Big East) won a fifth straight game at the expense of the Golden Eagles (15-9, 4-7), which led for much of the second half and twice knotted the game in the last 3:50.

Bluiett said the Musketeers didn’t panic.

“We’d been down pretty much the whole game. Just for us to stick around when everything’s not going our way (showed resilience),” Bluiett said. “We knew coming into the last TV timeout, the last four minutes, we weren’t worried at all because we knew we were prepared for it. I think we just hit a different gear and everything took care of itself.”

Macura’s final three gave Xavier a lead it maintained for the last three minutes. In short order, Luke Fischer’s jumper was disallowed because of a shot clock violation, Myles Davis made a floater in the lane and a subsequent traveling violation on Marquette brought the standing room only crowd of 10,509 to a roar.

The game slipped away from the Golden Eagles as Haanif Cheatham fouled out with less than a minute remaining. Bluiett and Davis went a combined 8-for-10 from the stripe to clinch the victory.

Bluiett finished with 23 points and a career-best eight assists. Sumner, like Macura, scored 20 points and Davis came off the bench for the first time this season to add 11 points.

Mack, asked about Macura starting in place of Davis, attributed it to a coach’s decision.

“Nothing to read into. Just felt like better match-ups,” Mack said.

Ten NBA scouts, many of whom were on hand to see potential lottery pick Henry Ellenson, watched the freshman lead his team with 22 points. It was his sixth 20-point game or more this season and second against Xavier.

The rematch was a mere ghost of Game One three weeks ago, in which Marquette shot just 16 percent from 3-point range and James Farr nabbed a career-high 19 rebounds. Saturday, Marquette thrived behind 54.7 percent shooting – including a 52.9 percent mark from three – and Farr finished with zero boards for the first time this season.

The senior hurt his left knee/hamstring at the end of the DePaul game and has been practicing off and on the last couple weeks, Mack said.

“This is a very, very tough league when you sit out, when you try to practice a little bit and play. It’s hard,” Mack said. “I think he was a function of that today. When he was out there, he didn’t play very well and so we opted to go in a different direction.”

Xavier has made a point to control rebounding battles most of the season but was bested on the boards 35-27 throughout. Golden Eagles coach Steve Wojciechowski said it was as physical as his team has been on the glass all season.

But 20 turnovers, a recurring theme for Marquette, unraveled the team’s intentions. Xavier forced most of those miscues while playing man-to-man defense instead of the 1-3-1 zone that it used to neutralize the Golden Eagles in Game One.

Mack was less than pleased with the limited 1-3-1 he employed Saturday. After turning to it with about 13 minutes left, Marquette jumped ahead by six.

“Did you see our 1-3-1? Fry ball. Next question. All those proponents of, ‘Hey, we have to play more zone!’ Yeah. Fried. Fried. Did I mention the word fried? We got fried. Next question,” Mack said.

Wojciechowski thought his team was better equipped to handle the defense the second time around.

“They ended up playing it about 80 percent of the possessions in Milwaukee. I thought we were prepared for it today and I thought our guys were more comfortable against it. A lot of times when you play a defense like that, teams can be more comfortable against it, especially younger teams the second time around. And I think we were. And so I don’t think they felt as comfortable going to it," Wojciechowski said.

A game-changing 8-0 run helped Xavier regain control. After a goaltending call validated Jalen Reynolds’ lay-up, Macura made two free throws, Kaiser Gates delivered a dunk and Macura scored in transition after forcing a turnover.