CINCINNATI — Xavier head coach Sean Miller didn’t want too talk much about what happened Saturday during his team’s third straight loss to a ranked opponent.
The game was not over 10 minutes and the crowd was still making its way out of Cintas Center when he took the podium and answered questions for about three minutes.
What he saw Saturday, his second straight game without star Zach Freemantle, was more of the same. Too many turnovers in late, critical moments, not enough defense in the middle part, a great rally from 15 points down that gave his team a lead. And a controversial no-call at the end that sealed his team’s fate.
David Joplin scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half and reached a career milestone to lead the ninth-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles to a 72-70 win over the host Xavier Musketeers in a Big East contest Saturday in Cincinnati.
All-American guard Kam Jones had 20 points, including seven clutch points in the final two minutes for Marquette (11-2, 2-0), which won its second straight conference game.
After Jones made a free throw with 3.6 seconds left, Ryan Conwell lost his balance just across midcourt as Marquette’s Chase Ross made an effort to disrupt his path to the basket. No foul was called as time ran out on Xavier (8-5, 0-2), which lost its third straight, all to Top 25 opponents.
Xavier rally falls short as Ryan Conwell falls as the clock expires against Marquette. Xavier loses third straight 72-70. Replays appear to show Ross pulls his left foot just before Conwell gets to spot. pic.twitter.com/6chW98Q30J
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) December 21, 2024
Marcus Foster had 16 to lead Xavier while Jerome Hunter added 15 for the Musketeers. Dailyn Swain chipped in with a double-double for Xavier with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Marquette narrowly avoided blowing a double-digit road lead in the second half for the second straight Saturday in Southwestern Ohio. Last Saturday, the Golden Eagles led at Dayton by 13 early in the second half and were outscored, 46-31, to fall to the Flyers.
Saturday in Cincinnati, Marquette led by 15 with seven minutes remaining but had to withstand furious rally by Xavier, which used a 14-0 run to take a 64-63 lead on a Jerome Hunter layup with 2:17 left.
But Jones answered with a layup 20 seconds later, igniting a 6-0 spurt to give the Golden Eagles the lead for good. Jones then drained a pair of free throws with 10.8 seconds left to give Marquette a three-point lead.
Xavier opened hot from beyond the arc as Swain, Foster and Dante Maddox Jr. all drained three-pointers to stake the Musketeers to leads of 12-6 and 15-11.
With Xavier leading 17-14 on a Cam Fletcher dunk ten minutes into the first half, the Musketeers went cold. Xavier missed 10 consecutive shots, including four layups over a six-minute stretch as the Golden Eagles went on a 10-1 run to take a 24-18 lead.
Xavier misfired on 12 of their final 14 shots from the field and finished the first half shooting just 9-of-28 from the floor. Marquette wasn’t much better at 11-for-29 but still managed a 27-22 halftime lead.
Joplin’s first basket of the second half, a layup with 16:11 remaining, gave him 1,000 for his four-year career at Marquette.
Joplin drilled a three-pointer and was fouled on the shot with 14:50 remaining. Joplin converted the free throw to finish the four-point play and spark a 14-5 run that put Marquette up, 45-33.
