[Westside]

CINCINNATI – No. 4 Xavier recorded another BIG EAST win with a 102-90 victory over Seton Hall on Wednesday evening to improve its first-place standing to 1.5 games over Villanova. Trevon Bluiett had a season-high 37 points by going 8-for-12 from the field, 8-for-11 from behind the arc and 13-for-13 from the line.

Xavier moved to 24-3 for the season and 12-2 in BIG EAST play while Seton Hall dropped to 17-9 for the season and 6-7 in BIG EAST play.


FIRST HALF
The Musketeers jumped out to a 12-6 lead at the first media timeout. Trevon Bluiett had two three-pointers and Naji Marshall contributed four points as well.
Xavier outscored Seton Hall, 16-10, at the 7:52 mark with the Musketeers going on an 8-0 run from the 12:32 mark to the 11:32 mark. The Musketeers scored four three-pointers in the eight-minute span, with Bluiett scoring two and Paul Scruggs and Quentin Goodin scoring one each.
Xavier ended the half outscoring Seton Hall, 20-9, and held a 45-25 lead at halftime. They held the Pirates scoreless for the last 6:31 off the half and the Pirates also missed their last five field goal attempts.
Trevon Bluiett led Xavier with 15 points and five rebounds while going 5-for-6 from behind the arc. Quentin Goodin followed with eight points, while going 3-for-7 from the field and 2-for-4 from behind the arc.
Xavier shot 56.8 percent from the field and 52.9 percent from behind the arc, while holding Seton Hall to 26.7 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from behind the arc.

SECOND HALF
Seton Hall opened the half with a 9-2 run and closed the gap to 47-34, but then three 3-pointers by the Musketeers extended their lead to 56-39 at the 15:44 mark. Bluiett had six of the Musketeers's nine points during the first four minutes.
Both teams went on their own runs from the 15:44 mark to the 11:34 mark, with Xavier coming out of the timeout with a 7-0 run, but Seton Hall answered with a 6-0 run of their own from the 12:50-12:32 mark, making the score 74-57. Seton Hall also picked up two technical fouls during this span of time, leading to Bluiett going 4-for-4 from the line.
At the under eight-minute media timeout, Xavier held a 80-69 lead, but the Pirates outscored Xavier, 12-6, for the four minutes and went on an 8-0 run from the 9:38 mark to the 9:17 mark to cut Xavier's lead to 10 points.
Seton Hall cut Xavier's lead to 87-81 at the 3:34 mark by outscoring the Musketeers, 12-7, after the eight-minute media timeout and holding the Musketeers scoreless for 2:33.
Xavier ended the game on a 15-9 run, making the final score 102-90. Xavier scored 10 of its 15 points from the free-throw line.
Bluiett, Naji Marshall, and Goodin led the Musketeers in the second half, with 22 points for Bluiett, 14 points for Marshall, and nine points from Goodin.
Xavier's largest lead of the game came at the 13:56 mark of the half when they were ahead by 25 points.

NOTABLES
This is Xavier's first 100-point-game in its time in the BIG EAST Conference and the first time they have swept Seton Hall since joining the league.
The Musketeers improved to 16-0 at home this season, which ties the school record for most home wins in a season. The last time Xavier won 16 games at home was in the 2007-08 season where they went 16-1 at home.
Trevon Bluiett scored a season-high, 37 points, which made him surpass the 1,000 point milestone for his BIG EAST career. Bluiett had a career-high from the free-throw line, going 13-for-13.
Naji Marshall scored a career-high 20 points by shooting 7-for-11 from the field, 1-for-3 from behind the arc, and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line.

http://goxavier.com/news/2018/2/14/mens-...ll-xu.aspx

[E's Army]

Xavier lighting up the scoreboard.

[pjdoug]

Xavier will be tough in the tournament.