No. 6/5 Xavier Picks Up Win No. 20 Against St. John's

Wednesday, February 3

Cincinnati, Ohio

6:30 P.M.

Xavier University

20-2, 8-2

St. John's University

7-16, 0-10

St. John's

Xavier

No. 6/5 Xavier Picks Up Win No. 20 Against St. John's

02.03.16 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Myles Davis posts 16 points in the second half to lead the Musketeers

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Five Musketeers hit double-figures as No. 6/5 Xavier held off a battling St. John's team to pick up win No. 20 at Cintas Center on Wednesday. The Musketeers, 20-2 overall and 8-2 in BIG EAST play, are the first team in Division I to hit the 20-win mark.

Myles Davis led the Musketeers with 16 points, all scored in the second half.

Trevon Bluiett added 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season.

J.P. Macura finished with 12 points for the Musketeers. James Farr added 11 on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor and Edmond Sumner finished with 10 points and four assists.

St. John's struck first, taking a slight lead in the opening moments of the game. The Musketeers and Red Storm traded one-possession leads early, until a Bluiett three, followed by a Larry Austin Jr. bucket off a steal, put the Musketeers up four, 13-9, with just over 12 minutes remaining in the half.

Xavier struggled from the floor early, hitting on 5-of-16 on field goals in the first 10 minutes, but the Musketeers turned five early offensive boards into five second-chance points to extend the lead out to six, 20-14, with 8:31 remaining in the first half.

The Musketeers would maintain one-to-two possession lead until another Bluiett three put the Musketeers ahead seven, 36-29, with less than two minutes left in the half.

St. John's closed the half on 7-2 run to cut the Xavier lead down to two, 38-36, at the break.

Bluiett led the Musketeers with 11 points in the first half. Farr added nine on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor. Seven different Musketeers scored as Xavier's outscored St. John's, 21-5, on bench points in the first half.

Bluiett also led Xavier with nine rebounds in the first half as the Musketeers out-rebounded the Red Storm, 30-20, before the break.

Back-to-back threes from SJU's Malik Ellison to open the second erased the Xavier lead and put the Red Storm ahead for the first time since the 14:06 mark in the first half.

SJU took a four point lead, 44-40, before an 11-2 Xavier run, featuring seven points from Davis, put the Musketeers back in front.

Six straight points from SJU's Christian Jones allowed the Red Storm to retake a one-point lead, before a 10-2 run for Xavier put the Musketeers in control, leading 61-54 with 10 minutes to play.

The Red Storm cut the lead down to two before the Musketeers pushed the lead out to nine, 74-65, with less than five minutes remaining.

St. John's would get as close as four, 84-80, in the final minute of the game, but the Musketeers went 6-of-6 from the line in the final 30 seconds to secure the 90-83 win.

Xavier shot over 57 percent from the floor in the second half, led by Myles Davis' 4-of-5 shooting performance after the break.

The Musketeers finished with a 49-34 advantage on the boards, led by Bluiett's 13 rebounds. The Musketeers owned a slight advantage on the offensive glass, leading 16-11, but turned those offensive boards in to 22 second-chance points to just nine for St. John's.

SJU's Felix Balamou led all scorers with 20 points.

Xavier returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 6 when Marquette visits Cintas Center. The Musketeers and the Golden Eagles are set to tip at noon on FOX Sports 1.

POSTGAME