Xavier Gets Downed by Missouri, 71-56: Recap

It was a long night for the Musketeers, as they were down, and down big, for most of the game.

Neither team started out strong on offense, with Xavier shooting 3-8 from the field with 15:32 in the first half, while Missouri shot only 1-6. It was enough, however, for Xavier to lead 7-3 at that point.

Missouri would bounce back, countering a 9-0 Xavier run with a 10-0 run of their own. The Tigers led 13-9 with 11:44 left in the first half after making four straight field goals. Missouri’s run would extend to 17-0, and they led 20-9 with 10:23 left in the first half, which prompted a Steele timeout.

The Musketeers would cut the lead down to 22-16 before Missouri responded to push their lead to 25-16 with 7:03 remaining in the first half. The game went back and forth, with Missouri leading 34-23 with 3:30 before halftime.

The Tigers stretched their lead to 41-27 at halftime, and shot 15-24 from the field after starting 1-6. Xavier, on the other hand, held steady through the half, and finished it shooting 11-26 from the field.

The Musketeers struggled to take care of the ball, turning it over 11 times. Missouri scored 12 points off those turnovers.

Quentin Goodin led Xavier in the first half, playing 19 of the 20 minutes despite picking up his second foul with 11:44 in the first half. He scored nine points, dished out three assists, and grabbed two steals.

The second half started the way the first ended, with Missouri extending their lead even further. They led Xavier 48-29 with 15:54 remaining in the game.

It just got worse, as Missouri led 54-31 with 11:19 left in the game. To this point in the second half, Xavier had not made a field goal. Xavier managed to make a few field goals in the next four minute war, but Missouri continued to extend their lead, 62-38 with 7:49 left.

The Musketeers did fight back some, but it wasn’t enough. Missouri led 69-50 with 3:06 left in the game and cruised to a 71-56 win over Xavier.

Goodin led the team with 21 points, and was the only one to score in double-figures. He also led the team with six of the team’s 11 assists, and had three of the team’s five steals. His three, three-pointers were also the most for a Xavier player on the night.

Xavier struggled all night from the field, shooting 19-48 (38.8%) from the field and 6-19 (31.6%) from three-point range. They also turned the ball over 17 times, which led to 16 points for Missouri.