Xavier loses 70-52 to Marquette: Recap

The game did not start off well for Xavier, as they didn’t score until nearly four minutes into the game and then failed to score for another two and a half minutes after that. Xavier only had seven points after eight minutes.

After getting down 17-7, Tyrique Jones made a free throw to bring the deficit back under single digits. Xavier only made one more free throw while Marquette pushed the lead back out to 23-9 with 7:47 left until halftime.

Xavier was able to find some footing on offense over the next few minutes, making 4-7 shots after starting 2-14. As a result they were able to cut into Marquette’s lead and only trailed 30-21 with 2:36 until the end of the first half.

They weren’t able to make up anymore ground before the end of the first half, and trailed only 35-26 despite shooting 8-24, 33.3%, from the field and 0-7 from three-point range.

The shooting woes returned for Xavier in the first four minutes, as they only went 1-5 from the field to start the second half. Marquette was able to extend their lead, and were up 42-28 with 15:33 left in the game.

Xavier continued to miss shots, as they failed to hit their next six shots. They continued to fall further behind, as Marquette was ahead 46-28 with 12:00 remaining in the game.

Xavier was able to break the shooting drought with three straight makes, but turnovers and point blank misses allowed Marquette to go up 54-35 with 9:00 left. A quick 6-0 run for Xavier saw them trim the deficit to 54-41 with 7:22 remaining.

The Musketeers managed to hang around, trailing 62-50 with 3:49 left in the game. Marquette cruised to a win from there, downing Xavier 70-52.

Paul Scruggs and Naji Marshall were the two bright spots for Xavier against the Golden Eagles. Marshall led the team in scoring with 21 points. He also grabbed seven rebounds, three steals and a block.

Scruggs had a double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He also had a block. No other Musketeer had more than four points.

Xavier shot only 17-54, 30.2%, from the floor and 1-14, 7.1%, from three-point range.

Next up, Xavier looks to bounce back against Georgetown on Wednesday, Jan. 9th at 6:30 p.m.