Field Level Media
Feb 14, 2018
Trevon Bluiett scored a season-high 37 points, and No. 4 Xavier withstood a second-half charge by Seton Hall in a 102-90 victory Wednesday at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati.
Four days after being held to a season-low six points in a win at Creighton, Bluiett helped Xavier (24-3, 12-2 Big East) extend its winning streak to nine games and improve to 16-0 on its home court, matching the 2007-08 school record.
The Musketeers never trailed against the Pirates.
Bluiett posted his third career game with at least 30 points. He made 8 of 12 shots, with all but one field-goal attempt coming from beyond the 3-point arc.
Bluiett finished five shy of his career high set Jan. 26, 2017, at Cincinnati, when he also made a career-best nine 3-pointers. He sank all 13 free-throw attempts Wednesday to set a career best and grabbed seven rebounds.
Freshman Naji Marshall added a career-best 20 points as Xavier set a season high in points, shot 53.6 percent and made 14 of 29 3-point attempts.
Myles Powell helped Seton Hall threaten in the second half by scoring 24 of his career-high 30 points after halftime. Powell shot 10 of 20, but it was not enough as the Pirates (17-9, 6-7) dropped their fourth straight game.
Seton Hall's Desi Rodriguez added 16 of his 20 after halftime while Sandro Mamukelashvili contributed a career-high 17 on a night when Angel Delgado was limited to 10 points and six rebounds while sitting for a significant portion of the second half.
After Xavier took a 45-25 lead at halftime, Seton Hall appeared as if it might make a charge, getting to within 50-39 on a 3-pointer by Rodriguez a little over three minutes into the second half. Xavier responded with 10 straight points and Bluiett surpassed 30 points by converting three free throws for a 74-55 edge with 12:06 remaining.
With about 3:30 left, Powell hit a 3-pointer to make it 87-81 after Mamukelashvili grabbed the offensive rebound of Powell's missed 3-point attempt. Xavier continued to struggle to fend off the Pirates, and it was 91-84 when Rodriguez hit a 3-pointer with 2:10 remaining.
It was 94-86 when Khadeen Carrington stole an inbounds pass from Bluiett, but the guard missed the layup with 73 seconds left. After Xavier's Quentin Goodin split a pair at the line with 52 seconds left, Seton Hall's Jordan Walker hit a layup to make it 95-88 five seconds later. Bluiett iced the win with a pair at the line with 38 seconds left.
--Field Level Media