Field Level Media
Dec 4, 2019
Naji Marshall had a season-high 24 points and two 3-pointers and Tyrique Jones had his fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and 14 rebounds for the host Xavier Musketeers, who pulled away from the Green Bay Phoenix in the second half for an 84-71 victory on Wednesday.
Quentin Goodin had season highs with 14 points and eight rebounds, and Paul Scruggs had 14 points and two 3-pointers for the Musketeers (8-1), who fell out of the AP Top 25 for the first time this week. Tandy missed the first seven games with an ankle injury.
Freshman guard Amari Davis had 19 points and three rebounds, and JayQuan McCloud had 15 points, 11 rebounds and three 3-pointers for the Horizon League Phoenix, who had won two of three.
Marshall scored 10 points, including his second 3-pointer in the first 7 1/2 minutes of the second half, when the Musketeers pushed a three-point halftime lead to 53-44. Freshman KyKy Tandy followed with his second trey of the game, and Jones hit a layup to make it 58-44. The Phoenix were never closer than nine points thereafter.
Tandy had 10 points and two 3-pointers in a season-high 15 minutes, playing his second game after missing the first seven with a foot injury.
Marshall was 8-of-12 from the field and had four rebounds and three assists. The Musketeers had a 48-40 rebounding advantage and had 29 second-chance points.
Xavier limited Green Bay to 38.8 percent shooting from the field. The Musketeers shot 42.0 percent from and made 8-of-33 threes (24.2 percent). They entered the game 211th in NCAA Division 1 with a 43.0 field goal percentage and were 313th with a 28.5 percentage from 3-point range.
Davis, making his second start after scoring 28 points against Montana on Saturday, scored eight early points. The Phoenix took advantage of cold Xavier shooting to take a four-point lead 21-17 about midway through the first half
The Musketeers were 3-of-15 from the field in one stretch before rallying behind Marshall, who had 12 points in the first half. Xavier led 38-35 at the break while committing only three turnovers in the half.
--Field Level Media