Field Level Media
Jan 13, 2018
Trevon Bluiett scored 24 points, and No. 10 Xavier delivered coach Chris Mack a milestone win with a 92-70 rout of No. 25 Creighton on Saturday at Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Kaiser Gates added 16 points off the bench, and Kerem Kanter finished with 12 points and eight rebounds for the Musketeers.
Marcus Foster scored 16 points to lead the Bluejays (14-4, 4-2 Big East), who had their four-game winning streak snapped.
It was Mack's 202nd win, tying him with former Xavier coaching great Pete Gillen for the most wins in school history. It was Mack's third attempt at the record win. The Musketeers lost at Providence last Saturday and by 24 points at No. 1 Villanova on Wednesday.
Xavier (16-3, 4-2) started hot against Creighton, hitting seven of its 11 3-pointers in the first half. But the game stayed tight early on, with Creighton's Ronnie Harrell Jr. hitting a 3-pointer to cut the Xavier lead to 24-20 at the 10-minute mark of the first half.
The Musketeers began to separate themselves before halftime. Bluiett scored Xavier's last seven points of the first half, sending the Musketeers into the locker room with a 50-34 lead.
The Bluejays turned it over 20 times in the game and never got back within single digits in the second half.
Bluiett was held to 12 and 11 points, respectively, in the losses to Providence and Villanova, but responded in a big way on Saturday. He scored 15 of his points in the second half, including a 3-pointer that pushed the Xavier lead to 73-46 with 10 minutes to play. Bluiett hit five 3-pointers in the game.
Mitch Ballock had 16 points and Harrell added 13 points off the bench for the Bluejays, who return home to host No. 13 Seton Hall on Wednesday.
Five Xavier players finished in double-figures. Sean O'Mara added 12 points and J.P. Macura had 10 points for the Musketeers, who host St. John's on Wednesday.
--Field Level Media