Field Level Media
Jan 24, 2018
Trevon Bluiett became the fifth player in Xavier history to score 2,000 career points, highlighting the No. 8 Musketeers' 89-70 Big East Conference rout of Marquette on Wednesday at Cintas Center in Cincinnati.
Bluiett reached the milestone on a jumper with 7:08 left. He was one of five players in double figures for Xavier (19-3, 7-2 Big East), finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds while dishing out five assists.
Guard Quentin Goodin led the Musketeers' balanced attack with 15 points, while forward Kerem Kanter netted 14. Paul Scruggs and Naji Marshall each netted 10 points.
Markus Howard poured in a game-high 33 points for the Golden Eagles (13-7, 4-4), but he didn't get much help. No one else hit in double figures as Marquette couldn't come up with enough balance or defensive stops against the Musketeers.
Xavier established control early, breaking away from a 5-5 tie with eight straight points. Goodin hit consecutive 3-pointers off Bluiett passes, and J.P. Macura added a bucket. It didn't get a whole lot better for the Golden Eagles.
Macura's free throw with 9:19 left in the first half gave the Musketeers their first double-figure lead at 25-15. The advantage grew to 15 when Kanter hit a foul shot at the 5:47 mark and 20 on Macura's free throws late in the half before Xavier settled for a 51-33 edge at the break.
Nothing could stop the Musketeers in the second half, not even a lengthy delay to replace one of the nets. The margin reached as high as 26 when Kaiser Gates sank two foul shots with 10:52 left, and only a pair of brief runs by Marquette made the final margin look a bit more respectable.
Xavier canned 35 of 63 field-goal attempts, 55.6 percent, including an efficient 7 of 16 from 3-point range, and carved out a 33-30 advantage on the boards. The Musketeers allowed the Golden Eagles just four offensive rebounds.
Marquette sank 47.5 percent of its field-goal tries (28 of 59), but was only 6 of 23 on 3-point attempts.
--Field Level Media