Xavier Musketeers vs Butler Bulldogs Match Player Stats On Mar 05, 2019

Kamar Baldwin scored 24 points, and Butler made enough plays down the stretch to record a 71-66 victory over visiting Xavier on Tuesday night in Indianapolis.

Baldwin helped Butler (16-14, 7-10 Big East) snap a three-game losing streak by scoring 17 of his points after halftime. He hit two clutch jumpers in the final 77 seconds and shot 10 of 17 from the floor.

Paul Jorgensen added 19 points and hit five 3-pointers in his final regular-season home game for the Bulldogs, who shot 41.3 percent from the floor.

Despite Baldwin and Jorgensen scoring Butler's final 10 points, the Bulldogs were forced to sweat out the ending. The hosts held a 69-61 lead after two free throws by Jorgensen with 14 seconds left.

Following a layup by Xavier's Paul Scruggs with nine seconds to go, Baldwin's inbounds pass was stolen, and Scruggs hit a 3-pointer with five seconds left. After a Xavier timeout, Baldwin hit two free throws with four seconds left, and the game ended when the Musketeers' Naji Marshall missed a 3-point attempt.

Scruggs and Tyrique Jones scored 13 points apiece for Xavier (16-14, 8-9), which saw a five-game winning streak halted. Zach Hankins added 12 and Marshall finished with 11 for the Musketeers, who shot 44.1 percent on field-goal attempts and struggled with Butler's zone defense at times.

Xavier started quickly, hitting six of its first nine shots and taking a 14-6 lead on a 3-pointer by Quentin Goodin. Butler went on a 14-6 run and took a 35-30 lead on a 3-pointer by Baldwin with 32 seconds left in the half before Goodin's buzzer-beating jumper.

Marshall appeared to roll an ankle early in the second half but returned with 14:54 remaining and converted a three-point play to give Xavier a 48-46 lead with 11:17 left.

Butler took the lead for good at 51-50 on a basket by Sean McDermott with 9:18 remaining. The Bulldogs used a 12-7 spurt to build a 58-52 lead on Jorgensen's fifth 3-pointer with seven minutes left.

Butler upped its lead to 65-58 lead when Baldwin banked in a turnaround jumper with 1:17 lead.

--Field Level Media