National Basketball Association
Xavier 75, Creighton 69
When: 5:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 1, 2014
Where: Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Officials:
# Jeff Clark, # Ed Corbett, # Michael Stephens
Attendance:
10483
By SportsDirect Inc.
Xavier 75, No. 10 Creighton 69: Justin Martin scored 19 points and grabbed a career-best 16 rebounds to fuel the Musketeers past the visiting Bluejays in Big East play.
Semaj Christon contributed a team-best 21 points and four steals while Dee Davis made four 3-pointers as part of a 15-point effort for Xavier (20-9, 10-6). The Musketeers were 9-of-16 from 3-point range while improving to 15-1 at home.
Doug McDermott had 27 points and 10 rebounds for Creighton (23-5, 13-3), which had a four-game winning streak halted. No other Bluejays scored in double digits as Creighton slipped a half-game behind first-place Villanova in the conference race.
The Bluejays used a 16-6 second-half run to cut a 13-point deficit to 61-58 on McDermott’s 3-pointer with 5:27 to play. The margin was again three with under four minutes left when Davis hit a 3-pointer and Jalen Reynolds followed with a basket and the Musketeers led by as many as nine down the stretch.
Christon had 13 first-half points and Xavier shot 57.6 percent from the field while taking a 43-34 advantage. The lead reached 55-42 less than five minutes into the second half before the Bluejays scored nine of the next 13 points to move within 59-51 with 9:33 remaining.
GAME NOTEBOOK: McDermott raised his career point total to 2,944 to close in on ninth-place Danny Manning (2,951) on the Division I all-time scoring list. … Xavier recorded 10 steals while forcing 15 turnovers. … Creighton G Isaiah Zierden left with a knee injury with 8:43 left in the first half and did not return.
Top Game Performances
Creighton |
|
Xavier |
Doug McDermott 27 |
Scoring |
Semaj Christon 21 |
Grant Gibbs 4 |
Assists |
Dee Davis 5 |
Doug McDermott 10 |
Rebounds |
Justin Martin 16 |
Devin Brooks 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Justin Martin 4 |
Austin Chatman 3 |
Steals |
Semaj Christon 4 |
N/A |
Blocks |
Justin Martin 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Creighton
|
69 |
39.0 |
10-34 |
13-14 |
17 |
31 |
0 |
8 |
15 |
Xavier
|
75 |
50.0 |
9-16 |
12-17 |
15 |
33 |
3 |
10 |
13 |