Fifth-year guard Dante Maddox Jr. tied a career-high with 26 points off the bench to lead visiting Xavier to a 91-82 win over Providence on Wednesday night.
Maddox was 7-of-11 from the field and also tied his career-high with six made 3-pointers, while Zach Freemantle added 23 points and nine rebounds for the Musketeers (15-10, 7-7 Big East).
Ryan Conwell (17 points) and Dailyn Swain (13 points) each added four assists and were 7-of-8 shooting free throws, helping Xavier's 26-of-29 effort to outscore the hosts by 24 at the foul line.
Justyn Fernandez and Bensley Joseph each had 15 points to lead Providence (11-14, 5-9), which played without guard Corey Floyd Jr. (concussion protocol) and had coach Kim English ejected after receiving his second technical foul with 18:38 left.
Freshman Ryan Mela posted his second double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jayden Pierre also scored 13 for the Friars.
The Musketeers erased an early 11-point deficit and led 45-30 at halftime thanks to a 22-0 run that spanned just under five minutes. Providence shot 8-of-9 from the floor, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range, during that span to turn a seven-point deficit into a 38-23 lead.
Xavier led by as many as 26, but Providence -- which shot 53.7 percent from the field but just 2-of-10 from the foul line -- cut within nine in the final minutes.
Maddox hit three of four straight Xavier treys to begin the go-ahead surge in the first half. His straight-on 3-pointer gave the Musketeers a 25-23 lead with 10:09 to go before halftime. A Conwell three-point play finished the stretch with 6:47 left.
Providence then moved within 38-30 after a 7-0 run but did not score after the 4:55 mark. Freemantle's buzzer-beating turnaround shot finalized a 7-0 Xavier run going into the break.
A Freemantle 3-point play and two Maddox threes made it 65-39 with 14:53 left in the game before the Friars soon rallied.
A Mela layup off his own miss capped a 13-1 Providence run, cutting the score to 73-63 with 7:38 left. Three Conwell free throws stopped the momentum, and the Musketeers led by at least nine the rest of the way.
The hosts started 6-of-7 and led 16-5 just 3:49 in. The opening segment saw Fernandez hit three 3-pointers and finish a three-point play inside. Providence got a Mela layup to move its lead to 23-16 before the game changed.
--Field Level Media
Xavier | Providence | |
Dante Maddox Jr. 26 | Scoring | Justyn Fernandez 15 |
Ryan Conwell 4 | Assists | Bensley Joseph 7 |
Zach Freemantle 9 | Rebounds | Ryan Mela 10 |
Ryan Conwell 7 | Free Throws Made | Justyn Fernandez 1 |
Marcus Foster 2 | Steals | Rich Barron 1 |
Jerome Hunter 2 | Blocks | Anton Bonke 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Xavier | 91 | 44.1 | 13-27 | 26-29 | 17 | 33 | 3 | 7 | 11 |
Providence | 82 | 53.7 | 8-25 | 2-10 | 16 | 32 | 2 | 2 | 13 |