Xavier 77, Alabama 74: Matt Stainbrook and Isaiah Philmore each scored 17 points as the Musketeers rallied in the second half to earn a road win over the Crimson Tide.
Dee Davis scored 12 points for Xavier (9-3), which went 22-of-28 from the free-throw line. Philmore pulled down 12 rebounds as the Musketeers won the board battle 38-34.
Trevor Releford led Alabama (5-6) with 17 points while Shannon Hale added a career-best 14. Levi Randolph contributed 13 points for the Crimson Tide, which missed 10 of their 30 free-throw attempts.
Xavier jumped ahead early before the Crimson Tide came back to take the lead with less than 13 minutes to go until halftime. Alabama led by as many as nine before settling for a 33-26 advantage at the break.
The Crimson Tide were still up seven with less than eight minutes to play before the Musketeers went on a game-changing 16-4 run over four-plus minutes to take the lead for good. Alabama cut the lead to one in the final minute, but Xavier hit all six of its free throws in the last 27 seconds to clinch the victory.
GAME NOTEBOOK: G Semaj Christon, Xavier's leading scorer at 15.5 points per game, shot 4-of-11 and finished with nine points. … Alabama shot 42.1 percent from the 3-point line after entering the game shooting 32.3 percent for the season. … Xavier and Alabama have split the six-game all-time series.
Xavier | Alabama | |
Isaiah Philmore 17 | Scoring | Trevor Releford 17 |
Semaj Christon 5 | Assists | Trevor Releford 3 |
Isaiah Philmore 12 | Rebounds | Rodney Cooper 8 |
Isaiah Philmore 9 | Free Throws Made | Levi Randolph 6 |
Semaj Christon 3 | Steals | Retin Obasohan 2 |
Semaj Christon 2 | Blocks | Retin Obasohan 2 |