National Basketball Association
Xavier 83, Missouri 82
When: 1:00 PM ET, Thursday, November 17, 2016
Where: HP Field House, Kissimmee, Florida
Officials:
# Gerry Pollard, # Kipp Kissinger, # Hal Lusk
Attendance:
N/A
By The Sports Xchange
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The deck appeared to be stacked against 11th-ranked Xavier in the second half of Thursday's game against the Missouri Tigers at the Tire Pros Invitational.
Leading Xavier scorer Trevon Bluiett spent most of the second half on the bench with four fouls, and RaShid Gaston and Tyrique Jones fouled out to further deplete an already thin bench.
But Bluiett scored 13 points despite sitting for more than 30 minutes, and Edmond Sumner scored 18, including the game-winning free throw with 0.3 seconds left in overtime, lifting Xavier to an 83-82 victory over Missouri in the Tire Pros Invitational at HP Fieldhouse.
"I give Missouri a lot of credit," said Xavier head coach Chris Mack. "I don't think defensively or offensively we played very fluid the entire game. We have to hurry and grow up from this. Again, it beats losing. We have to take ownership of things we're not doing very well."
J.P. Macura scored a team-leading 19 points to help the Musketeers advance to a Friday game against Clemson, which defeated Davidson 95-78 earlier Thursday.
"I think we've just got to have a short-term memory," said Gaston. "We're happy to get the win but it's basically like Coach said, we have to take ownership of the things we need to work on and just improve on them before tomorrow's game against Clemson."
It was Macura's heady timeout after Malcolm Bernard blocked Terrence Phillips' 3-point shot attempt that gave Xavier a chance with 1.7 seconds left.
"J.P. does a tremendous job of competing to win," Mack said. "Sometimes I've got to rein him in a little bit but he has a nose for the ball, and he puts himself in position to make hustle plays that determine the game."
Sumner was fouled by Phillips with 0.3 seconds on the clock.
Sumner, who was 4-of-11 from the free throw line at that point, missed his first attempt, but hit the second.
Missouri coach Kim Anderson didn't fault Phillips for fouling Sumner.
"You always teach your kids to be aggressive," he said. "I'm sure he'd love to take it back but you know what? He made a lot of great plays to get us to where we were."
There were 15 ties in Thursday's game, including 69-69 with 1:08 left in regulation time. Bluiett's driving layup put Xavier (3-0) ahead by two with 30 seconds left.
But, Missouri's Kevin Puryear hit two free throws to tie the score, and Sumner's 3-pointer fell short at the buzzer.
Xavier's Sean O'Mara scored six of his 13 points in overtime as Xavier led 78-73 before a 7-0 run by Missouri helped the Tigers go ahead by two with 34 seconds left.
Missouri (1-1) lost despite getting more than 20 points from Puryear (22), Phillips (21) and Frankie Hughes (24), who went 5 of 13 from 3-point range.
At the start of the game, the Musketeers raced to a 9-3 lead on Macura's layup, but Missouri rallied to go up by 10 on Puryear's 3-pointer with 6:26 left in the half.
The Tigers, who were outrebounded 24-17 in the first half, led 38-36 at halftime.
Phillips led all scorers with 10 points in the first half, while Macura scored nine for Xavier.
Neither team shot well from 3-point range in the first half with Xavier going 2-of-12 and Missouri connecting on just 3 of 13 attempts.
Xavier has early-season depth issues with senior guard Myles Davis suspended due to an incident involving his ex-girlfriend's property and sophomore forward Kaiser Gates working his way back from a knee injury.
And, foul trouble didn't help the Musketeers' cause on Thursday with six players having two fouls by halftime. Bluiett picked up his fourth just seconds into the second half and was relegated to the bench.
Hughes' second 3-pointer of the game put Missouri ahead 45-38 early in the second half.
With Bluiett out, other Musketeers stepped up.
Macura's steal and dunk brought the Musketeers to within one point. Then Sumner's acrobatic layup and three-point play tied the score 47-47 with 12 minutes left.
Gaston's dunk put Xavier ahead 63-61 with fewer than five minutes remaining. He finished the game with 10 rebounds and four blocks.
"I thought we fought all the way to the end," Anderson said. "I was real proud of our guys the way they responded to runs and the way they kept themselves in the game and really had a chance to win."
NOTES: The Tire Pros Invitational originally was to be played on Puerto Rico but was moved in September over concerns about the Zika virus. ... Xavier leads the series 5-2, including victories in three straight meetings. The Musketeers won the previous two meetings by an average of 14 points. .... Missouri hasn't beaten Xavier since 2001. ... Xavier G Trevon Bluiett and G Edmond Sumner both were named this week to the preseason Wooden Award top 50.
Top Game Performances
Xavier |
|
Missouri |
J.P. Macura 19 |
Scoring |
Frankie Hughes 24 |
J.P. Macura 5 |
Assists |
Terrence Phillips 5 |
RaShid Gaston 10 |
Rebounds |
Kevin Puryear 10 |
RaShid Gaston 6 |
Free Throws Made |
Kevin Puryear 11 |
Edmond Sumner 3 |
Steals |
Frankie Hughes 3 |
RaShid Gaston 4 |
Blocks |
Reed Nikko 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Xavier
|
83 |
40.0 |
2-22 |
25-38 |
14 |
39 |
9 |
8 |
14 |
Missouri
|
82 |
41.5 |
8-26 |
20-27 |
13 |
34 |
4 |
5 |
14 |