Colby Jones drained a straight-away 3-pointer with one-tenth of a second left on a perfectly executed final play as Xavier defeated Providence 74-73 in Big East action Sunday afternoon in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Zach Freemantle had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Nate Johnson added 14 points for the Musketeers (10-2, 3-2), who won for the ninth time in their last 10 home games against the Friars.
David Duke had 30 points and seven 3-pointers, and Nate Watson had 17 points and tied his career high with 14 rebounds for Providence (7-5, 3-3).
Providence led by seven points with just more than a minute left before Johnson drilled a 3-pointer and Freemantle hit a jumper to pull Xavier within two.
After a Providence turnover with 16 ticks left, Xavier coach Travis Steele called timeout and dialed up a play that got the freshman Jones free for his second 3-pointer in nine attempts this season and his only attempt in this game.
Xavier was 0 for 12 from behind the arc in a 69-61 win over St. John's on Wednesday.
The loss by the Friars was their second straight at the buzzer. They lost 67-65 on a dunk by Creighton's Christian Bishop with less than a second left on Jan. 2.
With Providence trailing 64-59 with 3:36 remaining, Duke started a 14-2 Providence run with a 3-pointer. Noah Horchler capped the run with a 3-pointer for a 73-66 lead with 1:13 minute left.
Providence starting point guard Jared Bynum, who leads the team in assists per game (4.4), did not play after suffering a groin injury in the loss to Creighton. Alyn Breed started in place of Bynum and scored two points but had a costly turnover with 51 seconds remaining
Duke did everything for the Friars in the opening 20 minutes, scoring 16 of their 34 points on 6-of-8 shooting. The Musketeers led 35-34 at intermission.
--Field Level Media
Providence | Xavier | |
David Duke 30 | Scoring | Zach Freemantle 17 |
David Duke 6 | Assists | Adam Kunkel 5 |
Nate Watson 14 | Rebounds | Zach Freemantle 8 |
David Duke 1 | Free Throws Made | Zach Freemantle 3 |
David Duke 2 | Steals | Nate Johnson 2 |
David Duke 1 | Blocks | Jason Carter 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Providence | 73 | 51.8 | 13-22 | 2-6 | 20 | 28 | 1 | 8 | 15 |
Xavier | 74 | 48.3 | 8-23 | 8-16 | 20 | 30 | 3 | 10 | 13 |