Xavier's Jalen Reynolds (1) reacts after dunking as Butler's Austin Etherington (0), Jordan Gathers (5), Tyler Wideman (4), and Kelan Martin, right, look on during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Xavier lost its conference opener by 31 points at Villanova. Butler squandered an 11-point halftime lead at home against Providence.
In a battle between two Big East contenders desperate to avoid an 0-2 start in league play, it was the Musketeers that secured a much-needed victory and the Bulldogs that returned home in an early hole.
In a battle between two Big East contenders desperate to avoid an 0-2 start in league play, it was the Musketeers that secured a much-needed victory and the Bulldogs that returned home in an early hole.
Sixth-ranked Xavier continued its recent mastery over ninth-ranked Butler on Saturday with a 88-69 victory at the Cintas Center. The Bulldogs have tallied only two wins in their last 10 meetings with the Musketeers and have not won on the road since Dec. 2008.
The key stretch in Saturday's game was a 13-1 Xavier surge midway through the second half after a Kellen Dunham 3-pointer trimmed the Musketeers' lead to three points with 12:07 to play. Xavier walled off the paint and held Butler's ultra-efficient offense without a field goal for nearly six minutes, enabling the Musketeers to get the separation they needed to coast to a big win.
Just as you'd expect from a Xavier team that relies on balanced scoring, no single player spearheaded the surge. J.P. Macura started it by tipping in his own missed baseline 10-footer. James Farr had a key two-handed put-back slam in transition and a layup off a sweet feed from Myles Davis. Reserves Kaiser Gates and Sean O'Mara both also had important baskets, the former sinking a 3-pointer off a dribble handoff and the latter scoring on a tip-in.
It was guard Remy Abell who actually led Xavier in scoring on Saturday, tallying an efficient 21 points on only eight shot attempts. Davis, Gates, Jalen Reynolds and Trevon Bluiett each also scored in double figures as the Musketeers shot a scalding 56.4 percent from the field and 10-for-21 from behind the arc.
That Xavier could score so efficiently without starting point guard Edmond Sumner was an encouraging sign for the Musketeers. Sumner was not even on the bench on Saturday because he's still recovering from the hard fall that led to him being stretchered off the court two minutes into Thursday's Villanova game.
Xavier's bounce-back victory suggests the one-sided Villanova loss was more an aberration than a harbinger of things to come. The Musketeers had ascended into the top 10 during non-conference play by defeating the likes of Cincinnati, Michigan, USC, Alabama and Dayton, among others.
Butler's disappointing opening week of Big East play is hardly panic-worthy given the caliber of opponents the Bulldogs have faced. Nonetheless, they must tighten up defensively if they're going to contend for a top-three finish in the league this season.
Chris Holtmann made three changes in his starting five and emphasized defense and effort before Saturday's game after Providence scored 56 second-half points on Thursday night. Neither the new-look lineup nor the extra encouragement made much difference, however, as the Bulldogs struggled to keep Xavier out of the lane and off the offensive glass.
The urgency both teams felt Saturday was exemplified midway through the second half when Butler's Tyler Lewis crashed into the Xavier bench chasing a loose ball and could not extricate himself. It appeared Jalen Reynolds actually went so far as to grab him in hopes of giving his team a brief advantage.
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The play went unnoticed by referees, though certainly not by Butler fans on social media. It was a tough break for the Bulldogs on a day where little went their way.
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