Jovan Milicevic had 23 points and Filip Borovicanin added 15 points and 11 rebounds to help Xavier hold off a furious rally from Marquette to post a 96-88 win in Big East play Saturday in Cincinnati.
All Wright scored 16 of his 19 points in the first half for Xavier (13-12, 5-9 Big East), which won for just the second time in seven games.
Nigel James Jr. poured in a game-high 30 points and had 12 assists, while Royce Parham added 24 points and 10 rebounds for Marquette (9-17, 4-11), which rallied within three but couldn’t overcome a pair of 21-point first half deficits. The Golden Eagles fell to 0-10 on the road this season.
Xavier came out scorching hot from beyond the arc. All five starters knocked down at least one 3-pointer in the opening six minutes, as the Musketeers opened the game 8-for-12 from beyond the arc. Xavier finished the first half with 11 threes as the Musketeers built a pair of 21-point leads at 43-22 and 46-25 with 4:25 left in the first half.
Leading the onslaught was Wright, who was 3-for-5 from beyond the arc in the first half. Milicevic chipped in with 13 in the opening 20 minutes, including a put-back at the halftime buzzer that gave Xavier a 51-35 lead at the break.
Marquette was able to trim the Xavier lead down to three, 72-69, on a dunk by Ben Gold with 7:27 remaining. Malik Messina-Moore answered with a three to push the lead by to six, stopping a 11-2 run by the Golden Eagles. With the lead down to four, Milicevic and Borovicanin drained back-to-back threes to push the lead back to 10, 83-73, with 4:19 left.
Xavier wasted little time taking control of the game, using a 19-4 spurt to take an early 28-10 lead. The Musketeers had 16 assists on 18 made field goals in the first half while taking advantage of seven Marquette turnovers.
For Marquette, Gold came out in the opening minute of the game after re-aggravating an ankle injury that had been hobbling him for the last month. He returned to the game after getting the ankle taped but could not keep Xavier from dominating in the first half.
It was Gold’s put-back dunk in the final minute on Jan. 7 in Milwaukee that gave Marquette a 66-65 win, one of three one-point losses this season for Xavier.
–Field Level Media
