Xavier tops UC, moves to 10-0 with Crosstown Shootout win

The bragging rights remain with Xavier.

The No. 12 Musketeers matched their best start in program history (10-0) by defeating No. 23 Cincinnati (8-2) 65-55 in an energy-charged Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout at Cintas Center before a record crowd of 10,617 and a national TV audience.

Odds-makers favored Xavier by 4.5 points but the Musketeers exceeded the prognostication, fueled by a 16-point halftime lead and enough moxie to thwart UC’s comeback bid after the break.

A 7-0 burst late in the game, anchored by two Jalen Reynolds lay-ups, ensured a 14-point lead with a minute left. The Bearcats muddled through a stretch of seven missed field goals and two turnovers before Coreontae DeBerry converted a free throw with 44 seconds to go.

Farad Cobb hit a 3-pointer when the outcome was well in hand. Xavier players rejoiced after the final buzzer.

Box score

“It feels great to get that win today. Everybody stepped up,” junior guard Myles Davis said. “Our best scorer (Trevon Bluiett) didn’t score as (much) but everybody came in and filled in for him. It was fun out there. The atmosphere was amazing. It was just great.”

Davis scored a season-high 17 points and Edmond Sumner added 11 points. UC had four double-figure scorers, led by Octavius Ellis’ 13 points.

XU’s plan was to stick to its principles against the Bearcats, and it did that initially with lockdown defense, rebounds and minimal turnovers. Good defense played into good offense, and even a season-low three points by Bluiett didn’t deter the Musketeers.

Although UC at times surprised Xavier by mixing in man-to-man with match-up zone, the Musketeers vaulted ahead by 18 points.

The game’s complexion changed quickly in the second half. UC chased down loose balls, upped its rebounding game and forced more turnovers.

“That was about as uncomfortable of a 16-point lead at halftime as I’ve ever experienced,” Xavier coach Chris Mack said. “I don’t want to use the word ‘easy’ because I thought we earned everything we could in the first half. But I think you saw more of Cincinnati’s team in the second half, their ability to really stymie us. Their defense was tremendous in the second half. It stole our confidence.”

The Bearcats mounted a 10-0 run as Xavier missed its first four shots, prompting Mack to call a timeout at the 16:57 mark. Cobb buried two 3-pointers and Shaq Thomas and Ellis made lay-ups, whittling UC’s deficit to six points.

A DeBerry lay-up narrowed the margin to five with 10:27 to go. Xavier responded with six straight points, including a monster dunk by Sumner.

“We could not get the ball to where we wanted,” Mack said. “The only way we got that confidence back was when we went to the zone deeper in the second half with about eight or nine minutes to go and that tenuous six-point, seven-point, eight-point lead finally got to double digits. And I think our guys were able to breathe a little bit easier.”

Xavier outscored UC 13-8 in the last 10 minutes to clinch the win.

“Xavier outplayed us. They’ve got a really good team,” UC coach Mick Cronin said. “I was really proud of the way our guys fought in the second half, especially in particular Shaq Thomas. He showed a lot of heart. It’s something I’ve been asking him to do. I had a meeting with him this week. So I was proud of the way of the way he battled in the second half.

“That being said, they hurt us on the outside in the first half, the inside in the second half. But ultimately you’re never going to beat a team…like that with 16 turnovers.”

The Bearcats held Xavier to 23 second-half points. Had they played that well in the first half, Thomas said the outcome may have been different.

“I just think we came out kind of lackadaisical. If we could have put two halves like that together, I think the game would have been much closer. I think we turned the ball over a little too much, including myself,” Thomas said.

Said teammate Troy Caupain: “In the first half I would say…we were just lazy on the defensive end, getting back in transition. They had a lot of transition buckets.”

Xavier, now 8-0 when facing UC with an Associated Press ranking, claimed a third straight win in the rivalry. Besides being the teams’ first meeting as ranked foes since 1994, it was the first Shootout at Cintas Center since the 2011 brawl.