CINCINNATI– Xavier pulled off a 66-60 victory over Miami (Ohio) in front of a sold out Cintas Center crowd. Junior Mark Lyons had a team-high 18 points from 7-of-13 shooting.
Xavier extended its home winning streak to 11games and improves its record to 3-0 for the season. Miami suffered its first loss of the season, dropping to 1-1.
Lyons sank two crucial free-throws in the closing minutes to seal the Musketeer victory. Senior guard Tu Holloway added nine points and dished out a game-high seven assists with only one turnover. Holloway is four points away from moving into 25th all-time Xavier top scoring list.
Senior center Kenny Frease dropped 13 points in the XU win and corralled seven boards. He also swatted away four shots. Redshirt junior forward Travis Taylor tallied his Xavier career-high nine points and added six rebounds.
With less than five minutes left the Musketeers went on a 9-2 run to extend their lead to 57-49 and never looked back. The run was sparked by a steal by Holloway which led to a fast break lay-up by Lyons. Lyons was able to draw the foul and sink the free-throw.
Bill Edwards of Miami led all shooters with 21 points and reeled in eight rebounds.
Xavier performed well defensively as it forced a season-high 18 turnovers and had a season-high 11 steals. The battle was won in the paint as XU outmuscled Miami down low 44-26. The Musketeers outshot Miami as they shot 43.3 percent (26-for-60) to the RedHawk’s 42.9 percent (21-for-49)
The Musketeers entered intermission down 34-32 to the RedHawks. The first half went back and forth as there were five ties and 11 lead changes. Bill Edwards of Miami led all scorers at half with 14 shooting 4-for-4 from behind the arc.
Lyons continued his hot shooting going 5-for-7 and ending with 11 points to end the first half. Wells contributed six points, four rebounds, and three assists in the first period.
The difference in the first half was three-point shooting. Miami shot 60 percent (6-for-10) whereas Xavier shot 20 percent (1-for-5). However XU was much disciplined sending Miami to free-throw line only twice and committing only four team fouls.
Xavier faces off against the Georgia Bulldogs at Cintas Center Friday, November 25. Stay tuned to GoXavier.com for your latest Xavier men’s basketball news and updates.
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