What we learned from Xavier Musketeers win over Georgetown Hoyas

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It was far from pretty.

At the end of the day, though, teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble won’t complain about adding to its win column in a pivotal February conference clash.

Xavier overcame several stagnant stretches and 16 turnovers Tuesday night at Cintas Center but ultimately prevailed to beat Georgetown, 74-69.

It’s a Quadrant 3 victory for Xavier with Georgetown’s NCAA NET Ranking, so it won’t help bolster the NCAA Tournament resume, but a loss would’ve been a major setback to Xavier’s chances of dancing next month.

Xavier (14-9), which entered in a four-way tie for fifth place in the Big East, improved to .500 in conference play (6-6) while Georgetown (14-9, 5-7) has lost seven of its last nine.

Observations from Xavier Musketeers’ win over Georgetown Hoyas

Xavier survives scare behind Marcus Foster, Dailyn Swain

Xavier led by as many as nine (39-30) early in the second half but watched that lead get trimmed to as little as one point as Georgetown’s defense forced momentum-changing turnovers and guard Micah Peavy punished Xavier’s defense.

Peavy scored 17 of his game-high 27 points in the second half as the graduate guard constantly delivered with Georgetown needed a bucket. Xavier got a pair of big 3-pointers from Dante Maddox off the bench in the second half, but the night belonged to Marcus Foster.

The Furman transfer was in double figures for the first time since Dec. 31 (Seton Hall) and turned in his first double-double as a Musketeers with 17 points and 13 rebounds.

After a Georgetown bucket cut Xavier’s lead to 65-61 in the final 90 seconds of regulation, Foster’s 3-pointer from the wing with 1:18 remaining was the de facto dagger.

Sophomore Dailyn Swain continued to surge with 18 points and 6 rebounds. Swain has now scored in double figures in five straight games and in nine of the last 11. He was joined in double figures by Zach Freemantle (17) and Ryan Conwell (11).

Xavier held off a Georgetown rally in the final minutes by going 17-of-19 at the…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/learned-xavier-musketeers-win-over-040206019.html

Author : Cincinnati.com | The Enquirer

Publish date : 2025-02-05 04:02:00

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