Atlantic 10 favorite Xavier erased a 19-point second half deficit to defeat Purdue 66-63 to stay undefeated on the season.
No. 11 Xavier (6-0) needed their leader and star, Tu Holloway, to take over the game late. The Musketeers trailed by 11 points after the first half and had trouble stopping the Boilermaker’s lights out shooter Robbie Hummel who finished with 17 points. However, Holloway carried his team, as he scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half.
The senior is averaging 18 point a game this year and hit all of his three 3-pointers in the final two minutes of the game.
Holloway drilled a 3-pointer with just one minute, six seconds remaining to give Xavier a 61-60 lead, which was the first lead it had since the opening minutes of the game. Robbie Hummel then hit a free throw to tie the score up at 61 apiece before Holloway countered with another long-range connection.
Xavier will now travel to face 2011 NCAA Championship runner-up Butler on Wednesday.
Hawks sets school record in Drexel victory
Sophomore forward C.J. Aiken scored 13 points and recorded nine of the Hawks record-setting 16 blocks in a 62-49 victory Wednesday against Drexel in front of a sold out crowd at Hagan Arena.
Aiken was ranked fifth in the nation with 4.2 blocks per game entering the matchup and clearly showed his ability to control the paint against the (2-3) Drexel Dragons. The Conshohocken, Pa. native helped the team surpass the previous school record of 12 blocks in one game, which was set in 1987.
In the victory, the Hawks had a balanced soring attack as a total of four of their players scored in double digits. Halil Kanacevic poured in 12 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Langston Galloway and Carl Jones each contributed 11 points for the Hawks.
The Hawks got it done on the defensive side in the first half holding the Dragons to just a 28.6 percent field goal percentage. A 14-1 run late in the half propelled St Joe’s to a 30-19 lead heading into the break.
The Hawks put the game out of reach when Aiken converted an alley-oop from Jones extending the lead to 53-36.
SJU controlled the paint, outscoring the Dragons 38-22. The Hawks host Boston University on Wednesday.
Saint Louis grabs 7th win
Saint Louis picked up their seventh win of the season as it handled Portland a 73-53 loss
The No. 23 Billikens were led by senior forward Brian Conklin who shot 7-for-7 from the field and piled up 19 points. Saint Louis dominated the first half as they outscored the Pilots 38-16.
This was the Billikens first home game as a ranked team since 1994 and they set the tone right away with a 25-3 run in the first half. Cody Ellis had 16 points off the bench and Kyle Cassity and Mike McCall added 10 apiece for the Billikens.
This was a huge victory for Saint Louis who fell to Loyola Marymount unexpectedly on Tuesday night.
The Billikens will kick off a five game homestand as they play Vermont on Wednesday.
Christopher Corso can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Corso.
