No. 11 Xavier Holds Off UNI, 67-59

Sunday, November 20

Orlando, Fla.

6:30 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

3-1

Xavier

5-0

Xavier

UNI

No. 11 Xavier Holds Off UNI, 67-59

11/20/2016 9:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) Trevon Bluiett scored 20 points and Edmond Sumner got 11 of his 17 points in the second half, helping 11th-ranked Xavier hold off Northern Iowa 67-59 to win the Tire Pros Invitational on Sunday night.

After leading by 16 points in the second half, the Musketeers needed three free throws from Bluiett in the final 19.7 seconds to seal it. The Panthers (3-1) came on late and pulled within five before Xavier (5-0) stretched it back out.

Northern Iowa, which overcame an 18-point deficit to stun Oklahoma in the second round Friday, was led by Jeremy Morgan with 20 points. Bennett Koch added 11 points.

The Musketeers used a 12-0 run early in the second half to open up their most commanding lead of the game at 47-34. Bluiett and Sumner both had big shots before Malcolm Bernard buried a 3-pointer in building the 13-point lead.

The first half was defined by big shots and long scoring lulls by both teams as they went into halftime tied 30-30.

UNI, which started out hot behind Morgan's shooting, led by nine with 10:52 remaining the first half. Bluiett led a rally by the Musketeers, though, tying it 22-22 on a 3-pointer with 6:05 left in the half. Xavier later took a four-point lead on Quetin Goodin's driving basket.

Morgan led the Panthers with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range in the first half. Bluiett had 12 points in that time for Xavier.

The Panthers were 6 of 9 from 3-point range and converted 48 percent of their shots from the field during the first 20 minutes. Xavier didn't shoot the ball nearly as well but made it up with hustle plays, outscoring Northern Iowa 6-0 on second-chance points in the half.

BIG PICTURE
UNI: The Panthers are great 3-point shooters, but their shots were not falling consistently against Xavier. Morgan was the only shooter to show up on Sunday.
Xavier: The Musketeers showed a variety of defenses to keep the Panthers off balance, switching from a 1-1-3 zone to man-to-man. Xavier has plenty of fire power on offense with J.P Macura and Goodin hitting big shots throughout the game.

POLL IMPLICATIONS
Xavier: A win over previously unbeaten Northern Iowa could help the Musketeers standing.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Bluiett, Morgan and Macura made the all-tournament team along with Oklahoma's Jordan Woodard and Davidson's Jack Gibbs. Bluiett was the tournament MVP after scoring 56 points, grabbing 16 rebounds and getting seven assists over the three games.

UP NEXT
UNI: The Panthers travel to Cincinnati to face Xavier again on Saturday.
Xavier: The Musketeers host Northern Iowa on Saturday.

NOTES: Jeremy Morgan was named to the All-Tournament team after scoring 57 points, grabbing 30 rebounds and handing out 12 assists over the three games.

Xavier Head Coach Chris Mack - "I thought we played the hardest-playing, most-disciplined team, most well-coached team that we could have faced in the tournament. We've got a lot of respect for everybody in this tournament but Northern Iowa, they're relentless in their approach. Whether it's the discipline blocking out, whether it's a never-say-quit attitude, Northern Iowa really made us play all the way to the end.

"I'd like to have those last four or five minutes back but it's so early. We're a little bit better in terms of finishing the game but we still have a ways to go in that department. We're probably no different than a lot of teams in college basketball. We made our free throws when we final got in the bonus in the second half. That was the difference being able to keep it a two-, three-possession game."

"Number one, we beat three teams that will help our resume down the stretch. It shows our guys we're going to be in a position playing hopefully three games in three days in a few months. We can look back and hopefully use this as an experience that helped us quickly turn the page, prepare for a different style and be ready to play the next night.

"I thought our effort on the defensive end was phenomenal. Even when we had our struggles down the stretch it didn't diminish our effort, our intensity, our talk off the ball defensively.

Xavier guard Trevon Bluiett - "We kind of base everything on next-play mentality so we can't really worry over the past plays. My teammates do a good job of helping me forget about (missed shots), I kind of get down on myself sometimes but they bring me back up and tell me to keep playing."

Xavier guard J.P. Macura - "It puts a lot of stress on you when it's 13 minutes left in the half (with the opponent in the bonus situation) and I think we did a great job later in the half of playing great defense and not fouling and that's part of the reason why we won."

Northern Iowa Head Coach Ben Jacobson - "They're every bit as good as we thought watching them on film and seeing them in person here. Sometimes you get into the game and teams are not quite what they seem like on film but Xavier is every bit as good and in some ways even better. We had tremendous amount of respect before the game started and I have even more now. They've got so many ways they can beat you.

"I've got to do a better job with our spacing when the ball goes into Bennett (Koch). We were able to get him some touches, we got what we were looking for in terms of the number of touches inside and he created some offense for us and he got to the free throw line. That was positive. Sometimes they were coming off a certain guy, sometimes they were waiting for him to dribble. We've got to help him so things are a little easier when the double-team comes.

"With the number of new guys, with the change in our roster, I'm glad we were able to come down here and establish some things defensively and we had some things offensively over the course of three days that we can build on. They did a great job coming out of halftime. They got us. The counter that they ran got them the first couple of baskets and we didn't score. You give them credit for what they did at halftime and how they started that second half."

Northern Iowa guard Jeremy Morgan - "That's what we were trying to do coming down to the end, just try to make it close and give ourselves a chance coming down the stretch. We needed to make some more plays down the end and cut back on some of the turnovers and we give ourselves a better chance.

"We made some mistakes on the defensive end, just key scouting mistakes, and they made some good plays."

(On defending Trevon Bluiett) – "He's a good player, he can get to the basket and shoot the 3. If you cut him off too fast, he can spin back and shoot that pull-up. He's a good player and tough to defend and we've got to get better."

Northern Iowa forward Bennett Koch - "They knew that we were going to try and pound it inside as part of our game and they started doing that and we struggled with that. I know I did. When we play them the second time we're going to work on our mistakes and try not to make the same mistakes and I think we'll get it done. We've got our confidence and that's important."