By Zack Cziryak
setonhall.rivals.com
A second half run propelled Xavier to a 20-point victory over the Seton Hall Pirates Saturday afternoon in Cincinnati.
Quincy Olivari sunk his fifth and final three-point basket to close out the 74-54 win, notching 18 of his 29 points in the second half. Many of those points came in the pivotal 20-4 run from the Musketeers (7-6, 1-1) after the Hall (8-5, 1-1) had cut the lead to one.
Olivari added 7 rebounds while Abou Ousmane notched a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards and Dayvion McKnight chipped in 15 points of his own to go along with 8 assists.
Dre Davis paced the Pirates with 18 points on 8-21 shooting from the floor while Kadary Richmond, coming off his best game of the season in the Hall’s Big East opening victory over #5 UConn on Wednesday, added 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists. No other Pirate recorded more than 6 points.
The Musketeers extended a first half-lead to 32-21 with an 8-0 run with 1:13 remaining before four straight points from Richmond, including a putback off his own missed layup as time ran out, cut it to 32-25.
The Pirates thankfully crashed the boards in the first half to keep it close as 14 offensive caroms led to 11 points, helping to offset a 25% shooting mark on 9-36 from the floor, including 1-7 from beyond the arc.
A 5-0 run to start the second half cut Xavier’s lead to 32-30 before it was halted by an Olivari three and the Musketeers would again extend the lead to seven points at 41-34. A long step back 2-point jumper from Al-Amir Dawes would cut the lead to one point at 43-42, the closest the Pirates would come at roughly the 13-minute mark.
Unfortunately, the Hall could not match Xavier’s shooting a pair of Ousmane baskets, one an alley-oop off a wayward floater, and a parade of three-pointers would carry the Musketeers along the aforementioned 20-4 run that would put the game away.
Xavier assisted on 25 of 31 baskets while shooting 44.3% from the floor, including 10-20 from beyond the arc, compared to Seton Hall’s respective 32.4% and 13.3%, the latter coming on 2-15 shooting. The Pirates assisted only 12 of 22 baskets.
The loss snaps a three-game winning streak for the Pirates, who return home for the holidays before traveling to Providence, R.I. for a road contest against the Friars at the formidable Amica Mutual Pavilion on Jan. 3. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.
The Hall defeated Providence in a blowout to end the Big East regular season a year ago.
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A second half run propelled Xavier to a 20-point victory over the Seton Hall Pirates Saturday afternoon in Cincinnati.
Quincy Olivari sunk his fifth and final three-point basket to close out the 74-54 win, notching 18 of his 29 points in the second half. Many of those points came in the pivotal 20-4 run from the Musketeers (7-6, 1-1) after the Hall (8-5, 1-1) had cut the lead to one.
Olivari added 7 rebounds while Abou Ousmane notched a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards and Dayvion McKnight chipped in 15 points of his own to go along with 8 assists.
Dre Davis paced the Pirates with 18 points on 8-21 shooting from the floor while Kadary Richmond, coming off his best game of the season in the Hall’s Big East opening victory over #5 UConn on Wednesday, added 13 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists. No other Pirate recorded more than 6 points.
The Musketeers extended a first half-lead to 32-21 with an 8-0 run with 1:13 remaining before four straight points from Richmond, including a putback off his own missed layup as time ran out, cut it to 32-25.
The Pirates thankfully crashed the boards in the first half to keep it close as 14 offensive caroms led to 11 points, helping to offset a 25% shooting mark on 9-36 from the floor, including 1-7 from beyond the arc.
A 5-0 run to start the second half cut Xavier’s lead to 32-30 before it was halted by an Olivari three and the Musketeers would again extend the lead to seven points at 41-34. A long step back 2-point jumper from Al-Amir Dawes would cut the lead to one point at 43-42, the closest the Pirates would come at roughly the 13-minute mark.
Unfortunately, the Hall could not match Xavier’s shooting a pair of Ousmane baskets, one an alley-oop off a wayward floater, and a parade of three-pointers would carry the Musketeers along the aforementioned 20-4 run that would put the game away.
Xavier assisted on 25 of 31 baskets while shooting 44.3% from the floor, including 10-20 from beyond the arc, compared to Seton Hall’s respective 32.4% and 13.3%, the latter coming on 2-15 shooting. The Pirates assisted only 12 of 22 baskets.
The loss snaps a three-game winning streak for the Pirates, who return home for the holidays before traveling to Providence, R.I. for a road contest against the Friars at the formidable Amica Mutual Pavilion on Jan. 3. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET.
The Hall defeated Providence in a blowout to end the Big East regular season a year ago.
