National Basketball Association
Xavier 84, Lehigh 81
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, November 11, 2016
Where: Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Officials:
# Jeffrey Anderson, # Gary Prager, # Wally Rutecki
Attendance:
10250
By The Sports Xchange
CINCINNATI – According to the stat sheet, junior guard Trevon Bluiett had a monster game for 7th-ranked Xavier on Friday, scoring a career-high 25 points with 11 rebounds and three assists.
But, after his team’s sloppy effort in an 84-81 victory over Lehigh in the regular season opener at Cintas Center, Musketeers head coach Chris Mack was in no mood to dish out accolades for any of his players.
“He didn’t play very well defensively,” Mack said, of Bluiett. “You could say he played 37 minutes, played a lot on the perimeter. You still want to win. You still have to do your job. I know he’s got it in him. He’s a big-time player.”
Sophomore guard Edmond Sumner had a personal-best 24 points with six assists, but also committed six of Xavier’s 17 turnovers which helped spark Lehigh’s upset bid.
"Myself being a point guard, I turned the ball over, like three times in a row,” Sumner said. “Very sloppy. We work on that at practice, so no excuse. We were just a little careless with the ball."
The Musketeers had four players in double figures, including J.P. Macura who had 13 points and Sean O'Mara who tied a career high with 10.
Senior center Tim Kempton, the preseason choice for player of the year in the Patriot League, led Lehigh with 25 points, and senior guard Austin Price added 11.
The Mountain Hawks, the preseason favorites to win the Patriot League, trailed by as many as 12 points but fought back to take their first lead, 58-57, with 12 minutes left.
But, Xavier went ahead on Bluiett's 3-pointer and didn't trail again.
“We had unforced errors,” said Lehigh coach Brett Reed. “You can’t do that against a team the caliber of Xavier. We need to be able to keep the momentum going. I thought this was one we could have gotten.”
Lehigh had a chance to tie the score with 17 seconds left, but misfired on two attempts from 3-point range.
The Musketeers, picked to finish second in the Big East Conference behind defending national champion Villanova, lack depth to begin the season with senior guard Myles Davis suspended following misdemeanor criminal damaging charges and forward Kaiser Gates recovering from knee surgery.
Xavier started strong on Friday.
Five points from Sumner helped spark a 7-0 Musketeers' run to begin the game. His dunk off an assist from Bluiett made the score 16-4 less than five minutes in.
Sumner scored 15 of his points in the first half.
“We couldn’t guard anybody,” said Reed, who later switched to zone. “Sumner was playing like an All-American. He was living at the rim. Our defense got shredded and that’s what I was most disappointed in.”
Xavier's defensive effort was poor in the first half. The Musketeers shot 61 percent, but allowed the Mountain Hawks to shoot better than 51 percent to close within five points, 48-43, at halftime behind 12 points from Kempton. "We've got a lot to improve on,” said Sumner. “We're still learning as a group. We have to get a lot better on defense."
Macura's rebound off a missed Bluiett 3-pointer resulted in a 3-point play to put Xavier in front 70-63 with eight minutes left.
The Musketeers appeared to have the game in hand before the frantic final few seconds.
“When we scheduled Lehigh, we knew we weren’t scheduling a pushover,” Mack said. “It’s a team we feel like will be an NCAA Tournament team. So, give those guys a lot of credit.”
NOTES: Lehigh hadn’t faced an opponent ranked as high as the Musketeers in the regular season since the 2005-06 season when it faced No. 4 Villanova. … Xavier has won 27 consecutive regular season home openers dating to the 1989-90 season. … Lehigh fell to 0-3 all-time vs. Xavier including a 70-58 loss in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. … Xavier G Edmond Sumner and Lehigh G Austin Price both attended Detroit Country Day School.
Top Game Performances
| Lehigh |
|
Xavier |
|
Tim Kempton 25 |
Scoring |
Trevon Bluiett 25 |
|
Kahron Ross 12 |
Assists |
Edmond Sumner 6 |
|
Tim Kempton 7 |
Rebounds |
Trevon Bluiett 11 |
|
Tim Kempton 7 |
Free Throws Made |
Edmond Sumner 8 |
|
Kyle Leufroy 3 |
Steals |
Sean O'Mara 2 |
|
Tim Kempton 1 |
Blocks |
Malcolm Bernard 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Lehigh
|
81 |
50.0 |
9-23 |
14-17 |
21 |
23 |
2 |
10 |
20 |
| Xavier
|
84 |
51.6 |
4-17 |
16-19 |
18 |
31 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
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