National Basketball Association
Xavier 69, Wake Forest 65
When: 8:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 17, 2016
Where: Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Officials:
# Tim Nestor, # Tim Clougherty, # Michael Stephens
Attendance:
10407
By The Sports Xchange
CINCINNATI -- Trevon Bluiett scored 20 points and Edmond Sumner added 17, lifting No. 17 Xavier to its 29th straight nonconference home win, a 69-65 victory over Wake Forest on Saturday night in the Skip Prosser Classic at Cintas Center.
It was the sixth meeting in honor of Prosser, who served as head coach at both schools before his passing in 2007.
Prosser won 148 games in seven years at Xavier and was inducted into XU's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010. He led Wake Forest to the NCAA Tournament in each of his first four years. Prosser helped develop NBA stars David West and Chris Paul.
The Musketeers overcame 15 turnovers, including six by Sumner.
Wake Forest misfired on several potential game-tying 3-point attempts in the closing seconds and Bluiett hit some key free throws to seal the win.
Sophomore guard Bryant Crawford led Wake Forest (8-2) with 20 points. John Collins, who averages a double-double this season, had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Deacons.
Xavier (8-2) trailed at halftime for just the second time this season after falling behind 38-37.
The Musketeers committed 10 turnovers and the Demon Deacons converted those into eight points. Wake Forest went 5 of 13 from 3-point range led by Crawford, who hit three from long range and scored 12 first-half points.
Xavier outrebounded Wake Forest 21-14 and shot 52 percent from the field in the first half, but turnovers were its undoing.
Bluiett, Sumner and Rashid Gaston, who was making his third straight start, each had 10 points for the Musketeers. Gaston finished with 14 points.
There were seven ties and 11 lead changes before Bluiett hit his third 3-pointer to give Xavier its largest lead to that point at 51-47.
But every time the Musketeers appeared poised to pull away, turnovers allowed the Deacons to recover.
Crawford's steal and dunk tied the score 55-55 with eight minutes remaining. It was Xavier's 14th turnover of the night.
Sumner stripped Crawford and converted a three-point play at the other end putting the Musketeers ahead 60-55.
But Xavier couldn't pull away. It was a one-point game when Sumner's driving layup and Macura's steal and layup put the Musketeers ahead 66-61 with 1:30 left.
Sumner and Bluiett missed consecutive front ends of a one-and-one, and Collins' layup cut Wake Forest's deficit to 66-65.
With 19.8 seconds left, Bluiett hit two free throws to put Xavier ahead by three and the Musketeers hung on for the win.
NOTES: Xavier leads the series 5-2, including a come-from-behind 78-70 win at Wake Forest last season. ... Musketeers G Trevon Bluiett was named to the Big East weekly honor roll after averaging 22.5 points in a loss at Colorado and a win over Utah. ... Saturday's game was Wake Forest's second this season vs. a ranked opponent. The Deacons lost 96-77 to then-No. 3 Villanova in the semifinals of the Charleston Classic.
Top Game Performances
| Wake Forest |
|
Xavier |
|
Bryant Crawford 20 |
Scoring |
Trevon Bluiett 20 |
|
Bryant Crawford 6 |
Assists |
Malcolm Bernard 3 |
|
John Collins 12 |
Rebounds |
Trevon Bluiett 7 |
|
Bryant Crawford 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Trevon Bluiett 5 |
|
Bryant Crawford 3 |
Steals |
J.P. Macura 3 |
|
John Collins 2 |
Blocks |
RaShid Gaston 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Wake Forest
|
65 |
36.2 |
5-25 |
10-12 |
15 |
33 |
4 |
10 |
10 |
| Xavier
|
69 |
51.0 |
5-17 |
12-18 |
12 |
33 |
5 |
8 |
15 |
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