Dwon Odom had a career high in points and Nate Johnson scored in double figures for the fifth time in his last seven games as No. 22 Xavier defeated visiting Marquette 80-71 on Saturday afternoon in Cincinnati in the Big East Conference opener for both teams.
Odom led Xavier (11-1, 1-0 Big East) with 19 points on 8-of-9 (88.9 percent) shooting to lead the Musketeers to their seventh straight win. Johnson finished with 17, and Jack Nunge added 13 to go along with 12 rebounds to record his third double-double of the season.
Xavier has now won all nine of its home games this season.
Following a 22-point performance against No. 4 UCLA, Greg Elliott paced the Golden Eagles (8-4, 0-1) with 18 points on 6-of-10 (60.0 percent) shooting. Justin Lewis chipped in 15 and seven rebounds, and Darryl Morsell posted 14 points.
After trailing by eight, a 7-0 Marquette run that started with 4:25 left to play put the Golden Eagles down by just one. Elliott missed a potential go-ahead 3-pointer, and the Musketeers responded with a 10-2 run to close the game.
The rebounding battle also proved to be crucial, as Xavier hauled in 45 rebounds, 13 of which were on the offensive glass.
The Musketeers outscored Marquette 21-10 over the final 10 1/2 minutes of the first half to go into the break with a 38-36 advantage. The Xavier bench provided a much-needed spark, led by Odom, who scored 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting to match his previous season-high in just 11 minutes on the floor.
Lewis had nine points for the Golden Eagles before halftime and Morsell added eight, but 10 Marquette fouls sent Xavier to the charity stripe 13 times with MU heading there just twice. Fouls plagued Shaka Smart’s group all afternoon, as the Golden Eagles committed 25 on the game.
Marquette found its offense early, jumping out to a nine-point lead midway through the first half. The Golden Eagles made four of their first seven 3-point attempts, and also put together an 11-3 run to capture the edge.
–Field Level Media
