Ryan Conwell scored 22 points as Xavier held on for a critical 73-66 Big East win against Seton Hall on Sunday in Newark, N.J.
Dante Maddox Jr. added 12 points and three steals off the bench. Zach Freemantle tallied 11 points and seven rebounds for the Musketeers (18-10, 10-7 Big East), who won their fourth straight game.
Isaiah Coleman scored 24 points, Prince Aligbe added 11 points and both had six rebounds for Seton Hall (7-20, 2-14), which dropped its second straight game.
Seton Hall overcame a 19-point halftime deficit with a full-court press as it outscored Xavier 45-33 in the second half and forced 18 Musketeer turnovers.
Yacine Toumi’s dunk cut Xavier’s lead to single digits at 65-57 for the first time since the 6:52 mark of the first half.
Aligbe was fouled as he hit a layup and the three-point play had the Pirates within 65-60 with 1:33 left. After another Xavier turnover, Aligbe drained two free throws for a 12-1 run and the Pirates were within three with 1:23 to play.
Conwell’s 3-pointer provided Xavier with breathing room and a 68-62 lead with 58 seconds left. Coleman hit two shots from the charity stripe to make it a four-point game.
Dayvion McKnight hit a pair of free throws, the Musketeers’ defense held and Conwell hit two more shots from the line as Xavier took an eight-point lead with 16 seconds left.
The Musketeers broke open a tight game with an 18-2 first-half run as the Pirates had turnovers on six of seven possessions. Dailyn Swain’s steal led to Jerome Hunter’s top-of-the key trey as Xavier took a 14-13 lead at the 11:53 mark of the first half. Xavier turned 14 Seton Hall turnovers into 20 points.
Aligbe finally snapped the Xavier rally with the Pirates’ first bucket in more than six minutes, which made the score 27-17 with 4:51 left in the first half.
Xavier went on another run, a 13-4 outburst punctuated by Conwell’s triple with four seconds left to take a 40-21 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media
