Ryan Conwell missed a free throw with 4.6 seconds remaining, Marquette’s Chase Ross secured the rebound and knocked down the game-sealing free throws with 2.8 seconds remaining eliminate Xavier from the Big East Tournament. Ryan Conwell hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give him a career-high 38 points.
Free throws coming | Marquette 85, Xavier 84, 5.9, 2H
Marquette’s Stevie Mitchell will go to the line following a pair of free throws from Ryan Conwell.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Marquette takes final timeout | Marquette 84, Xavier 82, 14.1, 2H
Xavier still has two fouls to give before sending Marquette to the line. Shaka Smart just used his last timeout.
Marquette ball with the lead | Marquette 84, Xavier 82, 15.8, 2H
A Xavier turnover led to a 3-pointer from Marquette’s David Joplin. Marquette has hit 14 triples today. Xavier answered with a Dailyn Swain bucket and Sean Miller took his last timeout.
Xavier-Marquette going down to the wire | Marquette 81, Xavier 80, 1:16, 2H
Ryan Conwell and Kam Jones continue to trade blows. Conwell has a game-high 33 points and Jones leads Marquette with 28. Jones just put the Golden Eagles in front with a lay-in before a Shaka Smart timeout.
Marquette takes lead over Xavier at final media timeout | Marquette 77, Xavier 73, 3:53, 2H
Marquette is 8-for-15 from 3-point range in the second half. David Joplin just connected from the wing to give the Golden Eagles a four-point lead over Xavier going into the final media timeout.
After playing with just three turnovers in the first half, Xavier has committed six thus far in the second half, leading to nine Marquette points.
Xavier retakes lead over Marquette | Xavier 68, Marquette 65, 7:14, 2H
Marquette took its first lead since early in the first half, but Xavier jumped back in front after four straight points from Zach Freemantle.
Freemantle then missed a fast-break dunk, but Xavier’s defense got consecutive stops on the defensive end. It’s Xavier’s ball coming out of the media timeout.
Marquette grabs momentum | Xavier 62, Marquette 60, 11:17, 2H
A pair of Xavier turnovers led to two fast-break buckets for Marquette and the Golden Eagles have trimmed the Musketeers’ lead to two. It’s a 7-0 Marquette run over the last 1:26 and Sean Miller takes a timeout.
Marquette offense on fire | Xavier 62, Marquette 53, 13:04, 2H
Marquette made five consecutive shot attempts, including four 3-pointers, before Xavier finally got a stop with a Freemantle block down low.
Xavier answered, though, with a Dayvion McKnight lay-in and a fast-break bucket by Ryan Conwell.
Ryan Conwell stays hot for Musketeers | Xavier 58, Marquette 48, 15:09, 2H
Marquette has made a three-pointer on three consecutive possessions, but Xavier still has a double-digit lead behind Ryan Conwell.
Conwell has scored 10 of Xavier’s 12 points thus far in the second half and leads all scorers with 21. It is Conwell’s fifth consecutive 20-point performance. He is 8-of-11 from the field and has knocked down four 3-pointers after going just 1-of-14 from deep against Marquette during the regular season.
Musketeers lead at the break | Xavier 46, Marquette 36, HALF
Xavier shot 55.2% from the field in the first half to take a 46-36 lead into the intermission. Ryan Conwell and Zach Freemantle lead the Musketeers with 11 each. Xavier got production off the bench with seven points from Dante Maddox Jr.
Xavier is winning the rebounding battle, 20-15 and has committed just three turnovers against a Marquette defense that ranks No. 12 in turnover percentage.
Kam Jones, a first-team all-Big East selection, leads Marquette with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting.
Xavier takes its largest lead of the afternoon | Xavier 46, Marquette 34, 1:29, 2H
Xavier just took its biggest lead of the game on Ryan Conwell’s second 3-pointer of the afternoon, leading to a Shaka Smart timeout. Xavier is shooting 59.7% from the field. Conwell and Freemantle lead the Musketeers with 11.
Both offenses heating up | Xavier 38, Marquette 31, 2:53, 1H
The lid is off the basket as Marquette and Xavier combined for 30 points in-between media timeouts.
Freemantle has scored 11 points in less than five minutes and Ryan Conwell has 8 for the Musketeers. Freemantle became the fourth player in Xavier history to rank top 10 all-time in scoring and rebounding.
More: Zach Freemantle becomes 4th Xavier Musketeer to be Top 10 all-time in scoring, rebounding
Zach Freemantle gets on the board | Xavier 21, Marquette 18, 7:58, 1H
Xavier leading scorer Zach Freemantle has his first points of the afternoon. Freemantle knocked down a pair at the charity stripe at the 8:28 mark. He’s attempted just one field goal thus far. That stops an 8-0 Marquette run.
Xavier has not made a field goal in 4:01 but did force a shot-clock violation heading into the media timeout.
Marquette run leads to Sean Miller timeout | Xavier 19, Marquette 16, 10:12, 1H
Xavier took its largest lead of the afternoon (19-10) after Jerome Hunter beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Marquette responded with a quick 6-0 spurt over the last 94 seconds to force a Sean Miller timeout.
Xavier gets bench production | Xavier 16, Marquette 10, 13:14, 1H
Guard Dante Maddox Jr. has four points off the bench. He hit a pair of free throws to give Xavier a 16-10 lead before a Marquette timeout.
Xavier on an 8-0 run against Marquette | Xavier 10, Marquette 6, 16:00, 1H
Marquette opened the scoring with 3-pointers from Stevie Mitchell and David Joplin to take a 6-2 lead. Xavier has responded with an 8-0 run, highlighted by triples from Ryan Conwell and Marcus Foster. Xavier leads at the opening media timeout, 10-6.
Xavier, Marquette starters announced
Starters were just announced at Madison Square Garden.
Marquette starters: Kam Jones, Chase Ross, Stevie Mitchell, Ben Gold, David Joplin
Xavier starters: Dayvion McKnight, Ryan Conwell, Marcus Foster, Dailyn Swain, Zach Freemantle
Who is favored between Xavier and Marquette?
According to BetMGM Sportsbook, Marquette is a 2.5-point favorite in Thursday’s quarterfinal matchup against Xavier. The total (over/under) for the game is at 145 points.
No. 1 seed St. John’s swarms Butler to open quarterfinals
Thursday’s quarterfinals opened with top-seeded St. John’s, the Big East’s regular-season champions, blowing out No. 9 Butler, 78-57.
Big East Player of the Year R.J. Luis Jr. led St. John’s with 20 points. Kadary Richmond and Aaron Scott each added 15.
St. John’s turned 15 Butler turnovers into 24 points and outscored the Bulldogs in the paint, 44-18. The Red Storm won the rebounding battle, 44-34, tallied 20 second-chance points and did not allow a fast-break point.
St. John’s will play the winner of Xavier/Marquette in Friday’s semifinals at 6:30 p.m.
NEW YORK CITY − After splitting a pair of two-point thrillers during the regular season with each squad winning on the road, Xavier and Marquette battle for a third time Thursday afternoon in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden.
No. 5 Marquette (No. 25 AP) has gone to the Big East Tournament title game in back-to-back seasons.
More: Preview: 3 keys for Xavier Musketeers to get Big East Tournament win over Marquette
No. 4 Xavier has played its way to the right side of the bubble heading into Manhattan by finishing the regular season on a seven-game winning streak. In a Saturday night update, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi listed Xavier as the penultimate team in the NCAA Tournament.
More: Xavier Musketeers history, field, odds, projections for Big East Tournament
A victory over Marquette could seal the deal for Xavier’s at-large chances. On Wednesday, Xavier picked up an additional Quad 1 victory when UConn moved to No. 30 in the NCAA NET Rankings. UConn dropped to No. 31 Thursday morning, meaning Xavier’s win over the Huskies at Cintas Center returned to a Quad 2.
Xavier, No. 45 in the NET, is currently 1-8 in Quad 1, 8-2 in Quad 2 and a combined 12-0 in Quad 3/4. Lunardi projects Marquette as a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Thursday marks the fourth time Xavier and Marquette have met in the Big East Tournament. The Musketeers won quarterfinal matchups over the Golden Eagles in 2014 (68-65) and 2016 (90-72) under Chris Mack. Marquette beat Xavier in the Big East Tournament final in 2023.
