Hall rally falls short in home loss to Xavier

Naji Marshall scored a careerhigh 28 points with six rebounds and five assists as Xavier held on late to beat Seton Hall 70-69 on Wednesday night at Prudential Center

The Musketeers (14-13, 6-8 Big East) were up 68-52 in the second half with 6:23 to play but Seton Hall (16-10, 7-7) finished on a 17-2 rally led by eight points from Myles Cale to close to within a point with 52 seconds remaining. Xavier held on after that as Seton Hall’s Shavar Reynolds missed a 3-point attempt with three seconds left.

Cale led the Pirates, who snapped a three-game win streak, with 21 points. Myles Powell added 17 points, eight rebounds and four steals and Sandro Mamukelashvili had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Marshall was 11-of-23 from the field including five 3-pointers for the Musketeers. Tyrique Jones added 18 points and 15 rebounds for his eighth doubledouble of the season. Zach Hankins chipped in 10 points and four rebounds.

Syracuse 69, Louisville 49

Elijah Hughes scored 18 points and Oshae Brissett had 16 to lead four players in double figures as Syracuse (18-8, 6-4 ACC) beat visiting No. 18 Louisville (18-9, 9-5).

The Orange suffered a 73-58 loss at North Carolina State in their previous game a week ago, shooting just 35.percent, a weakness they had displayed in all four of their conference losses. They found their mark from behind the arc against Louisville, hitting 11 3-pointers and holding the Cardinals in check throughout.

Mississippi St. 68, Georgia 67

In Athens, Ga., Quinndary Weatherspoon sank one of three free throws with 0.5 seconds remaining, giving him a career-high 31 points and lifting Mississippi State (19-7, 7-6 SEC) over Georgia (10-16, 1-12).

Weatherspoon, with the game tied at 67-all, was awarded two free throws when fouled by Jordan Harris. He was given an additional free throw when a fan threw a small stuffed animal onto the court and Georgia was called for a technical foul. Weatherspoon intentionally missed his third attempt after making the free throw for the technical foul.

Georgetown 85, Villanova 73

In Washington, Jessie Govan had 21 points and 11 rebounds, Mac McClung scored 21 points and Georgetown (16-10, 6-7 Big East) beat No. 17 Villanova (20-7, 11-3), snapping a nine-game losing streak against the Wildcats and beating a ranked op- ponent for the first time since 2017.

Michigan St. 71, Rutgers 60

In East Lansing, Mich., Cassius Winston scored 28 points and Xavier Tillman had a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds, leading No. 10 Michigan State (22-5, 13-3 Big Ten). Geo Baker scored 17 points and Ron Harper had 11 points for Rutgers (12-14, 5-11).

Marquette 79, Butler 69

In Milwaukee, Markus Howard scored 28 points and Theo John added 15 points and 11 rebounds as No. 11 Marquette (22-4, 11-2 Big East) pulled away in the second half to beat Butler (15-12, 6-8).