Xavier tops Marquette for 11th win in row
Boum’s foul shots sew up the victory
Souley Boum and Jack Nunge each scored 16 points and No. 12 Xavier won its 11th consecutive game with a 80-76 victory against No. 25 Marquette on Sunday.
The final few seconds were close, with Olivier-Maxence Prosper making a jumper to cut Xavier’s lead to 78-76 with 8 seconds left. Boum then hit two free throws to seal the victory as the Musketeers went 6 for 6 from the line in the final 28 seconds.
“He’s so accurate as a shooter,” Xavier coach Sean Miller, a Blackhawk grad and former Pitt basketball player, said. “He’s got a repertoire that so few guards have. He’s so confident from the line. It’s not like he’s at the line early in the game.
“We’re talking about, make the free throws to win it.”
Six players scored in double figures for Xavier (15-3, 70 Big East), which is off to its best start ever in Big East play. The Musketeers’ winning streak is their longest since starting the 2015-16 season 12-0. Nunge had 11 rebounds for his fifth doubledouble this season and second in a row. Top 25 men St. John’s 85, Connecticut 74: Joel Soriano scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Red Storm surprised the sixth- ranked Huskies (15-4, 4-4 Big East).
St. John’s (13-6, 3-5) took the lead 31 seconds into the second half and never lost it. Top 25 women South Carolina 81, Missouri 50: The No. 1 Gamecocks ran their record to 180, 6-0 in the SEC, by rolling past Missouri (14-5, 3-3) Aliyah Boston had a doubledouble, 20 points and 10 rebounds, for South Carolina. USC 55, Stanford 46:
Destiny Littleton’s 18 points and 4 assists helped the Trojans (13-4, 3-3) upset the second-ranked Cardinal (17-2, 5-1).
No. 4 Connecticut 65, Georgetown 50: Aaliyah Edwards’ 17 points and 11
rebounds led the fourthranked Huskies (15-2, 8-0 Big East). The Hoyas fell to 8-9, 1-7.
LSU 84, Auburn 54: The fifth-ranked Tigers (18-0, 6-0 SEC) got 23 points and 15 rebounds from sophomore forward Angel Reese. Auburn fell to 10-7, 0-5.
Indiana 93, Wisconsin 56: The sixth- ranked Hoosiers (16-1, 6-1 Big Ten) trounced the Badgers (6-12, 2-5) behind Mackenzie Holmes’ 29 points and 8 rebounds. Notre Dame 72, Syracuse 56: Olivia Mills scored 23 points to lead the seventhranked Irish (14-2, 5-1 ACC) to a big road win. The Orange
(13-5, 4-3) were outscored 22-11 in the fourth quarter.
UCLA 87, California 70: Freshman guard Kiki Rice had 8 rebounds and 12 assists to lift the eighth-ranked Bruins (15-3, 4-2 Pac-12) to an easy win against visiting Cal.
Maryland 81, Rutgers 50: Brinae Alexander’s 20 points led the ninth-ranked Terrapins (14-4, 5-2 Big Ten) against the Scarlet Knights.
Utah 80, Arizona 79: Alissa Pili’s two free throws with one second to play lifted the 10thranked Utes (15-1, 5-1 Pac12) past the No. 14 Wildcats (14-4, 4-3).
North Carolina 56, N.C. State 47: The No. 22 Tar
Heels (12-5, 3-3 ACC) upended the visiting No. 11 Wolf Pack 13-5, 3-4) behind Kenney Todd- Williams’ 15 points and Alyssa Utsby’s 18 rebounds.
District women
Clemson 72, Pitt 57: The Tigers outscored the Panthers 48-23 in the second half to win going away. Amari Robinson had 18 points and Hannah Hank pulled down 12 rebounds for Clemson (12-7, 34 ACC). Maliyah Johnson scored 15 to lead Pitt (7-10, 0-6).
West Virginia 74, Baylor 65: The Mountaineers controlled the last eight minutes of the game to upset the 18th-ranked Bears (12-5, 3-2 Big 12). JJ Quinerly scored 17 points to lead West Virginia (12-4, 3-2).