Three big things: Second-half surge lifts No. 17 Xavier over Creighton, stars step up
It may not have been the complete performance Xavier's men's basketball team was looking for on Saturday against Creighton, but the Musketeers found some magic in a lineup that worked and got contributions from up and down the rotation to turn the tide in the second half and beat the Bluejays 80-73.
Despite forcing 13 first-half turnovers from Creighton, the Musketeers played a poor opening 20 minutes and it led to a 34-29 halftime deficit.
Here's a look at three big things that allowed Xavier to turn it around and improve to 13-3 (3-2) with a win over Creighton:
A second-half salvage
It looked as if Xavier had put Wednesday's loss behind it, sprinting to a 7-0 lead in the opening minutes.
What followed was a 13-2 Creighton run that included uncontested layups and dunks, some of the easiest points Creighton's seen all season.
More: Analysis: Missed opportunities plagued Xavier against Villanova
While Xavier's defense looked lost at one end, its offense went nearly six minutes with one field goal. The same issue that popped up against Villanova, popped up again in the first half Saturday – Xavier went 3-for-9 on layups at the rim.
In the second half, Xavier cleaned up what needed cleaning, started defending and rebounding, and got whatever they wanted offensively.
The Musketeers shot 36% from the floor in the first half and 49% in the second half. Xavier out-rebounded Creighton 25-16 in the second half after getting out-rebounded 20-10 in the first half.
Xavier forced 21 turnovers and outscored the Bluejays 51-39 after halftime.
"Not that we were perfect today, but I thought our effort was great," said Xavier head coach Travis Steele.
Stars stepped up
Xavier had six players score in double figures, led by Colby Jones' 16 points and nine rebounds. Jones is the eighth different player to lead Xavier in scoring this season.
Jones was aggressive on offense and he was outstanding on defense.
Jones had 14 of his 16 points in the second half on 5-of-6 shooting.
"I thought he was on balance, I thought he was composed, I thought he played at his own pace, his own speed," Steele said of Jones. "And it resulted in him being very efficient."
Zach Freemantle played arguably his best game of the season. He was engaged and active defensively, and despite missing a few good looks around the rim, he still finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Jack Nunge had 12 points and six rebounds, and he went 6-of-6 from the foul line.
Paul Scruggs went scoreless in the first half and immediately changed that in the second half. Scruggs finished with 13 points, five assists and three steals.
Adam Kunkel provided his usual spark with 12 points off the bench and Jerome Hunter added 10 points.
Zach and Jack: Big lineup thrives
On Wednesday it was a small lineup adjustment that allowed Xavier to go on a run and nearly come back to beat Villanova.
On Saturday it was a big lineup that changed the game and led to a Xavier win.
The Musketeers played Nunge and Freemantle together most of the second half with some combination of Dwon Odom, Scruggs, Jones and Kunkel. Xavier played a little zone defense but mostly switched all ball screens even with the big men out there.
"It's something we can really take advantage of," Nunge said when asked about the big lineup. "Whether it's offensively or defensively, you rebound the ball really well, and then we can look high or low or if one of us has a mismatch, we can look inside and get it to one of us."
The lineup change completely altered the course of the game and Creighton didn't have a response for it.
"I liked our matchups to play big," said Steele. "Every game's a little bit different and when you have great depth like we have, you can play different ways. We can play small, we can play big.
"I thought it was the (big) lineup that gave us the best chance to win."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Three big things from Xavier's win over Creighton
