Xavier wins fourth straight Crosstown Shootout holding off late Cincinnati rush

In front of a capacity crowd of 12,012 at Fifth Third Arena, the 90th meeting between the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University went exactly as the oddsmakers predicted. Prognostications were for a close game between two and four points. While the 2022 Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout was briefly a 17-point blowout, predictions were reasonably accurate as Xavier held off the Bearcats 80-77 after a frantic UC finish.

"If it's lost luster, it's news to me," Xavier coach Sean Miller said. "It felt like the same old hard, difficult game."

UC's David DeJulius had tied the game on a banked-in 3-pointer and added a free throw with 11 seconds left. Xavier's Souley Boum was then fouled and made a late free throw with 1.4 seconds remaining with UC rebounding the second. However, Wes Miller called a timeout the Bearcats didn't have. As it turned out, it was on purpose.

"I think you have a better chance to throw it the length catch it and shoot it," UC's Miller said of his thought process of going down three. "In hindsight, the way it (Boum's missed free throw) came off, it looked like we would have had a chance to get a shot at the rim, but you had to make that decision sooner."

That sent Boum to the line for the technical free throws, both made. The ensuing inbound pass was deflected and the Musketeers improved their record to 7-3, dropping UC to 6-4.

"My fan base deserved that win," DeJulius said. "It hurts for sure."

Xavier once again had a victorious 2.3-mile bus ride back to Victory Parkway with their fourth consecutive win in the series. Many of the Musketeers have never lost to the Bearcats and Boum and Jack Nunge will leave undefeated.

"Each team changes year-to-year, I'm just proud of our team that we were able to come out on top," Nunge said.

Boum led the Musketeers with 19 points followed by the 6-foot-11 Nunge with 18. Junior Colby Jones had 14 and senior Zach Freemantle finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

"We didn't come out ready to play in the second half and they punched us in the mouth a little bit," Jones said. "They got the home crowd into it. I thought they wanted it more coming out in the second half."

Said Boum, "That's what road games are like. Road games are not easy no matter who you're playing. We came out really strong, really hot, but we knew they were going to make a run. It felt good to finish the game. We just had to stay poised, stay together and finish the game. I look forward to road games more than home games. It feels good leaving an opposing team's arena and coming out with a victory."

DeJulius topped the Bearcats with 22 points, 17 in the second half. Victor Lakhin added 16 points and eight rebounds before fouling out. UC actually wound up outshooting Xavier 45.8% to 45.2%. Xavier won on the boards 36-32.

"I want to win for this team so I'm going to go out swinging," DeJulius said. "It was kind of one of those games."

UC has not won the game since 2018 when then-coach Mick Cronin's Bearcats were ranked No. 22 in the nation. Xavier has now won 12 of the last 16 meetings. They outscored the Musketeers 53-39 in the second half and shot 62.5% in the last 20 minutes. Coach Wes Miller asked them to play harder, as did Bearcat legend Kenyon Martin, who found his way into the halftime locker room.

"He, excuse my language, got on our ass," DeJulius said of retired No. 4. "That's what we needed. He said, 'You've got play together. It ain't about division, it's about the team!' We all had to look in the mirror when we had a guy like that come in and demand from us."

Ody Oguana added, "He brought us all up. Everyone was locked in to go out there and play our hearts out. It was surreal for me, it was my first time seeing him. It definitely got us riled up."

UC's start was certainly not what they hoped for as Xavier lead 13-1 in the early going canning most of their shots. A DeJulius triple and Oguama putback cut the lead to seven, but the Musketeers quickly had it back to double digits.

Thanks to a sizeable advantage in the shooting department, Xavier's first-half lead reached 16. A pair of fouls on 6-foot-11 Lakhin impeded any inside momentum. Boum had 13 points at the break with Xavier shooting 46.9% and making 6-of-13 from the arc. After a Freemantle basket in the final minute of the half, Xavier's lead had reached 17 and the Bearcats hadn't scored in over three minutes. Seniors DeJulius and Jeremiah Davenport were a combined 2-of-13 from the field and starter Landers Nolley was scoreless. . Davenport was wearing a clear mask as a result of a nose injury in their previous game with Bryant.

By the first timeout of the second stanza, Lakhin had a lefty lay-in followed by a steal and score by DeJulius to cut Xavier's lead to nine at 49-40. Lakhin went immediately to the student section raising his hands in the air. UC would cut the deficit to seven but by the next timeout, a Boum 3-pointer had it back to 13.

"They scored 16 in the first four minutes of the second half," Xavier's Miller said. "They had 24 in the first half. We gave them hope. We gave them confidence and from that point on we were in one heck of a game."

With 7:13 left in the game, Nolley drove the lane and slammed, cutting the game-long Xavier lead to seven. The and-one free throw after the timeout made it 63-57 Xavier. Nearly two minutes later an Oguama slam in the lane brought UC within five as the crowd rose to their feet. A second slam by Oguama cut it to three but Nunge answered with a triple after Oguama missed a free throw. In the blink of an eye, Xavier was back up double-digits when Colby Jones drove the lane with 3:42 left.

When it appeared Xavier would win by an impressive margin, UC ended the game with a torrid comeback making seven of their last nine field goals.

"I believe in our kids and I'm proud of their fight, but that is to be expected," UC's Miller said. "I am pleased that we fought back in it. It's something that should be a part of putting that jersey on. We're still figuring that out. I can't tell you how bad I want us to get to where we're supposed to be as a Cincinnati basketball program. I promise we'll frickin' get there. We'll get there or I'll damn be in the grave."

In the end, it was close but no cigar. Those would be smoked later at Xavier hangout Dana Gardens.

K-MART SHOPPING: Naismith Award winner and UC Hall of Famer Kenyon Martin was among the former Bearcats taking in Saturday's game. Ruben Patterson, Leonard Stokes, Steve Logan, Melvin Levett, Curtis Bostic and Lloyd Batts were among others nearby. Of the past Shootouts, Martin said "I remember the practices leading up to them. I also remember getting beat when we were No. 1. That hurt!"

Martin later appeared on the court during a timeout holding his heart with one hand and waving with the other as the arena erupted.

SATTERFIELD SIGHTING: New UC football coach Scott Satterfield took the microphone at center court early in the first half. The crowd cheered when he mentioned retaining interim coach Kerry Coombs as well as his parting remark, "Beat Xavier!"

SHOOTOUT SCORECARD: Sean Miller came in 3-2 vs. UC between 2004-2009 before spending a dozen years in the desert with Arizona's Wildcats. Sean Miller is now 4-2. Wes Miller didn't win in his first year, but neither did Bob Huggins, Andy Kennedy or John Brannen. On the Xavier side, Skip Prosser, Thad Matta, Sean Miller and Travis Steele all fell short in their initial attempts in gyms packed as tight as noodles in a three-way. Wes Miller is now 0-2.

PACKED AND STACKED: Saturday's sellout was UC's first since last Feb. 15 against Memphis when they wore their throwback jerseys vs. Penny Hardaway's Tigers. It was the first full house Shootout at UC since 2018 as Xavier hosted in 2019, 2020 was the stripped-down pandemic version and last season was on the Muskies' home court.

UP NEXT: The Bearcats welcome a former Xavier coach in on Wednesday as Travis Steele's Miami RedHawks come to Fifth Third Arena. Xavier returns to the Cintas Center Tuesday night with Southern.

"I think you have two programs trying to do the same thing," Xavier's Miller said. "The fans have a lot to be proud of and a lot of hope as we move forward."

CINCINNATI 24 53 77

XAVIER 41 39 80

XU - Nunge 8 0 18 Freemantle 5 3 14 Boum 6 7 21 Jones 5 4 15 Kunkel 2 0 6 Claude 1 2 4 Hunter 1 0 2

UC -Lakhin 7 1 16 Nolley 3 3 9 Adams-Woods 2 4 9 DeJulius 7 5 22 Davenport 2 0 6 Oguama 4 1 9 Hensley 1 2 4 Reed 1 0 2

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Xavier basketball never trails in Crosstown Shootout win over UC