Naji Marshall scored a career-high 31 points in a win at St. John's.
MBB Minute -- Xavier Win Streak Stretches to Five with Victory at St. John's
Naji Marshall registered his second career scoring high in eight days with 31 points to lead Xavier to an 84-73 win against St. John’s at Carnesecca Arena. The victory extended the Musketeers winning streak to five games. Xavier is 16-13 overall and 8-8 in the BIG EAST. The Musketeers are tied with St. John’s for third place and would be the No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament if the season ended today. Marshall's previous scoring high was 28 points in a win at Seton Hall on Feb. 20.
Xavier used a 17-4 run in the second half to take a 75-59 lead, then held off a rally by the Johnnies. Marshall also had six rebounds and three steals. Tyrique Jones posted his league-leading ninth double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. L.J. Figueroa led St. John’s (20-9) with 23 points. Mustapha Heron sat out the game with a knee injury.
Saturday’s schedule has two games – Butler at Villanova at 2 p.m. ET on FOX and Seton Hall at Georgetown at 6:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
Butler and Villanova will battle at the Wells Fargo Center. The Bulldogs (15-13, 6-9) lost 73-67 in overtime to Providence on Tuesday. The Wildcats (21-8, 12-4) are coming off a 67-61 triumph over first-place Marquette on Wednesday. In the first meeting this season, Villanova defeated Butler 80-72 on Jan. 22 at Hinkle Fieldhouse with Eric Paschall scoring 23 points.
Seton Hall and Georgetown are both 7-8 in the league standings. The Pirates took a 90-75 decision from the Hoyas on Feb. 13. Myles Powell had a game-high 30 points for Seton Hall. In the series, which spans 106 meetings, the Pirates have taken six of the last seven contests. On Wednesday, Georgetown used a 26-point effort from Jessie Govan to defeat DePaul 82-73.
The BIG EAST remains the only D-I conference that does not have a team with a losing overall record.
Home teams are 44-33 (.571) in league games. Thirty-two of the 77 conference contests (.416) have been decided by six points or less or gone into overtime.