There was a different Xavier team on the floor Friday night against Virginia Tech at the Barclays Center.
It was different from the team that lost on the same floor two nights earlier, not simply because of the result, or the way they played, but the Musketeers were without three starters -- Colby Jones, Jerome Hunter and Dieonte Miles -- due to illness, and in spite of that managed a miracle win in the final seconds, 59-58.
With 25 seconds left and Xavier trailing 58-56, fifth-year senior Nate Johnson drilled his seventh 3-pointer of the game to give Xavier the lead.
After Virginia Tech and Xavier traded timeouts with 6.9 seconds left, Virginia Tech missed a floater in the lane and the offensive rebound tip-in attempt rolled off the rim at the buzzer.
Johnson finished with a career-high 30 points, going 7-of-11 from beyond the arc and 10-of-14 from the floor.
Xavier only scored 24 points as a team in the second half and Johnson had 15 of them.
Johnson hit from deep to tie the game, 53-53, with 2:56 left. Then Jack Nunge, who finished with nine points and 14 rebounds, hit a 3-pointer with 1:56 to play that tied the game, 56-56.
The Enquirer will update this story.
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