STORRS, Conn. ‒ The narrative that Xavier needed to prove it could win a big game on the road should be put to rest after the No. 13 Musketeers held on Wednesday for an 82-79 win at No. 19 UConn.
The Musketeers never trailed at Gampel Pavilion.
The wire-to-wire win, "I look at as our best overall win of the year," said Xavier coach Sean Miller.
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"We played with the lead from start to finish. I thought that was key because there's no telling what would have happened if they would have taken the lead. The roof would have blown off."
After a dominant first half in which Xavier led 39-24 at the break, the Musketeers had to weather a full-on attack in the second half to survive.
On three separate occasions in the second half, UConn put together runs that cut Xavier's lead to one point. The Huskies got within 57-56 with 10:59 left, and after a 10-0 Xavier run, the Huskies charged back to make it 73-72 with 4:52 left, then cut it to 78-77 with 2:40 left.
With the crowd and the momentum completely against the Musketeers, they answered.
"I think when they were really close and we answered with a basket or a free throw I think it continued to help us keep fighting," said Miller. "I credit UConn, they came with a press and zones and mixing their defense, and they made the game in the second half very different."
Jerome Hunter sparked Xavier's 10-0 run that made it 67-56. It was a run that included a Desmond Claude layup, a Jack Nunge jumper and a Colby Jones 3-pointer.
When it was 73-72, Jones converted an old-fashioned 3-point play and Nunge followed it with another jumper.
When it was 78-77, Nunge made a layup off a great pass from Adam Kunkel.
Souley Boum, who led Xavier with 21 points and went 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, hit two big free throws with 1.8 seconds left, and UConn's final 3-point attempt missed the mark.
"When you look at us, it might not have felt this way, but we still were 15-of-26 from the field in the second half. Even though the pressure went up and it was a different defense, we were still able to score 43 points and hold them off," said Miller.
Jones finished with 20 points and added three 3-pointers. Nunge added 12.
In a game where Zach Freemantle fouled out with 5:56 left, Hunter put together a massive performance with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting off the bench.
Claude, a freshman from New Haven, Connecticut, put together one of his best performances of the season. Claude played 20 minutes, was in the game late in some crucial moments, and made winning plays. Claude finished with six points, three assists, three rebounds and no turnovers.
Miller said Hunter and Claude were two of Xavier's best players and that they wouldn't have won the game without them.
"Desmond Claude and Jerome Hunter for us, two players that don't start, have continued to really develop and in tonight's game, they were two of our best players. I don't know if we would have won tonight if they didn't play the role in the game that both of them played," said Miller.
There was some confusion when Freemantle fouled out of the game. Referees initially huddled and then eventually brought Miller and UConn coach Dan Hurley together to discuss it.
"I always go by the book. Sometimes you think the foul's on one player when it's on another. To me, the book is the holy grail. What does the official scorekeeper say?" said Miller. "And the official scorekeeper told us and I believe the officials that Zach had three fouls. The only reason I would have put him in at the time that I did in the second half is because he had three. If Zach would have had four fouls I wouldn't have put him in in the second half, I would have waited a lot longer because he would have only had one left."
Miller said whether they got it right or wrong, it was hard because he was told that he had three, then committed a foul and it went from three to five. Part of the confusion likely stemmed from a dead ball double technical foul that was assessed to Freemantle and UConn's Donovan Clingan.
"We got through it, I understand it. At the end of the day, if Zach committed five fouls, I would rather play the game with that being the case anyway. It's just I'm not going to put him in when I did if he has four, right? I put him in because I thought he had two more (fouls to give)," said Miller.
Regardless of the situation, Xavier was able to overcome the final six minutes without one of its starters, and in the process, the Musketeers improved to 17-4 overall and 9-1 in the Big East Conference, surpassing last season's Big East win total of eight games.
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