QUEENS, N.Y. ‒ A few steps outside the Xavier men's basketball locker room Wednesday night in Carnesecca Arena, head coach Sean Miller was surrounded by a handful of reporters, answering questions, when point guard Souley Boum walked up, put an arm around Miller's shoulder, and said, "Good job tonight, coach."
It was a candid moment following a hard-fought battle on the road, one in which Xavier survived a late push from St. John's for an 84-79 win, the Musketeers' seventh win in a row.
Xavier, No. 22 in the newest Associated Press top 25 poll, was in cruise control for much of the game, dominating the Red Storm at both ends while building an 18-point second half that dwindled in the closing minutes after an impressive surge from the home team.
The Musketeers led by double digits until about the seven-minute mark when St. John's cut the lead to 69-63 with an 11-0 run.
Every time the Red Storm made it uncomfortable, Xavier found a way to stabilize the situation.
Boum went 6-for-6 at the free-throw line in the final five minutes. Zach Freemantle drilled a big 3-pointer to put Xavier up 80-70, and in a key moment when St. John's cut the lead to 80-74 with 2:28 left, Colby Jones hit a rolling Jack Nunge on a perfectly executed pick-and-roll for an easy dunk.
For as uncomfortable as it might have looked or felt, Xavier found the right answers at the right time.
"We held on for dear life," Miller said. "St. John's deserves a lot of credit. Unless you're in the game, you can't simulate the pace and the pressure that they put on you for 40 minutes."
That pace and that pressure started to wear on Xavier, Miller said, and then you miss a few shots or turn the ball over, and St. John's makes a few shots, and the game turns in a hurry.
"We're not 16 points better than St. John's on the road. I thought they made a great comeback," said Miller. "At the end of the day in conference play to be able to go on the road and win, that's really the name of the game for everybody."
Nunge led the Musketeers with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Boum had 17 points, six rebounds and six assists. Boum played all 40 minutes and only had one turnover, and he was a perfect 8-for-8 at the foul line.
Zach Freemantle had 14 points and nine rebounds, and once again, Jerome Hunter was impactful off the bench with eight points and 10 rebounds.
It was Xavier's best rebounding game of the season with a 48-36 edge on the glass, amplified by 16 offensive rebounds for 16 second-chance points.
The Enquirer will update this story.
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