The effort and the heart were there, but unfortunately for Xavier, the execution and shot-making weren't.
Another incomplete performance cost the Musketeers dearly in a 66-59 loss Saturday night at Marquette, which could move Xavier (13-7, 6-7 Big East) to the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble with only next week's Big East Conference Tournament left to help the Musketeers save their season.
Xavier head coach Travis Steele said it was another slow start offensively that cost them.
"I thought our offense in the first half was our demise," said Steele. "It was sloppy, turnovers, quick shots, contested shots."
Xavier trailed 32-24 at the break and played its way back into the game with a much stronger second half, but down the stretch, when Xavier had chances to close the gap or overtake the Golden Eagles, shots didn't fall and they weren't able to get stops when it mattered most.
Xavier trailed 60-53 with 4:05 left and used a 6-0 run to cut it to 60-59 with 1:06 to play, but Marquette guard DJ Carton converted a huge lay-up and went 4-for-4 at the foul line in the final minute to ice it while Xavier missed its final four shots – all from 3 – with the game on the line.
"In the second half, we had tremendous looks, we did," said Steele. "We were wide open. We'll take any of those looks. Paul (Scruggs) was wide open, Zach (Freemantle) was wide open, AK (Adam Kunkel) was wide open. We had several opportunities, just couldn't get them to fall.
"I told our guys after the game, man, I was really proud of our group and listen, we play to win, we're competitors, we hate to lose here at Xavier, but I will tell you, I thought our effort from start to finish was absolutely there."
Scruggs scored a game-high 18 points with six rebounds and three assists, and he kept Xavier alive throughout the second half. CJ Wilcher, who made his first career start and played a career-high 32 minutes, scored 10 points, and Kunkel added 11 points off the bench, but Xavier was only 4-for-24 from 3-point range and sophomore Zach Freemantle, Xavier's leading scorer, had a rough night offensively with just eight points on 3-of-9 shooting.
Steele started Wilcher, a freshman, over senior Jason Carter, and Wilcher was joined by freshmen Dwon Odom and Colby Jones in the starting lineup. According to Xavier, it was the first time since Jan. 14, 2015, that Xavier's started three freshmen, and they played a combined 84 minutes.
Carter was hobbled in the first half with what looked like a lower-body injury and he picked up four first-half fouls.
Steele said the decision to change his starting lineup was a product of losing Nate Johnson for the season and the need for more spacing and scoring on the floor.
More:Xavier senior guard Nate Johnson will miss the rest of this season with a leg injury
"You lose your best shooter so we're searching for space," said Steele. "Like Paul needs space, Zach needs space, Dwon needs space. So, our team has really changed. Our initial starting lineup that we had for dang near most of the year with Nate in there, we had enough shooting on the floor, then all the sudden you take Nate off the floor and throw Dwon in there, Dwon's strengths are way different than what Nate's are, right? He may bring that defensive toughness that we need, but he's not the shooter or scorer that Nate is, so now the space on the floor's way different. CJ's earned it."
The Musketeers may have shown the heart necessary to win, but it wasn't accompanied by execution, so after the biggest win of the season over Creighton last Saturday, Xavier followed it up with back-to-back road losses to end the regular season in disappointing fashion.
"I told our guys, I will roll with this team every day of the week if we play with that amount of toughness and effort," said Steele. "We will get the results we want in New York City (at the Big East Tournament) and that's our whole thought process right now. Listen, it's all water under the bridge, a whole new season's about to start and our goal is to go to New York City and win the Big East Tournament.
"In order to do that, we gotta win our first-round game against Butler on Wednesday night."
Xavier's the No. 7 seed. Butler's the No. 10 seed. And if the Musketeers want to have any chance of making the NCAA Tournament they have to win on Wednesday night or it's over.
"We're gonna attack Butler," said Steele. "We're going there to win that thing, that's all that's on my mind."
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