PROVIDENCE, R.I. — — With 10 seconds left and the final Providence rally turned again, Xavier star Souley Boum made one among his few errors of the evening.
Dribbling out the clock alongside the sideline, Boum slapped fingers with coach Sean Miller.
That’s a no-no.
“I was just showing passion for the game,” Boum stated after scoring a season-high 33 factors to steer No. 19 Xavier to a 94-89 victory over No. 20 Providence on Wednesday evening. “It was a great victory for us. (The referee) called a turnover, and now I know I won’t do that no more.”
Boum missed his profession excessive by one level, and Colby Jones topped his by scoring 29 to assist the Musketeers (22-8, 14-5 Big East) break a second-place tie with Providence (21-9, 13-6) and clinch the No. 2 seed within the convention match.
Ed Croswell had 17 factors with 13 rebounds, and Bryce Hopkins additionally scored 17 for the Friars, who lower a 22-point first-half deficit to 2 within the second half. Down six within the remaining minute, Hopkins had his putback blocked by Jack Nunge, and Boum hit a pair of free throws to ice it.
Xavier led by 9 when Boum made his sideline gaffe — simply the eighth turnover of the evening for the Musketeers.
“I feel like I’ve seen everything, but that’s on me,” Miller stated. “I reached out and slapped his hand, right? So one of our eight turnovers was that right there? And that’s on the coach.”
Jones was 10 for 11 from the sphere, together with 8 of 8 within the second half, and Boum went 11 for 19. The two mixed for 62 factors, eight assists and 16 rebounds and went 13 of 14 on the free throw line.
Miller rattled off the stats and stated this wasn’t a kind of nights once you credit score the entire crew.
“Sometimes you have to acknowledge that you won because of a player or two players. We won tonight because Souley Boum and Colby Jones were outstanding,” he stated. “Souley Boum was as good as any guard in the country tonight. Colby was right there with him. In large part that’s why we won.”
The loss snapped a 17-game residence successful streak for Providence. It was simply the Friars’ second defeat at residence in two seasons and probably the most factors they’ve scored in a regulation loss throughout Ed Cooley’s dozen years as coach.
“When you lose, it stings,” Cooley stated. “When you lose at home, I feel like somebody broke in. I feel like somebody came in, and took our toys from under the Christmas tree. I feel like somebody took our food. I feel like somebody broke our windows.
“I feel super down, when you’ve got this level of support in our community, and somebody comes in here and kicks our (tail), because we don’t guard. That’s what I’m down about. We’ve lost games. But when you lose at the crib, that’s rough, man.”
BIG PICTURE
With one recreation remaining, Xavier has a one-game lead over Providence and controls the tiebreaker, having swept their two regular-season matchups. No. 6 Marquette has already clinched the highest seed within the convention match, which begins Wednesday at Madison Square Garden in New York.
SLOW START
Providence made simply two of its first 17 pictures and trailed 29-13 with eight minutes left within the first half when Cooley picked up a technical foul after stomping out to the center of the court docket to complain a couple of foul.
The Musketeers led 40-18 with six minutes left within the first, however then didn’t make a basket for the final 4:37 of the half. Providence closed with an 18-5 run to make it a nine-point margin on the break, then lower it to 55-53 with quarter-hour to play.
The Friars received inside 66-62 within the second earlier than Boum hit a 3-pointer and adopted it with a pair of free throws. After PC’s Jared Bynum made a jumper, Jones drove for 3 straight layups to present the Musketeers a 13-point lead.
UP NEXT
Xavier: Hosts Butler on Saturday to finish the common season.
Providence: Finishes the common season Saturday in opposition to Seton Hall.
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AP school basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP–Top25
