Seton Hall 71, Xavier 62

[March 04, 2014]  NEWARK, N.J. — Seton Hall 71, Xavier 62: Brian Oliver shot 5-for-10 from 3-point range and scored 20 points as the Pirates surprised the visiting Musketeers.

Fuquan Edwin returned after missing Friday’s loss to Providence with a thumb injury and finished with 17 points for Seton Hall (15-15, 6-11 Big East). Gene Teague also scored 17 for the Pirates while also contributing eight rebounds.

Semaj Christon matched his career high with 28 points for Xavier (20-10, 10-7), scoring 24 in the second half on 7-for-10 shooting. Isaiah Philmore added 11 points and nine rebounds and Justin Martin led the reserves with seven points.

The Musketeers lost third-leading scorer and top rebounder Matt Stainbrook to a left knee injury with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half. Following the loss of Stainbrook, a 6-10 junior center who came in averaging 10.9 points and 7.9 rebounds, Xavier was outscored 16-8 to fall behind 32-20 at the half.

Christon attempted to carry the Musketeers in the second half, scoring Xavier’s first nine points out of the break before his layup cut the deficit to five with just over 17 minutes left. That was as close as Xavier would get until Christon made two free throws to trim the deficit back to five with 5:24 remaining but Seton Hall again slammed the door.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Xavier remains in third place in the Big East, a half game ahead of Marquette and Providence, who play Tuesday, and closes its regular season Thursday by hosting first-place Villanova. … The Musketeers came in ranked No. 1 in the Big East with a plus-5.5 rebounding margin but were outrebounded 35-31. … Christon shot 9-for-18 from the floor while the rest of the Musketeers shot 11-for-36.

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