It was far from pretty.
At the end of the day, though, teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble won’t complain about adding to its win column in a pivotal February conference clash.
Xavier overcame several stagnant stretches and 16 turnovers Tuesday night at Cintas Center but ultimately prevailed to beat Georgetown, 74-69.
It’s a Quadrant 3 victory for Xavier with Georgetown’s NCAA NET Ranking, so it won’t help bolster the NCAA Tournament resume, but a loss would’ve been a major setback to Xavier’s chances of dancing next month.
Xavier (14-9), which entered in a four-way tie for fifth place in the Big East, improved to .500 in conference play (6-6) while Georgetown (14-9, 5-7) has lost seven of its last nine.
Observations from Xavier Musketeers’ win over Georgetown Hoyas
Xavier survives scare behind Marcus Foster, Dailyn Swain
Xavier led by as many as nine (39-30) early in the second half but watched that lead get trimmed to as little as one point as Georgetown’s defense forced momentum-changing turnovers and guard Micah Peavy punished Xavier’s defense.
Peavy scored 17 of his game-high 27 points in the second half as the graduate guard constantly delivered with Georgetown needed a bucket. Xavier got a pair of big 3-pointers from Dante Maddox off the bench in the second half, but the night belonged to Marcus Foster.
The Furman transfer was in double figures for the first time since Dec. 31 (Seton Hall) and turned in his first double-double as a Musketeers with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
After a Georgetown bucket cut Xavier’s lead to 65-61 in the final 90 seconds of regulation, Foster’s 3-pointer from the wing with 1:18 remaining was the de facto dagger.
Sophomore Dailyn Swain continued to surge with 18 points and 6 rebounds. Swain has now scored in double figures in five straight games and in nine of the last 11. He was joined in double figures by Zach Freemantle (17) and Ryan Conwell (11).
Xavier held off a Georgetown rally in the final minutes by going 17-of-19 at the free-throw line.
Did Xavier handle Hoyas’ height?
Georgetown’s offense ranks just 349th in the nation in bench points per game (11.86) but the Hoyas’ starting rotation is one of the tallest in the country and can hurt a smaller team like Xavier near the rim.
Big East Freshman of the Year candidate Thomas Sorber, a 6-foot-10 center, had the hot hand early along with guard Micah Peavy. That duo combined for 21 of Georgetown’s 26 first-half points.
Though its offense was uninspiring early, Xavier was much tougher on the glass than it was in its six-point loss in D.C. last month. The Musketeers won the first-half rebounding battle, 19-13 and permitted just one second-chance attempt to the Hoyas.
Xavier won the rebounding battle overall, 31-24. Half of that was from good effort on the boards by the undersized Musketeers, which allowed just three offensive rebounds. The other half came from the lack of rebounding opportunities with each team shooting over 50% from the field.
Georgetown shot a sizzling 57.1% from the field in the second half (16-of-28). Outside of Peavy’s 27, guard Malik Mack had 13 points and 8 assists while Sorber finished with 17.
Xavier digs deep to end the 1st half
At the under-8 media timeout, Xavier trailed 22-16 and the energy that encapsulated Cintas Center the last time the Musketeers played in front of their home crowd (a win over UConn) was nowhere to be found.
Xavier’s three leading scorers (Conwell, McKnight, Freemantle) had combined for just two points. The duo of Foster and Swain helped carry the majority of the load early on before Xavier’s heavy hitters got going. Swain and Foster combined for 15 points in the first half on 6-of-9 shooting.
Freemantle and Conwell knocked down back-to-back three-pointers as Xavier ripped off eight straight to tie it at 24-24. Xavier held Georgetown scoreless for the final 5:06 and a pair of Conwell buckets gave the Musketeers a 30-26 advantage at the intermission.
Xavier suffers from sluggish start
Maybe it was the six-day break after an off weekend or the latest tip-off (8:30 p.m. Eastern) since November, but Xavier showed little life out of the gates Tuesday night.
Xavier was getting swarmed on the offensive end and the Musketeers’ defense, which has improved dramatically since the first meeting with Georgetown, couldn’t slow down the Hoyas’ two top scorers.
Xavier committed eight first-half turnovers and trailed by as many as eight (24-16) before a late surge.
Xavier hits the road again Sunday
After playing five of its eight January contests on the road, Xavier will leave Cintas Center again this weekend. The Musketeers tip-off a two-game road trip, starting Sunday afternoon against Villanova at Wells-Fargo Center.
After playing Providence Feb. 12, Xavier will fly just once (at Seton Hall Feb. 23) over the final six games
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Big 12 basketball analysis of Xavier Musketeers win over Georgetown
