NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — J.P Macura scored a season-high 27 points and No. 11 Xavier handed No. 19 Seton Hall its first loss at home by rallying from a 10-point second-half deficit to beat the Pirates 73-64 on Saturday.
Trevon Bluiett added 15 and the Musketeers (18-3, 6-2 Big East) held Seton Hall to seven points in the final 6:42 in winning their third straight after two straight losses.
Desi Rodridguez, who picked up three fouls in the first half, had 13 of his 19 points in the second half for the Pirates (15-5, 4-3), who lost for the first time in 12 home games. Khadeen Carrington added 14 points and Angel Delgado had eight points and 18 rebounds.
Seton Hall, which has been slow starting games lately, used an early nine-point run to take a 13-5 lead and never trailed the rest the half, opening a 35-30 lead. It boosted the margin to 42-32 early in the second half when Myles Powell capped a six-point run with a dunk.
The Pirates' lead was still 49-41 with 14 minutes to play when Xavier started to close the gap. A basket by Macura ignited 9-2 spurt that got the Musketeers within 51-49. A 3-pointer by Macura later gave Xavier its first lead since the early minutes at 52-51. There were three leads changes over the next five minutes before Kaiser Gates gave the Musketeers the lead for good at 61-59 with a 3-pointer with 4:21 to play.
Macura, whose career high was 29, had four free throws and a one-handed dunk on a rebound down the stretch to ice the game.
UP NEXT
Xavier: Hosts Marquette on Wednesday
Seton Hall: At DePaul on Jan. 28.
