Three Man Weave: Xavier Dominates UC for Third-Straight Crosstown Shootout Victory

The Musketeers captured the 89th Crosstown Shootout.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Updated:
Dec 12, 2021 9:43 AM EST

CINCINNATI — Xavier and the raucous crowd at the Cintas Center ignited a dominant 83-63 Xavier victory in the 89th Crosstown Shootout.

Jack Nunge and company played clinical basketball from start to finish and continued a dominant stretch in the series. They've won eight of the past 11 contests and captured their third win in a row for the fourth time ever. Paul Scruggs (14 points, team-high five assists, five rebounds) became the first Musketeer in history to win four games against Cincinnati.

Here's the Three Man Weave from a rough showing from Cincinnati.

Nunge Annihilates Cincinnati

The Musketeers' seven-footer was fantastic in the biggest game of the regular season. Nunge finished with a career-high 31 points and 15 rebounds. He is the third Xavier player to score 30-plus points against Cincinnati since 2010 (Trevon Blueitt, Naji Marshall) and the first since 2010 to post that point total in a double-double.

His touch showed all around the rim while displaying a great stroke from outside (2-for-4). Zach Freemantle showed flashes of his great 2020 season against Ball State, and Nunge was ready to show he can be a great force on the inside in Xavier's next outing.

The bench spark plug overwhelmed Cincinnati once he showed up early in the first half and beat the Bearcats at their own game. The 7-foot-1, 247-pound center transferred from Iowa after last season and loved his first taste of this rivalry.

Cincinnati had no answer for Nunge who hit multiple shots from outside, had his way in the middle, and went 11-of-15 from the line.

Offense Stays In Clifton

The Bearcats needed to exceed their 307th-ranked average (29.2%) from deep in this game to have a chance. They hit some garbage time threes, but their ability to get to the rack didn't show up in time.

Cincinnati attempted just 17 free throws and had only 12 assists. The depth turned into quicksand; no one but David Dejulius could get any jump shots to fall. Xavier mixed up their coverages while leaning on a 3-2 zone. The Bearcats couldn't solve any of it.

Once the offense proved inadequate, the sloppiness set in early. The Bearcats committed 27 fouls after allowing 17.2 per game coming into Cintas Center. The Bearcats couldn't create easy looks in the half-court, and it toppled their dominoes in quick order.

Xavier has no real weaknesses to exploit. Cincinnati couldn't get away with hard-nosed defense and timely buckets. They needed to match Xavier offensively in the half-court and hit close to 40% of their outside shots.

That didn't happen in the 89th Crosstown Shootout.

Dejulius Creates Shots

The Bearcats senior guard did his best to create offense on Saturday. Dejulius finished with 12 points and two assists as he operated as a one-man offense for much of the game.

Cincinnati had no flow on that end, and their 37.3% shooting percentage hurt them when trying to answer Xavier's free-flowing offense. John Newman III (14 points) and Jeremiah Davenport (11 points) hit shots when the game was well out of hand. No one in the backcourt started the game in rhythm outside of Dejulius.

Davenport and Mika Adams-Woods opened the game 1-of-15. All while the Bearcats got two points from big men Abdul Ado and Hayden Koval on the inside. Viktor Lakhin (eight points, team-high six rebounds) wasn't afraid of the moment. That was an advantage in some moments and a disadvantage when he missed another three-point shot.

Cincinnati will lick these wounds and prepare for a rebound game against Florida A&M (2-5) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

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