Jan. 12, 2005
Box Score
Bryant McAllister's 27 points were not enough as Xavier outscored injury-depleted Duquesne 32-13 over the final 15 minutes to pull away for a 73-52 win at Cincinnati. Stanley Burrell scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half to lead Xavier. Brian Thornton added 18 for the Musketeers who shot 55.2 percent in the second half and 50.9 percent for the game.
Duquesne led for all but 3:53 in a first half that saw two ties and five lead changes. McAllister and Tyler Bluemling combined for 17 of DU's first 25 points as the Dukes jumped out to a 25-16 lead. Xavier answered to close the half with a 15-5 run to take a 31-30 lead.
The game remained close with four lead changes in first five minutes of the second half before Xavier caught fire. The Musketeers, who made good on their first six 3-point attempts of the second half, hit 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions in a span of 61 seconds to turn a two-point lead into an 11-point bulge with 14:10 left. Burrell started and ended the barrage with a pair of three's sandwiched around a 3-pointer by Dedrick Finn.
Keith Gayden briefly cut the lead to nine before Thornton and Burrell scored on back -to-back possessions to up the lead to 13. Duquesne, which scored just two points over the final 8:28, would get no closer than 12 the rest of the way. Duquesne, which was playing without starting forward Chauncey Duke (stomach virus) and sixth-man Jack Higgins (pneumonia), saw a hobbled Kieron Achara go scoreless in 17 minutes of action. Achara, who entered the game averaging 13.3 points per game, suffered a bruised thigh earlier in the day during shootaround and played just five minutes in the second half.
Bluemling was the only other Duke in double figures with 10 points. DU's other three starters, Achara, DeVario Hudson and Martin Osimani, combined for just six points. Duquesne shot 30.4 percent in the second half and 38.8 percent for the game. Xavier, led by Thornton's 11 boards, outrebounded the Dukes 35-22 and outscored DU 30-18 in the paint.
NOTES: McAllister added six rebounds, four assists and three steals to go along with his game-high 27 points ... his five 3-pointers on seven attempts were a career high ... his previous career-best for 3-pointers in a game was three set at home vs. Xavier last year ... Duquesne was outrebounded 20-8 in the second half ... Xavier missed seven of its first eight 3-point attempts before rallying to hit nine of its last 16 ... Duquesne's 52 points and 22 rebounds were both season lows.
Duquesne head coach Danny Nee: "I thought the door was open for us, there was an opportunity. When you shoot 30 percent in the second half, you're not going to beat anybody. McAllister didn't get any help offensively. We didn't have an inside presence without Kieron Achara. We couldn't get anything done inside. Bryant played hard, but he couldn't do it all himself. Kieron got hit on the leg during shootaround. It was a bruise that tightened up on him as the game went on.
"We were shorthanded tonight. We had to play some combinations I didn't want to play. We have got to get healthy.
"You have to give Xavier credit. When they got down they stayed calm and stayed with their game plan."
