Jan. 11, 2012

Box Score

CINCINNATI - Dez Wells led four players in double figures with 16 points as Xavier extended its home conference win streak to 41 with a 78-50 win over Duquesne at Cintas Center. Wells went 7-of-7 from the field in throwing down six of the Musketeers 10 dunks as Xavier held the Dukes to their lowest point total since an 86-50 loss at Cintas Center on Jan. 28, 2010. Tu Holloway had a game-high 11 assists for XU which shot 57.1 percent.

Sean Johnson was the lone Duquesne player in double figures with 12 points as the Dukes shot 35.2 percent, including 2-of-16 from the 3-point arc.

Xavier held the Dukes to six field goals on 26.1 percent shooting in jumping out to a 44-16 halftime lead. DU's 16 points were its fewest in a half since 12 in the opening 20 minutes of an 89-41 loss at Saint Joseph's on Jan. 3, 2007.

Holloway scored all 11 of his points and Jeff Robinson had 10 of his 12 in the first half that ended with a Holloway 3-pointer at the horn.

Duquesne never got closer than 21 in the second half.

"Their guards got their team great shots on almost every possession," said Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart. "We just let them do what they wanted to do. Everything they did was off dribble penetration."

Xavier led 27-14 before Wells started a 17-2 half-ending run on a dunk off a pass from Holloway. Brad Redford hit a 3-pointer, Robinson put back a Lyons miss then dunked off a pass from Lyons. Wells dunked again and followed with his lone 3-pointer before Holloway gave the Musketeers their largest lead of the half with his last-second 3-pointer.

"That stretch at the end of the first half was the difference in the game," said Everhart. "It was way to big of a mountain to climb."

Duquesne, which was outrebounded 40-29, went 0-of-8 from the 3-point arc in the first half. XU outscored DU 54-28 in the paint.

Duquesne heads to Kingston, R.I. to face Rhode Island (3-13, 0-1) on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 2:00 p.m. The game will be televised in the Rhode Island viewing area by Cox Sports.

NOTES

• The win was Xavier's fifth in a row over Duquesne in Cincinnati, DU's lone Cintas Center win was on Feb. 28, 2006 (74-68).

• DU's 50 points were its fewest since its last trip to Xavier, an 86-50 loss on Jan. 28, 2010..

• T.J. McConnell, who entered the game ranked second in the nation in steals per game, reached his average with a game-high three thefts ... McConnell handed out a team-high 4 assists.

• Andre Marhold had 7 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocks in 22 foul-plagued minutes.

• This was Duquesne's third game without second-leading scorer and leading rebounder B.J. Monteiro (15.2, 5.7) ... Monteiro, who became DU's 35th 1,000-point scorer in the Dec. 31 win over Houston Baptist, played in 77 consecutive games prior to being injured in an off-the-court incident on New Year's Eve ... his status for Saturday's game at Rhode Island is to be determined.