It doesn’t take long to appreciate the athletic ability and pure scoring genius of Xavier guard Jordan Crawford. Saturday afternoon didn’t take long either. Crawford scored 23 points and dished out six assists as Xavier trounced Charlotte 81-67 at Halton Arena in a battle of two of the A-10’s top teams.
Three other players scored in double-figures for the Musketeers (19-7; 10-2 A-10) as they swept the season series with Charlotte, both double-figure wins. The loss sent Charlotte (18-8; 8-4 A-10) reeling into it’s last four games of the season.
Charlotte has lost three straight games for the first time this season and after sitting at the top of the conference just three games ago, the Niners are now looking at missing the NCAA Tournament.
It was also Charlotte’s second straight loss in Halton Arena after losing only once in it’s first 10 games.
“It’s pretty obvious, Xavier played a great game and they’re a terrific team,” 49er Head Coach Bobby Lutz said following the loss. “Offensively, I think they’re the best team in our league because Crawford is very special and he’ll be making a lot of money someday. “
“I thought our effort was good enough to win, but I thought our execution was lacking against a team of this caliber. We’re just not shooting the ball well enough right now.”
That poor shooting Lutz was referring to is 36.5 percent from the field. Saturday marked the third consecutive game in which Charlotte has been held below 37 percent shooting from the field, all losses.
Jamel McLean added 14 points and 11 rebounds and Terrell Holloway scored 13 for the hot-shooting Musketeers, who won for the seventh time in the last eight games to stay near the top of the A-10 standings.
Charlotte endured the first 10 minutes and led 16-14 after a Shamari Spears jumper at the 10:08 mark of the first half. However, Charlotte’s shooting woes were about to begin. The Niners didn’t score a point over the next seven minutes as Xavier used a 14-0 run to build a 31-22 halftime lead.
Xavier’s lead swelled to 12 points at the 15:36 mark on a Crawford layup but Charlotte pulled back to within five, 45-40 at the 12:23 mark on a K.J. Sherrill layup. That’s as close as Charlotte would get though, as Xavier used a 16-6 run to extend it’s lead to 15 points 61-46 with 7:37 remaining.
Even with the large deficit, Derrio Green didn’t quit for the Niners, scoring 10 of his team-high 23 points in the final 1:52 of the game. Spears added 13 more points for Charlotte, who returns to action Wednesday night against St. Joseph’s in Halton Arena.
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