Xavier pulls away in second half against slumping Butler

Tre Carroll poured in 29 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Xavier used a 13-0 second-half run to pull away and beat visiting Butler 89-75 in a Big East contest Wednesday night in Cincinnati.

Malik Messina-Moore continued his hot shooting with 15 points and nine assists and five rebounds, while Filip Borovicanin enjoyed a strong all-around game with 14 points, seven rebounds and nine assists.

Jovan Milicevic had 14 points and Roddie Anderson chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds as Xavier (11-7, 3-4) dominated Butler in the paint, outscoring the Bulldogs 50-34.

Michael Ajayi posted 22 points and 12 rebounds to lead Butler (10-7, 1-5), which dropped its fourth straight. Yohan Traore added 14 points and Finley Bizjack finished with 12 for the Bulldogs.

Xavier came out on fire, led by Carroll (11 points) along with Messina-Moore and Milicevic, who had nine points apiece in the first half.

The Musketeers built a 23-11 lead midway through the first half, thanks to hot shooting from the field. Xavier pushed its lead to 27-14 before Butler answered with a big run.

Trailing 33-22, Michael Ajayi connected on a three with 6:35 left in the first half, sparking an 8-0 Butler run and drawing the Bulldogs within three at 33-30.

Xavier answered with the next 10 points, highlighted by a Messina-Moore trey and a dunk as the Musketeers led 43-30. Butler found some momentum on a late Bizjack layup to cut its deficit to 44-36 at the half.

Butler drew within 47-41 in the opening three minutes of the second half before All Wright's baseline three pushed the lead back to nine. The Bulldogs got as close as five at 50-45 on Yami Butler's jumper four minutes into the half.

Again, Xavier answered, this time with a 14-4 spurt to build the lead back to 15. Butler drew to within 10 with 12 minutes remaining but Borovicanin, Milicevic and Messina-Moore each drained 3-pointers as part of a 13-0 run that gave Xavier its biggest lead at 77-54.

--Field Level Media