Xavier blows lead in 89-87 loss to Marquette, possibly bursting Musketeers’ bubble

Kam Jones scored 28 points and No. 25 Marquette rallied past Xavier 89-87 on Thursday in the Big East Tournament quarterfinals.

After trailing by 14 early in the second half, the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (23-9) took the lead for good at 81-80 on Jones’ layup with 1:16 remaining.

David Joplin connected on a pivotal 3-pointer with 26 seconds left, and Marquette held on to earn a semifinal matchup with sixth-ranked and top-seeded St. John’s on Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

Ryan Conwell scored a career-high 38 points for Xavier (21-11), a school record for a Big East Tournament game. The fourth-seeded Musketeers, perched precariously on the bubble for an NCAA Tournament bid, had won seven straight.

As for potential tournament implications, FOX Sports bracket forecaster Mike DeCourcy had Xavier as one of his last four teams in the NCAA Tournament in his latest projection on Thursday. As for the Big East as a whole, DeCourcy has four teams getting into the tournament before Xavier: St. John’s (two seed), UConn (eight seed), Marquette (eight seed) and Creighton (nine seed).

This loss, however, could hurt the Musketeers’s chances of making the Big Dance.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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