(Michael Millay/Rooted Creative)
by Tim Daniel
A Late Night Tip, a slow start, and without one of their star players... Xavier found a way to climb back and take over the game.
Fairfield took a 17-7 lead in the first half, but from there, Adam Kunkel was able to get the team going by getting hot and getting baskets. Kunkel finished the game with 21 points and was 4-8 from deep.
But, one thing we are starting to notice with Xavier, they go where their two bigs go and their bigs were very good tonight.
Zach Freemantle tallied his first career Triple-Double at Xavier with 15 points, thirteen rebounds, and ten assists. Freemantle mentioned that his teammates told him when he had seven assists that he had to go get the Triple-Double. Jack Nunge had 23 points and seven rebounds, including hitting all three of his three-point shots.
On defense, Xavier was able to lock in and stay focused in the second half. Fairfield shot 41% from three in the first half which kept them in the game, the second half was a different story where the Musketeers held Fairfield to just 28 points, 30% from the floor and 16% from deep which helped Xavier's offense get going to put the game away.
Now, Xavier prepares for a big game Friday night as the Indiana Hoosiers come to town. Indiana is a team Xavier is going to have to play their best 40 minutes of the season so far, as well as stay locked in defensively. The Hoosiers come into the game as the #12 ranked team in the country in the AP Poll and currently sit at 2-0.
Tip-off will be at 6:00 PM EST and will be broadcast on FS1.
