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  • Xavier Musketeers Beat the Texas A&M Aggies to Win the 2022 NIT Men's Championship

Xavier Musketeers Beat the Texas A&M Aggies to Win the 2022 NIT Men's Championship

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Basketball

Xavier held off Texas A&M to take a 73-72 win in the 2022 NIT Finals at Madison Square Garden on Thursday evening. The title marks the program's second NIT Championship, also winning the title in 1958.

In a game that featured 10 ties and 17 lead changes, Jack Nunge hit the go-ahead bucket with three seconds remaining to put the Musketeers in front for good. Xavier had led by as many as nine in the first half before Texas A&M went on a run to take and eight point lead into the break. Xavier chipped away at the halftime advantage over the first eight minutes of the second half, and went on to lead by as five late in the second half before taking the 73-72 win.

Colby Jones set a new career-best mark at 21 points on the way to earning the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Dwon Odom added 18 points and Jack Nunge finished with a double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The Musketeers finish the season at 23-13, winning five straight to close out the season.

FIRST HALF

  • Texas A&M scored the opening basket before Xavier went on an 8-2 run, and another 7-0 run put the Musketeers up by as many as nine, 15-6, in the first five minutes of the game.
  • Colby Jones and Dwon Odom each connected on their first three shots from the floor to help the Musketeers maintain a multiple possession lead for the first 10 minutes of the half before the Aggies went on a 10-2 run to retake the lead, 20-19, with just over seven minutes to play in the half.
  • After trading leads for the next three minutes, the Aggies went on a 7-0 run to take a five point lead, 31-26, then built the lead out to as many as 10, connecting on 10-of-13 shots to close out the half.
  • Colby Jones connected on his sixth basket of the half in the closing seconds to set the halftime score at 40-32 in favor of Texas A&M.
  • Jones had a game-high 14 points in the first half, connecting on 6-of-9 shots from the floor, including a pair of threes.
  • Dwon Odom went 5-of-6 from the floor to add 10 for the Musketeers.
  • Colby Jones and Jack Nunge each had four rebounds to lead Xavier, but Aggies out-rebounded the Musketeers 17-12 overall. Xavier had a 4-3 advantage on the offensive glass for a 6-2 lead on second chance points. 
  • Xavier opened the game 4-of-6 from the floor, finishing the half shooting 43.8 percent from the floor while Texas A&M started the game 2-of-7 from the floor, but finished the half shooting 56 percent from the floor.

SECOND HALF

  • Xavier connected on five of its first nine shots of the second half while Texas A&M hit 1-of-10 to open the second half, pulling back within two before back to back Aggie baskets stretched the lead back to seven.
  • Back-to-back Xavier threes started an 8-0 Musketeers run to put Xavier back in front, 53-52, with just over 11 minutes to play.
  • Over the next six minutes there were eight lead changes and three ties, before Xavier used an 8-2 run to move in front by five 68-63, with 4:18 to play.
  • The Aggies scored six straight to retake a one-point lead going into the final two minutes. 
  • After three lead changes and two ties in the final two minutes, Xavier trailed 72-71 with six seconds remaining with the ball out of bounds.
  • Jack Nunge scored with 3.1 seconds remaining to put the Musketeers in front 73-72. The Aggie shot to win rimmed out to set give Xavier the one-point win.
  • Nunge finished with a team-high nine points in the second half. 
  • Dwon Odom had eight second-half points, and Colby Jones and Nate Johnson each finished with seven.
  • Xavier shot 53.6 percent from the floor, including going 5-of-7 from three in the second half while limiting Texas A&M to 34.6 percent shooting and just 2-of-8 from three.
  • Xavier had a 19-15 advantage on the boards in the second half, led by seven for Jack Nunge.

NOTABLES

  • Colby Jones led Xavier with 21 points, a new career high. He finished 9-13 from the floor, hitting three threes and was named the Most Outstanding Player for the tournament.
  • Dwon Odom added 18 points for Xavier, shooting 8-of-12 from the floor.
  • Jack Nunge chipped in a double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds to earn a spot on the all-tournament team.
  • Texas A&M was the third SEC team Xavier beat during its run to the NIT Championship, also beating Vanderbilt and Florida.
  • Xavier finishes the season on a five-game winning streak, ending the season at 23-13 overall.
  • This is Xavier's second NIT Championship, also winning the title in 1958.