Tu Holloway leads as Xavier Musketeers edge past Vanderbilt Commodores in O.T. – NCAA Basketball
Tu Holloway scored 10 of his game-high 24 points in overtime and Xavier Musketeers pulled off a 82-70 win over the Vanderbilt Commodores on November 28, 2011 at Memorial Gym, Nashville.
It was the first road game for the Musketeers, who improved to 5-0 for the best start yet under their coach Chris Mack in his third season. The Commodores, meanwhile, dropped to 5-2 in the tournament.
“It is all cause of my backcourt main man, Tu Holloway,” Xavier’s junior guard Mark Lyons said of Holloway’s brilliant performance. “I love him because of the way he plays. (He’s) a killer on the court, and he won the game for
us in overtime.”
Holloway, who was selected as the Atlantic 10 player of the year, also grabbed five rebounds, dished out four assists and stole the ball for three times. The 22-year-old was 3 for 5 from three-point range and 9 for 10 from free
throw line. Mark Lyons added 19 points, four rebounds and four steals while forward Travis Taylor had 11 points on 4 for 7 shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds. Andre Walker grabbed a game-best 14 rebounds in the victory.
John Jenkins led the Commodores with 20 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. The 20-year-old guard shot 4 for 9 from downtown and was the only player for his team to score in overtime. Vanderbilt’s forwards Lance
Goulbourne and Jeffery Taylor chipped in with 18 points each. Goulbourne also pulled down seven boards and blocked two difficult shots in 39 minutes of action.
The Commodores already were without Festus Ezeliand, who is under day-to-day observation with a sprained right knee. Steve Tchiengang returned to the floor after missing the previous game with concussion-like symptoms after being
hit in the face against Oregon State and contributed just three points and four rebounds.
Vanderbilt shot 42.2 percent (27 for 64) from the field while Musketeers shot just 37.8 percent (28 for 74). However, Xavier outrebounded the Commodores 54-33 and outscored 22-8 off turnovers.
Entering the game with a 4-0 winning streak, the Musketeers held a 21-17 lead with 8:27 to go in the first half. The Commodores however broke away in the next few minutes and reeled off a 17-8 run for a 34-29 lead going into the
second.
Vanderbilt pushed their lead to double-digits early in the second half, 41-31, before Xavier made an outstanding comeback with a 55-53 edge at 11:03 mark.
Rod Odom drove to the rim to knot the game at 55 and Jeffery Taylor followed him with four straight points to put the Commodores ahead by 59-55. 3 free throws from Xavier cut the deficit to one, 59-58, but Vanderbilt managed to
widen their lead to 66-62 with roughly four minutes remaining.
Mark Lyons hit a pair of free throws and then scored a lay-up, to tie the game at 66 as the game headed into overtime. The Musketeers started the extra session on an 8-0 run and outplayed the Commodores 16-4 to take home a big
win.
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