No. 22 Xavier hands No. 2 Connecticut its first loss and takes lead in Big East

It was fitting that two ranked teams put on a show Saturday at Cintas Center. Even more fitting that No. 25 Xavier played one of its best games of the season to hand No. 2 Connecticut its first loss this season, 83-73.

The win is eighth in a row for the Musketeers, helping them improve to 12-3 overall and took the lead in the Big East with a 4-0 record.

"When you beat them you have to really beat them. They don't beat themselves," Xavier head coach Sean Miller said after the game. "The fact they came in here 14-0 speaks for itself."

The game was tied 71-71 with 4:12 left when the Musketeers closed the game on a 12-2 run over the final 3:33.

Colby Jones made an emphatic drive and finished with a reverse layup to spark the final run of the game. After starting off with four early turnovers, Jones completely turned his day around and made winning plays in crucial moments.

There was a key sequence with two and a half minutes left in the game where Connecticut's Andre Jackson missed a 3-pointer and Xavier's Souley Boum came down with the rebound. Boum launched a pass the length of the floor to Zach Freemantle, who drew a questionable foul against Tristen Newton.

Freemantle went to the line and made the first free throw to give Xavier a 74-71 lead when Huskies head coach Dan Hurley was assessed a technical foul.

Boum went to the line and made both of the technical free throws, then Freemantle went back and made his second free throw to extend the lead to 77-71 with 2:25 left.

"Put yourself in my shoes," Hurley said. "You're aware of the free throw discrepancy while the game is going on.

"... Yes, I wish I wouldn't have said, 'unbelievable.' "

Xavier did have a healthy advantage at the foul line, going 23-of-28 compared to Connecticut's 4-for-9.

Jones and Freemantle led Xavier with 16 points each.

Jack Nunge played through an illness that forced him to miss warm-ups and leave the team's bench for an extended period at the end of the first half and the start of the second half. Nunge powered through it and scored 15 points in 24 minutes.

"With 30 minutes left before the tip-off, he was sleeping. We weren't sure (if he would play)," said Miller. "He didn't have a fever so he was cleared to play. I think it was more of food poisoning or something that happened, woke up at 5 in the morning and just had a hard time functioning. He looked awful.

"... It says a lot about him. I said this about Colby Jones a couple of weeks ago, not everybody's gonna give that type of effort to the team that Jack did here today. We certainly wouldn't have won if he didn't play."

Jerome Hunter gave Xavier a massive boost off the bench with 15 points and went a perfect 9-of-9 at the foul line. When Hunter checked out of the game at the end, he did so to a standing ovation from a sold-out crowd.

Boum added 11 points.

Xavier's defense held Connecticut to one field goal in its final 10 attempts in the game.

During his pre-game press conference on Friday, Miller talked about how earlier this season before his team played Indiana, he gave himself a pep talk. He tried to convince himself that his team was ready.

He didn't have to convince himself on Saturday. He knew his team was ready.

"I think that what you hope with all college basketball teams is that you evolve and improve as the year goes on," said Miller. "Jerome Hunter, for example, when he played Indiana is not nearly the player that he is today. And I think we're better probably across the board.

"... I referenced it the other day in that I didn't know if we were able to really finish a game of that magnitude back then. I do know we have it in us now. Even if today didn't go our way, we've progressed and we're a much better group than we were then."