Tough guys win tough games, and you’d be hard pressed to find a guy tougher than Paul Scruggs. In his final Shootout in Xavier colors, he was the steady hand Xavier needed at the till, finishing with 20/5/5 on 6-10/0-2/8-8 shooting and only turning the ball over twice against a hounding Cincinnati defense.
Scruggs set the tone early for Xavier. On a night when the Muskies drivers were irrepressible going to the rim, it was Scruggs leading from in front from the opening tap. Before the first media timeout, he had scored two layups and earned three free throws by refusing to be turned back when he put the ball on the deck.