(Photo: Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer)
They said it would be a battle, a Big East fight in a phone booth for the precious space around the basket when Providence visited Xavier at the Cintas Center Saturday night.
Xavier head coach Travis Steele said the tougher team would win and on Saturday night that team was the Musketeers, 64-58, clad in their white with blue trim Runningman throwback uniforms.
In a game that felt like two heavyweight prizefighters trading punches for most of the night, Xavier landed more shots down the stretch, outscoring the Friars 17-8 over the final 8:59 of the game to send the Musketeers to 16-8 overall and 5-6 in conference play with a three-game win streak.