Box Score
MEMPHIS, Tenn. —
Denzell Erves scored a
season-high 21 points Saturday to lead hot-shooting Xavier University of
Louisiana to a 76-61 men's basketball victory against Wiley on the second and
final day of the Memphis HBCU Classic at Southwest Tennessee Community College.
The Gold Rush (8-1) shot 71.1 percent from the floor,
XU's best in nearly 200 games. Erves was 8-of-9 from the floor and 5-of-6 from
the line. The accuracy was Xavier's best since a school-record 75.9 percent in
a victory against Tougaloo at The Barn on Feb. 5, 2007.
Wanto Joseph had 16 points, six assists and three steals
for Xavier, and
Anthony Simmons had 13 points and 10 rebounds for his second
consecutive double-double and third in four games. Reserve forward
Olivier Siewe
had season highs of seven points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard
Gary Smith,
starting for the second consecutive game, scored a season-high seven points and
was 3-of-3 from the floor.
Nick Haywood had a career-high-tying six assists.
Xavier led 16-6 after hitting 8-of-9 from the floor in the
first seven minutes. The Gold Rush led 37-19 at halftime — Xavier's largest
halftime lead on the road since January 2008 — and took a 43-21 lead on Simmons'
two free throws with 17:57 remaining.
Wiley (5-2), losing to Xavier for the second time in eight
days, never came closer than 11 points in the second half. Xavier protected its lead
by going 4-of-4 from the floor and 6-of-6 from the line in the final four minutes.
The five XU starters — Erves, Simmons, Joseph, Smith
and
Xavier Rogers — shot a combined 77.4 percent (24-of-31) from the floor. The
Gold Rush made 20-of-25 free throws and reached 80 percent for the third time this season.
Erves and Joseph have scored in double figures in every game this season.
Tayler Jacobs had 18 points, five assists and four steals
for Wiley, and Dominic Jones scored 13 points. Wiley shot 38.6 percent from the floor
and was outrebounded 36-18 — the seventh time this season Xavier had a double-digit
rebound advantage.
Turnovers were the only downer for the Gold Rush. Xavier
committed 30, its most since the start of 2003-04. More extensive records before that
season are not available.
Xavier, which defeated Concordia (Ala.) 75-61 in this event
Friday, earned back-to-back victories at a neutral site for the first time since the
Loyola Classic in November 2004 and for the first time at a neutral site outside of
New Orleans since the Mobile Classic in December 2002.
Xavier is 8-1 or better though its first nine games for the
seventh time in Dannton Jackson's 10 seasons as head coach.
Xavier will play Mobile (4-1) at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at XU's
Convocation Center.
