CINCINNATI – Jacksonville men's basketball fell 79-56 to Xavier on Friday night in the Cintas Center.

The Dolphins (1-1) cut the deficit to five at one point in the second-half, but did not have enough to spring the upset on the road in a game that featured new faces on both sides of the court.

The beginning of the game started with Stephon Payne III and Bryce Workman recording back-to-back buckets early on as JU took a 4-2 lead. Xavier set the tone with their early rebuttals, responding with a quick 8-0 run to go up 10-4 with 15 minutes to play in the first half. Besides the early run from the Musketeers, JU and Xavier were even the rest of the way, separated by only one point. The Dolphins had five players score at least four points in the first half, with Gyasi Powell scoring four, along with Marcus Niblack, McCray V, Cook recording five, and Zach Bell grabbing five, all in the first half.

The start of the second half saw the Dolphins down by nine. At the 14:33 mark, Bryce Workman made a layup, and Zach Bell made one 30 seconds later. Shortly after, Donovan Rivers stole the ball and found Robert McCray V, who, after missing his initial attempt, gathered the rebound and laid it back in to cut the deficit to five, forcing a Musketeers timeout. Xavier came out of the timeout with a quick 7-0 run to regain a double-digit lead, one they would not relinquish for the next four minutes. Three out of four buckets from McCray and Workman saw JU reduce its deficit back to nine with 8:41 to play. Xavier again responded with a 7-0 run, and this time, they didn't look back. The Musketeers ended the game on a 22-8 run, cementing their 2-0 start to the season.

The Dolphins had McCray lead the way on the offensive side of the court with 15 points on 7-16 shooting. He also, along with teammate DeeJuan Pruitt, grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and added four assists as well to lead the Dolphins. Workman shot 5-7 from the field and was the only other JU player to score in double digits with 10. He also snagged seven boards.

Xavier had four players record double-digit points, with Quincy Olivari leading the game in scoring with 17 points.
 
COACH'S COMMENTS

"We were able to compete at a high-level in a short amount of time. A couple of foul calls here and there I think we allowed to affect our overall connectivity. We just need to be more mentally strong, especially on the road. These games are good for us. They allow for us to see our weaknesses and to turn those weaknesses into strengths."

- Head Coach Jordan Mincy on what the team can take out of this performance

"If you watch the first half, they scored second-chance points, so I think we did a good job of adjusting in the second half. Overall, they had 23 points off of 17 turnovers, so you've got to do a better job when you go on somebody's home court you've got to do a better job of taking care of the ball."

- Mincy on the differences in the game

UP NEXT

Jacksonville returns home on Tuesday, November 14 against Georgia Southern. The game is slated for a 7 p.m. tipoff and can be watched on ESPN+, or heard on the radio on 1010XL.
  
NUMBERS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Robert McCray V has led the Dolphins in scoring in both of their games thus far. He recorded 19 in the Dolphins season opener to compliment his 15 tonight.
• Gyasi Powell and McCray also were tied for the game-high in assists with four.
• Jacksonville outrebounded Xavier 48-41 and had more on both offensive and defensive rebounds.