Carroll's career high propels Musketeers over Cincinnati to reclaim the Crosstown Shootout.

The streak continues for Cincinnati fans as the Musketeers defeat the Bearcats 79-74 at Cintas in front of an all-time record of 10,888 fans in the 93rd annual Crosstown Shootout. 

"Disappointed with how the result. Very disappointed for our players." said Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller. "Thought that run to open the second half was the difference maker. Really proud of how our guys fought until the end. We won a lot of the statistically measure of the game, but we left 11 free throws on the floor and that was also a big factor. I think we showed why we are going to be a great team and have a great season despite the result from this evening."

Florida Atlantic transfer Tre Carroll led all scorers with a game high 30 points and seven rebounds. 

“This means a lot to me being a graduate senior.” Carroll told reporters. “This is my only year at Xavier and I didn’t want to lose to Cincinnati. When I took my visit here this offseason, that was the first video they showed me was the Cincinnati vs Xavier rivalry games. This was a dog fight, but at the end of the day the toughest team wins. I wanted to give the city of Cincinnati what they deserved after we lost to them last year.” 

“Tre Carroll had a terrific night. It just felt like we kept making shots over the top. He made a bunch of tough ones.” Cincinnati head coach Wes Miller said. “He was causing a lot of difficulties for us this evening. He was terrific in the post tonight.” 

Cincinnati was led by Day-Day Thomas who finished with a team high 16 points, while Shon Abaev (15), Baba Miller (10), Kerr Kriisa (10) also chimed in offensivly. However, for Cincinnati, they continue to search for their true identity on the offensive end and they now have a week to do so before heading the road to Atlanta to take on Georgia in a neutral site matchup. 

The Bearcats won the rebounding margin 51-37, with 17 of those 51 coming from Miller, who recorded a career high in the loss. Cincinnati also shot just 50% from the foul line in a game they lost by single digits is something that is unacceptable at this point in the season. 

Now for Cincinnati, they will now have to wait until 2027 for another shot to win at the Cintas Center which will then be sitting at 26 years since the final victory came in this very arena. 

The Rundown

Cincinnati jumped out to an early 3-0 lead following a triple from Day-Day Thomas as the Bearcats looked to set the tone early. Xavier responded with a quick four points taking their first lead of the night following a layup from All Wright. 

The Musketeers jumped out to an early 12-6 lead over Cincinnati after Filip Borovicanin knocked down a triple from the left wing. He had seven of the Musketeers first 12 points, forcing Wes Miller to call an early timeout to stop the bleeding. 

The Bearcats offense continued to be stagnant after they went one for their last ten from the field. However, Baba Miller silenced the Musketeers momentum after a three-point play cut the lead to two. 

Cincinnati regained the lead following a six-to-zero run starting with the Miller bucket. Jalen Celestine rose up on the shot fake and got to the midrange jumper to give Cincinnati a 13-12 lead with 13:00 to play in the first half. However, the Bearcats offense continued to struggle after shooting just 4-16 (25%) from the field over the first eight minutes of play. 

Xavier extended their lead to six, following a three point play from Roddie Anderson. Thomas responded on the other end with a triple for the Bearcats. Xavier continued to establish the ball inside and get to the foul line as Miller and Thomas were forced to the bench with nine minutes left in the first half with two fouls each. 

Cincinnati tied the game at 28 after a quick six from Shon Abaev following consecutive consecutive made three’s. Prior to those buckets from Abaev, Cincinnati was just 3-13 from three on the evening. 

Xavier controlled a 35-32 lead heading to the final media stop of the first half. However, Cincinnati would then cut the gap after Krissa was fouled on the three point attempt before knocking down two of the three to cut the deficit to one. 

Krissa gave Cincinnati a 37-35 lead with two minutes to play following the triple. Xavier’s Tre Carroll responded with the turnaround jumper to tie the game with 1:52 to play.

This game would be tied up at 37 heading to halftime. For Cincinnati, they were in a great position after playing without Thomas for the final eight minutes of the first half after picking up his second foul with over nine minutes to play. Now, the Bearcats silence the gap following the run from Abaev. However, they finished the first half slashing just 36% from the field, while shooting just 33 percent from behind the arc. 

Xavier took a 47-39 lead with 15:27 to play following a three-point play from Johan Milicevic. Musketeers were on a 11-0 run with Carroll scoring the first eight in the second half. He was up to 19 and counting as the Bearcats simply had no answer for the Florida Atlantic transfer. Meanwhile, Cincinnati was just 1-8 from the field to start the second half and was now approaching the danger zone and doing so quickly. 

That run was the dagger for Cincinnati as they had no way of responding following the 13-0 run from Xavier. Cincinnati cut the deficit to seven, but then Xavier exploded for six quick points following a Roddie Anderson three, forcing Cincinnati to call timeout trailing 56-43 with 12:19 to play. 

Cincinnati rallied back and cut the Musketeers lead to six after a made three from Celestine made this a 58-52 game with over eight minutes to play. Cincinnati clawed back and made this a three-point game after a huge offensive rebound from Tyler McKinley, who kicked it out to Abaev for the corner three. 

The Bearcats took a 68-67 lead with over two minutes to play. However, a big three from Borovicanin gave the Musketeers a 70-68 lead with 2:25 left to play. That was the turning point for Xavier as they poured it on the Bearcats to maintain a 79-74 victory. 

Up Next

Cincinnati will now have a week to get back to the drawing board before they make the trip to Atlanta to take on Georgia in a neutral site matchup.