Mike Nwoko scored 17 points and Kalek House added 16 to lead a balanced scoring attack and power Xavier past overmatched Detroit Mercy, 100-55, on Tuesday night in Cincinnati.
It was the third consecutive blowout win for Xavier (3-0) to open the season as the Musketeers scored the game’s first 10 points and raced out to leads of 19-3 and 35-15. Tru Washington added 14 and Chance Westry scored 13 for Xavier, who has beaten Mount Saint Mary’s, Eastern Michigan and Detroit Mercy by an average of 37.7 points.
Greg Grays Jr. led Detroit Mercy (0-2) with 14 points, and Tyler Spratt added eight. It’s been a rough start to the season for coach Mark Montgomery and the Titans. They fell on Friday to another Big East school, Marquette, 93-32, in Milwaukee.
Xavier outscored Detroit Mercy 29-5 in points off turnovers and dominated in the paint, 60-16.
Defensively, the Musketeers suffocated the Titans’ backcourt in the first half, forcing nine turnovers and translating those mistakes into 17 points off turnovers. Detroit Mercy found it nearly impossible to find a rhythm against Xavier’s length, shooting a dismal 18.8% from the field (6-for-32).
Xavier used a 13-2 run late in the first half on their way to a 41-17 lead before taking a 43-20 halftime advantage.
Outside of a few scoring flashes from Grays, who led the Titans with nine first-half points off two triples, Detroit Mercy struggled significantly to generate clean looks inside the arc, scoring only two points in the paint.
Ruben Dominguez made two 3-pointers as Xavier stretched its first-half lead to as many as 25 points. Xavier outrebounded Detroit Mercy 27-16 in the first half and carried complete control into the locker room.
Xavier continued to pull away after halftime, scoring 57 second-half points and reaching 100 for the first time this season. The Musketeers’ lead never dipped below 21 points in the second half.