Xavier hopes NCAA bubble doesn’t burst after tough loss to No. 25 Marquette at Big East tourney

NEW YORK (AP) - If the Xavier Musketeers get left out of the NCAA Tournament, they’ll look back at Thursday as a missed opportunity.

With a chance to earn a quality win over No. 25 Marquette in the Big East quarterfinals, Xavier coughed up a 14-point lead in the second half and wasted a sensational performance from Ryan Conwell.

The fourth-seeded Musketeers (21-11) fell just short in an 89-87 loss to the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles at Madison Square Garden, leaving Xavier’s fate uncertain heading into Selection Sunday.

Several projections have coach Sean Miller’s team sitting squarely on the NCAA bubble.

"We desperately want to be a part of the tournament," Miller said. "We've won 12 of our last 16, seven in a row coming into today's game. Obviously we played against an excellent team on a neutral court. I think if anybody watches today's game, I think you had two teams that are NCAA Tournament-caliber playing out there."

Conwell scored a career-high 38 points, a Musketeers record for a Big East Tournament game, on 13-for-18 shooting from the field and 7 of 11 on 3-pointers.

Xavier shot 53% from the floor, including 48% from 3-point range (11 for 23), and led for nearly 31 minutes. But the Musketeers allowed Marquette to go 14 for 33 on 3s (42%) and could not hold on as Kam Jones rallied the Golden Eagles with 28 points.

"Over the last six to eight weeks, there aren't too many teams in the country that have played at a higher level than our group," Miller said. "Today we played at a very high level. Our defense left us at a really inopportune period of time, and Marquette made us pay."

Xavier was a No. 3 seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament and reached the Sweet 16 in the first season of Miller’s second stint at the school. But the Musketeers finished 16-18 last year and missed the NCAAs.

Their nonconference schedule this season wasn’t particularly strong, so the Musketeers are counting on their 13-7 record during the Big East regular season to impress the NCAA selection committee.

"The quality of play that we've had for a long period of time, you know, to me that's what we stand on," Miller said.

"Look, I know there's a lot of teams that are worthy, and this conference, this team, people say good things about you. Other people don't say good things about you. It makes you mad. You want to reach in the TV. We're going to rely on the expertise of the committee and the work we've put (in). We're hopeful that we can be a part of the tournament."

Marquette coach Shaka Smart thinks the Musketeers belong.

"We played them three times and every game’s come down to the wire. We’ve been fortunate to come out on top two out of three times. But, you watch those games, the eye test - they’re an NCAA Tournament team," Smart said.

"I think sometimes people get lost in the numbers. But you’ve also got to use common sense. And you watch that game today, that’s two NCAA Tournament teams."