Local Teams

Colby Jones drained a straight-away 3-pointer with one-tenth of a second left on a perfectly executed final play as Xavier defeated Providence 74-73 in Big East action Sunday afternoon in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Zach Freemantle had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Nate Johnson added 14 points for the Musketeers (10-2, 3-2), who won for the ninth time in their last 10 home games against the Friars.

David Duke had 30 points and seven 3-pointers, and Nate Watson had 17 points and tied his career high with 14 rebounds for Providence (7-5, 3-3).

Providence led by seven points with just more than a minute left before Johnson drilled a 3-pointer and Freemantle hit a jumper to pull Xavier within two.

After a Providence turnover with 16 ticks left, Xavier coach Travis Steele called timeout and dialed up a play that got the freshman Jones free for his second 3-pointer in nine attempts this season and his only attempt in this game.

Xavier was 0 for 12 from behind the arc in a 69-61 win over St. John's on Wednesday.

The loss by the Friars was their second straight at the buzzer. They lost 67-65 on a dunk by Creighton's Christian Bishop with less than a second left on Jan. 2.

With Providence trailing 64-59 with 3:36 remaining, Duke started a 14-2 Providence run with a 3-pointer. Noah Horchler capped the run with a 3-pointer for a 73-66 lead with 1:13 minute left.

Providence starting point guard Jared Bynum, who leads the team in assists per game (4.4), did not play after suffering a groin injury in the loss to Creighton. Alyn Breed started in place of Bynum and scored two points but had a costly turnover with 51 seconds remaining

Duke did everything for the Friars in the opening 20 minutes, scoring 16 of their 34 points on 6-of-8 shooting. The Musketeers led 35-34 at intermission.

--Field Level Media