3 Musketeers: Scruggs, Johnson, Freemantle bury Sooners with three-point avalanche

How can the Xavier Musketeers' performance against the Oklahoma Sooners be aptly summarized?

"Lightning in a bottle" is one phrase that comes to mind.

Lon Kruger's Sooners didn't play poorly at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, but in general, it's very difficult for any team to win a game in which the opponent shoots 59 percent from behind the arc.

Xavier came out with guns blazing Wednesday and didn't relent until the final whistle sounded, nailing a school-record 19 three-pointers to overwhelm Oklahoma 99-77. With the victory, Travis Steele's squad is the only 7-0 team in the nation.

Paul Scruggs, Nate Johnson and Zach Freemantle each eclipsed the 20-point mark for the Musketeers; Scruggs logged 20, Johnson had seven triples among his 25 points, and Freemantle went 12-for-14 from the floor en route to a career-high 28. As a team, Xavier shot the ball at a 57 percent clip from the field (36-for-63).

Oklahoma had five players in double figures, led by Brady Manek, who notched 17. Austin Reaves added 13 points and four assists, while De'Vion Harmon put up 11 in his first start of the season.

"Xavier was much more physical, much tougher to the ball," said Kruger after his team's first loss of the season. "We didn't do much defensively to keep them out of their rhythm and out of their routine, and we've got a lot more work to do."

The Musketeers never trailed after Freemantle hit from downtown to give Xavier a 26-25 lead with 9:10 remaining in the first half. They led 48-39 at the intermission and pulled away early in the second half by scoring on six straight possessions, including back-to-back three-pointers from Johnson.

"We contributed a lot to their shooting the ball well," Kruger said. "We've got to be a lot more disruptive, a lot more aggressive in getting to their shooters."

The Sooners clawed back and cut the deficit to 10 with eleven minutes to play, but Xavier responded with a 20-7 run to put the game out of reach. Johnson again served as the catalyst, hitting another pair of triples on consecutive possessions. The Gardner-Webb transfer finished the game 7-for-9 from behind the arc, as the Sooners had no answer for his hot hand.

“There's a whole lot of areas of concern," said Kruger, "but most of ours relate to the defensive end."

After the blitzkrieg at the hands of the Musketeers, the Sooners will look to recover Saturday afternoon when they host Florida A&M. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. from the Lloyd Noble Center.

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