CINCINNATI: R.J. Cole came off the bench and scored a season-high 24 points as UConn held off Xavier 80-72 on Saturday.
Cole drained 5 of 7 3-point shots and had seven assists both season highs. UConn was 11 of 26 from distance and had 21 assists on 28 baskets.
Tyrese Martin had 15 points and nine rebounds for UConn (9-5, 6-5 Big East Conference). Isaiah Whaley added 12 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. Tyler Polley had 10 points.
Zach Freemantle scored a career-high 30 points and had 15 rebounds for the Musketeers (11-3, 4-3). Nate Johnson added 14 points and six rebounds. Paul Scruggs had 9 points and 12 assists.
The Musketeers cut a 14-point UConn second-half lead down to four, 76-72 on a Johnson 3-pointer with 16 seconds left. UConn’s Martin and Whaley made four straight free throws while Xavier missed twice from distance.
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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com