With 5:45 left, JP got a steal and a dunk to put Xavier up 71-69. At home. In a game Xavier absolutely needed. It looked like the team was rising to the occasion at the most clutch of times.
It fell apart from there. Xavier couldn't stop turning the ball over down the stretch, and that two-point lead turned into a ten-point deficit as Butler shot layup after layup off of sloppy play by the Muskies. What could have been a signature, life-affirming win turned into just another repeat of the same track the team has been playing all year.