March 11, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Xavier Musketeers forward Jovan Milicevic (24) shoots a 3-pointer against Marquette Golden Eagles forward Ben Gold (12) during the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images NEW YORK — Jovan Milicevic scored 21 points and hit a game-tying layup with 1:14 left as 10th-seeded Xavier beat seventh-seeded Marquette 89-87 in the opening round of the Big East Tournament on Wednesday.
Milicevic made 7 of 11 shots and 4 of 7 3-pointers as he finished two points behind his career high in a 96-88 win over Marquette last month. His biggest shot was a layup with a clear path to the rim to tie the game at 80. A clutch drive came after the Musketeers (15-17) lost a 10-point lead.
Xavier advanced to a quarterfinal matchup against second-seeded UConn on Thursday night.
After a tiebreaking shot, Tre Carroll attempted a spin move around Marquette’s Ben Gold with 23 seconds left and Filip Boravicanin hit two free throws with 14 seconds left for an 86-81 lead.
The Golden Eagles (12-20) got within two in the final 12 seconds on a basket by Nigel James Jr. Marquette had a chance to tie the game with 1.6 seconds left after Malik Messina-Moore missed two free throws.
Carroll immediately committed a foul on Royce Parham, who attempted his first free throw and intentionally missed his second free throw. Marquette almost got the rebound, but James’ attempt to keep the ball inbounds after the horn sounded.
Carroll added 14 of his 18 points in the second half after missing Xavier’s regular-season finale against Villanova with a right hip injury. Messina-Moore also had 18 points as Xavier shot 63.3% in the second half and 51.6% overall.
Parham led Marquette with 22 points and 9 rebounds. James, who was named Big East Freshman of the Year on the day, added 18 points but struggled to find a rhythm, shooting 6 of 17. Chase Ross contributed 16 for the Golden Eagles, who shot 42.5 percent and made a season-high 11 of 40 3-point attempts.
Xavier took a 23-14 lead on a 3 by Milicevic with 11:03 left, and a corner 3 by Messina-Moore gave the Musketeers a 29-19 lead nearly two minutes later. The Golden Eagles countered with a 15-2 run and back-to-back layups by Ross put them ahead 34-31 with 4:56 left. The teams were tied at 38 at halftime.
Xavier scored 11 straight points and took a 56-48 lead on Carroll’s short jumper with 12:28 left. The Musketeers went up 10 points on Carroll’s drive with 11:40 left and maintained a 68-59 lead when Milicevic hit a corner 3 with 8:07 left.
Marquette outscored Xavier 11-4 over the next two minutes to cut it to 72-70. After Xavier took a 78-72 lead on Carroll’s basket with 4:33 left, James hit two free throws with 1:56 left to tie the game at 80-80.
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media
