Central Michigan Chippewas vs Xavier Musketeers Box Score on Dec 01, 2021

Nate Johnson scored 24 points to highlight Xavier's 78-45 victory over Central Michigan on Wednesday night in Cincinnati.

Johnson scored a career-high 30 points in last Friday's win over Virginia Tech -- a game in which he shot 10-for-14 from the field and 7-for-11 from 3-point range. This game was much of the same for the senior guard, as he knocked down 5 of 8 3-point attempts and 8 of 11 shots overall.

Xavier (6-1) was impressive, shooting 50.9 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from long range. Jack Nunge chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds for the Musketeers, while Colby Jones recorded nine points, seven assists, six boards and three steals.

Meanwhile, Central Michigan (1-6) shot just 31.4 percent from the floor and 3 of 18 (16.7 percent) from the arc while also committing 21 turnovers. The Chippewas' leading scorer was Oscar Lopez Jr. with 11 points.

Xavier hit 10 of its first 12 shots. The Musketeers made four 3-pointers -- two by Johnson -- in the first three minutes to go ahead 12-0. The Chippewas knocked down a three to get on the board, but Xavier responded with another big run, this one an 11-0 burst.

Following another 3-pointer by Johnson and a dunk by Nunge, the Musketeers were in front 23-3 after just 5 1/2 minutes.

Central Michigan began to crawl back a bit, getting within 15 a couple of times. But despite holding Xavier to just two points over the final three minutes of the half, the Chippewas still were only able to get within 41-25 at the break.

The lopsided action continued in the second half. Xavier scored 14 of the first 18 points, capped by Johnson's 3-pointer about four minutes into the session. Central Michigan made a small push, but it was too little, too late.

The lead eventually ballooned to 69-39 on Adam Kunkel's trey with 5:42 remaining, and Xavier went on to improve to 5-0 at home.

--Field Level Media