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CINCINNATI — Zach Freemantle scored 17 points, Dayvion McKnight scored 13 of his 14 in the second half and Trey Green made 4 of 4 from the free-throw line in the final 12 seconds to help No. 22 Xavier hold on for a 71-68 win over South Carolina State. Xavier used a 14-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 58-45 with 5:38 remaining. The Bulldogs scored the next 12 points, capped by Omar Croskey's dunk that made it a one-point game about 3 minutes later. The Musketeers made 10 of 12 from the free-throw line from there to seal it. Croskey scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half for South Carolina State (4-5), Michael Teal finished with 14 and Mitchell Taylor added 11.
