Xavier took control midway through the fist half and went on to rout Ball State 96-50 on Wednesday in Cincinnati to post its fourth consecutive victory.

Zach Freemantle led Xavier (8-1) with 24 points on 9-for-11 shooting, and Colby Jones and Nate Johnson each added 14. Freemantle, who missed the first six games of the season due to an foot injury, had just three combined points in his first two games.

The Musketeers' lead mounted to 85-40 with 4:49 left in the game, and they shot 53.1 percent for the game. Xavier hit 48 percent (12 of 25) from beyond the 3-point arc.

Ball State (3-5) was led by Luke Bumbalough and Tyler Cochran, who had 10 points apiece. The Cardinals shot 29.7 percent from the field and 22.6 (7 of 31) from 3-point range.

The Musketeers took their biggest lead to that point in the early moments of the second half at 52-26 lead on Paul Scruggs' jumper with 16:26 remaining in the game.

Xavier ballooned its lead to 70-31 on Freemantle's layup with 10:23 left, capping an 18-2 run.

Ball State raced out to a 5-0 lead in the opening minutes, and the Cardinals had a 7-2 advantage as Xavier made only one of its first five shots.

The Musketeers rallied with an impressive 22-5 spurt over the next seven-plus minutes to grab a 24-12 lead on Johnson's 3-pointer with 9:36 remaining. Johnson followed with another 3-pointer just over a minute later to build the edge to 29-13. He had 11 of the Musketeers' first 29 points.

Xavier pushed the lead to 31-13, and Ball State was mired in a 2-for-13 shooting slump.

The Musketeers led 45-23 at halftime, having outshot the Cardinals from the floor 52.9 percent to 30 percent. Ball State committed 10 turnovers in each half.

Xavier will host Cincinnati in the teams' annual crosstown showdown Saturday evening. Ball State will oppose visiting Indiana-Kokomo on Sunday.

--Field Level Media