December 31, 2008 | AP Press

CINCINNATI, OH – Jason Love scored a career-high 15 points as No. 22 Xavier took advantage of its size advantage, and freshman guard Brad Redford added a career-high 15 points from behind the arc Wednesday night, leading the Musketeers to a 78-57 victory over Robert Morris.

Xavier (10-2) was coming off back-to-back losses that sapped the Musketeers’ confidence. They were sloppy and sluggish in a 74-65 home loss to Butler on Saturday that prompted coach Sean Miller to make a lineup change against Robert Morris (6-7).

Freshman point guard Terrell Holloway made his first career start. Holloway is the only true point guard on the roster, and the offense tends to bog down when he’s not on the floor. He finished with six points and a career-high five assists.

Jeremy Chappell led Robert Morris with 17 points.

Holloway was gaining a bigger role each game before he suffered a stress fracture in his left foot, forcing him to miss two games in late November and early December. He has been working back into form from the injury, which has limited his practice time.

He made his mark early on.

Holloway passed to Love for an early basket as Xavier took the ball inside against the Colonials’ overmatched front line. Xavier opened with a 20-9 run built upon its inside game — the 6-foot-9 Love had seven of the points from under the basket and scored a season-high 11 in the first half.

When Robert Morris sagged inside, Xavier took advantage as well. Derrick Brown made an open 3-pointer from the right corner, and Redford made a pair of 3s that pushed it to 38-19. Redford finished 5-of-8, with every shot coming from behind the arc.

Rob Robinson had a pair of baskets that helped the Colonials cut the lead to 50-39 early in the second half. Love and Redford ended the comeback by restoring Xavier’s inside-out balance. Love had a couple of up-close baskets, and Redford made back-to-back 3s that pushed it to 60-41. Xavier led by as many as 26 points before sending in its substitutes.

Jamel McLean had a career-high 11 rebounds, helping Xavier dominate the boards.