Xavier in happier times.
One thing is for sure, Jeff Xavier's family has his back.
In the second half of Providence's 82-91 loss to Marquette on Saturday night, the Friar guard drove the lane for a lay up and caught an unintentional elbow to the eye from Marquette forward Joseph Fulce.
Xavier fell to the court where he writhed in pain for a few minutes before heading to the bench with his right eye swollen shut.
That's when Xavier's family took matters into its own hands.
As play was about to resume with a foul shot unrelated to Fulce's elbow, Xavier's brother, Jonathan Xavier, descended from the stands, jumped the Providence bench and walked onto the court to yell at referee Todd Williams.
Arena security eventually caught up with Xavier's brother (How did they let him on the court in the first place?) and dragged him off the floor. He was later arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
Meanwhile, Marquette coach Buzz Williams threatened to pull his players off the court if order was not restored. Said Williams:
I told the officials, 'We'll leave, because that's extremely dangerous.' I saw the guy coming out of the stands. Forget the game; I'm going to protect the guys. I'm going to protect those guys no matter what.
Williams never followed though on his threat.
Even after his brother was "escorted" to the police station, Xavier felt his point had not adequately been conveyed. As he walked to the locker room, good eye bulging, he screamed at Marquette's bench and spit on the ground.
The whole incident seems especially bizarre in hindsight considering that replays of the foul showed that Fulcre simply raised his arm to block Xavier's shot and the Providence guard's head ran into Fulcre's elbow.
So why was Xavier so enraged? And what was his brother thinking when he stormed the floor?
In the end, it was the Providence fans who should've been mad.
Without Xavier, a transfer from Manhattan College who averages nine points per game, the Friars struggled to maintain their slim five-point lead and eventually lost to a Marquette team they had firmly outplayed in the first half.
Here's a nice video of the incident:
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