ATHENS, Ga. − In a fitting end to Xavier's season full of "almost," the Musketeers rallied late but came up short in the final seconds to the Georgia Bulldogs in the first round of the NIT Tuesday night at Stegeman Coliseum, 78-76.

Xavier's season, one littered with costly injuries and close losses against some of the best teams in the nation, is over.

The Musketeers finish 16-18. It's the program's first losing season since 1996, snapping the fourth-longest streak of consecutive winning seasons in the nation.

Making its 10th all-time appearance in the NIT, Xavier trailed by as many as 23 in the second half. As they've done all season, the Musketeers scratched and clawed their way back and had a chance to win it in the waning moments of regulation. Appropriately for this season, Xavier couldn't break through, and it was all over.

"I am proud of the way we fought," Xavier head coach Sean Miller said.

Xavier comes up short in final seconds

After trailing by 23 points in the second half, Xavier had the ball down two with 6.4 seconds left. Quincy Olivari drove to the rim and his game-tying layup was pinned against the glass by Georgia 7-footer Russel Tchewa. It was originally called goaltending and the game was tied. Upon review, though, the ball was still on its way up and the call was overturned.

Xavier then had one last chance with 1.9 seconds left and the ball out of bounds on the baseline. Olivari inbounded to Desmond Claude, who raced through traffic toward the rim. He was met by Tchewa down low, and the shot was off the mark at the horn. Xavier's bench went crazy looking for a foul call, either on the floor or the shot. The officials had already run off the court.

Season over.

"I think Des (Claude) got fouled on the play. It may have been after the time expired. There's no doubt the foul happened, it's just a matter of whether time had expired or not," Miller said. "They review just about everything in college basketball; I'm just surprised that the officials ran off as fast as they could when that happened.

"It would've been great for them to determine it on a review."

Claude fuels Xavier's comeback

Similar to his career night in Xavier's road win over Georgetown earlier this month, Claude powered the Musketeers with a stellar scoring display. Claude poured in 23 of his game-high 30 points in the second half to lead Xavier's season-saving comeback attempt.

Claude was lethal both driving to the rim and on the perimeter. Miller said Claude, the Big East's Most Improved Player, would be even more dangerous when he developed a consistent 3-point shot. Claude drained a season-high five triples Tuesday, going 4-for-4 in the second half.

"What he (Claude) has shown this year is a lot of great things," Miller said. "He showed tonight that he's more than capable. I believe that will happen for him. He's a hard worker. He was terrific."

Quincy Olivari sets Xavier single-season record

Hopefully, Olivari's one season at Xavier won't be forgotten due to the Musketeers sub-.500 record.

On Tuesday, Olivari set the Xavier record for 3-pointers in a season (106), breaking the mark set by Trevon Bluiett in 2018. Olivari did it in one less game (34) than Bluiett on seven more attempts.

Olivari finished 3-of-12 from the floor and 2-of-9 from downtown for 11 points Tuesday. There's no telling where the Musketeers would've been in mid-March considering their preseason injuries had Olivari not become one of the Big East's best players after transferring from Rice.

He was part of a dynamic backcourt trio with Claude and fellow transfer Dayvion McKnight that carried more weight than any position group on any team in the country, according to Miller.

Xavier's backcourt Big 3 combined for 51 points in Tuesday's season-ending loss to the Bulldogs. Center Abou Ousmane finished with a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds).

Xavier dug itself 'quite a hole.'

Xavier has struggled away from Cintas Center this season and the first 30 minutes of regulation looked like the same story for a team that entered the NIT 3-8 in true road games.

Georgia shot 50% from the field in the first half to take a 12-point lead into the intermission. In the opening eight minutes of the second half, Xavier had more turnovers than made field goals. An 11-0 Georgia run gave the Bulldogs their largest lead of the night at 65-42 with 13:25 left.

"We dug ourselves quite a hole. We had that look in our eye. Like we were in the NIT, away from home and this is hard," Miller said. "We created too big of a mountain and Georgia was the much better team for most of the game."

Why Xavier played in the NIT

Given its season-long injury issues, it was understandable to believe that Xavier would've turned down an NIT bid to move on to the offseason. For Miller and company, however, postseason basketball in March still meant something.

"In our case, we love the game. . . If that last play goes our way or we play a little better throughout, then we take on a brand-new meaning when it comes to March. From our perspective, we're not gonna wave the white flag," Miller said.

"We didn't know if we were gonna be picked or not. The fact they chose us, I think it had a lot to do with our tough schedule and a lot of the games we played. To some degree, it's an honor to be in the postseason, fight and give ourselves a chance."

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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Xavier Musketeers fall in NIT first round to Georgia Bulldogs