CINCINNATI – Kam Jones has taken over games before for the Marquette men's basketball team.

This is a guy who scored 18 straight points in a NCAA Tournament victory over Vermont last season. This season, he scored 34 points in back-to-back games to set his career high.

But the junior guard's 30-point, nine-assist performance in the eighth-ranked Golden Eagles' 86-80 victory over Xavier in the regular-season finale on Saturday at Cintas Center has to be up there on the top shelf with those other games.

Consider the circumstances.

BOX SCORE: Marquette 86, Xavier 80

MU (23-8, 14-6 Big East) was coming off back-to-back losses without Tyler Kolek and the All-American point guard was in street clothes again because of his oblique injury. The Musketeers (15-16, 9-11) gave the Golden Eagles a dogfight, with the home crowd of 10,380 fans cheering every big bucket down the stretch.

MU's victory clinched the No. 3 seeding in next week's Big East tournament in New York, and the Golden Eagles will play on Thursday night against the winner of the Nos. 6-11 matchup in the first round.

"It was huge," Jones said. "We wanted to come out on the road and win and finish the season out with a win. Honor the seniors in whatever way we could, especially with the way our Senior Night (on Wednesday vs. Connecticut) went.

"So that's what we talked about. We knew it was their Senior Night. We wanted to come out and ruin theirs as well."

Kam Jones also sets career high with nine assists

Jones finished 12 for 17, including several clutch baskets in the final four minutes.

But he also set a career high with his nine assists. His previous best at MU was five, accomplished twice this season and once last season.

"He did a nice job managing the game," Smart said. "He's all of a sudden become our point guard because both of our point guards are not playing right now in Sean (Jones) and Tyler.

"He's always been good in pick and roll and making decisions. But it's different when you are the primary ball-handler. I thought the most impressive thing he did today was he overcame fatigue.

"Because he was tired a few times out there and there was a couple tired plays where I turned to our coaches and said 'Should we sub and get him?' And they're like 'No, we can't.' And then he came back the very next time and made the right play."

Jones and MU big man Oso Ighodaro have always had a nice chemistry, but it really came to the forefront against Xavier. Ighodaro had 24 points, despite battling foul trouble in the second half.

"It was something we talked about when I was a freshman and he was a sophomore," Jones said. "We figured out this one trick coming off an empty screen. We just went up from there.

"And then that year, the (Golden State) Warriors and the (Boston) Celtics were in the (NBA) Finals and we seen what Steph (Curry) and Draymond (Green) was doing. We were just, like, there's no way we can't do that."

Even with all those nice passes, Jones is a bucket-getter above all else.

He hit some cold-blooded shots, none bigger than a high-arching, step-back three-pointer that gave the Golden Eagles a 75-73 lead with 3 minutes and 34 seconds remaining.

The Musketeers kept hanging around, but Jones added a tough reverse layup for an 80-76 advantage with just under two minutes left.

"I still got a little headache from it, but I was a little dazed, there was a loose ball and somebody kicked my head into the floor," Jones said. "It's all good, though.

"(The three-pointer) did feel good leaving my hands, and the hook also felt good coming out of my hands. I kind of figured those two were going in when I shot them."

The game played out like an old-fashioned scoring duel between Jones and Xavier's Quincy Olivari, who had 23 of his 32 points in the second half.

"He's a hell of a scorer," Olivari said. "I mean, I remember sitting on the bus when my team (Rice) was going to the CBI last season, (watching Jones) in the first round scoring 20 in the second half (against Vermont).

"I didn't know who he was because I didn't watch the Big East. But I was, like, that boy can score. And just his ability to control the game with Tyler out and with Oso in foul trouble, and just maintain the pace of the game and keep control when they were ahead. And when we were in the lead, not rushing. It shows his ability and growth as a player."

Ben Gold and Stevie Mitchell also hit tough shots

Jones wasn't the only MU player to knock down big shots.

Backup big man Ben Gold scored eight points, but he hit a three pointer that gave the Golden Eagles a 59-57 lead. Another triple broke a 61-61 tie.

Stevie Mitchell sank a three-pointer that gave the Golden Eagles a 78-74 advantage, and then he sank four free throws in the final minute. He also drew an offensive foul on Olivari just after Jones made his dramatic layup.

"It means a lot," Jones said. "They're just doing their thing out there. That ain't nothing that we know they can't do.

"I see how hard they work. We see how they work. They're just doing their thing out there. We've seen BG make that three plenty of times. Stew (Mitchell), if they want to keep leaving him open, please do. We'll take that all day."

It's the kind of victory that MU can build off going into the postseason. Smart has said that he expects to get Kolek back soon. The guard was out on the court and putting up shots a few hours before the game.

"I didn't want to tell the guys before the game, I didn't want to put undue pressure on them," Smart said. "Because we try to play out of approach goals instead of avoidance goals, but it absolutely was an incredibly big win for us.

"Not only because it's a Big East road win. But because I think our guys have played pretty darn well with Tyler out. And coming into tonight, we had nothing to show for it in the win-loss column. Obviously, we played maybe the best team in the country on Wednesday (Connecticut) and one of the top 10 teams in the country the previous Saturday (Creighton).

"But when you get to this level, there's no real awards given to playing well and losing. And you get to March, you have to find ways to win games like this. It's a big one for us."

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kam Jones helps Marquette Golden Eagles beat Xavier in Cintas Center