PROVIDENCE, RI −First-year Providence head coach Kim English had high praise for Xavier following his team's 85-65 loss to the Musketeers on Saturday afternoon at Amica Mutual Pavilion.

"Give Xavier a ton of credit. I thought they were incredible," English said. "I thought this was gonna be a great game between two desperate teams. There was one desperate team, and it was Xavier."

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In particular, English pointed out Xavier sophomore guard Desmond Claude, who scored 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting. In the first half, Providence led by as many as 11 before Claude went on an offensive tear to give the Musketeers a 41-40 lead at the break. In the first half, Claude had 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting and knocked down 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.

In the first half, Claude went right after Providence true freshman Garwey Dual for back-to-back buckets to start the game, putting Xavier up 4-0. On the outside, Providence was slipping under screens, forcing Claude to beat them from the perimeter.

He did just that. Claude rattled in a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:26 left in the first half to give Xavier a lead they would keep for the remainder of the game.

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"Desmond Claude is a 25% 3-point shooter who looked like a first-round draft pick," English said.

English is not wrong.

Entering Saturday's contest, Claude was 12-of-48 from beyond the arc this season. Claude had a five-game stretch without a triple during the non-conference slate, but he's been working on his perimeter shooting to help add another element to his game.

"I just continued to lock in, continued my routine and the game was going my way tonight," Claude said post-game. "We just stayed with the plan, continued to take good shots, trusted coach, trusted our offense and it was working out."

It was a bounce-back performance for Claude, who, as Xavier's only returning player from last year's Sweet 16 run, is the new leader in the locker room.

Claude has taken the big jump that was expected of him this offseason, but he had struggled getting shots to fall in the Big East this season. In the previous four conference contests, Claude averaged 12.7 points per game, but 39.2% of those points were from the free-throw line. He was just 14-of-47 from the field (29.7%), 3-for-9 from the perimeter and misfired on two game-winners in Xavier's one-point loss at Villanova.

Saturday's performance could be a turning point Xavier in many ways this season, but especially for Claude.

"This might've been his overall best game of the year. He (Claude) did it in and around the rim and he shot the ball from three with confidence," Xavier head coach Sean Miller said. "In the last two games, he's now hit five three-point shots. Des, I don't think has shot the ball like he's capable, but he's continued to work at it.

"When he's shooting like that from three, with some of the other things he's been doing well all season long, he really becomes that complete player."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Desmond Claude defies scouting report with 21 points vs. Providence