CINCINNATI - St. Louis University did what no Atlantic 10 Conference team had done in more than five years, knocking off Xavier at home.

SLU hit some clutch free throws down the stretch to hold on for a 73-68 win over the Musketeers. SLU improves to 16-4 overall, 4-2 in A-10 play and in a league where road wins are hard to come by, got a victory that establishes them as being among the top teams in the league. Xavier is 13-7, 4-3.

Xavier had won 43 straight Atlantic 10 Conference games at Cintas Center, covering this season and all five of the seasons before it, going back to 2007. SLU hadn't beaten Xavier, which has won five straight A-10 regular-season titles, since 2007.

Brian Conklin led SLU with 19 points and Rob Loe had 14 points and eight rebounds. Cody Ellis had 11. SLU shot just 31.8 percent in the second half but made 18 of 24 free throws, including nine straight to close the game and 13 of its last 14.

SLU opened up a 14-point lead early in the second half, but by the 10:20 mark, it was all gone and Xavier had tied the game at 50-50. But SLU didn't flinch. The Billikens responded with an 8-0 run to retake the lead and silence the Cintas Center crowd, which had actually been booing the Musketeers early in the half when SLU got two straight offensive rebounds.

Every time Xavier got close, SLU answered, though its poor free throw shooting denied them some breathing room. Jordair Jett hit two free throws with 2:21 to go to put SLU up 69-64, and then somehow his reverse layup with about 40 seconds to play didn't go in after some bounces on the rim.

Two free throws by Tu Holloway cut the lead 69-67 with 36.7 seconds left, but Mitchell hit two free throws at 29.6 seconds to put the lead back at five. But when Mike McCall hit two free throws at 19.5 seconds, SLU's lead was five one more time. Xavier's Mark Lyons missed his first 3 of the game, putting up an air ball with 9.7 seconds left and the Xavier fans started heading for the exit. Once SLU inbounded the ball, they ran out the clock.

SLU took led by as many as 13 points in the first half, making seven of 14 3-point tries. The Billikens had assists on 13 of their 15 first-half baskets, as they worked the perimeter to spring their shooters for good looks and found players driving to the basket.