CINCINNATI -- Xavier coach Chris Mack wasn't as concerned with Creighton scoring 93 points on Saturday as he was about how it all transpired.

In the end, the Musketeers will take the win and the sliver of momentum it provides them heading into the Big East Conference tournament.

Junior guard Myles Davis scored a season-high 24 points with five 3-pointers, and guard Trevon Bluiett added 17 as fifth-ranked Xavier held off a late Bluejays rally in a 98-93 victory at Cintas Center.

"My biggest concern is up 18 with five minutes to go and it whittles down to a one-possession game. That just shouldn't happen," Mack said. "I'd rather us learn by making our free throws at the end in a win, than sitting in here despondent over a loss."

Xavier was up 82-64 with 5:13 left before Creighton rallied to within two points in the closing seconds.

The Musketeers played much of the game without freshman point guard Edmond Sumner who scored two points in 11 minutes before fouling out.

His absence was felt when the Bluejays began pressing full-court, resulting in four turnovers in a three-minute span. Xavier committed 13 turnovers.

"With Edmond in the game, (handling) the press is ten times easier," Davis said. "At end of the day we should handle the press better than we did."

The start and finish of Saturday's game resembled the first meeting on Feb. 9 when Xavier struggled to make shots and Creighton kept control en route to a 70-56 win in Omaha.

The Musketeers went 1-for-21 from 3-point range in that game, then missed their first four attempts from beyond the arc on Saturday.

"The past couple of games we've kind of dealt with (slow starts)," Davis said. "We kept our composure today."

But, Xavier would heat up later, surging ahead with a 20-2 run to go up 58-43 with 15:58 left.

Senior forward James Farr, playing his final game at Cintas Center, had 16 points for the Musketeers (26-4, 14-4 Big East) who matched a school record with 26 regular-season wins.

"We've had a lot of teams here but none of them played the schedule we've played and won 26 (regular-season) games," Mack said.

Xavier seemingly had Saturday's game in hand leading 82-64 with 5:13 left.

But, despite being a man short with junior guard Isaiah Zierden out with a shoulder injury, Creighton roared back.

Guard James Milliken hit a 3-pointer, then two free throws after a foul was called on forward Jalen Reynolds.

The five-point play by Milliken, who led Creighton with 22 points, cut the Musketeers' lead to eight with 3:43 left.

Creighton's press resulted in a pair of turnovers leading to layups and the lead was down to two, 95-93 with 14 seconds remaining.

But, unlike Creighton, which went 19 of 30 from the free-throw line, the Musketeers made their free throws down the stretch to escape.

Forward Cole Huff added 21 points for Creighton (18-13, 9-9) which failed to sweep the Musketeers in the regular season and will face Seton Hall as the sixth seed in the Big East tournament.

Creighton came out firing on Saturday.

A flagrant foul called on Reynolds, followed by a 9-0 run by the Bluejays, gave them an 11-3 lead.

Creighton led by as many as nine points in the first half, but Xavier began to heat up later in the half.

After starting 2 of 9, the Musketeers closed the first half by going 13 of 20 including 5 of 7 from 3-point range.

Davis, who went scoreless in the first meeting against Creighton, hit a pair of 3-pointers, helping Xavier take a 44-41 lead into halftime after trailing for more than 14 minutes.

Milliken led Creighton with 14 points and Huff added 11 in the first half.

Freshman Kaiser Gates helped fuel the Musketeers' comeback with eight points and seven rebounds. He finished with 11 points and eight boards.

Xavier began the second half on an 11-0 run, including back-to-back 3s by Davis and Bluiett.

"We were playing catchup after that, which is hard to do in this building," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said.

The Bluejays nearly pulled it off, though.

Guard Ronnie Harrell Jr.'s steal on an inbounds pass and layup cut the Bluejays' deficit to 91-88 with 1:12 left. But Xavier held on.

"I didn't want a game in the 80s. I got one in the 90s," said McDermott.

"That's good coaching, I guess. I'm proud of how we fought a man down. Xavier doesn't have many weaknesses."

NOTES: The last time Xavier team had 26 wins in the regular season was in 2007-2008 when it reached the Elite Eight. ... Xavier wrapped up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Big East Conference tournament and will face the Marquette/St. John's winner on Thursday. ... After avenging an earlier loss to Creighton, the Musketeers finished the regular season with at least one victory over every team on its schedule. ... The Musketeers have spent 12 straight weeks in the Associated Press top 10. ... Creighton is one of only six teams to beat Xavier twice at Cintas Center since the arena opened in 2000.