No. 8 Xavier remained unbeaten with a 76-53 home victory over crosstown rival Cincinnati in a game stopped with 9.4 seconds left after a bench-clearing brawl.

The emotions of the rivalry bubbled over when Xavier’s Tu Holloway and Cincinnati’s Ge’Lawn Guyn exchanged words in front of the Cincinnati bench, sparking the altercation. Both teams spilled onto the floor. Several punches were thrown by players on both teams. Xavier’s Kenny Frease walked off the court with a bloody face.

The officials stopped the game at that point, and it took several minutes to clear both teams off the court. The officials remained at the scorer's table, reviewing footage of the melee.

Mark Lyons scored 19 points for the Musketeers (8-0), who trailed 23-22 with 5:45 remaining in the first half. Xavier then took charge, with Lyons scoring five points during the run and Holloway added a 3-pointer as the Musketeers built a 34-25 halftime lead.

Xavier pushed the lead to 43-27 in the opening minutes of the second half and led by 12 points or more the rest of the way. Holloway added 17 points, and Frease finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Cincinnati (5-3) never got on track offensively, shooting just 27.9 percent from the field and going 1-for-16 from 3-point range. Cincinnati’s two leading scorers, Sean Kilpatrick and Dion Dixon, combined to shoot just 7-for-28 from the field.

Yancy Gates led the Bearcats with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Dixon scored 14 and Kilpatrick added 11.

Xavier hosts Oral Roberts on Dec. 18. Cincinnati plays Wednesday at Wright State.