UCLA 76 Xavier 57

Xavier's season came to a close today at the hands of top-seeded UCLA. The Bruins did it on the defensive end, forcing Xavier to shoot 34 percent fromt he field, their second lowest to only the Arizona State game in December. As the players entered the locker room they were emotional, with Stanley Burrell reduced to tears, yet it seemed to intensify once the doors closed. Standing outside of the Xavier locker room it was amazing how every man that walked out of the locker room appeared as if they had just left a funeral of a clos friend. Fr. Graham, the assistant coaches, the managers all filed out of the locker room with the same emotionally distant look on their faces. Once inside the locker room the picture was equally as bleak. Dante Jackson was rolled up in a ball in a corner, most players stared blankly at the wall with towels over their heads. It was clear that they were not ready for this ride to come to a halt. Yet the "just played a better team" in the words of coach Miller.
UCLA's defensive pressure on the perimerter was just too much to handle. "Collison is even more impressive in person," Miller said. Beyond that the inside game of Kevin Love and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute combined for 23 rebounds, 12 of which came on the offensive end.
Miller delivered a rousing oration after the game to the local media, and when asked the all important question of his future he confidently said, "I will be back at Xavier." I have to say he had me convinced, but at the same time I would hold on to the tape of that quote for a few weeks.
Miller, like he has all year praised his seniors for their leadership, and said he hopes Xavier can build on this the next few years.
"We want to be that program that can sustain it, not through five year, but 10. That is much harder to do than a quick hit and go."
Miller also said that he, "hopes to get a couple commitments [from 2009 recruits] here in the next couple weeks."

3:57

Kevin Love is an almost impossible box out down low. It is amazing how he is able to consistently get offensive, rebounds even when guys like Jason Love come into the ballgame distinctly to stop Love on the glass. He has 10 rebounds, half of whihc are on the offensive end. UCLA 69 Xavier 49

8:32

Xavier made their run. A 7-0 run to get to 51-37. UCLA responded to the challenge. Burrell was incensed at the last block call and got a warning from Ed Hightower. 60-43 UCLA

13:39

Collison is hitting shots. The Musketeers gaurds are not. Collison now has 15 points, and just hit a tough 3. It doesn't help that Xavier is 2-7 at the line. 51-30 UCLA

15:35

Well the run came..... for UCLA. This one might be out of reach. Kevin Love is having his way in the paint, just easily converting over Duncan. And UCLA is starting to hit jumpers. That spells doom for XU. 45-28 UCLA

17:41

Drew Lavender came up limping after a lay-up a few moments ago. Although Xavier has been able to get into the lane, UCLA is an underrated shot-blocking team, especially if it is 5'7 Lavender shooting. Xavier just can't find an open look. Still they are within striking distanc eif they can slap together a run. 38-28 UCLA

33-24 UCLA at the half

Xavier may not have the athletes to play above the rim at times with UCLA. That is what it takes to get rebounds against the Bruins after they force you into tough shots with their defense. Xavier was 11-33 in the first half. Honestly it could have been significantly lower, if not for a few Derrick Brown dunks (Brown has 10 on four dunks). Xavier will need to box out in the second half to have a chance. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute killed Xavier on the glass, grabbing eight rebounds, four offensively, and getting to the line four times as a result. Boxing him and Love out on the inside. Xavier has more depth, so they may get a burst in the second half as a result.

1:35

Xavier is 0-3 at the line, belying their free throw shooting reputation. On the other hand UCLA is 6-7. that s the difference. UCLA 31-22

3:58

Xavier is struggggglingggg on offense. Yet, getting some hussle points such as Burrell's jumper in transition a mooment ago. They have to keep UCLA off of the offensive glass, namely Love who has two rebounds and put back so far.

7:38

Xavier is suffering from severe ball pressure at the moment and struggling to get the offense going. UCLA has scouted Xavier well and knew that a hard double team on Jason Love a moment ago will produce a turnover 9 times out of 10. Still Xavier's defense is keeping them in this game. 18-15 UCLA

10:46

Neither team is lighting it up on the offensive end. Xavier is getting some decent looks on offense, just not getting them to go, yet. By my count they have missed 6 makable shots in the paint so far. But are still hanging in, down only 16-13. It has helped that Kevin Love has been on the bench for some time now, and UCLA runs their offense through the big man.

15:55

It's early but Xavier is having trouble with the UCLA defense. Just had a 35 sec. violation. The lone bright spot is Brown dunking on Love twice.

Indiana job

This courtesy of Espn.com's article abou the prospects for the Indiana head coaching job:
"The source said that Indiana has been told that a potential buyout for Xavier's Sean Miller would be too rich for Indiana."

Survey of the rest of the Tourney

Davidson is having an unbelievable Tournament fueled by the sophomore shooting guard Stephon Curry. Curry has become a living legend in Davidson, N.C. and is the MVP of this Tournament so far.
The thing that surprises me though is his NBA Draft stock. He is currently listed as the number 19 pick in the 2009 Draft according to DraftExpress.com and the number 25 pick in 09 according to NBADraft.net. My question is how is he listed that low. He is undoubtedly the best pure shooter in college basketball, and could easily score 15-20 points per game in the NBA playing alongside a slashing point gaurd, or decent big man who could draw in defenses for kick out opportunities. The thing that seperates Curry to me from guys like J.J. Reddick is that he can create his own jump shot opportunities off of the dribble. Granted, Davidson runs the majority of their offense for Curry to come off of a screen from the post players and get a look, but Curry can also score if that screen does not give him an open look off of the catch. These are the types of things that a player like Reggie Miller or Chris Mullens (or, heck, Dell Curry in his prime) were able to do in order to score in the NBA. The only thing that Curry is missing is the strength to be able to guard the NBA shooting gaurds. He has the quickness to stay with them, but right now they would just abuse him in the post. But I can't see the likes of Gerald Henderson, DaJuan Summers, or DaVon Jefferson being better pros than Curry.

Saturday Morning

Walking around the hotel and downtown Phoenix I am struck by the number of people wearing UCLA gear. By a rough estimate 3/4 of the people I have been seeing are wearing a UCLA shirt today. Given Xavier struggles on the road this season I am concerned about Xavier having to play a game where 15,000 if the 19,000 in attendance are pulling for the other team.

Dante Jackson on the impact of this run on next year's squad

Obviously Xavier is focused whole heartedly on today’s matchup, but I was curious what this run might mean for next year’s team.
“It is gonna boost our confidence as far as being able to compete with the ‘power conferences.’ I think our team is obviously focused on staying in the moment, and foucusing on UCLA. I know that making this Tournament run will help our recruiting status. But for now we are just focused on beating UCLA and advancing to the Final Four.”
The rescruits that Jackson might be alluding to are Ari Stewart, Durand Scott, and Terrance Shannon of the class of 2009 who are still uncommitted.

Playing the 'What If' game

It has come to a foregone conclusion that Xavier would not be playing in this year’s Elite Eight if they had had not been denied the chance to play in last year’s Sweet Sixteen by a late comeback by Ohio State. That experience has molded this team.
“Our game against Ohio State a year ago gave this team a great perspective of what the NCAA Tournament is about. I think those experiences have helped our team this year,” Miller said.
With that said, there are many other things that had to go right for Xavier to get this far. Here are just a few. Xavier would not be playing in today’s Elite Eight if:
-C.J. Anderson was still a senior at Manhattan College. His low-post power and rebounding prowess is something that Xavier just did not posses before he came on board. 12 points and 10 rebounds vs. WVU were crucial.
- B.J. Raymond never hits the game winning 3 against St. Joe’s on Feb. 10. The shot gave Raymond the confidence to take and make big shots in big spots. Like, say with 30 seconds left in a Sweet Sixteen game.
-Dante Jackson does not emerge into the player that he is on offense, and with timely jump shots.
- Stanley Burrell does not make his commitment to defensive intensity and leadership.
- Josh Duncan does not turn up the intensity in February to a level where he is now almost ungaurdable with his combination of inside-outside play.
- Jason Love does not “make the leap” from a ‘decent big body who can rebound,’ to ‘a legitimate double-double threat.’
-Sean Miller does not turn down Michigan and any other suitor this past offseason. This will be the key once again this offseason as Miller will be flooded with offers. Should he deny them all, Xavier will be in a position to sustain this level of basketball for years to come. If not then Chris Mack will likely take over, and have to try and pick up where Miller left off.

The Unknown

I was wearing my Crosstown Shootout shirt yesterday, I got this conversation happened about six times. Each one almost identical:
Other Person: “Do you go to Xavier (they pronounce it Egg-zavier)?
Me: Yeah
OP: “Oh wow, you guys are playing really well, I didn’t expect you to be playing this well.”
Me: “Yea it is an exciting time for the school.”
OP: “Now where is the school, I have been trying to figure that out for a while.”
Me: “Cincinnati, Ohio”
OP: “Really?!?”

I guess the Xavier Marketing department has some work to do….

Friday Morning

Good Morning, er afternoon, er whatever it is. 3 hour time change and a 20 hour day yesterday has me thrown off a bit.
I just arrived at the U.S. Airways Center for today's sessions. Mike Bobinski is in the Media work room. He is training to take over for the NCAA Tournament committee, so has been stationed in other regionals, yet seems to have taken the trip for the high magnitude of this game, even if it is just a brief moment of checking in.
Xavier will have a media session soon, followed by UCLA.

Battle of the hair?

Watching the WKU-UCLA game, which UCLA id dominating, I am thinking ahead to a possible show-down between two of the best in college basketball. That's right James Keefe vs. Joe Hughes. Yes, indeed. By my estimation, the sheer grossness (is that a word?) of Keefe is only matched by the hairy creature that resides at the end of the XU bench.

Burrell's poor defensive game

Stanley Burrell usually leads his team from the defensive end, yet today he was displeased with his defensive play by his own personal assessment:
“Personally I played terrible on defense. I made so many mistakes…. It was more of the moving, he screening and the cuts that threw me off. Not nowing if I am going to get backscreened or downscreened. It kept me off balance. They did a nice job in the second half of not doing so much dribbling, because if they do that then I am going to take over. But they did more cutting…. I am hoping to play better in the next game. You have to own up to your mistakes, and I made a lot tonight.”

With such a horrible game from their defensive leader it is no wonder that Xavier was having so much trouble stoping WVU late. A lot of credit should go to Huggins to for making the switches that Burrell is eluding to.

Xu 79 Wvu 75 (OT)

Wow! In an offensive showcase in the second half Xavier scored the final blow. Neither team seemd to be able to record stops yet Xavier capitalized on some missed free throws by West Virginia in overtime to take the game. B.J. Raymond was the hero by hitting 2 overtime 3's including the game winner (in my mind the game winning 3 seemed to take a year for the pass to reach Raymond and for him to release it since it was right in front of me, yet it developed quickly in real time I suppose and was without a doubt the biggest shot of the year).
While Raymond's shot wil be rememebered a man who had 26 points, 5 boards, and played the last 17+ minutes with four fouls, Josh Duncan was the MVP.
"It was probably the best game of my life," Duncan said from a jubilant Xavier locker room.
"It was a great game on the biggest of stages," added his coach Sean Miller.
Xavier will move on to play the winner of the UCLA-WKU game. Some people were joking after the game that we should go sit in the WKU section and cheer for the Hilltopers. I can see why. UCLA is up 41-20 at the half and their players seem fairly pleased as I am stationed near their locker room and can hear them loud and clear.
It will be a tough game for Xavier, but they have never backed down from opponents before, and will not now. A chance at a Final FOur is at stake and XU has a legitimate shot. This will be fun to watch.

4:30

Alexander just fouled out on an extremely questionable blocking call. Changes WVU's whole offense now. 67-65 WV

14.2

Alexander's turnaround and foul. Misses free throw. Same move he has been doing all game. Come across the lane off of a cross screen, turnaround and bank it in.
X squanders opportunity to score on poor shot by Lavender. OT 64 all.

3:51

Dante Jackson hit another clutch 3 with around 7 to go. That's arguably the 2 biggest 3's of this season, both by a freshman if you include Jackson's 3 vs. Georgia.
Correction: Alexander has 3 fouls the scoreboard is a misprint.
Alexander appeared to flop for all of the world a minute ago. It was a charge on Brown. Alexander is dodging some bullets on fouls.
WVU 59 XU 57

11:39

Alexander has been playing with 4 fouls. Xavier has attacked him every time down with post-ups, yet he has held his ground. If they keep going at him it is only a matter of time though. In the meantime Alexander is carrying his team on offense. He has come alive and now has 12 to lead the Mounties. XU 50 WVU 47

14:28

Duncan going to the line for a free throw after a HUGE basket in the paint. WVU had cut it to 1 on a 3 by Da'Sean Butler and Xavier has been struggling to score with Duncan on the bench with 2 fouls. C.J. Anderson's 10 points and play in the paint have been a bright spot but the Duncan basket was sorely needed. Xavier needs to focus on not letting Alexander get off. He hit a jumper, but with Brown out of the game Alexander cannot catch fire or else XU will be in trouble.

18:23

C.J. Anderson just had a strong drive to stop a scoring draught and WVU run. Anderson's aggressiveness is keeping the Muskies offense afloat.

Halftime

Xavier flipped the roles the they have been playing so far in this Tournament by starting well, and finishing in a slump, allowing WVU to close the half with the score at 32-25. Xavier went cold from the field which was the root of the problem, but also allowed 3 easy layups off of dribble penetration and blown assignments in transition late in the half. Still Miller has to be pleased that his team was able to come out firing on offense, and if they find their stroke once again they will be able to retake control of this ballgame.

3:48 1st half

No Calls. Get used to 'em. The refs are letting them play a bit down low. Which would favor WVU the shooting team at the line. WVU just made a run, but did not convert on a key possesion where they had Da'Sean Butler matched on Lavender. X responded with a bucket by Duncan. Their first in over 4 minutes. XU 30 WVU 20

11:52 1st half

Burrell just made his first NCAA 3 since the Gonzaga game 2 years ago. On the next possesion he drove, albeit a turnover, it was an aggressive pplay. A key coming in was Burrell being aggressive an exploiting the slower Ruoff. So far so good.

15:53 1st half

Xavier came out hot for the first time in the Tournament. It helps that WVU has missed some easy shots inside, and Alexander just missed an open 3. XU 10 WVU 2

WVU vs. XU 1st Half

4 minutes to tip and the place is about 1/3 full it seems. I figure most of the crowd is still to come as UCLA fans bought up a majority of the tickets in advance

U.S. Airways Center

The Media Airea here at U.S. Airways center is a converted practice gym for the Suns. It is pretty sizeable, yet about 50 spots have already been claimed some 4 and a half hours before tip-off. I am truly impressed by the arena, and that has nothing to do with the free food that they are supplying.
Word is only two teams are doing walk thrus this morning, Western Kentucky and Xavier. those two teams are coincidentilly the two teams with coaches making their first sweet 16 appearance, so take that for what it is worth. (personally I attribute it to Xavier's pregame routine all season so why change now, but that's just me)

St. Joseph's Postgame

This was a tough loss for Xavier. Everything seemed to be going against the Musketeers. They couldn’t make a three pointer to save their life and it seemed like everything that Pat Calathes threw up was good. At the press conference after the game coach Miller admitted that Xavier just didn’t have an answer for him. The St. Joseph’s crowd really seemed to make it into a home game for the Hawks, who improved their NCAA Tournament chances. They have an rpi of 50 right now, and that should improve tomorrow after this victory. It will be interesting to see how many teams the Atlantic 10 ends up getting into the NCAA tournament. Earlier in the year, talk of as many as 5 teams getting in seemed realistic. About a week ago however, it seemed like it might be down to just Xavier, but now there are hopes that the league can send 4 teams with Xavier, St. Joseph’s. UMass, and Temple all getting bids. St. Joseph’s should move into lock territory after today, and probably one more bid is up for grabs between Massachusetts and Temple. Charlotte is still a possibility though because they are still alive for the automatic bid.

St. Joseph's Halftime

St. Joseph’s is leading at halftime by 10 points. Xavier is really having trouble scoring the ball in the first half. They are shooting 0-7 from three point range and had three 35 second shot clock violations. They need to come out in the second half shooting the ball much better. B.J. and Josh need to find their shot immediately or St. Joe’s could make this game out of reach. This feels a lot like the game at St. Joe’s two weeks ago.

St. Joseph's Pregame

20 minutes until game time and it is obvious that this will nearly be a home game for St. Joe’s. There must have been buses taking students from the university to Atlantic City because hordes of them are just walking in. The attendance for tonight’s games should be much higher as there are two Philadelphia schools still in the tournament and it is about an hour drive from both universities. Hopefully Xavier can overcome the crowd and the Xavier fans that did make the trip can be loud.

Also, I think it is really funny how one of the TV announcers is also a prominent member of the WWE. If you are watching on TV, check out this web site and compare: http://www.wwe.com/superstars/smackdown/jonathancoachman/photos1/.

St. Joseph's Pregame

Tonight at 6:30pm, Xavier will take on the Saint Joe’s Hawks for the third time this season. With Xavier annually beating Dayton, Xavier and St. Joseph’s having recent postseason success, and the competitive games that they have played against each other, many people think that St. Joseph’s might be turning into Xavier’s Atlantic 10 rival. The series this season was a split with the Muskies winning at home and losing on the road. According to Joe Lunardi and other self-proclaimed Bracketologists, the Hawks are on the bubble; making this a must win game. St. Joseph’s has been playing very well in the tournament so far, easily handling Fordham on Wednesday and Richmond yesterday. This should be another great game between the two teams.

Yesterday, second seeded Temple beat La Salle 84-75 and sixth seeded Charlotte upset third seeded UMass 69-65. Following the Xavier game, the Owls will take on the 49ers at 9:00.

A-10 Tournament

Xavier will be playing St. Joseph’s in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament tomorrow. This will be a tough match up for Xavier, their two games this year against St. Joseph’s have both been very close this year. St. Joseph’s has looked really impressive in this tournament, easily handling both Fordham and Richmond. Xavier will easily provide St. Joseph’s hardest test for this tournament, and it will be interesting to see if Xavier can hold them off on a neutral court this time, as St. Joseph’s will have their most motivation of the year to try and make the NCAA Tournament.

A-10 Tournament

Xavier swept Dayton by 3 games for the second year in a row on the strength of a balanced scoring attack led by Josh Duncan with 16 points. Drew Lavender was able to play 32 minutes, so he and the coaches must think his ankle is close enough to fully recovered to start playing him the way they normally would. His shot was a little off but he more then made up for it by leading the team with 6 assists and just 1 turnover.
B.J. Raymond struggled to guard Marcus Johnson all night though, allowing him to score 26 points as well as get B.J. into foul trouble throughout the game. Hopefully he can bounce back before the next game, where Xavier may have to face St. Joseph’s for a third time this year, and both games have been very close.