The Xavier men's basketball team had to swallow a heavy dose of its own medicine on Tuesday night in a 74-65 loss to Butler.
Xavier, who had been going to the free throw line 33.5 times per game to their opponents' 19.5 trips per game, saw the Bulldogs march to the free throw line 33 times in their victory.
The 26 points -- all in the second half -- that resulted from those free throws proved to be the difference in the game. The Bulldogs were able to overcome 30 percent shooting in the second half, by riding a strong performance at the line.
Meanwhile, Xavier could not find their stroke at the line, preventing them from consummating a constant comeback attempt. Xavier was only 12-22 from the line -- 10-17 in the second half.
The loss was Xavier's first in 15 games at Cintas Center, and second loss of the season after a 9-0 start. Xavier will be off until a home game against Robert Morris on Dec. 31.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Brown to be featured in SI
Sports Illustrated magazine is planning a feature on Xavier junior forward Derrick Brown. No word on when the story is scheduled to run, as of yet, just that it will be in one of the next few editions.
Tough start dooms Muskies against Duke
The Xavier University men’s basketball team came out stagnant, sluggish, and possibly awestruck in what had been dubbed by some as the biggest game in the history of the school’s regular season play, falling behind 18-1 in the first four minutes and falling to Duke University 82-64 on Saturday.
The Musketeers (9-1), allowed Duke to make eight of their first 10 shots –including three made three point field goals – to build what would prove to be an insurmountable lead before the first television timeout at 16:00 left in the first half.
“Clearly the start had a lot to do with today’s loss. Being down 18-1, it becomes hard no matter what you say because the fact is that you are down 20 points almost immediately,” Xavier had coach Sean Miller said. “Their start -- which they do to a lot of teams -- was the signature in today’s game.”
While Duke was lighting it up from the field early, Xavier could not get anything going offensively against Duke’s pressure defense, missing their first four attempts, turning the ball over four times and missing three of four free throws.
“Maybe in some aspects [we were a little bit scared],” junior forward Derrick Brown said. “That is not the team that we have seen through 46 practices and nine games. That is not the team that we are accustomed to being. It is disappointing because on a big stage like this we want to show everybody who we are. But you have to give credit to Duke. They came out and punched us in the mouth.”
The Musketeers would never be able to recover from the early hole, as Duke wings Gerald Henderson (19 points on the afternoon) and Jon Scheyer (23 points on 5-7 three point shooting) carved up Xavier’s signature pack-line defense with penetration and kick-out three point jump shots.
While Xavier would shoot 16-26 (61.2 percent) for the second half, it would not do much more than slim the final margain of victory against Duke’s second unit.
Falling flat in the much-anticipated matchup was the last thing on the minds of the Musketeer players as they made their journey to New Jersey, and proved to be a tough pill to swallow.
“I guess it has not sunk in yet. I am disappointed. No doubt that Duke is a better team, but not 18-1 better than us [to start the game]. I know that for a fact,” Brown said.
Xavier’s will have to prove that they truly are a better squad than they showed on Saturday as they move forward, something important with Butler (No. 2 in the RPI rankings) coming to Cintas Center on Tuesday, Dec. 23.
“It is important to move to the next game,” Miller said. “I don’t like the deficit that we lost by today, but we have a big picture. That means we have to be 10-1 after we play Butler. To have that record would be something to build on going in to our conference,” Miller said.
The Musketeers (9-1), allowed Duke to make eight of their first 10 shots –including three made three point field goals – to build what would prove to be an insurmountable lead before the first television timeout at 16:00 left in the first half.
“Clearly the start had a lot to do with today’s loss. Being down 18-1, it becomes hard no matter what you say because the fact is that you are down 20 points almost immediately,” Xavier had coach Sean Miller said. “Their start -- which they do to a lot of teams -- was the signature in today’s game.”
While Duke was lighting it up from the field early, Xavier could not get anything going offensively against Duke’s pressure defense, missing their first four attempts, turning the ball over four times and missing three of four free throws.
“Maybe in some aspects [we were a little bit scared],” junior forward Derrick Brown said. “That is not the team that we have seen through 46 practices and nine games. That is not the team that we are accustomed to being. It is disappointing because on a big stage like this we want to show everybody who we are. But you have to give credit to Duke. They came out and punched us in the mouth.”
The Musketeers would never be able to recover from the early hole, as Duke wings Gerald Henderson (19 points on the afternoon) and Jon Scheyer (23 points on 5-7 three point shooting) carved up Xavier’s signature pack-line defense with penetration and kick-out three point jump shots.
While Xavier would shoot 16-26 (61.2 percent) for the second half, it would not do much more than slim the final margain of victory against Duke’s second unit.
Falling flat in the much-anticipated matchup was the last thing on the minds of the Musketeer players as they made their journey to New Jersey, and proved to be a tough pill to swallow.
“I guess it has not sunk in yet. I am disappointed. No doubt that Duke is a better team, but not 18-1 better than us [to start the game]. I know that for a fact,” Brown said.
Xavier’s will have to prove that they truly are a better squad than they showed on Saturday as they move forward, something important with Butler (No. 2 in the RPI rankings) coming to Cintas Center on Tuesday, Dec. 23.
“It is important to move to the next game,” Miller said. “I don’t like the deficit that we lost by today, but we have a big picture. That means we have to be 10-1 after we play Butler. To have that record would be something to build on going in to our conference,” Miller said.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
YouTube Video of the Week: "Nobody's Perfect"
The Newswire would like to present the newest blog feature: The YouTube Video of the Week. The concept is fairly self-explanatory: Videos, either awesome or ridiculous, with some commentary from our end for good measure.
For the inaugural post, I'd like to introduce doglover199709.
I would post the video here, but unfortunately, Miss Doglover won't let other people embed her videos on their websites. You'll see why if you follow the link.
Nobody's Perfect
Nobody's perfect, maybe. But most people don't put their imperfections on YouTube.
And yes, that is a "miss."
From the first, determined look on her face--so exquisite in the flashing light--you know that you are about to view pure magic.
Observe: The move at 1:21.
There are no words. Well... there probably were, but comments have been disabled on her videos. Still, the "adoration" of her fans can still be seen in the video responses, where other YouTubers borrow her choreography.
Doglover, or Jordan, is 15 years old (uh huh.). But you better watch out, man. As her YouTube bio states: "I am just a nature girland I am also a tomboy. I can be a real good friend. If your not going to be nice to me, I wouldn't be around me at all because I can do some pretty mean things."
Mean things, man. Mean things.
I like to thank Miley Cyrus, Auburn Soccer Camp and McDonald's for making this video possible.
Be sure to check out her renditions of other favorites such as "So What" or "DISTURBIA!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Expect weekly updates with the newest internet fads (and some old favorites, as well).
For the inaugural post, I'd like to introduce doglover199709.
I would post the video here, but unfortunately, Miss Doglover won't let other people embed her videos on their websites. You'll see why if you follow the link.
Nobody's Perfect
Nobody's perfect, maybe. But most people don't put their imperfections on YouTube.
And yes, that is a "miss."
From the first, determined look on her face--so exquisite in the flashing light--you know that you are about to view pure magic.
Observe: The move at 1:21.
There are no words. Well... there probably were, but comments have been disabled on her videos. Still, the "adoration" of her fans can still be seen in the video responses, where other YouTubers borrow her choreography.
Doglover, or Jordan, is 15 years old (uh huh.). But you better watch out, man. As her YouTube bio states: "I am just a nature girland I am also a tomboy. I can be a real good friend. If your not going to be nice to me, I wouldn't be around me at all because I can do some pretty mean things."
Mean things, man. Mean things.
I like to thank Miley Cyrus, Auburn Soccer Camp and McDonald's for making this video possible.
Be sure to check out her renditions of other favorites such as "So What" or "DISTURBIA!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Expect weekly updates with the newest internet fads (and some old favorites, as well).
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Xavier beats Auburn, but Miller still upset with effort
The Xavier Musketeers men's basketball team escaped a late collapse against Auburn on Wednesday night to come away with an 81-74 victory over the Tigers.
The Musketeers jumped out to a 22 point lead with 11:36 left in the game before allowing the Tigers to close on a 37-25 run. Miller attributed the late Auburn run to problems by some of the Xavier players' lack of intensity.
"I was disappointed with our team's effort level. We have to address a couple of players. You are not going to start, you are not going to play unless you play hard," Miller said. "We gotta run back [on defense]."
The lack of defensive intensity down the stretch has become a common theme for the Musketeers. Xavier allowed a 23 point lead with 6:00 left be slimmed to 14 points in the final minutes against Toledo, and escaped with a three point win over Findlay in the exhibition game after holding a lead of greater than 20 points.
Miller noted the propensity to collapse late, and plans to cure the problem through added intensity in practice.
"The good news for me is that I have seven days before our next game, and around here it is going to be like we are 0-7," Miller said.
Miller cited Xavier's lack of strength with the ball, inability to accept fouls, or make the subsequent foul shots, lethargic effort in transition and offensive mistakes such as giving up the dribble in poor areas. Although he was apprehensive to name which players he was most displeased with, Miller did not seem to like the games that his upperclassmen leaders Derrick Brown and C.J. Anderson played, citing a poor game by Anderson and noting that the team needs Brown to "run hard."
While Anderson and Brown may not have put forth their best efforts, the team's other senior leader B.J. Raymond played his best game of his career, scoring a career high 32 points and grabbing six rebounds.
The 32 points was the highest total by a Xavier player since Stanley Burrell scored 32 against Duquesne in 2005, and was fueled by a hot night from long-range, as Raymond was 7-9 from three point range. Raymond, who had been shooting 28.6 percent from three point range on the year, attributed the success to a some changes in practice.
"I went back to the drawing board. My mechanics were good tonight: my balance, my follow-through. It had nothing to do with me lucking it in. [Once I found my shot], my teammates just found me, and I made some shots," Raymond said.
While Raymond was going off fro what Miller called "one of the best games that I have seen a Xavier player play in my eight years here," the rest of the Musketeers were struggling and failing to play at full intensity, something that did not escape Raymond.
"We are probably the worst 7-0 team in the country right now. We have to get better," Raymond said.
The Musketeers jumped out to a 22 point lead with 11:36 left in the game before allowing the Tigers to close on a 37-25 run. Miller attributed the late Auburn run to problems by some of the Xavier players' lack of intensity.
"I was disappointed with our team's effort level. We have to address a couple of players. You are not going to start, you are not going to play unless you play hard," Miller said. "We gotta run back [on defense]."
The lack of defensive intensity down the stretch has become a common theme for the Musketeers. Xavier allowed a 23 point lead with 6:00 left be slimmed to 14 points in the final minutes against Toledo, and escaped with a three point win over Findlay in the exhibition game after holding a lead of greater than 20 points.
Miller noted the propensity to collapse late, and plans to cure the problem through added intensity in practice.
"The good news for me is that I have seven days before our next game, and around here it is going to be like we are 0-7," Miller said.
Miller cited Xavier's lack of strength with the ball, inability to accept fouls, or make the subsequent foul shots, lethargic effort in transition and offensive mistakes such as giving up the dribble in poor areas. Although he was apprehensive to name which players he was most displeased with, Miller did not seem to like the games that his upperclassmen leaders Derrick Brown and C.J. Anderson played, citing a poor game by Anderson and noting that the team needs Brown to "run hard."
While Anderson and Brown may not have put forth their best efforts, the team's other senior leader B.J. Raymond played his best game of his career, scoring a career high 32 points and grabbing six rebounds.
The 32 points was the highest total by a Xavier player since Stanley Burrell scored 32 against Duquesne in 2005, and was fueled by a hot night from long-range, as Raymond was 7-9 from three point range. Raymond, who had been shooting 28.6 percent from three point range on the year, attributed the success to a some changes in practice.
"I went back to the drawing board. My mechanics were good tonight: my balance, my follow-through. It had nothing to do with me lucking it in. [Once I found my shot], my teammates just found me, and I made some shots," Raymond said.
While Raymond was going off fro what Miller called "one of the best games that I have seen a Xavier player play in my eight years here," the rest of the Musketeers were struggling and failing to play at full intensity, something that did not escape Raymond.
"We are probably the worst 7-0 team in the country right now. We have to get better," Raymond said.
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