Temple 55 XU 53

For the fifth time in 10 games the Xavier Musketeers will board the team bus after a tough loss away from Cintas Center and return home. The only difference is they know the next time they go through this routine it will be their last.
The sad march this time came after a 55-53 loss to Temple in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ.
While defensive lapses had been the common theme in the Musketeers previous four A-10 losses, the defense was not the issue on this night, as the Owls were held to 35.3 percent shooting and went 4-17 from three point range.
Instead, Xavier’s shortcomings came on the offensive end, where they struggled to a 34.5 percent shooting night.
“We put ourselves in a hole because of the way that we played on offense,” Miller said.
While the defensive effort kept the Musketeers in a back-and-forth battle, the Owls were able to turn a three point defecit into a 51-47 lead with 1:27 remaining in large part because of a 5:57 scoreless streak by the Musketeers.
While Xavier was able to get some production from senior B.J. Raymond (18 points) and junior Derrick Brown (19 points, 15 in the first half), they failed to receive much of a boost from their small forward and center positions. Senior forward C.J. Anderson failed to score for the first time this season, going 0-9 from the field, and
“C.J. has really struggled over the last month. That puts a lot of pressure on our offense. When he plays well, we are a much different team,” said Miller.
Anderson’s struggles were not alleviated by the center position, where junior Jason Love and freshman Kenny Frease combined for four points on 2-10 shooting.
“Those guys have done a good job as a 1-2 punch, but recently we have not gotten that production, and it certainly puts a lot of pressure on our offense,” Miller said.
A large part of Anderson and the center positioin’s scoring this season has come from the free throw line, a place where Xavier has struggled to get to in recent losses.
The Musketeers have shot 19 free throws per game over the last 10 contests, including a 5-9 performance on Friday night. In their five loses over that stretch, the number has been slightly lower, at 18.8 attempts per game.
This is an alarming statistic for the Musketeers, as without a stable point guard presence, or a pure scorer, they often have to rely on frequent trips to the free throw line to provide the requisite offense.