Xavier 77 Portland State 59

The 2008-09 season has been a roller coaster ride for Dante Jackson.
Forced to play out of position at the point guard spot, the sophomore has struggled through inconsistent play on both ends of the floor, multiple benchings and countless tongue lashings from head coach Sean Miller.
Nonetheless, Jackson has persevered, and found himself back in the starting point guard role in Xavier’s first round NCAA Tournament matchup with Portland State.
Jackson turned in his best game of the season—13 points, three assists, one turnover and four steals—to lead Xavier to a 77-59 win.
In what figured to be a decided mismatch in favor of Portland State at the point guard spot, Jackson outplayed Big West Player of the Year Jeremiah Dominguez, limiting the senior to 13 points—none in the second half—three assists, one turnover and four steals.
“Dante, to me, is a winner,” Xavier head coach Sean Miller said. “He knows for our team to [win] he's got to be a hawk on defense, guardingother good players at different positions, [which he did tonight].”
Jackson’s ability to neutralize Dominguez on the perimeter forced Portland State to rely on their three point shot, which Xavier contested effectively, holding the Vikings to 38.1 percent from three.
Meanwhile, Xavier continued their efficient three point shooting, as Jackson and B.J. Raymond combined for six three point shots, part of an 8-21 effort for the Musketeers.
The three point shot for Xavier was opened up by the resurgence of small forward C.J. Anderson, who scored 14 points after being held to 0-9 shooting in a 55-53 loss to Temple in the Atlantic 10 semifinal on March 13. Anderson’s ability to get into the lane, attract attention and score or create for teammates allowed the Musketeers to shoot 53.7 percent from the floor.
“C.J., any time he is aggressive he makes our team better,” Raymond said of his fellow senior. “He's getting shots for the shooters, but he's also puttingfouls on the other team… He's a pit bull and we appreciate it.”
Anderson was one of four Musketeers in double figures, as Xavier moved the ball effectively, running their offense with a season-low seven turnovers.
Everybody has confidence in the other players' ability to put it on the floor or make the right decisions,” Raymond said. “So we love to share the ball and see our teammates succeed.”
With the collective mentality offensively, and the added advantage of a deeper bench, Xavier was able to separate themselves in the second half with a 13-0 run after the 13:14 mark.
“I thought our defense and size really started to wear them down,” Miller said. “A lot of times if you're a good defensive team you can really get to the other team's heart… in the middle of the second half and I thought that really happened [tonight].”
Xavier will need to sustain a similar level of defensive intensity in their second round matchup with Wisconsin in what figures to be a low-scoring defensive battle.
But if they are able to get heroics from role players like Jackson, the Musketeers will look to advance to their third Sweet Sixteen in the last six years. They just have to hope that the drop-off does not follow the crescendo on the Jackson roller coaster.