Xavier comes up just short in game of inches

Every inch counts.
It is an old adage that is often applied to sports to inspire desire, but in a 60-55 loss to Pittsburgh in the Sweet Sixteen on Thursday night desire was not a problem for Xavier. Derrick Brown’s shoe size was.
With 1:20 remaining and Xavier leading 54-52 Brown chased down a ball thrown the length of the court by C.J. Anderson, appearing to give Xavier a critical possession and the ability to run the clock down.
It was not to be, as Brown’s toe touched the end line as he gathered the ball, giving Pittsburgh possession of the ball to set up heroics by Levance Fields. Fields would hit a step-back three point shot, cause a turnover and get a transition layin—a stretch that gave Pittsburgh the lead and separated them from Xavier.
“I thought the shot that Levance Fields hit says it all about a senior point guard,” Xavier head coach Sean Miller said.
For Xavier to be in a position in the final moments the Musketeers relied heavily on their familiar strength of lock-down halfcourt defense.
The Musketeers held Pittsburgh to 33.8 percent shooting on the night, including 35.5 percent in the first half when the Musketeers were able to build an eight point halftime lead. The key to holding the Panthers to 29 first-half points was containing sophomore center DeJuan Blair, who scored two points and grabbed four rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
“I tried to play him tough and be physical with him to keep him off of the boards,” Jason Love, the Xavier center who received the primary assignment on Blair said.
Blair would not remain quiet, however, as he broke out for eight points and 14 rebounds after halftime, contributing to a 9-0 run by the Panthers over the first 6:19 of the second half.
The scoring draught for the Musketeers would continue, as they shot 24.1 percent in the second half.
“It is disappointing that we could not finish the game,” C.J. Anderson said after scoring six points and grabbing eight rebounds in his final game at Xavier. “We felt like we had a good opportunity [at halftime], but we missed too many open shots.”
The misfires came after the Musketeers worked through the Pittsburgh defense, and got looks inside against Blair, but were unable to finish.
“It was a lack of execution,” Miller said. “We just missed some point-blank layups that you have to make in any game, particularly this tournament.”
While the missed layups hurt Xavier, they were still in the game in the final seconds.
“We missed layups. So what? We have missed layups before,” sophomore point guard Dante Jackson said. “I think the most disappointing thing was that we were not able to get that rebound, or that defensive stop.”
Despite the lack of lucky bounces in their final game, the Musketeers still had one of the most successful seasons in program history. They won a third straight Atlantic 10 regular season title, reached a third Sweet Sixteen in six year and won 27 games.
With only two seniors on the team—Anderson and B.J. Raymond—the Musketeers look to be among the top 10 teams in the country heading into 2009-10, and now have the desire to make up for a lost opportunity.
“It is going to motivate us to do much better next year. Guys will come back this summer hungry and ready to fight,” Jackson said. “It is the same situation as when we got beat two years ago by Ohio State [on a miraculous three point shot by Ron Lewis]. Hopefully it is a good omen.”
It doesn’t have to be that great of an omen; just good enough to make up for six inches.