kyxu
02-14-2010, 06:14 PM
Xavier brings show to the road, snags Gators in Gainesville, 76-64
by Mike Damone
Great challenges breed great opportunity. Such has been the rallying cry, and concern, since Xavier crafted its taxing non-conference schedule heading into this season. As solid as the Musketeers have been in Chris Mack’s first season at the helm, they entered Saturday evening’s contest in Gainesville against the Florida Gators (17-8, 6-4 SEC) still searching for that marquee road victory to complete their NCAA Tournament résumé.
Xavier (17-7, 8-2) had let previous opportunities in Indianapolis and Winston-Salem slip through its grasp, leaving the non-conference schedule devoid of any tangible reward. With their final opportunity before them, the Musketeers remained poised in withstanding the Gators’ rally, and pulled away in the final minutes to claim a vital non-conference road victory Saturday night over Florida, 76-64.
But typical of its road victories this season, Xavier built a substantial lead, only to see it evaporate in the second half before one or two Musketeers rescued the team from defeat in white-knuckle fashion. This time, however, it was a true team response.
The Gators had overcome Xavier’s 16-point, first-half advantage to take a two-point lead, 52-50, with under 11 minutes to go off a Ray Shipman free throw. But out of an apparently pivotal timeout, Xavier went on a 12-2 run that swung the game the Musketeers’ way for good.
Terrell Holloway (10 pts, 4 ast) tied the game at 52 on an up-and-under, finishing with his left hand, and Kenny Frease (12 pts, 3 reb) banged home a baseline jumper to give Xavier the lead for good, 54-52. Mark Lyons (2 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast) next forced a turnover in the backcourt, and found Dante Jackson (6 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast) for a wide-open three in the corner to stretch the Musketeers’ lead to five.
After a bucket inside by Vernon Macklin (12 pts, 10 reb), Frease jammed home an inbounds feed to put Xavier back up five, and Jordan Crawford (18 pts, 3 reb, 4 ast) put the Gators on their heels when he sprang free for an open triple from the wing to put Xavier up eight, 62-54, with 7:30 left in the game.
A three from the wing by Chandler Parsons (15 pts, 8 reb) brought Florida to within a possession, 62-59, but Crawford answered with three the hard way after a drive inside to put Xavier up six, and effectively send the contest the way of the Musketeers.
Crawford again took it to the rack through Florida’s defense with 1:32 left to extend Xavier’s lead to 10, 69-59, and a steal and breakaway layup from Holloway followed by a pair of freebies from Jason Love (20 pts, 10 reb) capped the scoring for the Musketeers to send them to the decisive road victory. Florida scored just five points the remaining 3:48 of the game.
Xavier bit the Gators early in the game, turning a 6-5 Florida lead into a 19-8 Musketeers advantage. Love was the culprit for Xavier’s early domination, notching 10 of Xavier’s first 19 points. Love owned the paint in the first half, spearheading Xavier’s 26 first-half points in the paint.
A triple from Jackson gave Xavier its largest lead of the half, 32-16, and Xavier maintained the advantage, 38-22, when Crawford got a steal and jam with 3:25 to go. But the Gators had some chomp left, closing the half on an 11-2 run, capped by a three from Kenny Boynton (12 points) to cut Xavier’s lead to seven, 40-33, at the intermission.
After a Crawford three from the top of the key brought Xavier back to a seven-point lead, 47-40, the Gators began to rapidly chip away at the Musketeer advantage, going on a 9-0 run that would give them their first lead of the half, 49-47.
Parsons got five points off the run to tie the game, and a one-handed jam from Macklin ended the run and brought the O’Connell Center to its feet with 12:27 to play. Xavier punched right back, however, as Frease quickly sat the crowd down, canning a mid-range jumper, and a free throw from Crawford gave Xavier the lead back, 50-49, with 11:19 to go.
A dunk from Alex Tyus (9 pts, 4 reb) gave Florida the lead back and a Shipman free throw extended Florida’s lead, 52-50, before Xavier went on the game-clinching run.
The Musketeers dominated Florida on the interior not only in scoring, but rebounding the basketball. No player was a bigger key to Xavier’s success on the glass against the Gators than Jamel McLean (8 pts, 13 reb) and his game-high 13 rebounds.
McLean’s effort on the offensive glass helped Xavier turn many wasted possessions into either second-chance points, or clock-burners with Florida attempting to rally. Xavier owned the boards, 44-36, including 19 offensive rebounds.
The Musketeers shot just 4-for-20 from long range, but capitalized where it counted, including rebounding and free throws, where they shot 72 percent for the game to Florida’s abysmal 52 percent. Xavier also turned the ball over a season-low seven times.
Despite playing just 22 minutes due to foul trouble, Love recorded his sixth double-double of the season, and paced the Musketeers in scoring with 20 points. Crawford followed with 18, with Frease chipping in 12. Holloway finished with 10 points, six of which came from the line.
Florida also had four players in double-figures, with Parsons leading the Florida offensive output with 15, followed by 12 apiece from Macklin and Boynton. Erving Walker (11 pts, 8 reb) added 11.
The win marks Xavier’s first non-conference road victory of the season, and fills a major hole in their portfolio for the NCAA Tournament, notching a victory on the homecourt of a top-70 RPI team.
The Musketeers return home for the first time this month to take on the St. Joseph’s Hawks on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Hawks (9-16, 3-8) are coming off a 70-62 loss at UMass on Sunday. In last year’s meeting at the Palestra, the Musketeers defeated St. Joe’s, 78-64.
by Mike Damone
Great challenges breed great opportunity. Such has been the rallying cry, and concern, since Xavier crafted its taxing non-conference schedule heading into this season. As solid as the Musketeers have been in Chris Mack’s first season at the helm, they entered Saturday evening’s contest in Gainesville against the Florida Gators (17-8, 6-4 SEC) still searching for that marquee road victory to complete their NCAA Tournament résumé.
Xavier (17-7, 8-2) had let previous opportunities in Indianapolis and Winston-Salem slip through its grasp, leaving the non-conference schedule devoid of any tangible reward. With their final opportunity before them, the Musketeers remained poised in withstanding the Gators’ rally, and pulled away in the final minutes to claim a vital non-conference road victory Saturday night over Florida, 76-64.
But typical of its road victories this season, Xavier built a substantial lead, only to see it evaporate in the second half before one or two Musketeers rescued the team from defeat in white-knuckle fashion. This time, however, it was a true team response.
The Gators had overcome Xavier’s 16-point, first-half advantage to take a two-point lead, 52-50, with under 11 minutes to go off a Ray Shipman free throw. But out of an apparently pivotal timeout, Xavier went on a 12-2 run that swung the game the Musketeers’ way for good.
Terrell Holloway (10 pts, 4 ast) tied the game at 52 on an up-and-under, finishing with his left hand, and Kenny Frease (12 pts, 3 reb) banged home a baseline jumper to give Xavier the lead for good, 54-52. Mark Lyons (2 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast) next forced a turnover in the backcourt, and found Dante Jackson (6 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast) for a wide-open three in the corner to stretch the Musketeers’ lead to five.
After a bucket inside by Vernon Macklin (12 pts, 10 reb), Frease jammed home an inbounds feed to put Xavier back up five, and Jordan Crawford (18 pts, 3 reb, 4 ast) put the Gators on their heels when he sprang free for an open triple from the wing to put Xavier up eight, 62-54, with 7:30 left in the game.
A three from the wing by Chandler Parsons (15 pts, 8 reb) brought Florida to within a possession, 62-59, but Crawford answered with three the hard way after a drive inside to put Xavier up six, and effectively send the contest the way of the Musketeers.
Crawford again took it to the rack through Florida’s defense with 1:32 left to extend Xavier’s lead to 10, 69-59, and a steal and breakaway layup from Holloway followed by a pair of freebies from Jason Love (20 pts, 10 reb) capped the scoring for the Musketeers to send them to the decisive road victory. Florida scored just five points the remaining 3:48 of the game.
Xavier bit the Gators early in the game, turning a 6-5 Florida lead into a 19-8 Musketeers advantage. Love was the culprit for Xavier’s early domination, notching 10 of Xavier’s first 19 points. Love owned the paint in the first half, spearheading Xavier’s 26 first-half points in the paint.
A triple from Jackson gave Xavier its largest lead of the half, 32-16, and Xavier maintained the advantage, 38-22, when Crawford got a steal and jam with 3:25 to go. But the Gators had some chomp left, closing the half on an 11-2 run, capped by a three from Kenny Boynton (12 points) to cut Xavier’s lead to seven, 40-33, at the intermission.
After a Crawford three from the top of the key brought Xavier back to a seven-point lead, 47-40, the Gators began to rapidly chip away at the Musketeer advantage, going on a 9-0 run that would give them their first lead of the half, 49-47.
Parsons got five points off the run to tie the game, and a one-handed jam from Macklin ended the run and brought the O’Connell Center to its feet with 12:27 to play. Xavier punched right back, however, as Frease quickly sat the crowd down, canning a mid-range jumper, and a free throw from Crawford gave Xavier the lead back, 50-49, with 11:19 to go.
A dunk from Alex Tyus (9 pts, 4 reb) gave Florida the lead back and a Shipman free throw extended Florida’s lead, 52-50, before Xavier went on the game-clinching run.
The Musketeers dominated Florida on the interior not only in scoring, but rebounding the basketball. No player was a bigger key to Xavier’s success on the glass against the Gators than Jamel McLean (8 pts, 13 reb) and his game-high 13 rebounds.
McLean’s effort on the offensive glass helped Xavier turn many wasted possessions into either second-chance points, or clock-burners with Florida attempting to rally. Xavier owned the boards, 44-36, including 19 offensive rebounds.
The Musketeers shot just 4-for-20 from long range, but capitalized where it counted, including rebounding and free throws, where they shot 72 percent for the game to Florida’s abysmal 52 percent. Xavier also turned the ball over a season-low seven times.
Despite playing just 22 minutes due to foul trouble, Love recorded his sixth double-double of the season, and paced the Musketeers in scoring with 20 points. Crawford followed with 18, with Frease chipping in 12. Holloway finished with 10 points, six of which came from the line.
Florida also had four players in double-figures, with Parsons leading the Florida offensive output with 15, followed by 12 apiece from Macklin and Boynton. Erving Walker (11 pts, 8 reb) added 11.
The win marks Xavier’s first non-conference road victory of the season, and fills a major hole in their portfolio for the NCAA Tournament, notching a victory on the homecourt of a top-70 RPI team.
The Musketeers return home for the first time this month to take on the St. Joseph’s Hawks on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Hawks (9-16, 3-8) are coming off a 70-62 loss at UMass on Sunday. In last year’s meeting at the Palestra, the Musketeers defeated St. Joe’s, 78-64.