Almost a morality play today which does not happen often in days of one and one

[whopper]

When we lost 6 in a row, we heard "we can't afford to start Castlin", and "give Welage minutes to someone else". I watched their faces at end of losses to G-Town, Seton Hall, Depaul etc and the strain showed. They came here to produce..they thought the could "play up" and it did not look good. Did they hang their head? Did their coach give up? Not at all. Marshall injury did open up 40 minutes and damn if they did not take advantage!! Hankins was scoreless at half and I could see walking into the tunnel that he wanted to be part of it. Kudos to all three and to Steele for sticking with them, and to their teammates for not giving up on thiem. Without Marshall injury we never would have knows..we may not even have won today (even though he is a better all round player). Now we have some rejuvenated players going into the Big East and I have have to call in sick (first time) to my GREAT retiree substitute teaching job (Bridgeport CT) to see the Georgetown game. It reminds me why I love basketball best of all sports, and am so glad that my daughters went to X so I could be a fan. I will say that last Welage 3 attempt gave me pause but he actually came up with the rebound on defense. I can't wait to see the press conference, and may go to youtube to see "One on One"(Robby Benson) and "Hoosiers"(Indiana shooter?).Kudos to all and to the fans and players

[xukeith]

Steele said to B and J post game that yesterday was the best practice of the year and he felt positive about his guys.

[xudash]

This is a wonderful day for this program. So happy for the team and staff and administration and fans.

[mid major]

After the Mizzou debacle I told anyone and everyone who would listen a 4-14 conference record is where we'll finish so I'm happy, glad and ecstatic to eat some crow.

[XU 87]

The current team would beat the team that played at Missouri by about 25 points. It's incredible how much this team has improved in about a month.

[UCGRAD4X]

Talk about peaking at the right time. This could turn out to be the greatest Xavier story ever told. Win the BE tourney, which I do not think is far-fetched at all. They will likely face some pretty stiff to fierce competition throughout the NCAA's.

It is going to turn out to be quite a story going from a #1 seed disappointment (to say the least) to a team forgotten and 'left-for-dead' with no chance of garnering ANY post season consideration at all (much less the 'big' one) going to the FF for the first time in school history (dare I say, 'even more').

Hero to Zero and back again.

[drudy23]

The BE tourney is wide open. Literally, 10 teams could win it.

[xukeith]

Facing Bluejays, Villanova then Seton Hall or Marquette will be very tough.
I'd give Villanova the favorite odds with their seeding and experience from last year, then Seton Hall, then Creighton and X tied for winning it all .

[xu koop scoop]

I still think its possible we get in by making BE Finals if we have to beat Nova along the way. It really depends on what plays out elsewhere. Winning the BE Tourney would be something Mack couldnt do. Thanks to our entire team for making this an enjoyable season, regardless of final outcome

[noteggs]

Couldn’t find a good place to put this video. After re-reading Whoppers post looked like a good place because he hit some of the key points. Local FOX did a recap of season and liked Q’s interview at the end.

https://t.co/8pL9NGSEbl?ssr=true

[XfansinKy]

Great post. I'm guilty of thinking these kids just couldn't adjust to the size and speed of these Big East players. I wondered how Castlin could possibly be having fun out there catching, passing, and then running back to play zone. Anything short of a meltdown and these guys have made a lot of us eat a big ol crow sandwich.

[whopper]

Amazingly enough and I did not know until I looked at the DVR, the grad transfers scored the last 19 points of the game(6 Zach, 6 Ryan 7 Kyle) for Xavier from 6 minutes on when it was a 2 point game. Remarkable and I pray that they will be well utilized at MSG. This was a. team that was an NCAA "lock" at the time

[UCGRAD4X]

Amazingly enough and I did not know until I looked at the DVR, the grad transfers scored the last 19 points of the game(6 Zach, 6 Ryan 7 Kyle) for Xavier from 6 minutes on when it was a 2 point game. Remarkable and I pray that they will be well utilized at MSG. This was a. team that was an NCAA "lock" at the time

That is impressive, and very encouraging. Not having to depend on Scruggs, Naji or even Q to carry us at the end of the game is awesome. My main criticism during much of the season was their inability to close out games...hero ball, turnovers, not handling pressure and all that. Always wondering who we're going to be able to count on as the clock wanes.

It is nice to have a number of guys we can count on - makes it much harder on the opponent's defense down the stretch.