Game Thread: Xavier v Norfolk State (11/21/2021)

[paulxu]

https://www.brickeconomy.com/resources/images/sets/lego-8804-3_large.jpgVS. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR3hAcYzg-VUtxrQoe-R4COrOcaUB8BJwFM_g&usqp=CAU

THE MATCHUP

XAVIER UNIVERSITY MUSKETEERS (3-0) VS.
NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY SPARTANS (5-0)
SUNDAY, NOV. 21, 2021 AT CINTAS CENTER (10,224)

TV, RADIO & LIVE STATS

Television: FS1 with play by-play from Adam Alexander and analysis from Nick Bahe.
Radio: 55KRC with play-by-play from Xavier Hall of Famer Joe Sunderman ('79) and analysis from Xavier all-time leading scorer and Hall of Famer Byron Larkin ('88). Xavier broadcast is also available on Sirius XM channel 381 and SXM App. 981.
Live Stats: Media stats at Statbroadcast.com and fan stats at GoXavier.com.

[paulxu]

Hall of Fame induction weekend. New members honored at halftime:


This year's class includes a pair of men's basketball players who led Xavier to championship success, Justin E. Cage ('07) and Gary L. Lumpkin ('99). Luke C. Spencer ('13) helped moved men's soccer into the national spotlight, while Dennis F. Caponi ('67) enjoyed success on the football squad. Doug D. Matthews ('09) put together the most successful playing career in men's tennis history and has been the head men's and women's tennis coach at Xavier since 2015.

I sort of wished they'd honored Cage during the OSU game.

[Lloyd Braun]

I’ve watched a decent amount of Norfolk State since about January of last year. They should compete again for the MEAC title. Fun fact: their coach Robert Jones won the Skip Prosser award a couple years ago. X should win but this team can be feisty.

[Xville]

Will be interesting to see the response from the team, especially in the first half. Human nature coming off a huge emotional win against a lesser opponent to come out a bit flat. Add to that a noon game on a Sunday and I wouldn’t say I’m worried, but wouldn’t be surprised if the team plays uninspired.

[Lloyd Braun]

Line opened at -18.5 so I hit it hard (for NS) and now it’s at -16.5.

[xu82]

I don’t remember Xavier ever playing at the same time as the Bills. GRRRR!

[bobbiemcgee]

I’ve watched a decent amount of Norfolk State since about January of last year. They should compete again for the MEAC title. Fun fact: their coach Robert Jones won the Skip Prosser award a couple years ago. X should win but this team can be feisty.

Gotta guard the 3 pt line, they can shoot them.

[American X]

Over/Under on Xavier missing 20 three-pointers?

[SemajParlor]

Looks like Norfolk can really score.

[noteggs]

Will be interesting to see the response from the team, especially in the first half. Human nature coming off a huge emotional win against a lesser opponent to come out a bit flat. Add to that a noon game on a Sunday and I wouldn’t say I’m worried, but wouldn’t be surprised if the team plays uninspired.

Think the announcer read your post. Ha

[Xville]

Well, they came out firing! Impressed!

[Strange Brew]

Over/Under on Xavier missing 20 three-pointers?

Way over.

[American X]

Noice start! 10-0!

Got a couple beers down in solidarity with the student section. Not even mad at Kid X5 for waking me at 5am after going to concert last night thus allowing me to go to 7am Mass and pour a pregame cold one before noon.

[American X]

Nate Johnson was ruining the 20 missed three-pointers...then Kunkel checked in and instantly delivered.

Odom passed on the layup to find the shooter in the corner to miss a three...but that play ended up with awesome Colby dunk.

[noteggs]

Great D to this point and penetration by the offense

[SemajParlor]

Colby Jones is a special talent.

[Xville]

Some really good ball movement, and glad to see Stanley getting some time and contributing….team is obviously pumped for him

[Lloyd Braun]

Colby Jones is a special talent.

+1. Try to find a weakness!

[American X]

The play leading to the Colby dunk is the best basketball that I have seen all season...

...and welcome to the season, Ben Stanley!

[whopper]

Stanley scoring made my day..had 2 good games last year and got hurt in incidental contact v Johnnies and I kind of wondered if he would ever come back. Seems like a great teammate and nice to know with Nate and Paul gone next year(after Final 4?) we have so many ready to step up

[drudy23]

This is how you take care of business in a game where you should take care of business.

[noteggs]

I don’t remember Xavier ever playing at the same time as the Bills. GRRRR!

Doesn’t seem like you’ll miss much of Bills game at this rate

[Lloyd Braun]

Hunter the distributor is a nice role for him.

[xu82]

Just got back from my son’s and had the TV already on when I walked in. Saw the big lead and immediately switched to football, because I have it recording and want to see every second of how we got there!

[noteggs]

Boneheaded play Jerome

[noteggs]

Is Colby going to get a double double at half?

[bjf123]

That’s a double double for Colby in the first half. He needs to become an assist machine in the 2nd half and go for the triple.


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[Lloyd Braun]

There’s an elephant in the room however …. Lots of guys getting run.

[markchal]

When is the last time we had 7 blocks in a half??? Nunge gives us something we haven't had in awhile (since Hankins at least) in terms of rim protection.

Kunkel and Johnson have been fantastic, nice to see them starting to get in the flow better.

Surprised they put Scruggs back in there with two fouls and up 30. Let Odom develop more, he's still in a bit of a funk. Or maybe pull another guard off the bench? lol. Good to see Edwards/Stanley in there.

I know they aren't a great team, but neither was Niagara! Glad to see us taking care of business and playing hard (and smart, great passing out there).

[GreatWhiteNorth]

Miles and Edwards were missing the FTs. Norfolk can’t be that bad…….are they?

[Xville]

There’s an elephant in the room however …. Lots of guys getting run.

He’s gotta be thinking why did I come back

[markchal]

They were a tournament team last year and won the play-in I thought...also they just beat BG on the road. They were favored to lose by 8 and won. Not that BG is great or anything, but the team isn't abymsal

[noteggs]

There’s an elephant in the room however …. Lots of guys getting run.

I have no idea what you are talking about…ha!

[Lloyd Braun]

They were a tournament team last year and won the play-in I thought...also they just beat BG on the road. They were favored to lose by 8 and won. Not that BG is great or anything, but the team isn't abymsal

Yea they are a way better team than how they are playing. They look like tired legs… not a good excuse because they are 20 years old but has to play a small part. X is playing with intensity which is great to see

[xukeith]

Miles and Edwards were missing the FTs. Norfolk can’t be that bad…….are they?

They are tops in their conference.

[xavierj]

Xavier’s length is not a good matchup for them. They will win a lot of games.

[drudy23]

Colby's rebounding is irrational it's so good.

[Strange Brew]

Love Lenny Kravitz Edwards!

[markchal]

Take Scruggs and Jones out for the rest of this one...no more eye gouges or injuries, focus on the tournament later this week

[GreatWhiteNorth]

X has the same shooting % for 3 pts and FTs, strange.

[American X]

This announcer talking about Colby Jones sounds like Champ Kind talking to Ron Burgandy.

[paulxu]

I'm thinking Hunter should not shoot any 3's.

[Strange Brew]

This announcer talking about Colby Jones sounds like Champ Kind talking to Ron Burgandy.

Hahahahaha! Thank you.

[paulxu]

Kunkel can hit the 3 when in the flow, and properly set.
Also...Johnson.

[noteggs]

Let’s save some of those 3’s

[bjf123]

Let’s save some of those 3’s

^^^This^^^


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[whopper]

Seeing some left handed strength from Stanley and Miles which I thought benefited Kanter..always a tough guard. Now you can see a front line (with Zach back) where we have no holes. Very impressive performance after a sloppy few minutes. Miles makes a FT

[drudy23]

Not sure Norfolk is all that good, they shoot a ton of terrible shots - but this is how you should treat terrible teams.

Hopefully it gets Kunks and Nate to a consistent spot for the rest of the season.

[kxblue]

There’s an elephant in the room however …. Lots of guys getting run.

Great performance, love watching this team play defense even if it’s against smaller teams.

But has Steele commented at all on Tandy? I feel for the guy, went from sure starter last year to not even seeing the court in blowouts. Maybe he’s still a little sick, but if not, kind of feel like Steele should have pushed him harder to transfer. No one is going to win in this situation and if Tandy is still an asset in the locker room, well he def has more patience than most kids his age.

[Xville]

Pick the score will be interesting lol

[American X]

Not sure Norfolk is all that good, they shoot a ton of terrible shots.

A week ago we were not sure Xavier was all that good and they shot a ton of terrible shots.

[GreatWhiteNorth]

Kunkel is burning it from the 3pt line. Great game for him to build confidence.

[paulxu]

I would be OK if Kunkel, Johnson and Scruggs were the only one to take 3's from now on.

[bjf123]

Pick the score will be interesting lol

Just a bit! I’m way off.


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[noteggs]

Guess Kunkel’s shooting mechanics are ok…

[Xville]

Guess Kunkel’s shooting mechanics are ok…

We’ll see. Much easier to shoot against a team like that especially in a blow out when the other team is barely playing defense

[Strange Brew]

Well, that was fun!

[American X]

It's like every player added 100 basketball IQ points in the last week. Everyone did all the right things all across the court.

[bobbiemcgee]

Hard to believe they put 90 on BG on the road.

[noteggs]

We’ll see. Much easier to shoot against a team like that especially in a blow out when the other team is barely playing defense

True, but hard to hit 8-10 against any if he doesn’t have decent mechanics in live action.

[Xville]

True, but hard to hit 8-10 against any if he doesn’t have decent mechanics in live action.

Yeah agreed.

[xukeith]

Great performance, love watching this team play defense even if it’s against smaller teams.

But has Steele commented at all on Tandy? I feel for the guy, went from sure starter last year to not even seeing the court in blowouts. Maybe he’s still a little sick, but if not, kind of feel like Steele should have pushed him harder to transfer. No one is going to win in this situation and if Tandy is still an asset in the locker room, well he def has more patience than most kids his age.

Bronchitis set him back. Didn't help himself.

[SemajParlor]

Starting to see some of that depth come to life like we did with the 9-1 start last year. This team can be special, gotta get better each week.

[xukeith]

Good to see our starting 2 guard and out bench 2 guard go combined 66% from 3 point land.

[MADXSTER]

Kunkel with 26 points in 26 minutes, Crazy

[bjf123]

Bronchitis set him back. Didn't help himself.

KyKy did pass up an open shot to make a pass, maybe to Kunkel, and get an assist. Had one other assist, but did miss on his one shot. Seemed to be a little more dialed in on defense.


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[xu82]

Watching the recording now. After the Bills whopping, I need some happiness!

[xu82]

I’m still in the first half, but Colby Jones is a stud, and will only get better!

[drudy23]

A week ago we were not sure Xavier was all that good and they shot a ton of terrible shots.

Long way to go - this team will be defined come Big East season.

Headed in the right direction, but a lifetime of a season left.

[XUGRAD80]

Kunkel with 26 points in 26 minutes, Crazy

So far in his Xavier career, he has shown himself to be what we always referred to a streak shooter. When he gets hot anything he throws up there is going in, but when he’s not he can lay a lot of brick. I’m hoping that he is hot much more often than not.

[bjf123]

Long way to go - this team will be defined come Big East season.

Headed in the right direction, but a lifetime of a season left.

Yep. I’m trying not to read too much into this and the Ohio State games. Too many instances of being burned after drinking the early season kool aid. Still, these were two very well played and coached games.


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[Olsingledigit]

Doesn’t seem like you’ll miss much of Bills game at this rate

You would have been better missing the Bills. Our Colts took care of business.

[xukeith]

So far in his Xavier career, he has shown himself to be what we always referred to a streak shooter. When he gets hot anything he throws up there is going in, but when he’s not he can lay a lot of brick. I’m hoping that he is hot much more often than not.

I have not seen the streaky AK. Last season I only remember him struggling to make 3’s . Hope it’s a new him.

[bleedXblue]

Becoming VERY, VERY clear why Kunkel is playing and KyKy isn't.

Honestly KyKy didnt even look like he was all that interested in playing yesterday. Sort of strange. I think he lacks the burning desire to really want to compete and play significant minutes. He looks like he always has IMHO.

[XUGRAD80]

I have not seen the streaky AK. Last season I only remember him struggling to make 3’s . Hope it’s a new him.

He was 2-4 against UConn and Marq, and 3-3 against Butler…..last year. Otherwise he certainly did struggle, and that’s putting it mildly.

[xavierj]

Becoming VERY, VERY clear why Kunkel is playing and KyKy isn't.

Honestly KyKy didnt even look like he was all that interested in playing yesterday. Sort of strange. I think he lacks the burning desire to really want to compete and play significant minutes. He looks like he always has IMHO.

I thought he was pretty good and engaged his freshman year. Enough so that other coaches voted him to the all Big East freshman team. Last year he was engaged until he stopped playing and then it was all down hill for him. Yesterday he played 7 minutes and had 2 assists, but tough to show much when you ride the pine in a 30 point blowout.

I am sure he knows why he isn’t playing. Seems like a good kid and seems that his teammates like him as far as I can tell so don’t think he is a bad teammate or anything. Heard reason he came back is that he just really likes it at Xavier.

[drudy23]

I have a feeling there will be a game that he wins for us if he can stay engaged. The season is a marathon and weird things will happen along the way with sickness and injuries.

[xudash]

I have a feeling there will be a game that he wins for us if he can stay engaged. The season is a marathon and weird things will happen along the way with sickness and injuries.

Totally agree. And would love for it to happen, with his teammates tackling him in the corner after the big shot.

[American X]

Steele must be so pissed that we did not get the usual 20 missed three-pointers! What is he going to not flinch at now?

Is Cesare Edwards from outer space or the future?

Looking forward to the games in New York this week. All the teams we could face are about as good as Norfolk State, right?

[xuwin]

I thought he was pretty good and engaged his freshman year. Enough so that other coaches voted him to the all Big East freshman team. Last year he was engaged until he stopped playing and then it was all down hill for him. Yesterday he played 7 minutes and had 2 assists, but tough to show much when you ride the pine in a 30 point blowout.

I am sure he knows why he isn’t playing. Seems like a good kid and seems that his teammates like him as far as I can tell so don’t think he is a bad teammate or anything. Heard reason he came back is that he just really likes it at Xavier.

Xavier played 6 guards yesterday. When you are the 6th guard off the bench 7 minutes is generous. It's up to him to move up in the rotation.

[bobbiemcgee]

He was 2-4 against UConn and Marq, and 3-3 against Butler…..last year. Otherwise he certainly did struggle, and that’s putting it mildly.

If you have ever had a bad case of bronchitis, you know it takes sometimes weeks to get your strength back.

[bleedXblue]

To be clear, I'm a KyKy fan.........I am sure it is clear in practices that he's one of the last guards in terms of depth on this team

When he wins a gold jersey or two, that might signal something (i dont put much stock into the jersey thing)

Agreed, he will likely get some minutes in a big game at some point, and hopefully he seizes the oppty

[XUGRAD80]

If you have ever had a bad case of bronchitis, you know it takes sometimes weeks to get your strength back.

I was giving stats for Kunkel from last year.

[Xavier]

I have a feeling there will be a game that he wins for us if he can stay engaged. The season is a marathon and weird things will happen along the way with sickness and injuries.

Completely agree. His best attribute is scoring, and being able to do so by himself. We haven’t quite needed that yet but we will need sparks and he can be a great spark to the offense.

I have liked to rotations, when Freemantle gets back and as Stanley gets healthy I will be curious to see how Steele handles it. That doesn’t even mention KyKy who may have more of a role as he gets his health and legs back from being sick.

[UCGRAD4X]

Whose minutes will KeeKee get?

[bleedXblue]

Whose minutes will KeeKee get?

I don't think anyone is saying he's getting someone else's minutes right now.

I think it will be a game where someone gets into foul trouble or someone is having a tough game and KyKy will get an oppty

[kxblue]

Whose minutes will KeeKee get?

I would like to see him get some of Johnson and Kunkel’s when they have off nights. If he had been healthy vs Kent st for example, I would hope he could at least get a 4 minute block in that first half when shots weren’t falling.

Clearly Tandy’s defense isnt as strong and he’s been punished for it. But it’s tough to know where Tandy’s game is unless you’ve been to practice (I def haven’t).

My frustration is Tandy was clearly supposed to be one of the best players last year and his game seemed to decline rapidly once his playing time got cut. Then he started pressing and he didn't see the court ever again. Maybe he’s lost some passion and doesn’t mind seeing the court less. But I think for both parties (X and Tandy) it would have made a lot of sense to part ways after last year if Tandy wasn’t a key part of this year.

So I’m hoping it’s just early and he’s still recovering. But given his potential his freshman year, it’s tough to understand what’s gone wrong here and why someone who looked like a massive impact player is relegated to playing only in blowouts.

I’m afraid X is much closer to a 30% 3pt team than the 45% we saw vs Norfolk. Tandy’s shooting should be an asset when trying to figure out who has the hot hand.

[MADXSTER]

Norfolk State is 9-1 and has the most NCAA wins thus far. No MEAC team has ever started a season 9-1.

[GoMuskies]

They're in Wichita this weekend. We'll find out more abot them then. Actually, they'll be playing the Shockers (who just won at OK State) while we're busy playing OK State.

Wait, I have that wrong. Wichita State is playing K-State Sunday. Norfolk State is next Saturday.

[GoMuskies]

Hampton threw in a miracle shot at the buzzer to beat Norfolk today.