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01-01-2009, 11:29 AM
#22 Xavier bounces back with 78-57 dispatch of Robert Morris
by Mike Damone
After being stunted by the tough man-to-man defenses of Duke and Butler, as well as being decimated by these teams’ dribble penetration, when the #22 Musketeers (10-2) faced an opponent Wednesday night against which they had superior size, speed and athleticism, Xavier went back to what they do best.
And there aren’t many players who exemplify what Xavier is about more than junior center Jason Love, who lead the Musketeers to their final win of 2008 Wednesday night with 15 points off 7-of-9 shooting, along with six rebounds and three blocked shots in a decisive 78-57 defeat of the Robert Morris Colonials (6-7).
Love set the tone early for the Musketeers after the Colonials Ifeanyi Ehirim (6 points) scored the game’s first points off a short jumper. Love scored inside, scoring Xavier’s first five points, pulled down defensive rebounds and blocked some shots in the game’s opening minutes in helping Xavier run out to an early 11-2 lead.
Senior BJ Raymond (13 points) and freshman Kenny Frease (six points) capped off the early 11-0 run with a three and a hoop-and-foul, respectively, to complement Love inside. But Love wasn’t alone in putting away the Colonials early.
After struggling the last few games to have an impact, sophomore Jamel McLean pulled down a game-high 11 boards to go with seven points, and freshman sharpshooter Brad Redford scored a career-high 15 points off 5-of-7 shooting from long range. Redford’s efforts from deep were invaluable when Robert Morris switched to a zone in an attempt to slow the Musketeer offense. A couple of Redford’s threes ignited the crowd with their distance, as some of the made shots came from at least 30 feet.
Freshman Terrell Holloway earned his first career start at the point Wednesday night, and made the most of it, scoring six to go along with five assists and just one turnover.
An Ehirim jumper cut Xavier’s lead to 20-13 with 10:51 left in the first half, but Redford answered with the first of his five three’s, followed closely by his second after a Raymond jumper to push Xavier’s lead out to 28-13 with under nine minutes remaining in the half.
Another Redford three gave the Musketeers their largest lead of the first half, 38-19, with just under five minutes remaining. Four points inside from Love and a three from Raymond with 21 seconds left gave Xavier a 45-27 lead at the intermission.
The Colonials opened the second half with an 8-2 run to cut their deficit to 47-35, and soon trimmed Xavier’s lead to 50-39 off a lay-up from Jimmy Langhurst (six points) with 13:54 to go. But the mainstay Love teamed with Redford on a 10-2 run that put Xavier back up by 19 with just over 11 minutes left in the game.
After a Jeremy Chappell (17 pts, 5 reb) three with 8:14 to go cut into the Xavier lead, 66-48, a 7-0 run off a pair of free throws from Frease, sophomore Dante Jackson and a free throw and tip-in from McLean put Xavier up by 25, 73-48, with under six minutes remaining in the game. A lay-up by sophomore Andrew Taylor gave Xavier their largest lead of the game, 76-50, at the 3:21 mark. A 7-2 Colonial run against Xavier’s seldom-used reserves provided the final margin.
Though the win didn’t erase the sour taste from back-to-back losses to Duke and Butler, it did allow the Musketeers to finish off the year strong against an over-matched opponent. Xavier thumped the Colonials on the glass, 37-21, and held them to just 39 percent shooting. Xavier shot a little over 52 percent from the field, and a satisfying 74.1 percent from the free-throw line. Chappell lead all scorers with 17.
The Musketeers return to the road to take on an ACC foe in the Virginia Cavaliers in Charlottesville on Saturday. The Cavaliers (6-4) are coming off an 88-84 victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and will be looking to avenge last year’s 108-70 throttling at the hands of the Musketeers in Cincinnati.
by Mike Damone
After being stunted by the tough man-to-man defenses of Duke and Butler, as well as being decimated by these teams’ dribble penetration, when the #22 Musketeers (10-2) faced an opponent Wednesday night against which they had superior size, speed and athleticism, Xavier went back to what they do best.
And there aren’t many players who exemplify what Xavier is about more than junior center Jason Love, who lead the Musketeers to their final win of 2008 Wednesday night with 15 points off 7-of-9 shooting, along with six rebounds and three blocked shots in a decisive 78-57 defeat of the Robert Morris Colonials (6-7).
Love set the tone early for the Musketeers after the Colonials Ifeanyi Ehirim (6 points) scored the game’s first points off a short jumper. Love scored inside, scoring Xavier’s first five points, pulled down defensive rebounds and blocked some shots in the game’s opening minutes in helping Xavier run out to an early 11-2 lead.
Senior BJ Raymond (13 points) and freshman Kenny Frease (six points) capped off the early 11-0 run with a three and a hoop-and-foul, respectively, to complement Love inside. But Love wasn’t alone in putting away the Colonials early.
After struggling the last few games to have an impact, sophomore Jamel McLean pulled down a game-high 11 boards to go with seven points, and freshman sharpshooter Brad Redford scored a career-high 15 points off 5-of-7 shooting from long range. Redford’s efforts from deep were invaluable when Robert Morris switched to a zone in an attempt to slow the Musketeer offense. A couple of Redford’s threes ignited the crowd with their distance, as some of the made shots came from at least 30 feet.
Freshman Terrell Holloway earned his first career start at the point Wednesday night, and made the most of it, scoring six to go along with five assists and just one turnover.
An Ehirim jumper cut Xavier’s lead to 20-13 with 10:51 left in the first half, but Redford answered with the first of his five three’s, followed closely by his second after a Raymond jumper to push Xavier’s lead out to 28-13 with under nine minutes remaining in the half.
Another Redford three gave the Musketeers their largest lead of the first half, 38-19, with just under five minutes remaining. Four points inside from Love and a three from Raymond with 21 seconds left gave Xavier a 45-27 lead at the intermission.
The Colonials opened the second half with an 8-2 run to cut their deficit to 47-35, and soon trimmed Xavier’s lead to 50-39 off a lay-up from Jimmy Langhurst (six points) with 13:54 to go. But the mainstay Love teamed with Redford on a 10-2 run that put Xavier back up by 19 with just over 11 minutes left in the game.
After a Jeremy Chappell (17 pts, 5 reb) three with 8:14 to go cut into the Xavier lead, 66-48, a 7-0 run off a pair of free throws from Frease, sophomore Dante Jackson and a free throw and tip-in from McLean put Xavier up by 25, 73-48, with under six minutes remaining in the game. A lay-up by sophomore Andrew Taylor gave Xavier their largest lead of the game, 76-50, at the 3:21 mark. A 7-2 Colonial run against Xavier’s seldom-used reserves provided the final margin.
Though the win didn’t erase the sour taste from back-to-back losses to Duke and Butler, it did allow the Musketeers to finish off the year strong against an over-matched opponent. Xavier thumped the Colonials on the glass, 37-21, and held them to just 39 percent shooting. Xavier shot a little over 52 percent from the field, and a satisfying 74.1 percent from the free-throw line. Chappell lead all scorers with 17.
The Musketeers return to the road to take on an ACC foe in the Virginia Cavaliers in Charlottesville on Saturday. The Cavaliers (6-4) are coming off an 88-84 victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and will be looking to avenge last year’s 108-70 throttling at the hands of the Musketeers in Cincinnati.