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01-16-2009, 10:46 AM
Xavier turnovers don't turn away victory over URI, 67-65
By Mike Damone
They were demons Xavier coach Sean Miller thought had been exorcised over a month ago. When the Musketeers suffered back-to-back losses in late December, they turned the ball over a combined 33 times. But in winning four straight contests thereafter, the Musketeers averaged around 11 turnovers per game, and had seemed to base their offense around taking care of the ball.
That maxim unraveled a bit Thursday evening at the Thomas M. Ryan Center in Kingston, Rhode Island. The #15 Musketeers (14-2, 3-0) coughed up the basketball a season-high 22 times, leading to nearly half of their opponent’s offensive output, in a heart-stopping 67-65 win over the Rhode Island Rams (11-6, 0-2).
After freshman Brad Redford (8 points) and senior CJ Anderson (11 pts, 7 reb) connected on four consecutive free throws off a URI technical foul and personal foul, respectively, Xavier lead 59-56 with 6:03 remaining in the game. For an extended stretch in the second half, URI head coach Jim Baron, Sr., left his son, Jimmy Baron, Jr., on the bench to save him for the stretch run. Such a decision nearly led to Xavier’s undoing.
With 4:28 left in the game, and the score still 59-56, the younger Baron (19 pts, 4 ast, 3 reb) was subbed in and nailed a three-pointer almost immediately. URI had given the Musketeers fits on the inbounds play all night, and the next possession was no exception, as the Rams promptly turned Xavier over and found Baron on the right wing for a long jumper that gave URI back the lead, 61-59.
That 20-second span was indicative of nearly the entire game between the Musketeers and Rams, which saw 11 ties and 11 lead changes. Xavier had surrendered leads of 6 and 9 points to the Rams, allowing them to wrestle away momentum with turnovers due to the Rams’ full court pressure and Xavier’s own carelessness.
Fortunately for Xavier, sophomore Dante Jackson (3 pts, 3 reb) put an end to the giving mood. With the Musketeers trailing, 61-60, Jackson knocked down a long three – his only bucket of the game – to give Xavier the lead back for good, 63-61, with 1:45 remaining. Both teams went ice cold for the remaining 1:15, as the defenses tightened.
After Keith Cothran (11 pts, 4 reb) missed a jumper that would have tied the game, Xavier had to bring the ball up against Rhode Island’s pressure. Xavier was having trouble getting a good shot in their halfcourt set until Marquis Jones inexplicably fouled Xavier’s best free-throw shooter, freshman Terrell Holloway (10 points, 7 reb, 5 ast) nearly 35 feet from the basket. Holloway calmly dropped two free throws to give Xavier a two-possession lead, 65-61, with 31 seconds remaining.
Cothran quickly scored to cut Xavier’s lead to two, 65-63, with 16 seconds left, and Rhode Island quickly fouled senior Derrick Brown (12 pts, 8 reb), who pushed it back to a two-possession game, 67-63, with 13 seconds left. Baron attempted a long three that missed, but Xavier was unable to gather the defensive board, and Delroy James (14 pts, 6 reb) corralled it and put it back to cut Xavier’s lead back to two, 67-65, with five seconds to go. James immediately fouled Holloway on the inbounds, but he missed both from the line, allowing Rhode Island one final attempt in the waning seconds to win the game.
Baron mishandled the rebound off the missed free throw but was able to take the ball to halfcourt before hoisting for the win. The desperation attempt was way off, and Xavier escaped with a narrow victory, 67-65, for their first 3-0 start in conference play since 2005-2006.
The first half was a tightly-contested affair, with neither team taking more than a six-point lead in the opening half. A short jumper from freshman Kenny Frease (5 pts, 4 reb) put Xavier up six, 16-10, with 13:35 to go in the first frame. An 11-2 run by the Rams, capped by a Baron three, put URI on top, 21-18, with 9:57 to go in the first. Five straight points from senior BJ Raymond (10 pts, 8 reb) put Xavier back on top, 23-21, but an 8-2 run by the Rams, capped by a halfcourt alley-oop from Baron to Lamonte Ulmer (6 pts, 5 reb), put Rhode Island back up, 29-25, with 6:52 to go.
Another Baron three gave Rhode Island their largest lead of the game, 32-27, with 5:18 left. But Brown scored on a jam off an offensive rebound, and Holloway drove the lane for a hoop and foul to tie the score at 32 with 2:09 left. A Frease hook shot was answered by a Kahiem Seawright (9 pts, 12 reb) lay-up to provide the halftime score.
Anderson began the second half with his own 7-0 run, putting Xavier up 41-34 with 17:47 remaining. Anderson started the half with a hoop and foul, scored inside off an assist from Brown and scored again inside of an offensive rebound. It looked as if Xavier’s superior talent and experience would allow them to pull away in the second half, as a pair of free throws from Brown gave Xavier their largest lead of the game, 45-36, with 15:27 to go, while URI missed their first six shots over the half’s first three minutes.
That would hardly be the case. URI turned up the pressure on its fullcourt press, causing multiple turnovers in the backcourt that led to easy buckets. Seawright scored on a lay-up to get URI’s run going, followed by a turnover forced by Ulmer that led to another easy bucket. Another turnover forced by Ulmer parlayed into a three from Baron that brought the Rams to within two, 45-43, with just over 14 minutes left.
A pair of free throws from junior Jason Love (8 pts, 4 reb) pushed Xavier’s lead back to five, 48-43, before another 7-0 run gave the Rams back the lead, 50-48, with under 10 minutes to go. A James three put URI up by four, 54-50, but Redford quickly answered with a triple of his own, 54-53. Xavier would later go up by three off the four consecutive free throws from Redford and Anderson.
The Rams’ fullcourt pressure prevented Xavier from building any substantial leads, causing numerous turnovers in the backcourt. Xavier guards Holloway and Jackson combined for just seven assists to eight turnovers. The hot hand of Baron, who scored a game-high 19, also kept the Musketeers from getting too comfortable on the defensive end. Still, URI’s offensive total (65) tied for their season-low, and was 16 points below their season average. Xavier’s halfcourt defense also held the Rams to just 37.1 percent shooting. Xavier didn’t fare much better, making just 38.9 percent of their attempts from the field, but the Musketeers did shoot 76.9 percent from the free throw line (20-for-26) which went a long way toward winning the road contest in the conference. The win Thursday evening made Xavier a perfect 4-0 on an opponent's home floor this season. The Musketeers have not started 4-0 on the road since the 1989-90 season.
The Musketeers had four players in double figures, with Brown leading the way with 12 points to go with eight rebounds. Raymond added 10 points and another eight boards. Foul trouble saddled Anderson with only 17 minutes of play, but he still put up 11 points and pulled in seven rebounds. Holloway’s 10 were complemented by a career-high seven rebounds.
The Musketeers return home to the Cintas Center Sunday to take on the La Salle Explorers at noon. A win on Sunday would give Xavier its first 4-0 start in the conference since 2001-02 -- Miller's first year at Xavier as an assistant coach. In the teams’ previous meeting, Anderson lead the Musketeers with 16 points in a 75-62 win in Cincinnati. The Explorers (9-6, 1-1) are coming off a 58-51 win at Charlotte.
By Mike Damone
They were demons Xavier coach Sean Miller thought had been exorcised over a month ago. When the Musketeers suffered back-to-back losses in late December, they turned the ball over a combined 33 times. But in winning four straight contests thereafter, the Musketeers averaged around 11 turnovers per game, and had seemed to base their offense around taking care of the ball.
That maxim unraveled a bit Thursday evening at the Thomas M. Ryan Center in Kingston, Rhode Island. The #15 Musketeers (14-2, 3-0) coughed up the basketball a season-high 22 times, leading to nearly half of their opponent’s offensive output, in a heart-stopping 67-65 win over the Rhode Island Rams (11-6, 0-2).
After freshman Brad Redford (8 points) and senior CJ Anderson (11 pts, 7 reb) connected on four consecutive free throws off a URI technical foul and personal foul, respectively, Xavier lead 59-56 with 6:03 remaining in the game. For an extended stretch in the second half, URI head coach Jim Baron, Sr., left his son, Jimmy Baron, Jr., on the bench to save him for the stretch run. Such a decision nearly led to Xavier’s undoing.
With 4:28 left in the game, and the score still 59-56, the younger Baron (19 pts, 4 ast, 3 reb) was subbed in and nailed a three-pointer almost immediately. URI had given the Musketeers fits on the inbounds play all night, and the next possession was no exception, as the Rams promptly turned Xavier over and found Baron on the right wing for a long jumper that gave URI back the lead, 61-59.
That 20-second span was indicative of nearly the entire game between the Musketeers and Rams, which saw 11 ties and 11 lead changes. Xavier had surrendered leads of 6 and 9 points to the Rams, allowing them to wrestle away momentum with turnovers due to the Rams’ full court pressure and Xavier’s own carelessness.
Fortunately for Xavier, sophomore Dante Jackson (3 pts, 3 reb) put an end to the giving mood. With the Musketeers trailing, 61-60, Jackson knocked down a long three – his only bucket of the game – to give Xavier the lead back for good, 63-61, with 1:45 remaining. Both teams went ice cold for the remaining 1:15, as the defenses tightened.
After Keith Cothran (11 pts, 4 reb) missed a jumper that would have tied the game, Xavier had to bring the ball up against Rhode Island’s pressure. Xavier was having trouble getting a good shot in their halfcourt set until Marquis Jones inexplicably fouled Xavier’s best free-throw shooter, freshman Terrell Holloway (10 points, 7 reb, 5 ast) nearly 35 feet from the basket. Holloway calmly dropped two free throws to give Xavier a two-possession lead, 65-61, with 31 seconds remaining.
Cothran quickly scored to cut Xavier’s lead to two, 65-63, with 16 seconds left, and Rhode Island quickly fouled senior Derrick Brown (12 pts, 8 reb), who pushed it back to a two-possession game, 67-63, with 13 seconds left. Baron attempted a long three that missed, but Xavier was unable to gather the defensive board, and Delroy James (14 pts, 6 reb) corralled it and put it back to cut Xavier’s lead back to two, 67-65, with five seconds to go. James immediately fouled Holloway on the inbounds, but he missed both from the line, allowing Rhode Island one final attempt in the waning seconds to win the game.
Baron mishandled the rebound off the missed free throw but was able to take the ball to halfcourt before hoisting for the win. The desperation attempt was way off, and Xavier escaped with a narrow victory, 67-65, for their first 3-0 start in conference play since 2005-2006.
The first half was a tightly-contested affair, with neither team taking more than a six-point lead in the opening half. A short jumper from freshman Kenny Frease (5 pts, 4 reb) put Xavier up six, 16-10, with 13:35 to go in the first frame. An 11-2 run by the Rams, capped by a Baron three, put URI on top, 21-18, with 9:57 to go in the first. Five straight points from senior BJ Raymond (10 pts, 8 reb) put Xavier back on top, 23-21, but an 8-2 run by the Rams, capped by a halfcourt alley-oop from Baron to Lamonte Ulmer (6 pts, 5 reb), put Rhode Island back up, 29-25, with 6:52 to go.
Another Baron three gave Rhode Island their largest lead of the game, 32-27, with 5:18 left. But Brown scored on a jam off an offensive rebound, and Holloway drove the lane for a hoop and foul to tie the score at 32 with 2:09 left. A Frease hook shot was answered by a Kahiem Seawright (9 pts, 12 reb) lay-up to provide the halftime score.
Anderson began the second half with his own 7-0 run, putting Xavier up 41-34 with 17:47 remaining. Anderson started the half with a hoop and foul, scored inside off an assist from Brown and scored again inside of an offensive rebound. It looked as if Xavier’s superior talent and experience would allow them to pull away in the second half, as a pair of free throws from Brown gave Xavier their largest lead of the game, 45-36, with 15:27 to go, while URI missed their first six shots over the half’s first three minutes.
That would hardly be the case. URI turned up the pressure on its fullcourt press, causing multiple turnovers in the backcourt that led to easy buckets. Seawright scored on a lay-up to get URI’s run going, followed by a turnover forced by Ulmer that led to another easy bucket. Another turnover forced by Ulmer parlayed into a three from Baron that brought the Rams to within two, 45-43, with just over 14 minutes left.
A pair of free throws from junior Jason Love (8 pts, 4 reb) pushed Xavier’s lead back to five, 48-43, before another 7-0 run gave the Rams back the lead, 50-48, with under 10 minutes to go. A James three put URI up by four, 54-50, but Redford quickly answered with a triple of his own, 54-53. Xavier would later go up by three off the four consecutive free throws from Redford and Anderson.
The Rams’ fullcourt pressure prevented Xavier from building any substantial leads, causing numerous turnovers in the backcourt. Xavier guards Holloway and Jackson combined for just seven assists to eight turnovers. The hot hand of Baron, who scored a game-high 19, also kept the Musketeers from getting too comfortable on the defensive end. Still, URI’s offensive total (65) tied for their season-low, and was 16 points below their season average. Xavier’s halfcourt defense also held the Rams to just 37.1 percent shooting. Xavier didn’t fare much better, making just 38.9 percent of their attempts from the field, but the Musketeers did shoot 76.9 percent from the free throw line (20-for-26) which went a long way toward winning the road contest in the conference. The win Thursday evening made Xavier a perfect 4-0 on an opponent's home floor this season. The Musketeers have not started 4-0 on the road since the 1989-90 season.
The Musketeers had four players in double figures, with Brown leading the way with 12 points to go with eight rebounds. Raymond added 10 points and another eight boards. Foul trouble saddled Anderson with only 17 minutes of play, but he still put up 11 points and pulled in seven rebounds. Holloway’s 10 were complemented by a career-high seven rebounds.
The Musketeers return home to the Cintas Center Sunday to take on the La Salle Explorers at noon. A win on Sunday would give Xavier its first 4-0 start in the conference since 2001-02 -- Miller's first year at Xavier as an assistant coach. In the teams’ previous meeting, Anderson lead the Musketeers with 16 points in a 75-62 win in Cincinnati. The Explorers (9-6, 1-1) are coming off a 58-51 win at Charlotte.