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02-27-2009, 12:02 AM
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj89/xhoops/7f98ac62-eee8-4aea-bcd6-4b195f52b18.jpgXavier ends road skid, thumps St. Joe’s, 68-54
By Mike Damone
Since Sean Miller took over as Xavier’s head coach, few teams in the Atlantic 10 have given the Musketeers more problems than the St. Joseph’s Hawks. Miller was just 4-6 against Phil Martelli’s squad heading into Thursday evening’s contest at the Palestra, and hadn’t defeated St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia since January 2006.
To boot, the #19 Musketeers entered Thursday’s game on a three-game road losing streak spanning an entire month. With Xavier (23-5, 11-3) clinging to the top spot in the Atlantic 10, a win on a formidable rival’s home floor would be imperative if a third-straight regular season conference championship were to remain likely for Xavier.
St. Joe’s star Ahmad Nivins (24 pts, 8 reb) did everything in his power, but a hobbled Hawk team (14-13, 7-6) playing without starting guard Tasheed Carr couldn’t hang with the Musketeers for a full 40 minutes, succumbing to Xavier in the second half en route to a 68-54 thumping, and the Hawks’ fifth-straight loss.
Despite the absence of Carr, St. Joe’s fought off the early Musketeer charge to trail at the half by only five, 31-26. Nivins helped keep the Hawks within striking distance, scoring 13 first-half points.
But the Musketeer depth was too much for St. Joe’s, as Xavier scored the half’s first seven points to put the Musketeers up 12, 38-26, less than two minutes into the second half.
Junior Jason Love (7 pts, 2 reb) started the half with a lay-up, followed by a pair of free throws from senior CJ Anderson (10 pts, 8 reb), and then a three from senior BJ Raymond (18 pts, 6 reb) prompted Martelli to take a quick timeout.
With Xavier leading 41-31, Nivins scored five-straight points to cut into Xavier’s lead, 41-36, with 14:39 left in the game. The Musketeers answered with a 9-0 run to let the Hawks know there would be no upset that evening.
Junior Derrick Brown (18 pts, 10 reb) hit a long jumper, followed by another interior bucket from Anderson, a double-pump, reverse slam from Brown and another three from Raymond. The Hawks would get no closer than eight the rest of the way.
Love would later put the Musketeers up 15, 59-44, when he collected a hoop and foul with under five minutes left. A pair of free throws from sophomore Dante Jackson (2 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast) gave Xavier its largest lead of the game, 63-46. Xavier would also hit 7-of-9 down the stretch to provide the final margin.
St. Joe’s took its final lead of the game early in the first half when Idris Hillard (7 pts, 2 reb) scored to put the Hawks up 4-2. But Love quickly answered with a lay-up, and the Musketeers never again trailed.
Raymond knocked down his first triple of the game to put Xavier up 11-4 with 14:41 left in the first half, and freshman Brad Redford (8 points) followed shortly thereafter with a three of his own to put Xavier up 14-5.
Later in the half, Nivins scored four straight to cut Xavier’s lead to one, 23-22, with 5:25 left, but Brown canned a three from the corner on the Musketeers’ next possession to keep the Hawks at arm’s length. A pair of free throws from Nivins with 25 seconds left in the half cut Xavier’s lead to three, but freshman Kenny Frease (5 pts, 4 reb) tipped in a Jackson miss to put the Musketeers up five at intermission.
It was believed that Xavier needed to contain Nivins, the popular choice for the conference’s Player of the Year Award, in order to have a chance at defeating the Hawks in Philly, but Xavier’s superior depth allowed it to run away from St. Joe’s in the second half. Brown and Raymond led the Musketeer offense, while Brown pulled in a game-high 10 boards.
Xavier also punished the Hawks on the boards, 38-22, and forced St. Joe’s into 19 turnovers. Xavier’s point guard tandem of Jackson and freshman Terrell Holloway (4 assists) didn’t light it up offensively, but together contributed eight assists to zero turnovers.
The win gives Xavier its first road win since defeating LSU in late January in Baton Rouge, and the Musketeers’ first conference road win since defeating Saint Bonaventure on January 21.
The Musketeers will return to the Cintas Center for their final home game, a rematch against conference rival Dayton at 9 p.m. on Thursday. The Flyers drilled the Musketeers 71-58 two weeks ago at UD Arena, led by offensive outbursts from Marcus Johnson and Chris Wright. A pair of streaks will be on the line Thursday evening in Cincinnati: Xavier has not lost a home game to a conference foe in three years, while the Flyers have not defeated the Musketeers in Cincinnati since 1981. Dayton also trails the Musketeers in the conference standings by just 1.5 games. The Flyers (24-5, 10-4) are coming off a 70-65 victory over the Temple Owls.
By Mike Damone
Since Sean Miller took over as Xavier’s head coach, few teams in the Atlantic 10 have given the Musketeers more problems than the St. Joseph’s Hawks. Miller was just 4-6 against Phil Martelli’s squad heading into Thursday evening’s contest at the Palestra, and hadn’t defeated St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia since January 2006.
To boot, the #19 Musketeers entered Thursday’s game on a three-game road losing streak spanning an entire month. With Xavier (23-5, 11-3) clinging to the top spot in the Atlantic 10, a win on a formidable rival’s home floor would be imperative if a third-straight regular season conference championship were to remain likely for Xavier.
St. Joe’s star Ahmad Nivins (24 pts, 8 reb) did everything in his power, but a hobbled Hawk team (14-13, 7-6) playing without starting guard Tasheed Carr couldn’t hang with the Musketeers for a full 40 minutes, succumbing to Xavier in the second half en route to a 68-54 thumping, and the Hawks’ fifth-straight loss.
Despite the absence of Carr, St. Joe’s fought off the early Musketeer charge to trail at the half by only five, 31-26. Nivins helped keep the Hawks within striking distance, scoring 13 first-half points.
But the Musketeer depth was too much for St. Joe’s, as Xavier scored the half’s first seven points to put the Musketeers up 12, 38-26, less than two minutes into the second half.
Junior Jason Love (7 pts, 2 reb) started the half with a lay-up, followed by a pair of free throws from senior CJ Anderson (10 pts, 8 reb), and then a three from senior BJ Raymond (18 pts, 6 reb) prompted Martelli to take a quick timeout.
With Xavier leading 41-31, Nivins scored five-straight points to cut into Xavier’s lead, 41-36, with 14:39 left in the game. The Musketeers answered with a 9-0 run to let the Hawks know there would be no upset that evening.
Junior Derrick Brown (18 pts, 10 reb) hit a long jumper, followed by another interior bucket from Anderson, a double-pump, reverse slam from Brown and another three from Raymond. The Hawks would get no closer than eight the rest of the way.
Love would later put the Musketeers up 15, 59-44, when he collected a hoop and foul with under five minutes left. A pair of free throws from sophomore Dante Jackson (2 pts, 6 reb, 4 ast) gave Xavier its largest lead of the game, 63-46. Xavier would also hit 7-of-9 down the stretch to provide the final margin.
St. Joe’s took its final lead of the game early in the first half when Idris Hillard (7 pts, 2 reb) scored to put the Hawks up 4-2. But Love quickly answered with a lay-up, and the Musketeers never again trailed.
Raymond knocked down his first triple of the game to put Xavier up 11-4 with 14:41 left in the first half, and freshman Brad Redford (8 points) followed shortly thereafter with a three of his own to put Xavier up 14-5.
Later in the half, Nivins scored four straight to cut Xavier’s lead to one, 23-22, with 5:25 left, but Brown canned a three from the corner on the Musketeers’ next possession to keep the Hawks at arm’s length. A pair of free throws from Nivins with 25 seconds left in the half cut Xavier’s lead to three, but freshman Kenny Frease (5 pts, 4 reb) tipped in a Jackson miss to put the Musketeers up five at intermission.
It was believed that Xavier needed to contain Nivins, the popular choice for the conference’s Player of the Year Award, in order to have a chance at defeating the Hawks in Philly, but Xavier’s superior depth allowed it to run away from St. Joe’s in the second half. Brown and Raymond led the Musketeer offense, while Brown pulled in a game-high 10 boards.
Xavier also punished the Hawks on the boards, 38-22, and forced St. Joe’s into 19 turnovers. Xavier’s point guard tandem of Jackson and freshman Terrell Holloway (4 assists) didn’t light it up offensively, but together contributed eight assists to zero turnovers.
The win gives Xavier its first road win since defeating LSU in late January in Baton Rouge, and the Musketeers’ first conference road win since defeating Saint Bonaventure on January 21.
The Musketeers will return to the Cintas Center for their final home game, a rematch against conference rival Dayton at 9 p.m. on Thursday. The Flyers drilled the Musketeers 71-58 two weeks ago at UD Arena, led by offensive outbursts from Marcus Johnson and Chris Wright. A pair of streaks will be on the line Thursday evening in Cincinnati: Xavier has not lost a home game to a conference foe in three years, while the Flyers have not defeated the Musketeers in Cincinnati since 1981. Dayton also trails the Musketeers in the conference standings by just 1.5 games. The Flyers (24-5, 10-4) are coming off a 70-65 victory over the Temple Owls.