Scouting Xavier-Baylor NCAA-Take Two!!
My computer skills are somewhat limited so I may have inadvertantly deleted my carefully crafted XU-Baylor Preview. Trust me! It wasn't all that special. So here are some quick takes. Andre Walker did not practice today (Thursday) at the Georgia Dome (headache from the whack he took vs Notre Dame). Just shows how tough he is-returning to the Lehigh game and scoring a critical lay-up and blocking a big shot. Maybe he'll be available tomorrow nite vs Baylor (7;15-CBS)?? Dez Wells put up a few shots and did not go full speed. He retired to the training room for more treatment on his sprained toe. His status for Baylor is up in the air.
Muskies Need Frease, Holloway at Best Against Baylor
On the backs of Kenny Frease and Tu Holloway, Xavier surged past the Lehigh Mountain Hawks 70-58 and into their 4th Sweet 16 in the past 5 years (one of only four teams to do so in that span). And they'll need that kind of offensive explosion and staunch defensive effort to knock off 3 seeded Baylor.
While Tu Holloway was busy bringing the team back from the dead (they trailed by 15 points), Frease continued the best basketball of his career with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Against the undersized Mountain Hawks, he was clearly the difference.
Muskies Level Lehigh!!
I really felt confident that Xavier would beat Lehigh in the NCAA Round of 32. The Mountain Hawks were good!! Good enough to beat Duke on Tobacco Road, but the attention heaped on a first time Cinderella NCAA winner is staggering and draining. LU was barraged by media, alumni, friends, family. That short turn-around between the 64 and the 32 is too short to absorb everything-enjoy the moment and recharge for the next team.
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XU Women's Basketball: A New Era
Coach Amy Waugh takes over the program, and sees a lot of exciting potential for the upcoming season and the future. "We are not going to fail," Coach Amy Waugh said. As the new head coach of a Xavier University women's basketball program that has reached new heights over the past few years, that is a daring thing to say. Especially with the losses of stars Ta'Shia Phillips, Amber Harris, Special Jennings, and 3 point specialist Katie Rutan.
Xavier Falls in a Heartbreaker
Amber Harris and Ta’Shia Phillips walked off the court to a standing ovation. Harris had her jersey pulled up to her face, covering the tears. Phillips had a look of disbelief on her face. Special Jennings was sobbing in the arms of an assistant coach. What had been such a great game, a great season, and a great four years suddenly had unraveled in a little over a minute. The scoreboard read Louisville 85, Xavier 75.
“That was an incredibly tough loss,” coach Kevin McGuff said, “It was bad for the seniors. But it wasn’t about effort, or the intangibles, there were just too many mistakes down the stretch.
Phillips, Musketeers Out-muscle Jackrabbits
On a Sunday afternoon at the Cintas Center, it was a day for focus. The Musketeers made sure there would be no doubt against 15th seeded South Dakota State, out of the Summit League – not like there was at times last year in a tight matchup with East Tennessee State in the first round. There was determination and frustration at the same time in the opening half, but the Muskies stuck with it, pulling out a decisive 72-56 victory. “We just kept wearing on them,” Ta’Shia Phillips stated, “We stuck to our game plan: balance on offense and tenacity on defense.”
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